With rich fantastic imagination, The Journey to the West described the struggles of the four disciples who ventured into the barren land on the distant Western Heaven Road, visualized the hardships they experienced as eighty-one difficulties set by demons, vividly expressed the viciousness of ruthless mountains and rivers with animalized sentient spirits, praised the fighting spirit of Buddhist disciples in overcoming difficulties with songs of exorcism, expressed the lofty desire of man to overcome nature, and also promoted the theme of punishing evil and promoting good.
In these countless fantasy plots full of struggles, the optimism spirit of the broad masses of the people against evil forces and demanding victory over nature and difficulties is meaningfully reflected, and the social reality in feudal times is tortuous.
Second, a brief introduction to The Journey to the West
The Journey to the West is the first romantic novel with chapters and sections in ancient China. There are hundreds of The Journey to the West published in Ming Dynasty, and there is no author's signature. Wu et al., a scholar in Qing Dynasty, first proposed that The Journey to the West was written by Wu Cheng'en in Ming Dynasty. This novel is based on the historical event of "Tang priest learning from the scriptures" and deeply depicts the social reality at that time through the author's artistic processing. The book mainly describes the story of the Monkey King's encounter with Tang Priest, Pig Bajie, Friar Sand after his birth, and his disturbance to the Heaven Palace. He went west to learn from the scriptures, demonized all the way, and after eighty-one difficulties, he finally arrived in the Western Heaven to meet the Tathagata Buddha, and finally the Five Saints died.
The prototype of the story of Journey to the West is Xuanzang, a monk in the Tang Dynasty.
In the first year of Zhenguan of Emperor Taizong (627), Xuanzang Tianzhu, a 25-year-old monk, went hiking in India.
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, which was a sensation. Later, Xuanzang dictated what he had learned about his journey to the West, which was compiled by his disciples into a 12 volume of "Records 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 in China.
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 on the basis of Chinese folk literature, scripts and operas that Wu Cheng'en completed this great literary masterpiece through hard re-creation.
Wu Cheng'en, the author of The Journey to the West, lived in the middle and late Ming Dynasty and experienced five periods: Hongzhi in Xiaozong, Zhengde in Wuzong, Jiajing in Sejong, Qin Long in Mu Zong and Wanli in Zongshen. The social situation in the middle and late Ming dynasty was very different from that in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Political class contradictions, ethnic contradictions and contradictions within the ruling class have intensified and become increasingly acute. The ideological and cultural enlightenment rose, the trend of human liberation rose, civic literature became increasingly prosperous, novel and drama creation entered a period of all-round prosperity, and capitalism sprouted economically.
Third, Wu Cheng'en (1500-about 1583), whose real name is Ruzhong, is from Sheyang Mountain, and I am a scholar in Huaishui. Han nationality, from Shanyang County, Huai 'an Prefecture (now Huai 'an District, Huai 'an City). Ancestral home in Anhui, ancestral home in Zongyang Gaodian, so it is called Gaodian Wu.
There are hundreds of The Journey to the West published in Ming Dynasty, and there is no author's signature. First of all, Wu, a scholar in Qing Dynasty, suggested that The Journey to the West was written by Wu Cheng'en. In Yang Shan's Biography, Wu introduced Wu Cheng'en: "Your name is Sheyang Mountain, and I am a scholar in Huaixian Wenmu", "I read Huaixian Wenmu, which was written by Journey to the West". Since childhood, Wu Cheng'en has been reading extensively in Minhui, especially fond of fairy tales. After repeated setbacks in the imperial examination, he made up the examination and gave tribute to students in Jiajing. In the forty-five years of Jiajing (1566), he was appointed as the director of Changxing County, Zhejiang Province. Because of his difficult career, he never planned to be an official in his later years and wrote behind closed doors.