What does "Suikoden" mean?

[AmgedIsmail]

Hello,

What does "Suikoden" mean?

[JapanManiaz]

Literally, it means Water Margin, a translation of popular Chinese works Shuihu Zhuan. The name come from the original novel the game is adapted from.

For more information of the original Chinese work, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Margin

[Antimatzist]

More accurately, Genso Suikoden means "Fantasy Story of the Water Margin" with Genso meaning Fantasy and Suikoden "Story of the Water Margin". IIRC.

[AmgedIsmail]

Thanks.
What is "Water Margin"? Is this the name of the novel?

[Antimatzist]

Yeah, it's maybe the most literal translation of the title of the novel. (Even though the German translation is more along the lines of "The Water Caller",I'd love to know which one is more accurate...)

[AmgedIsmail]

Thanks a lot
I understand now.
So, Suikoden is a novel and they imagined it and tried their best to explain this novel in a more virtualized world in a video game by bringing the normal writing of the novel into life, am I right?

So is this novel a fictional story or a real story?

[Antimatzist]

This interview might be interesting for you as it shows the very first days of Suikoden's creation: http://suikosource.com/phpBB3/viewtopic ... 70&t=11562

The Water Margin is more or less fictional afaik. It's a story based in (medieval?) china, but also involves magic at times. It's a story of 108 bandits fighting a corrupt government. So the Suikoden series is only inspired by the novel, but it's not a direct transposition. There are some strategic video games that let you play the events of the novel, though 8but they are unrelated to the Genso Suikoden series)

[freshmetal]

As others have said, the Water Margin is basically Chinese equivalent to the western "Robin Hood" story. Even though the novel features magic, the True Rune mythology is unique to the game's universe. (unless I'm mistaken) The novel gets its name from the fact that the bandits are based in a wet marshy region. Staying true to the source material, each of the games' headquarters are on or near a body of water.

[Vextor]

"Legend of the Marsh" would have probably been a lot more easier to understand, instead of "Water Margin," mainly because the word "margin" seems to be used sparingly in modern English diction.

The original story is based on factual accounts of a small revolt led by a person called Song Jiang, who's name becomes the Tenkai Star of the Shui Hu Chuan. The story transformed as it was passed along by word-of-mouth, which is why a number of different versions and accounts exists of the story. Shi Nai An (which is a pseudonym of some unknown author) basically edited these accounts into one piece of work.