Chinese Name: Lei Heng 

Japanese Name: Sōshiko Raiō

Rank: 25th of the 108 Stars of Destiny 

Nickname: Winged Tiger

Lei Heng was tall, strong, and agile with a ruddy complexion. He earned the nickname, “Winged Tiger”, for his ability to scale tall walls and leap twenty to thirty feet across creeks and streams. He had been a blacksmith, a butcher, and a gambler before becoming a police inspector in Yuncheng County. He and his sworn brother Zhu Tong (plate 22) were the two inspectors in charge of suppressing the brigands in the area; though both would aid in the escape of wanted criminals if they were on friendly terms.

One day Lei Heng went with a friend to watch a songstress named Bai Xiuying perform at a teahouse. After her performance, she took a tray around the audience to collect donations. Lei Heng had forgotten his money pouch, but he told her he would return the next day with a contribution for her. She scoffed at Lei Heng—he had sat in the best seat and she insisted he pay. He said he could not, then her father interposed and began to berate and insult him as well. Lei Heng lost his temper, hit the man, and several of his teeth went flying from his mouth. 

Bai Xiuying was having an affair with the county magistrate. She convinced him to arrest Lei Heng, and insisted he be shackled with a cangue outside the teahouse to be humiliated as part of his punishment. 

Lei Heng’s elderly mother came to give him food, but she couldn’t stand to see him in such a state, so she began to untie him. As she worked to free her son, she loudly proclaimed what a harlot Bai Xiuying must be, saying the county magistrate must be a happy man to give her whatever she asked for. Bai Xiuying came charging out of the teahouse, and the two women threw insults at each other until Bai Xiuying started slapping the old woman over and over. 

This was too much for Lei Heng and he broke free of his cangue. In a fit of rage he swung the cangue at Bai Xiuying and crushed her skull. He was arrested at once and confessed to killing the young woman. The magistrate was livid, and sentenced Lei Heng to be banished to Jingzhou Prison and executed. 

Zhu Tong was tasked with escorting Lei Heng to Jingzhou. When they were a few miles outside of Yuncheng County, he released Lei Heng’s cangue and told him to retrieve his mother and flee. Lei Heng protested, but Zhu Tong insisted he would rather take the smaller punishment of losing a prisoner than to see his sworn brother be executed. Lie Heng returned to his mother and the two of them made their escape and joined with the bandits at Liangshan Marsh.

Lei Heng is shown here attacking Bai Xiuying, although he is not depicted using the cangue as he does in the novel.    

Kuniyoshi recreation