Sun Xin

Sun Xin (孙新) is a character in the "Water Margin".

Sun Xin was the younger brother of Sun Li and was married to Gu Dasao, becoming the Xie brothers' (Xie Zhen and Xie Bao) cousin-in-law. Sun Xin was from Liangzhou and a descendant of a family of generals serving the Song Dynasty. He served as a military officer in Dengzhou along with his brother. He was born tall and strong, with eyes which shone with fire and was as powerful as his brother in martial arts, earning himself the nickname 'Little Yuchi' (小尉迟), which was quite similar to his brother's.

Once, Yue He informed Gu Dasao that her cousins, the Xie brothers, had been framed and thrown into prison, awaiting execution. Gu Dasao discussed with her husband on a plan to rescue the Xie brothers, and together with the help of her brother-in-law, Zou Run and Zou Yuan, they raided the prison and rescued the Xie brothers. Then, they decided to flee to Liangshan for refuge. At that same time, Song Jiang leading the Liangshan forces against the Zhu Family Village, was locked in a stalemate in the war. Sun Li, together with his brother and sister-in-law, the Xie brothers, and the Zous, volunteered to act as conspirators from within the Zhu Family Village, and the Liangshan heroes succeeded in conquering the Zhu Family Village.

Sun Xin became in charge of hearing news from his customers in a tavern near Liangshan, and played an important role in receiving imperial envoys and guests-of-honour to Liangshan, eventually becoming one of the 72 Earthly Fiends.

After the heroes had been granted amnesty by the emperor, Sun Xin followed them on their campaigns against the Liao Tartars and southern rebels (Fang La), making great contributions to the imperial court. He was one of the few lucky survivors after the campaigns and was offered an official post for his contributions. Then, he went back to Dengzhou together with his wife and older brother to take up their official posts.

Films and TV adaptations

In the 1997 TV serial from Mainland China based on the novel, Sun Xin was played by Zhang Weiguo. In the serial, he was killed during the Fang La campaign but in the novel he survived and took up his official post.