| Wang Dingliu | |
|---|---|
| Water Margin character | |
 Wang Dingliu | |
| First appearance | Chapter 65 |
| Nickname | "Living Goddess of Lightning" 活閃婆 |
| Rank | 104th,Inferior Star (地劣星) of the 72 Earthly Fiends |
| Scout leader of Liangshan | |
| Origin | Tavern owner |
| Ancestral home / Place of origin | Jiankang Prefecture (present-dayNanjing,Jiangsu) |
| Names | |
| Simplified Chinese | 王定六 |
| Traditional Chinese | 王定六 |
| Pinyin | Wáng Dìngliù |
| Wade–Giles | Wang Ting-liu |
Wang Dingliu is a fictional character inWater Margin, one of theFour Great Classical Novels inChinese literature. Nicknamed "Living Goddess of Lightning", he ranks 104th among the108 Stars of Destiny and 68th among the 72 Earthly Fiends.
The novel depicts Wang Dingliu as having a pointed head, sparkling eyes and skinny legs. Nicknamed "Living Goddess of Lightning",[a] he could walk at a very fast pace as if he were walking in air.
Wang Dingliu, who is a native ofJiankang Prefecture (present-dayNanjing,Jiangsu), runs an inn on the bank of theYangtze River with his father. Although he has learnt many types of martial arts, he is skilled in none. However, he is a good swimmer.
Zhang Shun, on his way to Jiankang to fetch the physicianAn Daoquan toLiangshan to treatSong Jiang, who is severely ill, comes to theYangtze and boards the boat of the pirate Zhang Wang. Midway across the river, Zhang Wang pounces on him while he is asleep, ties him up and throws him into the river. An expert swimmer, Zhang Shun frees himself underwater and gets to the opposite bank, where he finds the inn of Wang Dingliu. Wang's father rents him a room and introduces his son to him.
Zhang Shun finds An Daoquan, who agrees to go to Liangshan only after his persistent plea. That night An takes Zhang along when he visits a prostitute whom he is besotted with called Li Qiaonu. Zhang is worried that An is not willing to part from Li, who keeps plying the physician with drinks until he is drunk as a fiddler. Then he discovers that Zhang Wang, apparently also a patron of Li, calls on the woman. After the two disappeared into a room, Zhang Shun kills themamasan and two servants of the brothel. Then he knocks on the door of Li's room and hacks her to death when she opens it. Zhang Wang, hearing the cry, gets away. Remembering whatWu Song did inMengzhou, Zhang Shun writes with the blood of Li on the wall a supposed confession by An himself that he is the killer. When An wakes up, he has no choice but to go with Zhang Shun to Liangshan.
At Wang Dingliu's inn, Zhang Shun relates what has happened. Wang notices Zhang Wang is at the bank and asks him to ferry his two "relatives". When the boat is midstream, Zhang Shun, who has exchanged clothes with An Daoquan to deceive Zhang Wang, overcomes the boatman with the help of Wang. They tie him up and dump him into the river. Zhang Shun asks Wang to join Liangshan and the young man gladly agrees.
When Song Jiang leads a force toward Dongping Prefecture (東平府; present-dayDongping County,Shandong) to seize its grain stocks,Yu Baosi volunteers to go ahead first to persuade the prefect andDong Ping, the city's military commander, not to resist. Wang Dingliu goes along with him. However,Dong Ping suggests executing the two to strike fear among the outlaws. Afraid that the act would deeply antagonise Liangshan, the prefect only has them beaten and thrown out instead. Liangshan captures Dongping and wins over Dong Ping.
Wang Dingliu is put in charge of an inn which acts as a lookout for Liangshan after the108 Stars of Destiny came together in what is called the Grand Assembly. He participates in the campaigns against theLiao invaders and rebel forces within theSong Empire following amnesty fromEmperor Huizong for Liangshan.
In the battle of Xuanzhou (宣州; present-dayXuancheng,Anhui) in the campaign againstFang La, Wang Dingliu is killed when being hit by apoisoned arrow.