# The Water Margin (1998)

> A sprawling 1998 Chinese television adaptation following 108 outlaws who rise against a corrupt Song Dynasty court.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/67486

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 43
- Episode runtime: 46 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, action, history
- Network: CCTV-1
- Cast: Xiu Ge, Tang Guoqiang, Chen Lizhong, Li Lanfa, Zang Jinsheng, Yu Yuexian, Xu Fulai, Hong Jiantao
- TMDB rating: 8.0/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1388431/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: earnest, heroic, melancholic, sweeping

## Synopsis

The Water Margin (1998) is a Chinese national-television historical drama series created for CCTV-1, adapted from the classic novel of the same name and running a single season of 43 episodes. The series follows the trials and tribulations of 108 outlaws during the mid Song Dynasty, with the sweeping ensemble gathering around figures such as the fierce warrior Lu Da, played by Zang Jinsheng, whose fate is tied to the injustices of the court. Its engine is the slow gathering of wronged men who are pushed beyond the law by corrupt officials and a distant emperor, and each episode brings another wandering hero, another tangled betrayal, and another clash with imperial authority. Presented as a long episodic chronicle with a loose but continuing arc, it has the scale of a classical epic, with the grandeur of court intrigue and the rough camaraderie of the roadside. The tone is earnest and heroic, carrying a sense of solidarity and tragic momentum. Fans of Outlaws of the Marsh, Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Robin Hood will find resonance in its brotherhood of rebels and its martial, morally weighted storytelling set in twelfth century China.

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