In the Water Margin
Dai Zong is a prison warden in Jiangzhou with one extraordinary gift. By tying paper charms to his legs and reciting a spell, he can travel hundreds of li in a single day, and with more charms he goes farther still. The novel calls him the "Magic Messenger", and he is the one man every plan in the book can rely on to carry news faster than any horse.
He is an old friend of Wu Yong, and when Song Jiang is exiled to Jiangzhou he arrives carrying Wu Yong's letter of introduction. Their first meeting is comic: Dai Zong storms in to scold the new prisoner for not paying the usual bribe, then learns who he is talking to. From then on he is Song Jiang's protector, and soon his fellow condemned man. After Liangshan rescues them both from the execution ground, Dai Zong joins the band and becomes its chief of scouts and messengers, ranked twentieth of the 108.
Key episodes
The forged letter. After Song Jiang writes a rebellious poem on a tavern wall, the prefect of Jiangzhou sends Dai Zong to the capital with a report for his father, the Grand Tutor Cai Jing. Dai Zong is drugged at Liangshan's lookout inn on the way, and Wu Yong has a reply forged in Cai Jing's hand. But the forgery carries the wrong seal, a slip that is soon noticed, and Dai Zong ends up in chains beside Song Jiang.
Running with Li Kui. Sent to fetch Gongsun Sheng from his mountain retreat, Dai Zong travels with Li Kui, who has promised to give up meat and immediately breaks his word. Dai Zong ties the charms to Li Kui's legs, and Li Kui runs until he is begging to stop.
A peaceful end. When the wars are over, Dai Zong refuses office and retires to a temple at Mount Tai, where he later dies, the novel says, laughing.
