Decades later, with peace restored and the economy beginning to stabilize, Qin Shubao’s adventures were copied largely verbatim into a new novel, Chu Renhuo’s Romance of the Sui and the Tang (Sui Tang yanyi 隋唐演義, 1675; first printed edition 1695). This historical romance remained in print throughout the Qing period and is commonly read as historical fiction even today. Chu Renhuo 褚人穫 (c.1630-c. 1705) was a cultural figure who compiled several lengthy collections of anecdotes about the literati, past and present. Romance of the Sui and the Tang was similarly a compilation. The first two-thirds of the novel weave together much the Qin Shubao story and major portions of a second novel about the dissolute last emperor of the Sui Dynasty (581-617), while the remainder is a hodgepodge of shorter historical anecdotes about Tang-period figures.

The developing novel tradition in China generally grew by accretion; most works of historical fiction were constructed by modifying received narratives and adding new adventures, characters, themes, and original commentary. Chu Renhuo simplified Shubao’s story; his novel was in turn rewritten around 1750 to become something of a parody of historical fiction. But through this process and even now, Qin Shubao for centuries has served as a symbol of dependable defense—as a protective deity painted on doors and gates and as a central figure on the regional stage and in the oral tales of professional storytellers. More recently, the heroic General Qin Shubao has appeared in film and television dramas, as well as in video games.

The Qin Shubao story narrates the epic struggle of a naïve but dedicated young man to carry on the heroic legacy of his forebears and to become a military hero. Although the historical Qin Shubao 秦叔寶 (d. 638) is credited with military successes crucial to the establishment of the Tang empire (618-906), the historical record tells us nothing about his youth.[1] Qin Shubao’s story was primarily developed by Yuan Yuling 袁于令 (1599-1674), a poet, dramatist, and member of an impressive circle of writers. Taking the brief mentions in the standard histories as the conclusion for his tale, Yuan created a formative period for this hero, an epic journey that could trace—and justify—his rise to historical prominence.

Yuan’s Qin Shubao begins as a muscular and headstrong youth who would easily get into trouble were it not for the strict limits set by his widowed mother. His fumbling attempts to create a heroic image for himself drive most of his early actions, beginning with his appointment as a bandit catcher in the local administration. His utter failure results in a reassignment, which gives him an unexpected opportunity to save a noble who is attacked by highwaymen. But when his formal mission does not go as planned, Shubao finds himself utterly without resources. Humiliated, hungry, and dreadfully ill, he is aided by a benevolent local landlord. From this point onward in the tale, Shubao faces a sequence of unfamiliar situations and comes under the influence of a series of self-styled knights-errant who befriend him. All provide guidance, although their advice is not always beneficial: he readily accepts their support and follows their directions, often with unfortunate, even disastrous, consequences. One such episode is his attempt to assassinate the evil son of a high official, which results in the deaths of many innocent bystanders who fall in the path of his escape.

Mortified by the outcome of his attempt to right a grievous wrong, Qin Shubao flees to his mother’s side and stays there for a period of recuperation and reflection. This maturing process leads to new official assignments. But this time he defies his orders to apprehend bandits in order to save a friend. Reassigned yet again, he displays greater self-control and a deepened sense of social obligations as he oversees workers digging China’s Grand Canal. He also develops his military strength and strategic abilities as he commands troops in a punitive invasion of Korea.

When peasant rebels spring up across the land, Shubao finds that he has to choose sides among the many official and rebel commanders at war with each other. One after another, these military commanders either die in battle or are discredited, leaving Qin Shubao to make hard choices about which strong contender to follow. Ultimately, Qin Shubao follows his own lights: he declines to join his first major benefactor despite the man’s role as generous patron throughout Shubao’s career. Instead, Qin Shubao joins the forces of the noble he had saved from assassination in his youth, the future first emperor of the Tang.

The adventures of Qin Shubao constitute a generally Confucian-oriented fable about taking one’s place in society. Among the cardinal virtues—loyalty to one’s lord, filial devotion to one’s parents, and altruistic support for friends—filial respect figures most prominently, both in his concern for his aging mother and in his determination to honor his heroic forebears. Loyalty to the state, however, is questioned fairly profoundly here: what course of action should be followed when the emperor is utterly unworthy—even though members of the imperial administration are indeed honorable? Can an individual change sides in a political struggle, and still retain his integrity and honor? Despite Qin Shubao’s quandary over political loyalties at the end of the tale, fundamentally the narrative explores the nature of friendship, especially the obligations of sworn brotherhood. In the Confucian sense, friends are duty-bound to help, support, and guide each other as equals. For much of his career, Shubao blindly accepts the suggestions of his friends; his maturation involves critically evaluating their actions and their advice on how he should act. In the end, he makes his own decisions, no matter how painful. By doing so, Qin Shubao becomes the model of the honorable Confucian warrior, dedicated to the establishment and protection of a righteous ruler—even as his historical acts of murdering his commander’s political rivals throw that evaluation into question.

The formation of this hero is developed against a conventional arc for Confucian historical fiction: the decline and fall of an unworthy imperial house and the establishment of a Heavenly-mandated righteous new imperial family. Yuan’s hero appears to have been inspired by the philosopher Mencius (Meng Ke 孟軻, 371-c. 289 BCE), who maintained that Heaven sends down adversity to strengthen those destined for momentous tasks. The histories provide the account of dynastic change and Qin Shubao’s role in that process, while The Heroic Adventures provides a route by which Qin Shubao might reach his goals.

[1] See Old History of the Tang (Jiu Tang shu 舊唐書, 974) and New History of the Tang (Xin Tang shu 新唐書, 1060).