Friday, September 19, 2008

Luo Zhenren

Luo Zhenren , nicknamed 'The Immortal', is a character in the epic Chinese tale, ''Water Margin''. is a common Chinese surname and Zhenren is a Daoist "True Person" or "Perfected Person".

Luo was not part of the 108 heroes of Liangshan; rather, he was more of an enigmatic character, claiming to be a supreme Taoist magician. Gongsun Sheng, one of the most senior members amongst the 108 bandits, was his student.

Once, Gongsun Sheng left Liangshan to visit his mother and never returned after a long period of time. At that time, the Liangshan heroes were facing a major crisis in attacking Gaotangzhou and required Gongsun's help to break Gao Lian's evil magic power.

Song Jiang sent and Dai Zong to find Gongsun Sheng and eventually they found him living in seclusion with his master where they practised Taoism. Li and Dai tried to persuade Gongsun to go with them but Luo Zhenren refused to allow Gongsun to leave. Li Kui stabbed Luo Zhenren in anger when no one was around for not allowing Gongsun to leave. The next day, the three of them went to see Luo Zhenren to seek his permission again and Li Kui was gleeful, thinking that he had killed Luo Zhenren. When they arrived there, Li was shocked to see that Luo was alive. Eventually, Luo allowed Gongsun to go with the Liangshan heroes and aid them in defeating Gao Lian.

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