The eighth hero in The Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties – Yang Lin

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These past few days I’ve been listening to Shan Tianfang’s narration of the story \"Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties\", and I was deeply moved by the character Wang Yanglin. Whether this character exists in reality or is fictional, I’m thoroughly impressed by his personal charm. 　　Yang Lin was the brother of Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, and the uncle of Yang Guang; he was the foremost among the five founding elders of the Sui dynasty. In terms of status and achievements, no one could compare to him. In terms of his personal martial skills, he ranks eighth among the Thirteen Heroes; he wields a pair of Water-Fire Prison Dragon Staves and has fought on battlefields for decades. To safeguard the safety of the Great Sui Dynasty, King Kaishan naturally had to lead troops and generals there*. From the single-file snake formation used to confront the Wagon Fortress to the copper-flag formation employed against the eighteen rebel kings, as the commander-in-chief, Yang Lin took the lead in battle, devising various strategies to outwit the rebels, which demonstrates his unwavering loyalty. Now, the historical community has re-evaluated Zeng Guofan, no longer seeing him merely as a butcher who slaughtered the Taiping Army. The same should apply to Yang Lin – the spirit of persevering despite repeated failures is indeed valuable, and his initial intentions were understandable for him; after all, it was he who founded the Sui Dynasty, so if he couldn’t protect himself, who else could? Yang Lin cherished heroic talents greatly; his twelve bodyguards alone demonstrate his sincerity toward people. Giving Li Yuanba the fine horse ‘A Lamp for a Thousand Miles’ is just one example, as are the armor, sword, and spear he gave Qin Qiong. Especially when it came to Qin Qiong, he treated him with great care; upon meeting him, he took him as his adopted son and even gave him the precious armor and weapons belonging to Qin Yi. This was less a coincidence and more an inevitable outcome. It was precisely because Yang Lin valued talent that he kept the relics of his enemy general Qin Yi, and these relics eventually ended up in the hands of his son, Qin Qiong. Even after Yang Lin and Qin Qiong fell out, he still pursued Baima three times in search of a talented general with both literary skills and martial prowess ； Qin Qiong himself admitted that he was a man of integrity; it was not his fault that Yang Guang committed evil deeds, and his father’s death was the result of each person acting in accordance with their own interests. He held no personal grudges against Yang Lin and advised him to retire to the mountains, which shows that Wang Kaishan treated people with sincerity. Yet despite Yang Guang’s evil deeds, he remained the emperor’s nephew, and Yang Lin still had to protect him. No matter how dire the circumstances or how old and sick he himself might be, he would still do his utmost to deal with the rebel forces and the anti-king forces. Even at the last moment, when the palace was already in ruins, he still used the gold-inlaid seal as a bait, taking a desperate gamble to fight one final battle against his enemies. This spirit won him the respect of heroes from all walks of life; when they met in the ranks of bronze flags, they would still address him as ‘Long live the King! How are you?’ It’s a pity that in the end, force of nature proved too strong; the situation was beyond reversal. His allies were defeated one after another, and under Luo Cheng’s pressure, he had no choice but to draw his sword and commit suicide. Even until the end, Qin Qiong felt that Lao Wang had always been kind to him and he couldn’t bring himself to harm him; it is clear that as a hero and a general with great martial skills and wisdom, Yang Lin had always acted with loyalty and integrity, which is entirely understandable