'''梁山泊'''（りょうざんぱく）は、中国の山東省済寧市梁山県に存在した沼沢である。この沼を舞台とした伝奇小説『水滸伝』では周囲800里とうたわれた大沼沢であった。

==歴史==
梁山泊のあった現在の山東省西部は黄河によって形成された海抜ゼロメートル以下の内陸低地であり、一帯は古くから黄河の氾濫が繰り返されることによって無数の水路と沼沢が生まれた。特に五代十国時代の944年の黄河の氾濫のとき堤防が決壊して河水が流れ込み、この地には大沼沢が生まれた。梁山泊の名があらわれるのは五代から北宋の頃で、近くに梁山という名の山があったことから梁山泊と呼ばれた。

梁山泊の上流にあたる現在の河南省東部では黄河の大氾濫が北宋の時代にも1019年、1077年と相次ぎ、梁山泊はさらに規模を大きくした。やがて11世紀の末頃から、水路とかつては小丘陵だった島が入り組んだ梁山泊は盗賊や政府に反抗する者たちの巣窟となり、宋王朝を大いに悩ませた。

北宋にかわってこの地を支配した金の時代の1194年には黄河の大氾濫が起こって河はこの地域で南北に分かれ、山東半島の南、淮河の方面に流れる南流が1855年まで700年にわたって本流となるが、その当初は黄河は梁山泊に注いで分かれていたという。その後、頻繁な河道の変遷を経てやがて干上がり始め消失した。

梁山泊近辺に横行した反抗者の中でも、北宋末期の河北で蜂起し山東一帯で10郡を制圧した元の時代に編纂された『宋史』には「宋江、京東を寇す」「（宋）江、三十六人を以て斉・魏を横行し、官軍の数万に敢えて抗する者なし」とある。まもなく宋江の反乱は鎮圧されるが、やがてこの史実をもとに、梁山泊に宋江以下36人のアウトローたちが立てこもる物語が生み出され、明の初め頃に、梁山泊に集う108人のアウトローたちを主人公とする小説『水滸伝』へとまとめられた。

== 人気 ==

'''Mount Liang''' () is a mountain in Liangshan County, Shandong province, China which rises to 197.9 m above sea level. It is well known as the stronghold of the 108 legendary Song Dynasty heroes of the classic Chinese novel ''Water Margin''. The modern Liangshan County is located a few kilometres to the north, and 80km west of the Beijing-Shanghai railway line.

The original Mount Liang was named after the son of Emperor Wen, the King of Liang, who was buried on the mountain. The area was from prehistoric times surrounded by the largest marshland in north China, called the Daye Marsh and later the Liangshan Marsh. During the Song Dynasty, the Yellow River passed through the area. Mount Liang was located at the extreme north of what became known as the "eight hundred ''li'' moorage of Mount Liang". Because the area was largely a wasteland on the frontiers of several administrative units, government control was minimal. It is known that bandit chiefs were active in the area during the Northern Song, although Song Jiang - one of the chief protagonists of the ''Water Margin'' - was not associated with the area. Some of the bandits on Mount Liangshan preyed selectively upon the rich and became known as "righteous bandits" (''yi fei'' 義匪). Legends about the heroes of Mount Liangshan, which provided the basis for the ''Water Margin'', probably formed from this historical context. Banditry continued on Mount Liang until the mid-seventeenth century, when the Qing Dynasty government established a military garrison at what is now the city of Liangshan.

''Water Margin'' describes Mount Liangshan in majestic terms, imagining its peak to be a plateau ringed by high mountains and protected by six passes and eight fortresses. The Yuan Dynasty play ''Black Hurricane Presents Twin Victories'' (黑旋風雙獻功) envisages Mount Liangshan as having: "seventy-two deep rivers, garrisoned with hundreds of warships. In thirty-six feasting towers are gathered food for a million soldiers and their mounts."
 
When the Yellow River shifted course 1289, the marshes of Liangshan shrunk considerably. During the Ming Dynasty it had been reduced to five smaller marshlands. After the Yellow River shifted back to its northern course in 1853, the marshes were gradually filled in by sediments carried downstream by the river and human land reclamation. Today the relatively small Dongping Lake is what remains of the great marshes.