The division in The Journey to the West is extremely clear.
The full text of Journey to the West, from 1 to the seventh chapter, is all about disturbing Heaven, which is the first stage of the Monkey King's life. At this stage, what we see is a lovely monkey, an orphan, naive, diligent, intelligent and spontaneous, fighting for personal freedom.
An orphan who was born smart.
Journey to the West 1 points out the life experience of the Monkey King, who is an orphan with natural talent. Just look at 1 and turn to the title "Linggen is the source of pregnancy, and spirituality is the avenue of life". This paper describes in detail the birth and schooling process of the Monkey King. The article said: "On the top of that mountain, there is a fairy stone. Since the Beggars' Sect opened, every time he showed innocence, he felt the essence of the sun and the moon for a long time, so he was psychic. Fairy cells are bred in it and burst in one day, producing a stone egg the size of a ball. Have it both ways, turned into a stone monkey. Regular facial features and sound limbs. I learned to crawl and walk, and I worship the four directions. Eyes with two golden lights, shooting at Dou Fu. " It is conceivable that the Monkey King is a stone monkey born from the aura of heaven and earth. Naturally, he has no parents, and no one has taught him basic life etiquette, and no one has even taught him basic life common sense. Everything has to be explored by himself, and naturally he has always maintained a naughty nature. These innate reasons largely determined his later personality characteristics, such as rebellion, optimism and advocating freedom. Soon, in the following article, the author described his life after birth. "Monkeys are in the mountains, but they can walk the treaty, eat vegetation, drink spring water, pick mountain flowers and find fruit trees; Keep company with wolves, roe deer as friends, and macaques as relatives; Sleeping at night under the cliff, in the peak cave, there is really no armor in the mountain, and I don't know the year. " After his birth, he lived in Shan Ye and lived a free life. He is so idle, so ignorant, so naive and casual, destined to be incompatible with religious etiquette. Many things happened later, which proved this point. For example, in order not to be controlled by others, he refused to accept the constraints of the ghost company and forced Yan Jun, the ghost company, to modify the life and death book; Disdaining the majesty of the kingdom of heaven, ignoring any so-called dogmatic laws and regulations, standing proudly in front of the Emperor of Heaven, calling himself "old grandson"; After discovering that Bi was actually a small official who raised horses, he was deceived and returned to Huaguoshan in a rage, calling himself "the Great Sage of Qitian". Later, he accepted the invitation and was assigned to manage the flat peach garden, but he couldn't stand the temptation of the fairy and stole his own things. All of the above, in the final analysis, is nothing more than an annoying behavior of orphans who don't know manners to restrain the temper of some children.
Persevere and study hard.
Although the Monkey King has gone through many hardships and learned from Bodhi, he still can't change his innate nature. Of course, from a modern point of view, this nature is very lovely. Including his perseverance and diligence in school.
After living in Huaguoshan for a period of time, he was promoted to the Monkey King because he entered water curtain cave for the first time. From then on, with his own wisdom, he realized that it was hard to escape from birth, illness and death, and suddenly he had the desire to learn to live forever. When the old monkey told him that there are buddhas, immortals and immortals in this world, "the Monkey King heard about it and was filled with joy and said; I will say goodbye to you tomorrow, and you will travel to the ends of the earth. These three places must be visited, often avoiding the difficulties of the Yan army. " In fact, this is also a wayward feature. the Monkey King is a person who thinks what he wants.
Since then, the stone monkey, who still has no name, has embarked on the road of learning Taoism and visiting Taoism. It has lasted for many years and its footprints are everywhere, showing its heart. There is a cloud in the article, "Go to a banquet and stay overnight, visit the sacred way of Buddha and immortal in your heart, and find a way to live forever." Another cloud said, "the Monkey King visited Xiandao, but he didn't have a chance to see him. I have been in Nanqibu for more than 89 years, crossing the Great Wall and visiting small counties. Suddenly in the West Sea, he thought there must be immortals overseas. I made a raft by myself and floated across the West Sea until the boundary of Xihe Niuzhou. " From these words, we can see the twists and turns of the road, but the stone monkey did not give up. Finally, I learned about Bodhi's ancestral home from the woodcutter and went to study. On that day, the ancestors asked him where he came from. When talking about the way of studying, the stone monkey said, "I traveled across the ocean and traveled around the world, and I came here with more than a dozen ideas." The hardships and sincerity of learning moved even the founder of Bodhi, and finally he was accepted as an apprentice.
After learning from my ancestors, I tried my best to avoid impatience as soon as I got rid of the habit of being active. "Learn to be polite to all seniors, give lectures and talk, and learn to burn incense, every day. In my spare time, I sweep the floor and hoe the garden, raise flowers and repair trees, find firewood to make a fire and carry water slurry. Everything you need is ready. I don't think I have been in a cave for six or seven years. " I have been doing chores except just learning etiquette and basic knowledge, but I have been doing it for six or seven years without complaining. Who can say that this is a studious child? So the ancestors inquired about all kinds of doorways and chose whatever they liked to learn. In the end, the stone monkey saw through the hints of his ancestors with his unique intelligence and understanding, and finally learned two stunts: seventy-two changes and somersault cloud. It was three years later. Since then, he has studied abroad for nearly twenty years.
Spontaneous action
Perseverance and diligence in learning, coupled with his own intelligence and understanding, enabled him to successfully learn an almost invincible skill from the Bodhi ancestor. However, the Monkey King was quickly driven back to Huaguoshan by Bodhi, just because he showed off his skills in front of other disciples, just to make everyone happy. It can be seen that this monkey can never get rid of its natural characteristics. Although he has studied ethics for many years, it is always difficult to be cautious. After returning to Huaguoshan, the stone monkey with superior ability no longer has the only burden of its owner, and has recovered his childlike innocence and is no longer bound by any ethical code. Act according to your own temperament and preferences, and make a big fuss. It's really a fairy Buddha who can't control a monkey.
In the Heavenly Palace Catastrophe, the son of nature, born with "innocent show and bright moonlight", has the characteristics of "willful behavior" from beginning to end. He taught the little monkey to "practice martial arts day by day", which was by no means a game of "playing". Make a hullabaloo about in the Dragon Palace, but make a hullabaloo about in hell in order to obtain satisfactory weapons, just asking the Yan to take back his deprived freedom. Isn't this a conscious attack on the authority of the gods? When Venus Taibai greeted him, before he left, he said to the four masters, "You should teach your children and grandchildren well until I see the Tao in heaven, so that I can pick you up and live together." It can be seen that he lacked the minimum knowledge and understanding of the hierarchy of the theocracy world and the most basic order principle of the society at that time. During his tenure as Bi Marvin in Tiangong, he did his duty. He "slept day and night, but kept a horse", "danced well during the day and looked after him diligently at night", and kept Tianma "fleshy" until he learned that Bi was an inexperienced little official, which led him to the Heavenly Palace. After becoming the Great Sage of Qitian, he still "doesn't know his rank, doesn't care about his salary, and only remembers his name." The jade emperor asked him to manage the flat peach garden. He "can't wait to be busy, that is, to visit the flat peach garden", "never make friends with others, never travel with others", and he is conscientious and conscientious. He stole the flat peach only because he saw "the branches of the old tree are half ripe." He wants to taste something new in his heart. "The monkey's nature is to eat ripe peaches. Later, the Queen Mother held a flat peach party and didn't invite him. Of course, he can't stand it. So he forged an imperial edict to cheat the barefoot immortal, stole the fruit, royal wine, and the old gentleman elixir. It's nothing more than being angry and very casual. After eating the elixir and drinking the wine, I woke up feeling very bad and thought, "No! This disaster is bigger than the sky. If you disturb the Jade Emperor, your life will be in jeopardy. Go, go, go. It's better to be king in the underworld. "It can be seen that until then, he did not have the idea of replacing the jade emperor. After he was arrested and escaped from the gossip furnace, he openly proposed that "the emperor will take turns to do it and come to my house next year." In fact, this is not a slogan, but because his freedom is limited by the rules of heaven, which gives birth to an anger. Since the emperor can make rules, being an emperor doesn't have to obey so many rules. This is not a political demand, nor is it the slogan of the uprising. It is not even a heroic spirit of "the strong want me to be respected, and the hero dares to fight for the first place". Just angry language after being suppressed. So making a scene in the Heavenly Palace is not a purposeful and planned action against the rulers of the Heavenly Palace. The Monkey King's spontaneous and free personality and the ruling order of theocracy world can't coexist, so we have to fight. In the whole struggle, he showed his wayward characteristics.
Along the way, the Monkey King has been doing many controversial things for his own freedom and preferences, forming the first stage of his life. And this process ended in a hurry when the Tathagata Buddha's five-finger mountain was pressed down. The experience at this stage enabled the Monkey King to grow and become more mature on the journey of learning from the West. Tang Priest is bound to encounter many difficulties on his way to learn from the scriptures, and he must need a powerful figure to escort him. Otherwise, the Tang Priest will not be able to successfully complete the task of obtaining scriptures. At this time, the Monkey King, who dared to oppose the authority of the Heavenly Palace, became an ideal figure to escort Tang Priest to the West for Buddhist scriptures. If we remove the part that caused havoc, the Monkey King's heroic image in the mythical world will be degraded. The Monkey King's image is more vivid and prominent after adding disturbing parts. However, it is still difficult for this once chaotic figure to go to the Western Heaven with Tang Priest to bow and scrape. Therefore, we should ask the Tathagata to put him at the foot of Wuxing Mountain, make him "repent and turn over a new leaf" and ask Guanyin Bodhisattva to put a tight hoop on him. In this way, we can tame it and escort the Tang Priest to learn from the West. In the end, the Monkey King didn't let anyone down, and finally accomplished this great task and became a hero who benefited the people. This is also the hero that our time needs.
Learning from the scriptures is a cause that benefits the people.
If the Buddhist scriptures are regarded as the second stage of the Monkey King's life, then at this stage, the Monkey King can no longer be the Monkey King when he was in heaven, and he himself realized this, so he resolutely embarked on a journey of Buddhist scriptures side by side with Tang Priest. Because the Monkey King finally realized that the real hero is not fighting for himself, but fighting for the people. It is such a struggle to go to the Western Heaven for Buddhist scriptures.
First of all, going to the Western Heaven to learn Buddhist scriptures is a cause that benefits the people. The Buddha spread the three Tibetan scriptures to the world precisely for the sake of crossing all sentient beings. I have a hidden "rule", chatting "is hiding, saying; Classics are ghosts when hidden. I want to send it to the east, where all beings are stupid and slander the truth. How can I get a magical person? You go to the East to seek good faith, come to my place to get the true scriptures, spread them to the East forever, and persuade all beings. It is a blessing in the mountains and a green mountain in the sea. " Such a career naturally needs the escort of heroes, and the Monkey King is undoubtedly the best candidate. Through his own efforts, he climbed up from the bottom step by step, worked as a mountain king, fed horses, saw the flat peach garden, and once questioned and resisted the authority of heaven. He has the ability to understand the inner needs of the grassroots, go deep into the front line, have a keen eye and far-reaching thinking. What is rare is that he is not afraid of authority. The key is that he can find contradictions and propose solutions quickly.
Of course, he is not only an exorcist or a superficial fighter, he is intelligent and spiritual. If the Tang Priest is only the spiritual leader of the Buddhist Scripture Group, then the real backbone of the Buddhist Scripture Group is the Monkey King. Not to mention that he drove out demons and ghosts along the way, and even many ideological problems within the clique, including the homesickness of Tang Priest and the selfish vacillation of Bajie, were overcome with the help of Wukong. Even in the understanding of Buddhism, the Monkey King is better than Tang Priest. Although Tang Priest can recite the Heart Sutra backwards, he doesn't know how to use it. Every time he heard the monster, he was too scared to sit in the saddle and had to admit that Wukong had got the "true solution" of the Heart Sutra.
In such a great undertaking, the Monkey King's participation qualification and actual participation have benefited the people. After that, all pesticides on the road were just continuous behaviors of benefiting the people.
Secondly, we should see that the way to learn from the West is very similar to the way to benefit the people. The same difficulties, the same obstacles from various sinister forces, and the same authority. Why do you feel this way? The reason is very simple, because Wu Cheng'en wrote the Tiangong, which actually copied the ruling system and political situation of the world. What is the sky like? Before Wu Cheng'en, everyone was talking about it, but no one could say for sure-the monk said that heaven was the world of Buddha, but which Buddha was the biggest, and the monk himself couldn't say for sure. Some said Tathagata, while others said Maitreya, and there was a big fight. Taoist priests say that there are immortals everywhere in the sky, but they don't know which one is the noblest. Some say Sanqing, others say Jade Emperor, and disputes often occur. No matter whether it is a Buddha or a fairy, the relationship between various factions and departments, who is big and who is small, who respects who is humble, is a confused account, and no one has made it clear. It is Wu Cheng'en who has sorted out an immortal system with balanced Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, distinguished respect and inferiority, and orderly size, and depicted a magnificent and all-encompassing heavenly palace world. Since the advent of Journey to the West, everyone has followed suit: the western world is the world of Buddha, and the Tathagata is the biggest; In the eastern heaven, that is, the sky above us, the jade emperor is the biggest, the old Taoist Taishang Laojun in Sanqing is the consultant, and the Taibai Venus is the housekeeper. Wu Cheng'en based on what? This model is actually the court of his time. Looking at the jade emperor in a daze. Apart from caring about the elixir refined by the old Taoist priest, the rest have no idea. I have a script, but I can only say that it was played by Yi Qing, which is completely the appearance of Emperor Jiajing. There is also the Taibai Venus, which is in charge of everything, like the records of Jia, Jia, and the ruling and opposition parties. On the surface, it is almost absurd. But if we look at the essence through superficial phenomena, it is not difficult to find that they are different from people from all walks of life in our common real society except in appearance and life, but their ideological character is no different from people from all walks of life in our common real society. In the "sacred" inviolable heavenly palace, there is a very strict hierarchy like the human world; In the "just" underworld and "blissful" western heaven, there are also cases of favoritism and malpractice like people.
"The demon will be a disaster in the ghost domain." Demons in The Journey to the West are not just the embodiment of general difficulties, but mostly represent some feudal dark forces that are harmful to the people and do evil, and they have certain real contents in real life. In the past, some people called demons "peasant rebels", but now some people still beautify them as "charming demons who dare to touch the ruling order of the feudal landlord class" These statements are far-fetched. In fact, the monsters in Journey to the West are all "special" classes beyond ordinary people. Like immortals, they can live forever and have magic, and the so-called magic here is actually equivalent to the power in reality. Therefore, instead of treating them as "peasant rebels", a more practical division should be to treat them as members of "God", who are actually moths in "God". Instead of working for the welfare of the people, they often waste people's money and exploit them wantonly. The Monkey King is the bane of these moths. He is never soft on these people. Although often not understood by Tang Priest, he swept them away without hesitation. Even after the event, the "demon" was brought back by the immortal Buddha, and even the Tang Priest was brutally expelled, and the heart of the guard never changed.
A hero who benefits the people
Let's take a look at the hero's righteous act on the way to learn from the scriptures, clear the obstacles for the way to learn from the scriptures and kill the people. His image is enriched by these behaviors, and gradually becomes tall and even sublimated.
The 800-mile flaming mountain blocked the way. The Monkey King borrowed a banana fan from Princess Tiefan, put out the flame, cut off the root of the fire, saved a stranger and made the fire never happen again. "The demon will be a disaster in the ghost domain." The abbot of the monk kingdom, Bailu, originally wanted to use111children's hearts as a drug primer for the king. The Monkey King killed the white deer monster, rescued more than 1000 children, and burned the Huaqing Cave where the monster lived into a pit of fire. The rhinoceros monster in Xuan Ying Cave of Qinglong Mountain forces Tianxian people to offer crispy oil lamps worth 48,200 silver every year. The Monkey King invited four birds and stars to subdue the rhinoceros monster. Relieved the suffering of the people in that county; Every year, the goldfish spirits in Tongtianhe ask the people in Chenjiazhuang for the enjoyment of boys and girls, and force them to make contributions from pigs, sheep and animals. The Monkey King invited Nanhai Bodhisattva to surrender the goldfish essence, and eradicated evil for the people in Chenjiazhuang, and so on. And the list goes on.
From the eastern soil to the western sky, there are dozens of monster leaders, but he beat the western world with a golden hoop stick, making the monsters tremble with fear. Moreover, most of his struggles with monsters are active attacks. As soon as he heard that monsters disturbed the world, he would never let go. He took Pig in and said to Gao Cai, the guide, "If there are goblins in the future, please make more for me. Thanks." The 67th time, the owner of camel Luo Zhuang asked Wukong to catch the demon, and Wukong immediately sang and said, "Thank you." Pig said, "Look at him making trouble! Even his grandfather is not so affectionate when he hears about taking monsters. " It can explain the initiative and enthusiasm of Wukong's struggle. In addition, the author has repeatedly borrowed books from characters and praised the Monkey King for "saving lives from disasters" and "making enemies with the world". On the bank of the Tongtian River, he not only saved the children of two "sacrificed" goblins, but also eliminated the monsters and saved the people who suffered disasters for generations. Stories like The Kingdom of Monks and Zhu Ziguo are all about the Monkey King's initiative to attack and kill people. Every time I catch the monster leader, I always catch all the little monsters, so as not to leave disaster for the people. It can be seen that the Monkey King has broken away from the nature of fighting for himself, but is fighting for the suffering people and the weak.
The essence of the Monkey King's image lies not only in daring to fight, but also in winning by fighting, so it is called "fighting to defeat the Buddha". There are two magic weapons for him to win the struggle: first, his martial arts are high, especially in the heavenly palace catastrophe; One is good at fighting, that is, both wisdom and courage, and fighting with each other. He often turns into a mosquito, a fly and a moth, and drills into goblin caves to find out the details of goblins (such as Huang Fengguai); Or infer the origin of monsters from clues, and then find corresponding countermeasures according to the characteristics of these monsters (such as Huang Paoguai); Sometimes it becomes the husband or wife of the demon to cheat the demon (such as the three-tone banana fan). Or earn the devil's magic weapon and kill monsters (such as stealing purple gold bells). He is also good at subduing goblins (such as the yellow eyebrow monster) by drilling into the enemy's stomach. He is witty and flexible, and he designs everywhere, which often makes monsters hard to prevent.
Although in the process of exorcism, the Monkey King also had a lot of helplessness, and he often relied on the power of gods and buddhas. For example, Wang Huangmei, the monster of Xiaoleiyin Temple, and Huang Mei, the former monk of Maitreya Buddha in southern Buddha, are boys and fake buddhas (the sixty-sixth time); Sai Tai-sui, the demon who occupies the Golden Sage in Zhu Ziguo, is the golden monkey under the steps of Guanyin Bodhisattva (the seventy-first time); The white deer monster, the abbot of the monk kingdom, is a white deer that spans the old star in Antarctica (the seventy-eighth time); Nine lions, the monster of Zhushan Jiuqu Wandering Cave, is the mount lion beast of Taiyi to save the suffering Buddha (the ninetieth time); Jinjiao, the demon king, and Wang Jiao, the silver dumpling king, were two teenagers who watched the gold and silver furnaces for the old man in The Master of the Generation (the 35th time). The story of the demon dragon in Heishui River in Hengyang Valley is the nephew of Aoshun, the dragon king of the West Sea (the 43rd time). Huang Paoguai is the champion of the Jade Emperor's twenty-eight lodgings in Boyue Cave and Wanzi Mountain (the 31st time), and so on. It shows that the evil deeds of these demons are mostly related to the cover-up and connivance of the gods and buddhas, thus exposing the evils of the feudal ruling class more widely and deeply. Back to the 37th time, I wrote that after the infinite king was killed by a demon, the ghost of the king asked Tang Yan for help, and Tang Yan asked him why he didn't complain to Yan Jun, the ghost. Wang Gui replied, "He has great powers and is familiar with officials. The city god often drinks with him, and the sea dragon king is close to him. Monkey in Dongyue is his good friend, and Yamaraja in the 10th generation is his half-brother. -so, I have no door to talk about. " The gods and demons written here are closely related, much like the image of feudal hills where officials protect each other and collude with each other in real life.
This situation has existed in all dynasties, so every era needs a hero who only wants to accomplish this great cause, benefit the public, regardless of gains and losses, and does not give in to authority, just like the Monkey King did when he learned from the scriptures. We can see that when the monster of Jindoushan caught Tang Priest and snatched the Monkey King's golden cudgel, the Monkey King went to the Heavenly Palace to see the Jade Emperor. He arrogantly called the Jade Emperor an "old fairy" and took the name of "asking him if the fitter was lax". When there was no child in front of Maitreya Buddha in the south of Buddha, Xiaoleiyin Temple was a fake Buddha. The Monkey King went to see the Buddha and said to him, "What a funny monk! It's family law to keep this boy and teach him to call himself a Buddha and frame me. " The Three Monsters of Mount Shituo arrested the Tang Priest, and the Monkey King went to the Buddhist paradise for help. He boldly laughed at Tathagata and said, "Tathagata! I heard that the devil has something to do with you. " And said, "You are still the nephew of a leprechaun"; When the Bodhisattva disguised himself as Xu Zi, a demon spirit, he went to the Black Wind Monster to attend a Buddhist costume party. The Monkey King teased the Bodhisattva and said, "Wonderful! Wonderful! Or a goblin bodhisattva? Still a bodhisattva demon "; The Monkey King, Pig and Friar Sand went to Sanqing to catch a demon. Pig knocked on the master's mouth and sarcastically said, "Old officer, don't move, old pig let me sit down." As a result, Pig Bajie became an old gentleman, the Monkey King became a Buddha at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, and Friar Sand became a spiritual treasure Taoist, knocking down all the original gods. In order to disappear, the Monkey King suggested throwing all these statues into the toilet. At that time, Bajie sneered and said to the gods, "... you will always be useful, be a quiet Taoist; Today, I can't help but enjoy some filth and be a smelly Buddha. " Tang Priest fell ill in zenrinji, Zhenhai, and it was difficult for him to recover. The Monkey King boasted while comforting: "Does the Yan dare to be courageous? Which judge dares to write a ticket? The ghost messenger came to hook it up? If you are angry with me ... it's great all the way, breaking into the nether world, catching ten generations of cockroaches, pulling tendons one by one, and not forgiving him. " The Monkey King decorated the sky with purple gourds for evil spirits in Lianhua Cave in Pingdingshan. He read a spell, ordering the sun to wander around the gods, the night to wander around the gods, the five parties to reveal the gods and play the role of the jade emperor, and closed them for half an hour. He said categorically, "If (the Jade Emperor) refuses to say anything, he will go to Xie Ling Temple and start a sword duel!" Look! These vivid descriptions, where there are no slaves! In the face of natural disasters, he is a symbol of the powerful power to control and defeat nature; In the face of evil forces, he is a brave man who dares to fight and fight, is full of evil and does everything except evil; In front of the Buddha's authority, dare to ridicule and reprimand in person. Such a fearless image is a truly admirable heroic image. No wonder the Monkey King can be widely read among the broad masses of the people.
Finally, the Buddhist scriptures were completed, and all the members of the Buddhist scriptures group completed the positive results. However, it should be noted that the so-called "positive fruit" should be just a metaphor, which does not fully conform to the teachings of Buddhism. Among the five people, what are the basic conditions for the Monkey King to become a Buddha? The Tathagata's Political Theory holds that the Monkey King became a Buddha because of "meritorious service in refining demons and subduing demons", so we can see that he achieved positive results entirely because of "meritorious service", that is, he completed the cause of benefiting mankind and made contributions to human groups. In other words, we have accomplished a great cause and finally achieved the goal of benefiting the people.