Bao Xu is a fictional character in ''

Water Margin ''Water Margin'' (), also called ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' or ''All Men Are Brothers'', is a Chinese novel from the Ming dynasty that is one of the preeminent Classic Chinese Novels. Attributed to Shi Nai'an, ''Water Margin'' was one of the e ...

'', one of the

Four Great Classical Novels Classic Chinese Novels () are the best-known works of literary fiction across pre-modern Chinese literature. The group usually includes the following works: Ming dynasty novels '' Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', '' Water Margin'', ''Journey to t ...

Chinese literature The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years, and begins with the earliest recorded inscriptions, court archives, building to the major works of philosophy and history written during the Axial Age. The Han dynasty, Han (202 ...

. Nicknamed "God of Death", he ranks 60th among the

108 Stars of Destiny The 108 Heroes are the main characters of the Ming dynasty classic Chinese novel the ''Water Margin'', which was written in the 14th century and usually attributed to Shi Nai'an. The heroes are divided into the 36 Heavenly Spirits and 72 Earthly ...

and 24th among the 72 Earthly Fiends.

Background

Bao Xu is ugly-looking with a face shaped and colored like the bottom of a wok, fierce bulging eyes and lips like those of a wolf. His voice is thunderous and terrifying. Bao, a skilled fighter who uses a broad-bladed

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

, is nicknamed "God of Death" as he likes to kill and plunder. He leads a bandit gang on Mount Deadwood () in Kouzhou (寇州; believed to be present-day

Guan County, Shandong Guan County () is a county of western Shandong province, People's Republic of China, bordered by Hebei province to the west. It is administered by Liaocheng City. The population was in 1999. History As an isolated county, with relatively low ...

Joining Liangshan

The imperial military officers

Shan Tinggui Shan Tinggui is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "General of Sacred Water", he ranks 44th among the 108 Stars of Destiny and eighth among the 72 Earthly Fiends. Ba ...

and Wei Dingguo capture Liangshan's

Xuan Zan Xuan Zan is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Ugly Prince Consort", he ranks 40th among the 108 Stars of Destiny and fourth among the 72 Earthly Fiends. Backgroun ...

and

Hao Siwen Hao Siwen is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Wood Dog of Well", he ranks 41st among the 108 Stars of Destiny and fifth among the 72 Earthly Fiends. Background A ...

at Lingzhou (凌州; present-day

Ling County Lingcheng District, formerly Ling County or Lingxian, is a district of the city of Dezhou, Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning o ...

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

), who have come with

Guan Sheng Guan Sheng is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Great Blade", he ranks fifth among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, the first third of the 108 Stars of Destiny. Backgrou ...

to head them off before they set out on the mission to exterminate their stronghold by order of the

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

court. Shan and Wei send the two captives to the imperial capital Dongjing (東京; present-day

Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

) for punishment. Meanwhile,

Li Kui Li Kui may refer to: *Li Kui (legalist), government minister in the Wei state *Li Kui (chancellor), chancellor of the Tang Dynasty *Li Kui (Water Margin), fictional character in the ''Water Margin'' {{hndis, Li, Kui