Mu Hong

Mu Hong
Water Margin character
Nickname	"Unrestrained" (沒遮攔)
Rank	24th, Investigative Star (天究星) of the 36 Heavenly Spirits
Tiger Cub Vanguard General of Liangshan
Origin	Rich man
Hometown	Jieyang, Guangdong
First appearance	Chapter 37
Weapon	Pudao
Names
Simplified Chinese	穆弘
Traditional Chinese	穆弘
Pinyin	Mù Hóng
Wade-Giles	Mu Hung

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Mu.

Mu Hong is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 24th of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes and is nicknamed "Unrestrained".

Background

The Water Margin describes Mu Hong as a handsome and talented looking man with eyebrows that resemble silkworms and having an impressive bearing. Mu Hong has a younger brother called "Little Unrestrained" Mu Chun. The brothers are from a wealthy and influential family in Jieyang, Guangdong. Mu Hong is famous for his bravery and prowess in martial arts.

Meeting Song Jiang

When Song Jiang is exiled to Jiangzhou (present-day Jiangxi), he passes by Jieyang along the way and meets the street performer Xue Yong. Xue Yong does not acknowledge the Mu brothers' presence and angers them. Mu Chun forbids the townsfolk to pay Xue Yong for his performance. Song Jiang ignores Mu Chun and pays Xue Yong five silver taels. Mu Chun is furious with Song Jiang for disrespect towards him and he wants to beat up Song. Xue Yong comes to Song Jiang's aid and defeats Mu Chun in a fight.

Mu Chun feels humiliated after his defeat and orders the townsfolk not to let Song Jiang spend the night in the town. Mu Chun plots revenge on Song Jiang with his brother but Song overhears their conversation and flees from the village. Xue Yong is caught by the Mu brothers and severely beaten up. Song Jiang reaches the riverbank with the Mu brothers hot on pursuit and he boards Zhang Heng's boat in desperation to escape from them. Zhang Heng claims to be a ferryman but is in fact a pirate who robs unsuspecting travellers who board his boat. Zhang Heng wants to kill Song Jiang when the boat reaches the middle of the river but he is stopped by Li Jun. Li Jun introduces Song Jiang to Zhang Heng and the Mu brothers, who recognise him as the famous philanthropist. They apologise to Song Jiang and become friends with him.

Joining Liangshan

Song Jiang runs into some trouble in Jiangzhou later and is almost put to death. The Liangshan outlaws storm the execution ground and rescue Song Jiang. They reach the riverbank where Li Jun, Mu Hong and others are waiting with boats from them. They ferry the outlaws all the way back to Liangshan Marsh and the Mu brothers join Liangshan.

After the Grand Assembly, Mu Hong becomes one of the Eight Tiger Cub Vanguard Generals of the Liangshan calvary. He follows the Liangshan heroes on their campaigns against the Liao invaders and rebel forces after they have been granted amnesty by the emperor. Mu Hong makes great contributions during the campaigns and plays an important role in the capture of the enemy city of Runzhou during the Fang La campaign. He dies of illness after Hangzhou is captured and is posthumously granted an honorific title by the emperor in recognition of his contributions to the nation during the campaigns.

References

• (Chinese) Li, Mengxia. 108 Heroes from the Water Margin, page 49. EPB Publishers Pte Ltd, 1992. ISBN 9971-0-0252-3.