Chinese Name: Liu Tang 

Japanese Name: Sekihakki Ryūtō

Rank: 21st of the 108 Stars of Destiny 

Nickname: Red Haired Demon

Liu Tang was a vagabond and black market vendor. He is described as being a very large man with dark skin, black hair covering his entire body, and a large red birth mark near his temple with hair growing from it. 

Liu Tang came across information regarding an enormously valuable convoy of birthday gifts being sent to Prime minister Cai. He took the information to Chao Gai and together with Wu Yong (see plate 14 for story details) they assembled a small team of men to rob the convoy. 

The robbery was a success until one of their men was captured and confessed under torture. Chao Gai received word that the authorities were after him and his team of thieves—including Liu Tang—so they fled to Liangshan Marsh to seek refuge with the bandit stronghold.

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As the saga of the Liangshan bandits unfolded, Chao Gai was killed by a poisoned arrow while battling the Zeng Family (see plate 66 for details). Song Jiang (plate 107) became acting leader of the Liangshan bandits and in order to boost moral, decided to recruit Lu Junyi (plate 68), a wealthy, well respected official from Daming Prefecture, highly skilled in the martial arts.

Lu Junyi was unwilling to join Liangshan so Liu Tang, Li Ying and Mu Hong (plate 69), engaged him in combat to lure him into a trap. Once captured, Lu Junyi was brought to the Liangshan stronghold in the hopes that Song Jiang could persuade him with his charm and generosity to join their legions.

Liu Tang is shown here as he is about to fight Lu Junyi. 

Kuniyoshi recreation