Today, the Sung Chiang troupes only come together for drills before temple festivals. The religious function has overtaken the defensive function. For its religious emphasis, we must return to the origin of the Sung Chiang brigade characters, which come from the Ming dynasty novel The Water Margin (All Men Are Brothers), by shih Nai-an.
在今天，只在廟會前才集訓出陣的宋江陣，宗教功能已遠超過體育性，而其宗教性的強調，則得回到宋江陣人物來處﹘﹘明朝施耐庵的水滸傳故事說起。