Based loosely on a real Song-dynasty bandit, the
《水浒传》 Song Jiang is a minor clerk turned outlaw whose generosity (money given to struggling travellers) earns him the name
及时雨 ('Timely Rain'). His controversial decision to accept the imperial pardon (
招安) and turn his brothers into government soldiers ends the novel in tragedy - a plot point endlessly debated in Chinese literary criticism.
