The Journey to the West is a household name in China and even parts of Asia, among which the Monkey King, Tang Priest, Pig Bajie, Friar Sand and other characters and stories such as "Nayong Tiangong", "Monkey King Thrice Defeats the Skeleton Demon" and "The Flame Mountain" are particularly familiar. For hundreds of years, The Journey to the West has been adapted into various local operas, as well as various versions of movies, TV series, cartoons and cartoons. In Japan and other Asian countries, there are also literary and artistic works with the Monkey King as the theme, with many styles and an amazing number. The author of The Journey to the West is generally regarded as Wu Cheng'en of the Ming Dynasty. It is generally believed that The Journey to the West is the creative result of the combination of anonymous folk writers and literati writers.
Journey to the West mainly describes the Monkey King's story of protecting Tang Priest's Buddhist scriptures in the West and going through 81 difficulties.
Introduction of main characters
The Monkey King, also known as Monkey King, Monkey King, Monkey King. It is a stone monkey cultivated by the Lingshi of Huaguoshan, Ole Dongsheng, Shenzhou. It occupied Guo Huashan for three or five hundred years. After eight or nine years, I learned seventy-two changes by learning from Xu Bodhi in Fangcun Mountain, Niulingtai. Since then, the Monkey King made a scene in the Heavenly Palace, claiming to be the Great Sage of Monkey, and was suppressed by the Tathagata at the foot of the Five Elements Mountain, unable to move. Five hundred years later, the Tang Priest went to the Western Heaven to learn Buddhist scriptures, passed by Wuxing Mountain, and broke the spell before he saved the Monkey King. The Monkey King was so grateful that, at the instigation of Guanyin Bodhisattva, he worshipped the Tang Priest as a teacher and went to the Western Heaven to learn Buddhist scriptures. On the way to learn from the scriptures, the Monkey King exorcised demons and made many remarkable achievements. However, he was misunderstood and expelled again and again by Tang Priest and his disciples. Finally, the four of them arrived at the Buddhist Leiyin Temple and got the true scriptures. The Monkey King's cultivation was successful, and the seal fight defeated the Buddha. The Monkey King is smart, lively, brave, loyal and fierce. He has become the embodiment of wit and courage in China culture, so the Monkey King can easily become the idol of China boys.
Tang Priest, the Tang Priest in the novel is a fictional character, which is different from the real character Master Xuanzang in history. The Tang priest in the novel, usually surnamed Chen and nicknamed, was originally reincarnated by the second disciple of the Buddha, Jin. He is a posthumous child. Because of his parents' tragic and bizarre experiences, he grew up in a temple after becoming a monk, became a monk in a biochemical temple, and finally moved to a famous temple in Beijing to practice. Tang Priest is studious and highly savvy, and stands out among the monks in the temple. Finally, he was selected by the emperor of the Tang Dynasty and went to the Western Heaven to learn from the scriptures. On the way to learn Buddhist scriptures, the Tang Priest successively surrendered three disciples, the Monkey King, Pig Bajie and Friar Sand.
Zhu Bajie, also known as Zhu Zhu Gang and Zhu Wuneng. Tian Peng, a former marshal of the Heavenly Palace, came down to earth for flirting with Chang 'e, but he mistakenly cast a pig's fetus and grew into a pig's face. Catch the civilians in Gaolaozhuang and be subdued by the Monkey King. The title of the successful restoration is "The Messenger of the Pure Altar". Pig's weapon is nine-tooth nail palladium. Pigs can only change 36.
Friar Sand, also known as Sha Wujing. He used to be a general in the Forbidden City. Because he broke the glass lamp at the flat peach party, he angered the queen mother and was banished to the world. He was turned into a monster by the Liusha River. Later, he was subdued by the Tang Priest and his disciples and was responsible for carrying the burden. The weapon used is a wand. The book also calls Friar Sand "Friar Sand".
On the way to Buddhist scriptures in the Western Heaven, after fourteen years of cold and heat, master and apprentice struggled with all kinds of monsters in eighty-one difficult, and finally arrived in the Western Heaven to retrieve the true scriptures. Among them, the most classic stories are the Monkey King's disturbance in the Heavenly Palace, Gao Laozhuang's collection of Eight Rings, Liu Sha River's collection of sand monks, Monkey King Thrice Defeats the Skeleton Demon, Ginseng Fruit, Pansi Cave, Flame Mountain, and the true and false Monkey King. In the struggle against monsters, they portrayed the distinctive personalities of the four masters and apprentices. The story is vivid and suitable for all ages for hundreds of years.
It is a true story in history that Tang Priest learned the scriptures. About 1300 years ago, in the first year of Zhenguan of Emperor Taizong (627), Xuanzang, a 25-year-old young monk, left the capital Chang 'an and went to Tianzhu (India) to study alone. After starting from Chang 'an, he passed through Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and finally arrived in India. He studied there for more than two years and gave a speech at a large-scale debate on Buddhist classics, which was well received.
In the 19th year of Zhenguan (645), Xuanzang returned to Chang 'an and brought back 657 Buddhist scriptures. He traveled to Wan Li in 19 before and after this Buddhist pilgrimage, which was a legendary Long March and made a sensation. Later, Xuanzang dictated his The Journey to the West, which was compiled by his disciples into a 12-volume Record of the Western Regions of Datang. But this book is mainly about the history, geography and transportation of countries seen on the road, and there is no story. As for "Datang The biography of Master Sanzang" written by his disciples Huihe and Yan Cong, it adds a lot of myths to Xuanzang's experience. Since then, the story of Tang Priest's Buddhist scriptures has been widely circulated among the people. There were poems by three monks in the Tang Dynasty in the Southern Song Dynasty, Tang Sanzang and Pan in the Jin Dynasty, Tang Sanzang's "Learning from the Western Heaven" in Wu Changling, and "Great Sage" in the Fifth Ming Dynasty, all of which laid the foundation for The Journey to the West's creation.
It is also on the basis of folklore, scripts and operas that Wu Cheng'en completed this great literary masterpiece that the Chinese nation is proud of through hard re-creation.
Wu Cheng'en, like a Chinese character, was born in Yangshan, Huai 'an Prefecture (now Huai 'an City, Jiangsu Province). Born in the 13th year of Hongzhi in Ming Dynasty to the early year of Zheng Dechu (1500— 15 10), died in the 10th year of Wanli (1582). Wu Cheng'en's great-grandfather and grandfather were both scholars, and both served as lecturers and lecturers in county schools. But in his father's generation, due to his poor family, the Xu family became redundant. "So he attacked the Xu family and became the boss" and became a small businessman. Nevertheless, the Wu family has not lost the tradition of reading. It is said that although his father Wu Rui is a businessman, he is not only decent, but also good at reading and talking about current affairs, which naturally has a great influence on Wu Cheng'en. Wu Cheng'en was very clever since he was a child, and he entered school very early. He was very successful as a teenager and was famous in his village. Volume 16 of The Apocalypse of Huai 'an Prefecture said that Wu Cheng'en was "quick and wise, and learned a lot of books, whether poetry or prose." However, Wu Cheng'en, as an adult, encountered many setbacks on the road to the imperial examination. He didn't make up for one-year-old Gong Sheng until he was in his forties. In his fifties, he worked as a county magistrate in Changxing, Zhejiang Province, and later as a king's residence, Jishan. This is a sinecure, with the same level as the county magistrate. Wu Cheng'en created The Journey to the West after middle age, or was considered to have done it in his later years. The exact time cannot be determined. Besides The Journey to the West, he also wrote long poems "Song of Jiro Seeking Mountains" and "In Zhi Ding". Sheyang Survival Draft consists of four volumes, including one volume of poetry and three volumes of prose, which were edited by Du Qiu after Wu Cheng'en's death.
The complete works of Journey to the West have one hundred chapters, which can be divided into three parts from the big structure. The first time to the eighth time is the first part, mainly about the birth of the Monkey King, his apprentice, who made a scene in heaven. This is the most wonderful chapter in the book, very vivid. The Monkey King had a good meal in heaven and earth, which showed his rebellious character to the fullest. Chapters 8 to 12 are the second part, mainly describing the origin of Tang Priest and the reasons for learning from the scriptures. The thirteenth to the last time is the third part, mainly about Tang Priest's Buddhist scriptures. On the way, I received three apprentices, the Monkey King, Pig Bajie and Friar Sand. After eighty-one difficulties, I finally got the true scripture and got the right result.