The Nine-Dragon Tattoos are Shi Jin’s bodily signature in Water Margin and the basis of his epithet Nine-Tattooed Dragon. Because the designs are on his body, his identity does not depend entirely on clothing or a weapon he happens to carry.
In chapter 1 of the seventy-chapter edition, Shi Jin’s father describes the tattooing across his shoulders, arms, and chest and identifies a total of nine dragons. The account connects a memorable bodily feature with the name by which the character is known.
The defining relationship is between the nine dragon designs and Shi Jin’s identity. The passage does not supply the precise position of each dragon or a complete layout, so it does not establish a single mandatory tattoo pattern or supernatural power.
