Hao Siwen, nicknamed the Well Wood Wolf, is Guan Sheng’s sworn brother in Water Margin. His mother is said to have dreamed that the stellar beast Well Wood Wolf entered her womb, giving the warrior both his sobriquet and an omen of unusual birth. He trains in all eighteen weapons and holds military office before Cai Jing’s campaign against Liangshan gives Guan Sheng command and places Hao Siwen at the head of the army as vanguard.
On the field Hao Siwen meets Lin Chong and holds the famous spear fighter until Hua Rong presses in from another side. He breaks away from the double attack, only for Hu Sanniang to cast her rope, drag him from the saddle, and take him alive. Song Jiang treats the prisoners with honor; when Guan Sheng changes allegiance, Hao Siwen and Xuan Zan follow him into Liangshan. Their later capture at Lingzhou ends differently: Li Kui, Jiao Ting, and Bao Xu smash the prison carts, release the two officers, and turn rescue into an assault on the city.
At the grand assembly Hao Siwen ranks forty-first and becomes one of Liangshan’s cavalry scouts. His position rests on broad weapon training and reliable vanguard service rather than a single magical object. In the Fang La campaign he is captured during the fighting at Hangzhou. Fang Tianding has him executed and his head displayed on the wall; Xu Ning’s attempt to recover his comrade leads to a poisoned-arrow wound and another death. Hao Siwen’s story is therefore bound to military brotherhood from beginning to end: he enters beside Guan Sheng and dies in a loss that immediately draws another Liangshan officer into mortal danger.
