One of my far-flung friends has brought my attention to the existence of this evidently great novel, which I would like to read.
Water Margin or Outlaws of the Marsh (Traditional Chinese: 水滸傳; Simplified Chinese: 水浒传; pinyin: Shuǐhǔ Zhuàn) is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Attributed to Shi Naian, whom some believe to be Luo Guanzhong, the novel details the trials and tribulations of 108 outlaws during the early 12th century.
That is the beginning of the Wikipedia entry on it, which has lovely illustrations. I like the image of the Water Margin. (A more idiomatic, but less poetic translation would be On the Water’s Edge, it seems). I like the precise number of outlaws: 108. Wikipedia is not necessarily known for its melifluous prose, but I like this: [a]ttributed to Shi Naian, whom some believe to be Luo Guanzhong . . . . The author walks on narrow trails, now glimpsed in sunlight, now screened by a willow curtain.
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 
There is an epic television version from the 1970’s which I grew up on, I re-saw it last year, I liked it, 24 hour long episodes, the theme tune was good/odd as I remember, and the characters are like studies of pre-Jungian archetypes.
I’ve skim-read the history of these stories: the books sound better than the tv show — and like a philosophical storybook.
Another of “the four great classics” is “Journey To The West”.
Interesting the Sūn Wùkōng, ‘The Monkey King’ isn’t too far from India’s Hanuman.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_West
I’ve read Waley’s translation of _Monkey_ and that is all. I must read more, these novels sound so fascinating … and I had no idea about the tv show, it was rebroadcast last year or did it come out on DVD or something?
This show was a big hit with us 70’s kids on a friday evening, there were Orientalist cliches (in the pre-Said way), and most times just brilliant.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_%28TV_series%29
The 1976 Japanese version is truer (albeit a fantasy martial arts, disco version) than the later.