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Lin Chong is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Panther Head", he ranks sixth among the 36 Heavenly Spirits. In some folk tales derived from the novel, he is said to have learnt martial arts from Zhou Tong, who purportedly trained the Song dynasty general Yue Fei in archery.
Gao Yanei asks his adoptive father to help him get hold of Lin Chong‘s wife. Knowing Lin loves good weapons, Gao Qiu sends a man to trick him to buy a rare sword on the street. The Grand Marshal then summons Lin Chong to his residence claiming that he wants to see his new possession. Lin, carrying the sword, unsuspectingly enters the White Tiger Hall, where meetings on top-secret state matters are held and arms are prohibited. Gao Qiu accuses Lin of wanting to assassinate him and orders his arrest.
Lin Chong is tattooed on the face and exiled to Cangzhou. Before he is on the way, he insists on divorcing his wife so that she can find a better husband. Meanwhile, Gao Qiu bribes the two guards escorting Lin Chong to kill him along the way. During the journey, the escorts mistreat Lin, including scalding his feet at one point. At Wild Boar Forest, just as they are about to kill Lin after tying him to a tree, Lu Zhishen springs out from behind the trunk, disarms them, and wants to finish them off. He is prevented by Lin Chong, who tells him that they are just stooges of Gao Qiu. Lu Zhishen accompanies Lin to Cangzhou and takes leave only after ensuring the escorts would try no more mischief.
In Cangzhou, Lin Chong befriends the nobleman Chai Jin. His impressive skill in thrashing a boastful and arrogant martial arts instructor, who lives off Chai, wins the scion's admiration. Chai provides him money to bribe the jailers not to make his life in prison miserable.
On the day Lin Chong takes up his new duty, Lu Qian, Fu An and the jailer set fire to the depot after nightfall, certain that he must be trapped in the inferno. However, Lin Chong has earlier gone out to buy wine and upon return found his hut in the depot crushed under the weight of snow. He then took shelter in a nearby temple. Upon seeing that the depot is on fire, he hurries towards it. But he overhears the three men talking outside the temple and learns that the fire is their work. Enraged, he charges out, kills the three men and offers their heads to the deity of the temple. He then flees the scene.
At Liangshan, Wang Lun fears Lin Chong, with his superior fighting skill, will usurp his position, so he tries to send him away with excuse and gifts. As Lin Chong pleads to stay, Wang Lun sets the condition that he must kill a man in three days and present the person's head as his ticket of enrolment. On the third day, Lin Chong encounters Yang Zhi and they fight to a standstill. Wang Lun comes to the scene, stops the fight, and invites Yang to join his band in the hope that he would be a counterweight to Lin Chong. But Yang declines and leaves. Wang Lun reluctantly lets Lin Chong stay and take the fourth position under himself, Du Qian and Song Wan.
When Chao Gai and his six friends come to Liangshan to seek refuge after being discovered by authorities to be the hijackers of birthday gifts in transportation to the Grand Tutor Cai Jing, Wang Lun again feels threatened. He tries to send them away with gifts. Frustrated with Wang Lun's selfishness and incited by Wu Yong, Lin Chong kills the leader. Chao Gai is elected the new chief of Liangshan, with Lin being placed fourth after Wu Yong and Gongsun Sheng. Lin then seeks news about his wife and is sad to hear that she has hanged herself to avoid harassment by Gao Yanei.
When Gao Qiu personally leads a military attack on Liangshan, he ends up being captured. Some later editions of Water Margin say Lin Chong wants to kill Gao for reprisal. But an earlier edition said he is resigned to his fate, no longer keen on revenge. The 120-chapter edition of Water Margin depicts him as merely staring at Gao as the latter is escorted into Liangshan's main hall after his capture. The earlier 100-chapter edition does not even mention this. Song Jiang treats Gao as an honoured guest and releases him hoping he will obtain amnesty from Emperor Huizong for Liangshan.
After the amnesty, the Liangshan heroes are sent to fight the Liao dynasty invaders and put down the rebel forces of Tian Hu, Wang Qing, and Fang La in Song territory. Lin Chong makes significant contributions in the series of campaigns. Just when the missions are all over, Lin Chong is stricken by paralysis. He dies six months later under the care of Wu Song in Liuhe Temple in Hangzhou, where Lu Zhishen had died six months earlier.
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