The Monkey King's prototype
The Theory of "Hu Monk" in Western Regions
"Monkey" is the wrong name for "Monk Hu". At that time, the western regions generally believed in Buddhism, and it was not unusual for Tang Priest to meet several Hu monks in the western regions. People in China have always had the habit of calling some names. For example, "Koreans" are simply called "poor people"; According to this reasoning, it is understandable to call "Monk Hu" a "monkey". In the eyes of Central Plains people, Hu people have developed body hair and basically belong to the type of incomplete evolution. If you think of them as monkeys, they are called "monkeys". Moreover, the conference semifinals are straightforward, similar to Wukong. In a word, the Monkey King's prototype is Monk Hu. In academic research, sometimes you can't get into books. As a novel written by citizens, Journey to the West is a popular thing in itself.
The Buddhist monk's theory of "releasing Wukong" in Tang Dynasty
Shi Wukong's common name is Che Fengchao. In 75 1 AD, he went to the Western Regions with Zhang Guangtao, became a monk in Gandhara due to illness, and returned to Beijing in 789 AD. Wukong was more than 40 years later than Xuanzang, but his starting place also began in Xi 'an. After his return, he engaged in translation and missionary activities in the western regions for many years, leaving many stories and legends. Some scholars believe that in the long process of the story of "learning the scriptures", people gradually linked and kneaded the name of Shi Wukong with the name of the legendary traveler who accompanied Tang Priest to learn the scriptures, and gradually formed the artistic image of "the Monkey King". Tiangong actually has "two troubles". Because heaven's two entreaties failed to satisfy his wishes, there was a "big fight". A storm in the Heavenly Palace was a solicitation, which tricked him into "Bi", but "Bi" (not inflow) did not enter the divine stream, and the Monkey King was even worse in a rage. The "Ernao" in the Heavenly Palace is the position of the Monkey King for the second time, and he is not even qualified to participate in the Flat Peach Club, so he vented his grievances by "disturbing the Flat Peach Club", "stealing imperial wine" and "stealing elixir". Facing the "magic weapon" of heaven, the intensity of the scene can be imagined. However, even if there are 100,000 "magic soldiers and heavenly generals", it is difficult to defeat "the Monkey King". "Nine obsidian stars fight behind closed doors, but four heavenly kings are invisible" (the seventh time). Looking at the Temple of the Second Brain again, we can see that the second brain palace is far less than the second brain palace, which actually paves the way for the second brain palace and is a preview of the second brain palace, thus further promoting the Monkey King's resistance layer by layer. "The emperor will come to my house by turns next year" (the seventh time) pushed his rebellious spirit to a brilliant climax.
"Shipantou" theory
Zhang, a professor in Chinese Department of Harbin Normal University, came to this conclusion after studying the evolution of Buddhist scriptures. He thinks that the Monkey King's realistic prototype is Shipanto, a disciple of the Hu people, which was collected by Xuanzang in the Biography of the Master Sanzang during the most difficult journey to the West. The reasons are as follows: (1) the Monkey King is similar to Tang Priest, while Shipantou is similar to Xuanzang; (2) The function of crisis relief is similar; (3) The identity of the walkers is the same; (4) The subtle relationship between master and apprentice is similar; (5) Shipantuo is a Hu monk, and Hu monk is close to the "monk". Under the guidance of religious thought, "Tang Priest's Buddhist scriptures, Hu monk gang" can easily be translated into "Tang Priest's Buddhist scriptures, monk gang", thus providing an opportunity for the apotheosis of Xuanzang's Buddhist scriptures story. On June 29th, 2003, 10, the Map of Xuanzang was discovered in Qingliu Temple, Jishan County, Shanxi Province, and its drawing time was nearly a hundred years earlier than that of The Journey to the West. The famous Monkey King Monkey King was "born" in a fairy stone on the top of Guo Hua in Ole Dongsheng, China. Its life story was first recorded vividly in The Journey to the West. However, there have been media reports recently. After studying the mural "Pure Land of Tang Yan" in Yulin Grottoes, Gansu Province, experts found that a quick-talking monkey face following Tang Yan in the mural is the prototype of the Monkey King. This paper points out that Mr. Duan Wenjie, honorary president of Dunhuang Research Institute, once wrote that the monkey-shaped man in the picture is the prototype of the Monkey King, named Shipanto, and his hometown is in Suoyang City, Anxi County, Gansu Province, so the Monkey King should be from Gansu Province.
Theory of "not supporting qi"
The water monster in China mythology. He is shaped like an ape, with a flat nose, a protruding forehead, a white head and green body, and a pair of golden eyes. His head and neck are 100 feet long, and his strength exceeds that of nine elephants. There is a detailed legend that does not support Qi in volume 467 of Taiping Guangji and the chat. Wu's story did not appear until at least 500 years later. Among them, Yang Ne (Jing Xian, Ru Zhai), a Mongolian opera writer in the early Ming Dynasty, wrote the story of Tang Priest learning from the scriptures. There are 18 kinds of zaju, including Liu Hangshou and The Journey to the West. The Journey to the West Yang Ne's zaju wrote a story about Tang Priest's learning from the scriptures. Wu Changling, a playwright of Yuan Dynasty, appeared the image of the Monkey King in Journey to the West in Tang Sanzang, and said that Wuqi was his sister. It can be seen that the Monkey King's characterization borrowed the image. Before Wu Cheng'en processed The Journey to the West, Wu's story had been widely circulated for 800 years. Wu Cheng'en, who likes to adopt folklore, can't help reading such a big book as Tai Ping Guang Ji. As Mr. Lu Xun said, "Wu Cheng'en played the Journey to the West in the Ming Dynasty and moved his spirit to the Monkey King." Since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the story of "Fu Fu Qi" has been widely circulated among the people, which can be described as a household name. After the emergence of Wu Cheng'en in The Journey to the West, the image of supporting Qi was gradually replaced by the Monkey King. If the image of the Monkey King in Yuan Zaju is influenced by Wu, then the Monkey King in Wu Cheng'en's works is the incarnation of Wu. Wu Zhiqi was locked by Dayu at the foot of Guishan Mountain, and the Monkey King was pressed by Tathagata at the foot of Wuxing Mountain. If the gas without support is shaped like an ape, the Monkey King is a monkey, and its shape of "fighting and rushing, neglecting benefits and neglecting" is no different.
Hanuman, an Indian monkey
Lu Xun thinks that the Monkey King originated from Wu, the water god of Huaihe River, and Hu Shi thinks its prototype is Hanuman, an Indian monkey. Researcher Hu said that although The Journey to the West's book has been circulated for hundreds of years, ordinary readers have never been very clear about the origin and evolution of characters' stories, just like "a monkey jumping out of a crevice". It was not until Lu Xun's A Brief History of Chinese Novels created a precedent of this kind of novels that the Monkey King was put on the table as a serious academic issue. Lu Xun believes that since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there have been more and more translations of Buddhist classics, so Indian stories have been widely circulated among the people. Scholars like their novelty and strangeness, so they use them intentionally or unintentionally, and these stories gradually become China. As for the image of the Monkey King, Lu Xun thought it should come from China folklore. He cited Wu, a monster in Li Gongzuo's novels in the Tang Dynasty, as evidence, and thought that the Monkey King evolved from this, thus confirming that the Monkey King's prototype came from China. Hu Shi has different views on this. He said: "I have always suspected that this magical monkey is not made in China, but imported from India. Perhaps even the helpless Qi myth has been imitated by India. " He found a monkey named Hanuman in the oldest Indian epic Ramayana, which he thought was the earliest prototype of the Monkey King. Chen Yinque demonstrated that the Monkey King's prototype was indeed Ha Numan, but the patterns on Gansu murals showed that The Journey to the West's story had been circulated in the Tang Dynasty. Chen Yinque, a great historian, is very familiar with Buddhist scriptures. He not only verified the prototype of the Monkey King, Hanuman in Ramayana, but also proved it with another book, Renyu Sutra. He found that the story of "disturbing Heaven" originally originated from two unrelated Indian folk stories, and after it was introduced to China, Buddhist communicators combined them intentionally or unintentionally. At the beginning of the last century, the establishment of Dunhuang studies added some new historical materials to the evolution of The Journey to the West's character stories, mainly murals, including the image of a single person walking on foot with a backpack and the image of a "walker"-like Hu people leading a horse, indicating that the character stories have been enriched through the ages. In recent years, some Japanese scholars have suggested that the Monkey King's image originated from Buddhist scriptures. In some Buddhist classics, they found descriptions of macaques, apes or monkeys, and thought that they were the archetypes of the Monkey King. In recent years, Duan Wenjie, honorary president of Dunhuang Research Institute, published A Discussion on Newly Discovered Xuanzang Buddhist Scriptures, focusing on six existing groups of Xuanzang Buddhist Scriptures in Xixia period of Gansu Province, and introducing similar stories that were circulated among the people in the Tang Dynasty. In the Zhou Dynasty in the late Five Dynasties, there was still a mural "Xuanzang's Learning from the Scriptures" in the classroom of the Tibetan Classrooms of Shouning Temple in Yangzhou, which was lamented as a "masterpiece" by people at that time. This mural was painted in the later Zhou Dynasty at the latest. Unfortunately, the temple has been destroyed, leaving no murals. The basic character frame of Journey to the West was formed in the Yuan Dynasty, and the Indian monkey was recreated by Tibetan Buddhism and became the Monkey King. In the research, researcher Hu found that although all the above statements were well-founded, Xuanzang's story of learning scriptures was popular for hundreds of years from the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, and the story of changing characters was quite slow, but its richness broke out in the Yuan Dynasty. He believes that according to Duan Wenjie and other cultural relics experts, Wu Cheng'en's creation in the late Ming Dynasty is often taken as the basis, without taking into account the fact that The Journey to the West's zaju and Shi Hua appeared in the Yuan Dynasty. Researcher Hu pointed out that among the documents separated from the remains of Yongle Dadian, there have been several stories of The Journey to the West, especially the story of Sun Xing in the Korean (special topic, gallery) Chinese document Park Tong Shi, which is very important. Zhao, a famous writer and translator, believes that The Interpretation of Pu Tong Proverbs was written in the Yuan Dynasty. Professor Choi Minho King of Hanlin University also suggested that this book was written in the seventh year from Yuan Dynasty to Zheng Zheng (1347). In addition, the mural of Xuanzang Buddhist Sutra in Yuan Dynasty was discovered in Jishan County, Shanxi Province last year. All these prove that The Journey to the West's basic story character frame was probably formed in the Yuan Dynasty. After verification by the reporter, the report that Mr. Duan Wenjie identified the Monkey King as a native of Gansu was untrue. As early as April 27th, 2002, the doctor of Chinese Department of Harbin Normal University wrote in Guangming Daily that Mr. Zhang put forward the view that the image of the Monkey King came from Shipantou. Monkey Culture in Shunchang, Fujian Province
Archaeologists in Shunchang County, Fujian Province, recently discovered a tomb of the Monkey King brothers buried in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty on the main peak of Baoshan in the northwest of Shunchang County. The Monkey King Brothers' Tomb is located in Shuang Sheng Temple behind Nantianmen, the main peak of Baoshan, with an altitude of1305m. Shuang Sheng Temple was built in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, with a building area of about 18 square meters. There is an ancient burial tomb in the temple. Two stone tablets stand side by side, 2.9 meters wide and 1.3 meters deep. The tomb is shaped like a figure of eight. The two tombstones stand side by side on the tomb platform 0.43 meters above the ground, and the height of the tombstones is 0.8 meters. Above the left monument, the small characters "Baofeng" are carved horizontally, the four characters "Qitian Sheng Da" are carved vertically in the middle, and the small characters "Shenwei" are carved horizontally at the bottom of the big characters. The outer frame of the inscription is decorated with embossed grass. On the right tablet, four characters of "Great Sage" are vertically engraved, and two small characters of "Divine Position" are horizontally engraved at the bottom of the characters. The outer frame of the inscription is decorated with embossed grass scroll patterns. The Monkey King, the Monkey King, is a mythical figure familiar to Chinese at home and abroad, but Wu Cheng'en, a novelist of the Ming Dynasty, has never appeared in The Journey to the West, and almost no one knows it. After textual research, Wang Yimin found the image of "Great Sage" in The Journey to the West Zaju created by Mongolian dramatist Yang Jingxian at the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty. According to Wang Yimin, there is a confession of the Monkey King in Yang Jingxian's Journey to the West Zaju: "There are five brothers and sisters: the mother of the eldest sister Shan Li, the second sister Wu Zhizuo, the eldest brother Qi Tian Sheng Da, the younger brother Tian Tong Shengda and the third brother plays Saburo." The two tombstones of Shuang Sheng Temple in Baoshan, Shunchang, on the left are "Monkey Sheng Da" and on the right are "Tian Tong Sheng Da", which conforms to the ancient etiquette and custom of respecting the left. In addition, the tombstone of "Monkey Sheng Da" is engraved with the word "Baofeng", while the tombstone of "Tian Tongshengda" omits this word, which shows that my brother is very interested in his brother. Moreover, the decorative patterns on the tombstone of "Qitian Sheng Da" are richer and more exquisite than those of "Tian Tong Sheng Da". It can be concluded that two tombstones in Shuang Sheng Temple indicate that this is the burial tomb of the the Monkey King brothers. In the process of creating The Journey to the West, Wu Cheng'en, a novelist in Ming Dynasty, used the title of Qi Tianshengda on Tian Tongshengda's head in order to portray the outstanding character of the characters, and concentrated all the superb skills of Tian Tongshengda's legendary brother and sister on Qi Tian Sheng Da, thus creating a mythical hero widely praised by later generations.
Debate on the prototype of the Monkey King.
Wu Cheng'en and The Journey to the West have written a book for a long time, and the debate about the protagonist in the book is still controversial. Among them, the most widely known is that the Indian monkey is its prototype. In fact, this is a misinterpretation: the Monkey King's prototype is Wu Cheng'en himself, when the society was dark. The author vented it in the form of writing a book. Among them, it is a classic passage for the Monkey King to make a scene in Heaven and call himself the Great Sage in Heaven. It contains the author Wu Cheng'en's dissatisfaction with some social phenomenon at that time. The argument about the Monkey King's prototype is only the author's understanding and speculation in the book. There is no conclusive evidence yet. Because Mr. Wu Cheng'en has already passed away, he can be said to be both the Monkey King's father and the Monkey King. The difficulty of his writing a book is beyond your imagination and mine. Huaguoshan, the hometown of the Monkey King, is believed to be the residence that the author yearns for through the secular heart. The Monkey King is a native of China, and the Indian monkey is just like him. Please don't think that the Monkey King was introduced to China by Indians. The Monkey King's contribution to people's hearts stems from the contribution of six-year-old children's families. His father, a six-year-old boy, played a classic role of the Monkey King in the movie Monkey King Thrice Defeats the Skeleton Demon. The Monkey King, played by six-year-old children in the Journey to the West, has a profound influence. There have been several generations of the Monkey King in their family. It can be said that Wu Cheng'en created man in the Monkey King, and the family of six-year-old children endowed God in the Monkey King. The Journey to the West series of Shanghai Animation Film Studio has far-reaching influence at home and abroad. The appearance of TV series and comics one after another makes it easier for the audience who love Journey to the West to understand the famous works. Their contribution is undeniable!
Ji Xianlin's archetypal view of the Monkey King.
Ji Xianlin mentioned his views on the Monkey King's archetype in his academic work "Indian Elements in Journey to the West" (1978). "The relationship between China's famous classical novel The Journey to the West and Indian mythology has been divided among China scholars for many years. Some scholars say it is influenced by India, while others deny it. This argument centers on the Monkey King (the Monkey King), the hero of the novel. Hu Shi, Zheng Zhenduo, Chen Yinque and others advocated the former, while Lu Xun and others advocated the latter. Lu Xun said in his "A Brief History of Chinese Novels": "In the Ming Dynasty, Wu Cheng'en played a journey to the West and shifted his spirit to the Monkey King, so the story of jade fu failing to help Qi is ambiguous. "I dare not say that the Monkey King has no shadow at all. However, judging from the profound and great influence of India on The Journey to the West as a whole, the Monkey King is more practical to be influenced by the monkeys Naro and Hanuman in the Indian epic Ramayana than by Wuqi. Because two other disciples of Xuanzang, Zhu Bajie and Friar Sand, can find their roots in the Chinese translation of Buddhist scriptures, why is the Monkey King, the most independent, influenced by Wu Zhiqi? This is far-fetched. Wu's myth, apart from being popular in some areas of China, is really not universal and insignificant. Some scholars even said that there was no Chinese translation of Ramayana in the past, so it was difficult to influence China. This statement is also a joke. As we all know, the spread of folk myths and legends often depends on oral communication, not necessarily after writing articles. "