It is no secret that Suikoden is based on Shui Hu Zhuan, a Chinese novel edited by Shi Nai An in the 16th century. In fact, some of the thematic elements along with numerous episodes from the plot directly borrow from Shui Hu Zhuan. However, Suikoden also borrows plot elements from other stories from Chinese and Japanese history/folklore. In particular, Suikoden 2 heavily borrows from the Chinese Shi Zhi (literally translates to "Historical Records") where the wars between Xiang Yu and Liu Pang are chronicled.

Unlike Shui Hu Zhuan, which is mostly fiction, the stories within the Shi Zhi are largely factual. Its content is relatively dry compared to other epic works, such as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. However, the story of Xiang Yu and Liu Pang is well known in China as one of the most gripping drama between two men who fought each other to become the emperor of China.

Xiang Yu and Liu Pang did not start out as enemies, in fact they were allies who fought together to defeat the corrupt Chin Dynasty. Xiang Yu was an ambitious young man known for his incredible strength and skill as a commander. As a member of the Xiang family known as loyal subjects in the Kingdom of Chu, Xiang Yu followed the lead of his uncle, Xiang Liang, in a rebellion against Chin. In contrast, Liu Pang was born as a peasant and became a lowly government employee--an equivalent of a police officer, known for being lazy but well liked due to his personable attitude. One day he was ordered to escort prisoners to the capital for forced labor. Many of the prisoners escaped, and Liu Pang knew that he would be punished with death for his failure. Thus, instead of completing his mission, he freed his prisoners (who by then were enthralled by Liu Pang's personality), and formed a rebel army. Liu Pang joins under the banner of Xiang Liang to help defeat the Chin Dynasty.

The two heroes agree that the one who first conquers the capital would become the next emperor, and Liu Pang accomplishes the feat first (With the help of strategists Zhang Liang and Xiao He). However, Xiang Yu, with a superior force, takes control of the capital after he arrives, proclaiming himself as the Xi Chu Bawang or "Conqueror King from West Chu." Xiang Yu's venerable strategist, Fan Zang, tells him he must kill Liu Pang. However, Xiang Yu lets Liu Pang go because he considered it "dishonorable," and did not consider him as a threat.

Escaping the capital, Liu Pang takes refuge in the land of Han Chung, and started building his strength. With the help of exceptional strategists such as Zhang Liang, Xiao He, and Han Xin, Liu Pang's forces grew in size and Han Chung experienced great prosperity. Thanks to the rugged terrain, repeated attacks by Xiang Yu's generals were repelled, and many of them ended up joining Liu Pang. Among them was the genius strategist and general, Han Xin, who was disgruntled by his treatment by Xiang Yu. He quickly helped Liu Pang gain new territory.

Although Xiang Yu himself never lost a battle and always drove away Liu Pang's armies, he himself was able to only command one army--there's only one Xiang Yu. Eventually, he gets surrounded and all of his soldiers defeated. He fights to the end, but realizing he had no way out, he stabbed himself, ending the war at the same time. With this, Liu Pang became the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, which lasted for the next 400 years (with a brief lapse of 15 years due to rebellion).

Yoshitaka Murayama, who directed Suikoden 2, stated in an interview that Riou and Jowy are modeled after Liu Pang and Xiang Yu, respectively. In the case of Xiang Yu however, Murayama took a bold step and separated his character into Jowy and Luca Blight. This worked very well due to Xiang Yu 's multi-faceted personality. Although Xiang Yu was known as a ruthless warrior with exceptional strength and ambition, he was also known to have his own sense of honor and showed great love for his consort, Lady Wu. This should have made it easy, or natural, to separate Xiang Yu into two separate characters. This goes with Jowy's famous quote as well--"With power, I thought I could protect those I love." Xiang Yu was a powerful man, who focused too much on personal power that he ended up alone with no allies.

There are other parallels between the two tales--for example, Jowy and Riou fight for a common goal in the beginning--until they kill Luca Blight (despite the fact that they were rivals). This is exactly the same as how Liu Pang and Xiang Yu fought against the Chin Dynasty (again, as rivals). After they accomplish the common goal, both parties started fighting against each other after a peace conference, where one side is basically forced to flee. Liu Pang had to flee to Han Chung, while Riou had to flee from Muse.

Another similarity are the strategists. Xiang Yu had Fan Zang, a venerable strategic genius who lived as a hermit. Xiang Yu begs him to help, and Fan Zang reluctantly agrees. This is exactly the same as how Jowy begged Leon Silverberg to join his cause by visiting him in Kalekka, where Leon lived pretty much as a hermit. Not only that, Leon is the oldest strategist in Suikoden 2, and strongly recommends Jowy to kill Riou at the "Peace Conference." Fan Zang makes the exact same recommendation to Xiang Yu during the "Peace Conference" after the Chin Dynasty was destroyed. Both Jowy and Xiang Yu refuse to follow that advice, resulting in their rivals escaping their grasp.

On Liu Pang's side, he had three strategists--Zhang Liang, Xiao He, and Han Xin. Xiao He knew Liu Pang from the very beginning, and was never a military strategist--instead, he helped Liu Bang by recruiting Zhang Liang and Han Xin. He also provided support in outfitting and organizing troops as well as providing supplies. This makes Xiao He similar to Apple due to her role as the one who recruited Shu, and also because she was the one in charge of organizing troops ("leave it up to Apple"). Han Xin and Zhang Liang are difficult to compare with Shu and Klaus--it seems the two are sort of mixed together. Skill-wise, Han Xin is clearly equal to Shu--Zhang Liang admits himself that Han Xin is clearly superior as a tactician. Han Xin also has the arrogance of Shu, which ultimately ends up being his downfall after Liu Pang becomes emperor. However, like Klaus, Han Xin used to be with the enemy and joined Liu Pang's side later on. Thus, Shu and Klaus seems to come from a common source.

Elements of Zhang Liang is seen in both Klaus and Shu, because he was the only person in Liu Pang's army who was able to openly challenge and critique Liu Pang's decisions--just like Shu. However, he was not haughty at all, and had the humbleness of Klaus.

These three strategists struggled to best Fan Zang, just like how Shu, Klaus, and Apple struggled to counter the genius of Leon Silverberg. In the Shi Zhi, Xiang Yu's loss is largely attributed to his unwillingness to follow Fan Zang's advice. In fact, he ended up developing doubts towards him, and sent him away. Similarly, Jowy increasingly acts against Leon Silverberg's advice--which directly leads to the Highland Kingdom's defeat.

Of course, there are many differences between the characters of Shi Zhi and Suikoden 2, such as the romance between Xiang Yu and consort Wu, and how Han Xin killed his rival out of jealousy (You can't imagine how Shu would do such a thing). The Shi Zhi is very much "factual" and is not as dramatic as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so it is natural that Suikoden 2 did not incorporate the gritty realism of the actual account.

Suikoden 2 also borrows material from another Chinese historical document, the "Summary of Eighteen Chronicles" where the renown strategist Sun Pin (some claim that he is "Sun Tzu") defeats his long-time rival Pang Juan. In a final battle between these rivals, Sun Pin writes on a tree along a path, "Here is where Pang Juan dies." Pang Juan marched past that tree during the night on his way to a raid on Sun Pin's camp. Seeing the tree, Pang Juan wanted to take a closer look, and lit a torch. Upon seeing the torch, Sun Pin ordered his archers to launch volleys upon volleys of arrows, killing Pang Juan.

This episode is more or less exactly the same as how Shu manages to defeat Luca Blight. It is a well executed scene in the game, effectively immortalizing the sheer power of Luca Blight and almost gruesome determination of Shu to end Luca's life.

Suikoden draws a lot of material from various sources--not only Chinese or Japanese sources either, due to how the creators had interest in Occidental literature as well. This extensive adaptation from historical and literary sources is what makes Suikoden acquire its gripping plot. Hopefully this trend will continue on to future installations.

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