Summary of Journey to the West
The Journey to the West, written by Wu Cheng'en, a writer in the Qing Dynasty, is the first romantic novel in ancient China.
The main thing is that a stone monkey jumped out of Huaguo Mountain, and later became the Monkey King. When he went to the Dragon Palace in the East China Sea to seize the anchor needle, the Dragon King reported to the Heaven, and the Jade Emperor was furious. He wanted to send heavenly soldiers to capture the Monkey King, so the old gentleman had his own way. Come down to heaven, and the Monkey King was invited to be an official to raise horses. When he escaped from the Heaven, he became the Monkey King, the Jade Emperor and the Emperor. He was the later Tang Priest. Entrusted by Li Shimin, the king of the Tang Dynasty, he was instructed by avalokitesvara, and went to the Buddhist paradise to get the scriptures. He went up and down with five fingers, and rescued the stone monkey, named the Monkey King, who made a scene in the sky 5 years ago. Xiao Bailong was also collected. When passing through Gaolaozhuang, Pig Bajie, the commander-in-chief of the canopy who molested Chang 'e in the sky, was also collected. When crossing the Liusha River, a sand monk who broke a glass lamp in the Heavenly Palace was subdued, named Wu Jing, and they went to the Western Heaven to worship Buddha and seek scriptures together.
Introduction to the Works
The first romantic chapter-and-verse novel written by Wu Cheng'en in Ming Dynasty in ancient China.
The novel mainly tells the story that the Monkey King met Tang Priest, Pig Bajie, Friar Sand and Bai Longma after he was born and studied with Bodhi's ancestor, and went west to learn from the scriptures. He went through hardships and dangers, exorcised demons, went through eighty-one difficult, and finally arrived in the Western Heaven to meet Buddha Tathagata, and finally the five saints came true. Based on the historical event of "Xuanzang learning from the scriptures", the novel profoundly depicts the social life of the people in the Ming Dynasty through the artistic processing of the author.
The Journey to the West is a classic of China's ghost novels, reaching the peak of ancient romantic novels, and is called China classical Four Great Classical Novels together with Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Water Margin and A Dream of Red Mansions. The Journey to the West has been widely circulated among the people since it came out, and various versions emerge one after another. There are six kinds of editions in Ming dynasty, seven kinds of editions and manuscripts in Qing dynasty, and thirteen kinds of lost versions recorded in ancient books. After the Opium War, a large number of China's classical literary works were translated into western languages, and The Journey to the West was gradually introduced to Europe and America, and was translated into English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, sign language, Swahili, Russia, Czech, Romania, Poland, Japan, Korea and Vietnam.
Creative background
Wu Cheng'en lived in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, and experienced five dynasties: Hongzhi in Xiaozong, Zhengde in Wuzong, Jiajing in Sejong, Qin Long in Mu Zong and Wanli in Shenzong. The social situation in the middle and late Ming Dynasty was very different from that at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Political class contradictions, ethnic contradictions and contradictions within the ruling class intensified and became increasingly acute. Ideological and cultural enlightenment is on the rise, the ideological trend of human liberation is on the rise, the civic literature is increasingly < P > Xuanzang's westward journey is booming, and the creation of novels and operas has entered a period of all-round prosperity. Capitalism has sprouted economically.
celebrity comments
The Journey to the West is nothing more than a funny novel and a fairy tale. He doesn't mean anything subtle. At most, he is a little cynical. This cynicism is also very clear; He's not hiding, and we don't have to ask for it. -Hu Shi
However, although the author is a Confucian scholar, this book is really a game, and it is not a language. Therefore, the book only occasionally talks about the five elements, especially without learning Buddhism. Therefore, at the end of the book, there are absurd and ridiculous classics, which have been popular for a long time. Therefore, its works are also Buddhism and the old gentleman, and the authenticity is mixed with the original gods, so that the followers of the three religions have to be attached to it as appropriate. -Lu Xun
The Journey to the West is a work aimed at saving the fallen human heart and spirit; The Journey to the West is also a work about anti-corruption. -Liu Ge
Author's brief introduction
Wu Cheng'en (about 15 -1582) was born in Shanyang County, Huai 'an Prefecture (now Huai 'an District, Huai 'an City, Jiangsu Province). My ancestral home is in Gaodian, Tongcheng, Anhui Province, and my ancestors lived in Gaodian, Tongcheng, so it is called the Wu family in Gaodian. China, an outstanding novelist in Ming Dynasty, was the author of The Journey to the West, one of Four Great Classical Novels. Since childhood, Minhui has read widely, especially fond of fairy tales. In the imperial examination, he suffered repeated setbacks, and he made up for the tribute students in Jiajing. In the forty-five years of Jiajing (1566), he served as Cheng of Changxing County, Zhejiang Province. Due to the difficult official career, he never wanted to be an official in his later years and wrote behind closed doors. Wu Cheng'en Memorial Hall was built at the tea house on the mountain and its stone statue was built at the gate at the foot of the mountain to commemorate him.