In the Water Margin
Lu Zhishen ranks thirteenth among the 108 heroes under the star Tiangu (天孤星), the Lonely Star of Heaven. He begins life as Lu Da, a military officer in Weizhou: huge, loud, quick to anger and full of hatred for anyone who bullies the weak. The tattoos covering his back give him his nickname, Tattooed Monk, though his time as a monk is rarely peaceful.
He takes holy orders to escape a murder charge. At the monastery on Mount Wutai he gets drunk, brawls and wrecks the place twice, until the abbot sends him to the Xiangguo Temple in the capital. There he befriends Lin Chong, and when Lin Chong is framed, Lu Zhishen protects him at the cost of his own refuge. Later he seizes Two Dragon Mountain with Yang Zhi, Wu Song joins them, and the three bring their band to Liangshan Marsh.
Key episodes
- Three punches. Hearing that a butcher who calls himself Lord of the Western Pass has cheated and abused a young singer and her father, Lu Da makes sure the pair escape the city first. Then he goes to the butcher's stall, provokes him with absurd orders for minced meat, and three punches later the bully is dead.
- The willow tree. Put in charge of the temple's vegetable garden in Kaifeng, he is tested by a gang of local layabouts and kicks the ringleaders into a cesspit. Later, in front of them all, he pulls a willow tree out of the ground roots and all, and they become his devoted followers.
- Wild Boar Forest. He shadows Lin Chong's escort and stops them with his iron staff just as they raise their clubs to murder his friend.
- Listening to the tide. After capturing the rebel leader Fang La, he stays at the Liuhe Temple in Hangzhou. Hearing the roar of the Qiantang tide in the night, he recalls a prophecy from his old abbot, bathes, sits down and passes away in meditation.
