The Water Margin is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature and it is usually attributed to Shi Nai-an, although there are some scholars who suggest the involvement of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms author Luo Kuan Chung.
The Water Margin is also called The Outlaws of the Marsh or All Men Are Brothers.
Almost nothing is known of Shi Nai-an (1296-1372). There is considerable opinion that he didn’t exist at all, or if he did that he was a teacher of Luo Kuan Chung and acted only as an editor of the Water Margin. Recently, some scholars presented a paper in China that suggested that Shi and Luo were probably the same person, because the Shi Nai'an spelled backwards spells "an nai shi", or "It is I again."
The general consensus, however, supported by the majority of scholars suggests that the first 70 chapters of the novel to have been written by Shi Nai'an, while the last 30 chapters were written by Luo.
Certain lines within the novel suggest that Shi was well acquainted with Zhejiang province while other indicate an ignorance of northern China. The earliest extant edition of Water Margin is a 100-chapter printed text dating from the mid-16th century.

Shi's work was immediately popular and went through many editions. With its highly critical attitude to government officials and its exposure of corruption it was, of course, censored heavily.

The Water Margin

The Water Margin is vaguely based upon the life of real Chinese bandit Song Jiang and his 36 companions who was active in the Huai River region until he eventually surrendered to government troops in 1119. Folk songs about Jiang abounded and they began to be recorded in the 12th Century. His 36 companions also began to be immortalized in song and legends.
"Old incidents in Xuanhe period of the great Song Dynasty," appeared around the mid-13th century and collected the legends of Jiang’s companions as well as a number of other legends and stories. Many of these stories would show up in The Water Margin.
Stories about the bandits of Mount Liang became popular at the same time and these two were incorporated into the novel. The incorporation of these other legends expanded Jiang's bandits to 108.
The opening of the book describes the release of the 108 spirits and then the rise of the novel’s antagonist the corrupt local official Gao Qiu. The next 40 chapters then relates the seemingly separate stories of the bandits and outlaws like Lin Chong and Yang Ji but they are then all brought together when Jiang, becomes their leader. The 108 gather on the marshes around Mount Liang on the marsh. Song Jiang retains his loyalty to the emperor but fights against the forces of Gao Qiu. Eventually, the bandits are offered amnesty by the emperor and invited to fight for the imperial army. However they are eventually betrayed by the treacherous Gao Qiu who leads them on a final tragic mission.