Every civilization has had its share of literary masters, and China is no exception to this. Throughout its history, education has always been an important part of China’s culture. As a result, China has had many educated scholars who have created amazing works of literature. Although the Chinese created many influential literary works, some were more influential than others. Journey to the West was one of the most influential works of Chinese literature, for it was known to many who were far beyond the reach of Chinese borders.
Journey to the West was a 16th century classic novel written anonymously by Wu Cheng’en, a poet who lived during the reign of the Ming dynasty. The novel discusses the voyage of Buddhist monk Xuanzang from Chang’an (modern day Xi’an) to India during the Tang dynasty in an effort to find holy Buddhist texts. Along the way, he visits several Western provinces in China. When he finally reaches India, he resides there for 13 years before he returns to China with the Buddhist texts.
The novel is made up of 100 chapters, which are divided into 3 primary sections. The first seven chapters describes a monkey who was born from a stone egg and acquires magical powers. Five chapters are related to the story of Xuanzuang’s desire to make a pilgrimage to Mahayan Amitabha Buddha’s Western Pure Land. The majority of the novel discusses the 81 adventures experienced by Xuanzang and his three animal-spirit disciples’ on their voyage to India. His three disciples are a magical monkey, a lazy pig, and a fish named Sandy. These three disciples were attached to Xuanzang because they had hoped to receive pardon from sins they had committed in their past lives’ by helping him.
The novel is primarily focused on Buddhism, but it also incorporates many Chinese folk tales, pantheism, and Taoism in order to help aid in the establishment of various characters and creatures who were dispersed throughout the novel. Wu Cheng’en incorporates both demonic spirits and animal spirits who took on a human form in the novel. This novel is considered to be the most famous novels in the Shenmo genre, which focuses on describing the calculating nature of gods or demons. The novel had the most profound influence on Chinese culture during the era of the Ming dynasty because it was the first book which included various folktales and myths from prior centuries. Nevertheless, the classic novel is extremely popular in China, where several different versions of the novel are being circulated today.
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Journey-to-the-West
https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/culture/china-classic-novels.htm
https://www.vbtutor.net/Xiyouji/pzhubajie.htm
很棒的文章！我自己也读过英文版的西游记，小时候也跟奶奶爷爷看过西游记的电视剧。我知道西游记在中国的文化里是一个很有名的故事。从小大现在，西游记出了很多版本，也有很多人用孙悟空，猪八戒，和唐僧来创造新的作品。
吴承恩所著的西游记被誉为中国古典四大名著之一深受中国人民的喜爱。其中他刻化的取经师徒各有千秋。我最喜欢的人物是孙悟空，他神通广大无所不能在水帘洞里自率一帮。他所表达的个人主义是相当鲜明的，在这个由天庭和佛祖管理的世界里以他自己的想法反抗但最后被压在五指山下五百年，后又被唐僧带上紧箍束缚在了咒语之下。这批判了当年封建政府，在冠冕堂皇的外衣之下，黑暗而腐败。