Chen Da is depicted as impatient and hot-tempered with a loud booming voice. Nicknamed "Stream Leaping Tiger", he fights well with an iron spear. Originally from Ye, Chen Da is one of the three bandit chiefs at Mount Shaohua, ranked second between Zhu Wu and Yang Chun. The three would plunder the nearby counties when their grain stock runs low for replenishment.
One day Chen Da suggests raiding the well-stocked Huayin County for grain as the stronghold is facing insufficiency. But Zhu Wu objects, warning that the route to Huayin runs past the Shi Family Village where he might encounter the formidable fighter Shi Jin. Dismissing Zhu as cowardly, Chen Da leads some men towards Huayin. Just as Zhu Wu has foreseen, Shi Jin blocks the path of Chen Da and captures him in a one-on-one horseback combat. Upon hearing that, Zhu Wu goes with Yang Chun to plead with Shi Jin to arrest them as well so that they can fulfil their oath of dying together. Moved by their bond, Shi Jin frees Chen Da and befriends the three. Henceforth, the two sides often exchange gifts and visit each other for drink. One day a hunter finds a reply letter from Mount Shaohua on a servant of Shi Jin, who has fallen drunk in a grove after an errand to invite the outlaws to attend a feast at his master's house. The matter is reported to the authorities, which send an arrest party to Shi's house on the night of the gathering. Finding his manor besieged, Shi Jin burns it down and fights his way out with the bandit chiefs. They get to Mount Shaohua safely, where Shi Jin becomes the chief after failing to locate his teacher Wang Jin in Weizhou.
Shi Jin tries to save a woman abducted by Governor He of Hua Prefecture, or Huazhou, but falls into the latter's trap and is captured. Lu Zhishen, who has come to invite Shi Jin to join the Liangshan Marsh, tries to rescue him but also falls into He's ambush. The Mount Shaohua outlaws turn to Liangshan for help. At Huazhou, the force from Liangshan lure He out of the city and kill him. After Shi and Lu are rescued, the Mount Shaohua bandits, including Chen Da, are absorbed into Liangshan.
Campaigns
Chen Da is appointed as one of the leaders of the Liangshan cavalry after the 108 Stars of Destiny came together in what is called the Grand Assembly. He participates in the campaigns against the Liao invaders and rebel forces on Song territory following amnesty from Emperor Huizong for Liangshan. In the attack on Yuling Pass in the campaign against Fang La, Chen Da, Shi Jin and four other heroes face the enemy general Pang Wanchun. Pang kills Shi Jin with a shot while his archers rain arrows on Chen and the rest, killing all of them.
