Chinese Name: Jin Dajian 

Japanese Name: Gyokuhishō Kintaiken

Rank: 66th of the 108 Stars of Destiny 

Nickname: Jade Armed Craftsman 

Jin Dajian was an engraver from Jizhou who earned the nickname, “Jade Armed Craftsman”, for his impressive skill in carving official seals out of stones. 

Song Jiang (plate 107) was serving his sentence in Jiangzhou Prison for the murder of his mistress Yan Poxi. While there, he befriended the chief warden, Dai Zong (plate 97), who let Song Jiang come and go from the prison as he pleased. One day while in a melancholy state, Song Jiang became drunk at a restaurant and wrote a seditious poem on the wall. The next day, a petty official named Huang Wenbing, discovered the poem and reported it to the Prefect of Jiangzhou. Unsure of how to handle the matter, the Prefect wrote a letter to his father, the Prime Minister, asking for guidance. 

Chao Gai (see plate 14) and the bandits at Liangshan Marsh caught wind of Song Jiang’s predicament and devised a plan to rescue him. They enlisted the help of Jin Dajian, who was famous for expertly carving official seals, and Xiao Rang (plate 96), who was famous for his ability to forge anyone’s handwriting. The two men forged a response letter from the Prime Minister to his son suggesting that Song Jiang be sent to the capital for execution—the bandits’ plan was to intercept Song Jiang’s escort party as he was being transported. 

The plan failed however, as they used an inappropriate seal denoting correspondence from a father to a son, and when Huang Wenbing pointed out the mistake, the ruse was found out. The warden, Dai Zong, was implicated in the attempted rescue of Song Jiang and was also sentenced to death. With no options left to them, Chao Gai organized a rescue party of Liangshan bandits to save the two men, and, disguised as merchants, gained access to the execution grounds. Moments before Song Jiang’s impending death, the Liangshan bandits drew their weapons from under their disguises and charged the soldiers, successfully rescuing Song Jiang and Dai Zong (see plate 36 for story details).

The rescue party, along with Song Jiang and Dai Zong, escaped back to the bandits’ stronghold, and for their part in assisting in the rescue attempt, Jin Dajian and Xiao Rang were invited to become members of the gang at Liangshan Marsh.

Jin Dajian is shown here carving the seal to be used to create the forged letter from Grand Tutor, Prime Minister Cai Jing. 

Isaac Nichols Nichols original