Yan Qing

Nicknamed 'the Wanderer' or 'the Prodigy' (浪子), Yan Qing (燕青) is a character in the epic Chinese tale, "Water Margin". Non-scholarly and fictional sources state he was a grandstudent of Zhou Tong, the archery teacher of Yue Fei.

Background

Yan Qing was from Damingfu, Beijing. He lost his parents at a young age and was brought up by Lu Junyi, who allowed Yan to work as a steward in his home. Yan Qing was extremely loyal to Lu Junyi and was Lu's right-hand man.

Yan Qing stood at about 6 feet, had a handsome face, red lips and thick eyebrows, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His torso was covered with flowery tattoos as a gift from Lu Junyi who took him to see a master tattooist. And because of his pale complexion, the tattoos stood out with magnificent beauty. Yan Qing was also a skilled dresser, dressing both well and on occasion, often aiming to show off his flowery tattoos. Apart from his martial arts, Yan Qing was also an accomplished musician. There was no instrument that he could not play, nor was there no song he could sing. He was a splendid actor who did well to often disguise himself into the roles of others to infiltrate deep into the capital city.

Involvement

Once, Lu Junyi fell for a ruse by Wu Yong was framed by Li Gu, his other steward, and Yan Qing was chased out of the residence. Lu Junyi was then sentenced to be exiled to Shamen Island. The guards escorting him there were bribed to finish him off along the way, but Yan Qing appeared in the nick of time and rescued Lu Junyi. They were surrounded by government troops, and Lu Junyi was caught again. Yan Qing managed to escape to Liangshan and ask for help. The Liangshan heroes attacked Damingfu and rescued Lu Junyi. Yan Qing then became one of the leaders of the Liangshan infantry, and one of the 36 Heavenly Chieftains.

Once, Yan Qing went to Taianzhou with Li Kui to challenge a martial artist (wrestler) named Ren Yuan. Yan Qing defeated Ren, who was larger in size than him. Yan and Li created an uproar in Taianzhou, and were almost caught by government troops but escaped. The government attacked Liangshan thrice, but were defeated. Song Jiang hoped to obtain amnesty from the government, so he sent Yan Qing to win favour from Li Shishi. Yan Qing used Li Shishi to help the Liangshan heroes obtain amnesty from the emperor.

Yan Qing followed the heroes on their campaigns against the Liao Tartars and southern rebels such as Fang La. He was one of the few lucky survivors after the campaigns, but refused to take up any official post despite his contributions. He then left for a reclusive life, and before leaving, he tried to persuade Lu Junyi to follow him. Once again, Lu ignored Yan's warnings and eventually died a tragic death at the hands of the evil officials.

Films and TV adaptations

In the 1997 TV serial from Mainland China based on the novel, Yan Qing was played by Yang Guanghui. In the serial, Yan Qing was not shown to have attempted to rescue Lu Junyi on the latter's journey to exile in Shamen Island. His face was scarred after being hit by sharp objects during the Fang La campaign.

Martial arts

He was skilled in the use of the staff (just like Lu Junyi), and was also the best wrestler in the known world (such that even Li Kui was afraid of his prowess). His favourite technique in combat was to fire no more than three arrows with his crossbow. While he was an expert in the Chinese crossbow, he was also competent with a normal bow, illustrated by how he shot down a flock of birds simply by learning how to shoot a bow and arrow for the first time. Yan is supposedly one of the lineage masters of Lost Track Boxing.