Sun Erniang, nicknamed the “Female Yaksha,” is one of the female heroes of Liangshan in Water Margin. Together with her husband Zhang Qing, she operates an inn at Cross Slope, a dangerous establishment deeply embedded in the novel’s wandering martial world.
Wu Song encounters Sun Erniang while traveling under escort. She attempts to drug him according to the inn’s usual methods, but Wu Song recognizes the trap and pretends to succumb before suddenly turning the situation against her. Zhang Qing arrives during the confrontation, and the misunderstanding eventually gives way to friendship.
Sun Erniang and Zhang Qing thereafter remain connected with Wu Song and ultimately join Liangshan. At the stronghold, she is associated with the operation of inns and intelligence work while also taking part in later military campaigns.
After Liangshan accepts imperial amnesty, Sun Erniang accompanies the armies into war and is eventually killed during the campaign against Fang La. Her character combines the dangerous folklore of the roadside inn with the role of a formidable female warrior in the Liangshan brotherhood.
