Wu Cheng'en (1500—— 1582) was a novelist in the Ming dynasty. The word Ruzhong comes from Sheyang Mountain and Huai 'an (Huai 'an, Jiangsu) Yang Shan. He was born in a poor family where a scholar was reduced to a businessman. Wu Cheng'en was brilliant since he was a child. The Records of Huai 'an Prefecture recorded that he was "quick and wise, rich in books, and wrote for poetry." However, his scientific examination was unfavorable, and he didn't make up for the "year-old tribute student" until middle age, and then he lived in Nanjing for a long time and subsidized his family by selling literature. In his later years, due to his poor family, he became a county magistrate in Changxing. Because he didn't like the darkness of officialdom, he quickly resigned angrily and died of poverty.

Since childhood, Wu Cheng'en likes reading wild stories and is familiar with ancient myths and folklore. The frustration of the imperial examination hall and the hardships of life deepened his understanding of the feudal imperial examination system and the dark social reality, which prompted him to express his inner dissatisfaction and resentment in the form of strange novels. He said to himself, "although my title is intellectual monster, I don't know ghosts, but I actually remember the variation of human beings, and I have a lesson."

The appearance of The Journey to the West opened up a new category of ghost novels. The clever combination of well-meaning satire and bitter satire with serious criticism in the book directly affects the development of satirical novels. The Journey to the West is the peak of romanticism in ancient novels and a masterpiece of romanticism in the history of world literature. Encyclopedia americana thinks it is "a mythical novel with rich contents and brilliant ideas", while The French Encyclopedia says: "The description of the whole story is full of humor and wit, which gives readers strong interest." Since19th century, it has been translated into more than ten languages, including Japanese, English, French, German and Russian.

Wu Cheng'en's poems were scattered, and later generations compiled four volumes of Sheyang Survival Draft.

Writing background

It is a true story in history that Tang Priest learned the scriptures. About 1300 years ago, in the first year of Zhenguan of Emperor Taizong (627), Xuanzang, a 25-year-old young monk, left the capital Chang 'an and went to Tianzhu (India) to study alone. After his departure from Chang 'an, he passed through Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. When I was in Gao Changguo, the residents there worshipped Buddhism very much. The king was very happy to see that they were eminent monks in the Tang Dynasty, and he was willing to make them national security wizards, plus 120 gold and 1000 war horses. Disciple wavered and finally stayed in Gao Changguo, while Xuanzang sneaked out and fled to the west. But was stopped by Gao Changguo soldiers. I didn't expect them to escort Xuanzang Xi to learn the scriptures. The soldier gave Xuanzang a white horse and some documents. Xuanzang is very grateful. He made several obeisances to the palace and then rode to the west. Xuanzang finally arrived in India after difficulties and obstacles. 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. He traveled to Wan Li in 19 before and after this Buddhist pilgrimage, which was a legendary Long March and made 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. 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 also on the basis of folklore, scripts and operas that Wu Cheng'en completed this literary masterpiece that the Chinese nation is proud of through hard re-creation.

Literature and various values

Among China's classical novels, The Journey to the West's content is the most complicated. It combines the thoughts and contents of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, which not only allows the immortals of Buddhism and Taoism to perform at the same time, but also injects the human feelings of the real society into the world of gods and buddhas, and sometimes inserts a few words of Confucian wisdom like a schoolbag, which is harmonious and interesting. This feature has undoubtedly won the interest of readers of all cultural levels. The appearance of The Journey to the West opened up a new category of ghost novels, and the ingenious combination of well-meaning ridicule, bitter satire and serious criticism in the book directly influenced the development of satirical novels. The Journey to the West is the pinnacle of ancient romantic novels and the representative work of romanticism in the history of world literature.

[Attachment] Scholars' Evaluation of The Journey to the West

The Journey to the West's book, from beginning to end, is sincere and honest, and he will be an official if he studies well. There is not a word about the prostitution of the immortal Buddha. Or what book is Journey to the West? Yue is really a wonderful work, a wonderful work. -Zhang Shushen, a scholar in Qing Dynasty

Wu Cheng'en's humorous story and The Journey to the West are rich in Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. It is a mythical work with the significance of resisting feudal rule. Wu Cheng'en is good at making jokes. He told me that the joys and sorrows of monsters are close to human feelings, so everyone likes to watch them. -Lu Xun

The imagination of Journey to the West is novel and superb, which can be said to have reached its peak. The characters of the main characters are also very distinctive, with the widest readers, both young and old in Xian Yi. This book has few side effects, and it is an inspiring book. It never loses heart and perseveres in achieving its goals. -Professor Albino of Peking University

Not reading Journey to the West is like not reading Tolstoy or Dostoevsky's novels. It's bold of such people to talk about novel theory. -Edenburg, French contemporary comparative writer

The story descriptions in The Journey to the West's whole book are full of humor, which gives readers great interest. -Encyclopedia de France

Among China's classic novels, The Journey to the West is the most complicated one. It combines the words of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. In order to make a more accurate and rational analysis of such a ghost novel, it is necessary to first investigate its writing process and the evolution of Tang priest's story of learning from the scriptures as the main plot of the novel. Because, from this, we can clearly see how this story, which originally preached Buddhism, added the content of Taoism, and became a novel with literary charm and interest, as well as its own artistic characteristics formed by contradictions. Among China's ancient novels, The Journey to the West is a masterpiece with first-class ideology and artistry. It is also the masterpiece of ghost novels, one of the important schools of novels in Ming Dynasty. Its position in ghost novels is equivalent to Romance of the Three Kingdoms in historical novels. Ghost novels usually consist of two parts. Some of them are called Biography of Birth, and some of them are called Biography of Spirit or Biography of Demonization. The structure of Journey to the West is the same. Chapters 1-12 are the introduction of the book, in which the first seven chapters tell the story of the Monkey King's birth and the havoc in the Heavenly Palace, providing background materials for his magical power and later following the Tang Priest to learn from the West. Chapters 8 to 12 introduce Tang Yan, another hero of the novel, and explain the reasons for learning from the scriptures. The thirteenth to the hundredth chapters are the main part of the book, which tells the story of the Monkey King, a master and disciple of Tang Priest, who went to the West to learn from demons. The story of the Monkey King's birth and havoc in Heaven has successfully created a witty and strong image of the Monkey King. He has a strong rebellious character, despises the corrupt and incompetent ruler of the Heavenly Palace, and shouts the slogan "The emperors take turns to do it and come to my house next year". As someone said, "If there were not many large-scale peasant uprisings and peasant wars that violently impacted the feudal dynasty in history, the plot of causing havoc in Heaven could not be as bold as imagined, and the image of the Monkey King, a rebel, could not be shaped as dazzling." The story of Buddhist scriptures in the Western Heaven shows two major themes in the novels of ghosts and gods: seeking and pursuing, slaying demons and subduing demons. The Journey to the West skillfully linked and combined the two. It tells people that in order to find, pursue and achieve a beautiful ideal and goal, and to accomplish a great cause, there are bound to be more or less, big or small, all kinds of difficulties and setbacks, and we must stubbornly overcome these difficulties and overcome these setbacks.