Ruan Xiaoqi

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This is a Chinese name; the family name is Ruan.

Ruan Xiaoqi (阮小七) or Ruan VII, is a character in the epic Chinese novel the Water Margin.

Ruan was born with an unusual appearance, with bulging eyes and light yellow whiskers, with dark patches on his skin, as though he was cast in bronze. Thus, he earned the nickname 'Living King Yama' (活閻羅). Ruan Xiaoqi and his two elder brothers Ruan Xiaoer and Ruan Xiaowu in Shijie Village (石碣村) as fishermen. The three of them were known to be powerful swimmers. Ruan Xiaoqi loved gambling and often gambled all his money away. He was a straightfoward and impatient man.

Wu Yong succeeded in persuading the Ruan brothers to join the four of them (Chao Gai, Wu Yong, Gongsun Sheng and Liu Tang) in robbing the convoy of birthdays gifts. Later, the incident was exposed and the authorities issued warrants for the arrest of the seven men. Song Jiang informed Chao Gai that he was wanted by the government, and Chao fled together with his companions to Liangshan for refuge.

Wang Lun, the incompetent leader of the Liangshan band, refused to allow the heroes to join the band, but was killed by Lin Chong through Wu Yong's instigation. Chao Gai was elected to be the new leader. Ruan Xiaoqi then took the eighth position among the heroes. Ruan joined in the attack against Huang An, the rescue mission in the Jiangzhou (江州) execution ground and many other adventures. Once Zhang Heng was caught by Guan Sheng, Ruan tried to sneak into Guan's camp to rescue Zhang but was also captured. After the heroes had defeated Guan Sheng, the captives were released.

Ruan Xiaoqi became one of the leaders of the Liangshan navy and 36 Heavenly Spirits, along with his brothers and made contributions during the expeditions against the Liao Tartars and southern rebels. His brothers were not as lucky as him as both of them perished in the Fang Xi campaign. After the Liangshan heroes had defeated Fang Xi, Ruan Xiaoqi donned Fang's crown and robes in excitement, which later proved to be disastrous in his future career.

Later, Ruan Xiaoqi was rewarded with an official position, but the evil officials reported him to the emperor. The emperor was furious with Ruan Xiaoqi for donning Fang Xi's garments as that was considered an act of rebellion (because Fang committed treason by declaring himself emperor). Ruan was dismissed from office and became a commoner. He went home and lived a happy life till his death at the age of 60.