Chinese Name: Cao Zheng 

Japanese Name: Sōtōki Sōsei 

Rank: 81st of the 108 Stars of Destiny

Nickname: Demon Carver

Cao Zheng was a butcher from Kaifeng whose father and grandfather were also butchers. His skills with preparing meat earned him the nickname, “Demon Carver”.  As a youth, he studied martial arts under Lin Chong (plate 19). As a young man, he lost 5000 strings of cash in Shandong that had been given to him by a wealthy man in Kaifeng as part of a business venture; afterwards he dared not return home.  He married the daughter of a farmer in the area, moved in with them, and took up running an inn. 

Yang Zhi (plate 13) had been assigned to escort a convoy of birthday gifts to Prime Minister Cai. While he and his men were en route, they were tricked into drinking drugged wine by Chao Gai (see plate 14) and a team of his men disguised as vendors. Yang Zhi, drugged but still conscious, watched in horror as Chao Gai’s team carted away the Prime Minister’s gifts, and when the drug wore off, was not sure what to do or where to go.  

Too disgraced to face his superiors, Yang Zhi headed south and walked all night. He stopped at an inn and ordered food and wine, but having no money, got up and began to leave without paying. The woman who had served him called out for him to stop but he continued out the door. A man with a cudgel arose and advanced on him, and Yang Zhi raised his halberd and readied himself for a fight. They fought fiercely for twenty bouts, but the man with the cudgel could not gain any advantage on Yang Zhi.  Finally, the man stopped and asked his name. 

He answered that he was Yang Zhi the Blue Faced Brute. The man with the cudgel introduced himself as Cao Zheng. He said he had heard of the heroic deeds of Yang Zhi and apologized for not recognizing him. Cao Zheng invited Yang Zhi to sit and eat with him, and during the meal Yang Zhi explained the predicament he had recently found himself in. Cao Zheng suggested he seek refuge with the bandits at Baozhu Monastery on Lianglong Mountain. 

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Yang Zhi took Cao Zheng’s advice and as the story unfolded, he went on to become one of the leaders of the Mount Lianglong bandits alongside Lu Zhishen (plates 6; 10).  

General Huyan Zhuo (plate 55) had started a campaign to rid the land of brigands. In order to defeat General Huyan, the bandits of Mount Lianglong joined forces with the bandits of Mount Taohua and Mount Baihu and together they joined the gang of outlaws at Liangshan Marsh. When the bandits of Mount Lianglong became part of the legions at Liangshan, Yang Zhi convinced Cao Zheng to join with them.   

Cao Zheng is depicted here as he is about to fight Yang Zhi for trying to leave his inn without paying for his meal. 

Kuniyoshi Recreation