Yang Wen The Road-Blocking Tiger 'And The Knight-Errant'

The knight-errant is similar to the medieval knight who follows the code of chivalry, fights honorably, and defends the weak and poor. However, the knight fights for and is loyal to his or her liege, whereas, the knight-errant fights on the side of justice and pledges fealty to no one. Regardless of the gender, all knight-errants exhibit certain character traits such as righteousness, honor, and bravery. These properties of the knight-errant are evident in the three short stories, “The Sung Founder Escorts Ching-niang One Thousand Li,” Yang Wen, the Road-Blocking Tiger,” and “The Lady Knight-Errant.” These three stories can be found in the book, Traditional Chinese Stories: Themes and Variations, by Y.W. Ma and Joseph S.M. Lau. The knight-errant
In the first story, although the cohorts of the two bandits, Flying All Over and Rolling All Along, were technically criminals as well, Chao understood that most of these individuals became bandits due to their limited life choices. Chao takes pity on them and spares the cohorts (71). Also, Chao fairy distributes the bandit’s loot: 1/3 to the town and townsfolk for all the damages done by the bandits, 1/3 to the group of bandits to go home and start a new life, 1/6 to the Clear Oil Monastery for the damages he had staged, and lastly, 1/6 to Ch’en Ming, who was to run some errands for him (71). In sparing the cohorts, and dividing the loot amongst those deserving, Chao did what was right and moral. In the second story, although Yang did the right thing by remaining committed to his wife and her safe return, he was not as moral as Chao. Yang had won the staff competition against Li Kuei, an aged man, who no longer has the agility of youth. Also, Yang, even with good intentions, attacked the bandit chief during his wedding banquet, an act that is generally frowned upon. Nonetheless, by rescuing his wife from the bandits, Yang undoubtedly did the right thing. In the third story, the lady knight-errant, understanding how poor Ku and his mother are, repays their kindness by giving Ku a son and heir. Ku and his mother were so impoverished that Ku did not have the resources to marry (80).
In the first story, Chao, prior to his journey, makes an oath of walking the one thousand li on foot. Throughout the majority of the journey, Chao made no complaints and never felt tempted to break his oath and mount his horse. However, while on his way to confront Flying All Over, Chao almost mounted his horse, but luckily he remembered his oath in time, and continued to walk to the restaurant (70). Once again, despite the countless miles Chao had to walk on foot, he never once broke his oath, and this makes him an honorable oath-keeper. In the second story, Yang was exceptionally gifted with the staff and his talent commanded the respects of Sheriff Ma, Squire Yang, and Li Kuei. After defeating both Sheriff Ma and Squire Yang in practice for the staff competition, Yang went to the temple on the birthday of the mountain god (89-90). As the celebration went on, no one dared to challenge Li Kuei, the undefeated staff specialist, to a duel. Finally, Yang challenged Li and defeated Li with ease, which generated for Yang not only the prize money, but also Li’s respect (91-92). Yang was an honorable man who was respected for his expertise with the staff. In the third story, the lady knight-errant was respected by Ku for helping him take care of his mother, especially when his mother had gotten an abscess on her private parts (78). The lady knight-errant also took care of the household chores, and