Is the author of "Journey to the West" Wu Chengen? It has been a historical mystery for hundreds of years. In the 1920s, Hu Shi and Lu Xun argued from Qing Dynasty scholars that the author of "Journey to the West" was Wu Cheng'en, a middle-aged Gongsheng student from Jiajing, Huai'an. However, from the various versions of "Journey to the West" that can be seen so far, none of them is signed by Wu Cheng'en. Recently, the Beijing Library Press released the book "Talking about Wu Cheng'en - Revealing the Author of Journey to the West", which proposed that the author of "Journey to the West" was not Wu Cheng'en, but Li Chunfang, the "Qingci Prime Minister" of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty.
The research idea is to start from the word "school" in "Huayangdong Tianzhu School" in the front volume of Shidetang's "Newly Engraved Official Banner Journey to the West", and compare it with Yang Zhihe's "Journey to the West" and Zhu Dingchen's "The Legend of Shi'e". The plot changes and developments in additions, deletions, and modifications between the two versions, demonstrate the process of writing the novel, straighten out the publishing order of the three versions, and combine the Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism embodied in it. The three schools of thought traced the source of the experience and identity of the author of "Journey to the West" and proved that the book "Journey to the West" has nothing to do with Wu Cheng'en. The real author should be Li Chunfang, the "Qingci Prime Minister" in the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty.
Wu Chengen wrote a poem "Gift to Li Shilu Taishi", and Shilu was Li Chunfang's nickname. Li Ji was from Xinghua County, Jiangsu Province. During the Jiajing period, he passed the first place in the imperial examination and was promoted to prime minister because he was good at writing "Qing Ci". When he was young, he studied in Huayang Cave, Jiangsu Province, so he was also known as the "Master of Huayang Cave". He was once appointed to the "Yongle Dadian" of the main school. There is a poem in the 95th chapter of "Journey to the West": "The sky is full of colorful auspicious mist and fragrance, and a barren mountain is suddenly auspicious; the rainbow flows for thousands of years, clearing the rivers and seas, and electricity surrounds Saiyu Tang in Changchun. The grace of the grass and trees adds beauty, and the wild flowers bloom There is lingering fragrance. The elders have left traces in ancient times, and now I am happy for Mingjun to descend into the treasure hall." Mr. Shen found that the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh sentences of this poem imply "the traces left by the old man Li Chunfang" and the title "Huayang". Dongtianzhuxiao" refers to "the compilation of "Journey to the West".
The basis for Hu Shi and Lu Xun's assertion that Wu Chengen was the author of "Journey to the West" is the "Huai'an Prefecture Chronicle" written by Tomorrow Qijian, which records that Wu Chengen wrote "Journey to the West", but does not explain what kind of book it is. In the Qing Dynasty, Xianfeng reprinted the "Huai'an Prefecture Chronicle" and deleted this article.
At the end of 1983, Mr. Zhang Peiheng pointed out in "Whether the Hundred Chapters of "Journey to the West" Was Written by Wu Chengen" that in the more than 300 years from the publication of "Journey to the West" to the 1920s, various The publication may be signed as edited by Zhu Dingchen, or only signed as Huayang Dongtianzhu without the author's name, or written by Qiu Chuji. None of the publications acknowledges Wu Chengen's copyright. Hu Shi's 1921 "Preface to Journey to the West" also said that this work "was written by an unknown novelist after the middle of the Ming Dynasty." Later, Mr. Lu Xun strongly advocated that Wu Chengen said that Hu Shi had obtained the materials copied by Lu Xun to him, and he also held this opinion in "A Textual Research on Journey to the West". However, a closer look at their research shows that there are two indirect materials and only one direct material.
Indirect material 1: Wu Yuqi (1698-1773) "Shanyang Zhiyi" Volume 4:
Tianqi's old "Zhi" (referring to Tianqi's "Huai'an Prefecture") Mr. Lie ( Referring to Wu Cheng'en) as the head of the modern literary field, he said: "Sensitive and intelligent, he has a wide range of books, he is the author of poems and essays, he is also good at humor, and he has written several kinds of miscellaneous notes, which made him famous for a while." I didn't know why the miscellaneous notes were such a book at first. I also read "Huaixian Wenmu", which recorded "Journey to the West" as written by Mr. According to the examination of "Journey to the West", it was originally called the Book of Zhengdao, which is said to be in line with the main purpose of Jindan, and the Taoist Garden of Yuan Dynasty was in order. It is said that this book was written by Qiu Changchun, a real person in the early period of his country; and the county annals said that it was written by Mr. Chu. When the apocalypse comes, the teacher is not far away, and his words must have a basis. It means that this record was written in the early spring of Changchun, and Mr. Zhi wrote a popular romance about it, such as Chen Shou in the "Three Kingdoms" version, and Luo Guanzhong in "The Romance". There are many dialects of my hometown in the book, and there is no doubt that they were written by Huai people. Or it is said: There is "Journey to the West" written by Mr. Sheyang.
It has been nearly two hundred years since the publication of "Journey to the West" by Wu Yuyi, and the only basis for his judgment is "Huai'an Prefecture Chronicles" by Ming Qi. His right to speak is actually about the same as ours.
Indirect material 2: Ruan Kuisheng (1727-1789) "Cha Yu Ke Hua" Volume 21:
According to the old "Zhi", it is said that Sheyang is sensitive and intelligent, which is a poem. The writing is complete, good at joking, and contains several miscellaneous notes. Unfortunately, the title of the miscellaneous notes is not noted, but "Huaixian Wenmu" contains the popular romance "Journey to the West" written by Sheyang. This book became popular at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, and people in the alleys loved to talk about it, but it had never been heard of before.
...According to Ming County Chronicles, it is said to have been written by Sheyang. Sheyang went to cultivate his ambitions not far away. How can he be listed in the Yuan Dynasty's novels that are popular in the world? Perhaps there was this record in the early days of Changchun, and the story of Sheyang was based on the story, which is a very bizarre and treacherous view of the world; just like the "Zuo Shi" has the "Zhi of the Nations", and the "Three Kingdoms" has the "Yanyi". Judging from the dialects and slangs in them, they are all spoken in the streets of Huaishang, and women and children in the alleys and markets can all understand them. However, people from other places do not always read them the same way, so there is no doubt that they were written by the Huai people.
The only basis for judgment here is still Tianqi's "Huai'an Prefecture Chronicles". According to Mr. Lu Xun's analysis, Ruan Kuisheng actually wrote it based on the fourth volume of Wu Yu?'s "Shanyang Chronicles" because it followed that book The "Fushan Comedy" in "Huai'an Prefecture" was mistakenly written as "Fushan Comedy". Both Wu and Ruan mentioned the Huaishang dialect in the book, but they both confirmed that Wu Chengen's work was circumstantial evidence after the novel "Journey to the West". However, there has been a big debate in the academic circles about the dialect issue in the novel. In the early Qing Dynasty, Huang Taihong's "Journey to the West Zhengdao Book Postscript" already stated: "There are many Jinling dialects in the chapter." In the Qing Dynasty, others who claimed Wu Chengen as the author include Ding Yan's "The Continuation of Shiting Chronicles" and Jiao Xun's "The Story of Drama". However, they either relied on "Huai'an Prefecture Chronicles" or "Cha Yu Ke Hua", which means that they will There is actually only one basis for awarding the copyright to Wu Chengen.
Direct materials: Tianqi's "Huai'an Prefecture Chronicles" Volume 19 "Art and Literature Chronicles" 1 "Huai Xian Wenmu":
Wu Cheng'en: "Sheyang Collection" in four oral volumes; "Preface to the Spring and Autumn Biographies"; "Journey to the West".
Based on this piece of material, Mr. Zhang Peiheng made arguments from both positive and negative aspects.
Front:
"Huaian Fu Zhi" does not indicate the number of volumes or chapters of Wu Chengen's "Journey to the West", nor does it indicate the nature of the chapter. In history, there are often two works with the same name. For example, in the early Qing Dynasty, Shen Qian and Tang Sunhua each had a "Dongjiang Collection", and in the Ming and Qing dynasties, there was a novel called "The Story of Ruyijun". Anguo, who is about twenty years older than Wu Chengen, also wrote "Journey to the West", but it was a travelogue. Therefore, it cannot be concluded that Wu Chengen's "Journey to the West" is the 100-chapter version of "Journey to the West".
Reverse side:
The geography category of Volume 8 of the "Qianqingtang Bibliography" of Huang Yuji, a famous bibliophile in the early Qing Dynasty, has the following description:
Tang Hezheng's "Southern China" Three volumes of "Journey to the West" by Wu Chengen and one volume of "Journey to the Siming Mountains" by Shen Mingchen
It was more than half a century since "Journey to the West" was first published in the 20th year of Wanli (1592). It is already a well-known book, but Huang Yuji clearly classified Wu Chengen's "Journey to the West" into the geography category, which shows that the book is only a travel note in a general sense, just like Wu Chengen's contemporaries wrote "Journey to the East" and "Journey to the East". It's the same as travel notes like "Journey to the South".
Experts believe that there have been various opinions about the author of "Journey to the West", and most of them deny that it was written by Wu Cheng'en. Some people also believe that Li Chunfang was the author of "Journey to the West" in the past. It is not convincing enough to imply that Li Chunfang is based on a poem in "Journey to the West". This can only be the opinion of one family. To truly unravel the historical mystery of the author of "Journey to the West", we need to further unearth more first-hand information.