Well, yes, I will write "Journey to the West" soon.
In fact, I was looking forward to writing it, but when I really had to write it, I felt the need to write a separate chapter to talk about it.
Because "Journey to the West" is really so popular, and there are so many literary and film and television works derived from it, and in recent years various marketing accounts have been making various interpretations of "Journey to the West", some of which It makes sense, and some of them are completely untrue, so it will inevitably lead to the situation of "there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people".
Therefore, I feel it is necessary to share my thoughts with you readers, so that if there are any differences in the opinions written somewhere, you will not be able to understand clearly, feel like you are stuck in your throat, feel like you are sitting on pins and needles, or because of some opinions. Let there be quarrels among you.
piece and love.
I hope everyone can be happy, except for my out of context influence.
Okay, let’s get down to business.
First of all, I would like to state that the "Journey to the West" template in this book is the original work of "Journey to the West", not various TV series versions, nor some storytelling version mixed with private goods. The world view is based on the original work. Many readers mentioned that the world view of "Journey to the West" written by the famous screenwriter Qian Yanqiu will not be adopted. As for those who told me about "The Legend of Wukong" and "Journey to the West", please stop. Acting cute.
Of course, the original work is just a material template for 80,000 people. 80,000 people will make some changes in the content based on the content, but the length and scope will not be very large, so as not to affect the reader's perception of "Journey to the West" itself. . For example, in the "Girls' Kingdom" section, 80,000 will adopt the idea of the CCTV drama version and write the Tang Monk's emotion of "mandarin ducks and butterflies flying together" instead of the steel scumbag's idea in the original work.
Then, there is the issue of the legality of the book "Journey to the West" in the world of Xianshu.
I saw backstage, including in the book club, that many gentlemen mentioned that "Journey to the West" is a banned book, especially when Sun Wukong shouted the phrase "Emperors take turns, come to my house next year", does that mean that it exists in this world? unreasonable?
Well, 80,000 people checked some information. The most widely circulated theory of this kind is probably from "Those Things in the Ming Dynasty", but there is no historical data to support this statement. On the contrary, the "Encyclopedia of Forbidden Destruction in Ancient China" by Professor Li Shiren of Shanghai Normal University contains historical records of books banned by official orders. As of 1911, there were a total of ninety-two books, among which "Journey to the West" was not included.
Now that I have said this, I can arbitrarily pick out the names of some banned books and show them to you.
"Meat Pudding", "Lamp Grass, Monk", "The Romantic History of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty", "The Beauty of the Country", "The Story of the Fairy"...
"Jin Ping Mei", "The Complete Biography of Yue Shuo", "A Dream of Red Mansions", "Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties"... Yes, you read that right, these books have also been banned. I would like to mention "Jin Ping Mei" in particular, saying that it is not a banned book and To say that "Journey to the West" is a banned book comes from the same source is a rumor, not trivial knowledge.
After clarifying this question, we can answer the question raised by some readers about the legitimacy of "Journey to the West" in the world of Xianshu.
80,000 people thought it would not happen.
Whether it is Sun Wukong's early unruliness or the insinuations in the content of later articles, in the world of Xianshu, where Confucian culture is highly developed and imperial power is lower than holy power, it will only be more tolerant and more tolerant than the era when "Journey to the West" appeared in reality. The magnanimity, combined with Chen Luo's identity and the existence of a force in the book like the demon clan, actually makes it easier for people to accept, and the impact is far less intense than in reality.
Of course, there is another key reason, which is detailed in the next question.
Okay, next is the biggest point of contention, the issue that has been pursued from the moment Bawan started writing the introduction.
Does "Journey to the West" respect Buddha and belittle Taoism, or is it respecting Taoism and belittling Buddha?
This is a very interesting question, because no matter which angle you stand on, you can seem to find many examples to prove your point of view, and the marketing accounts are also thinking about this argument.
Then, in some controversial corners, Bawan discovered a different voice, that is, "Journey to the West" is actually about Confucianism, or the integration of the three religions.
Likewise, many examples from books were also given.
However, from my personal point of view, I don’t really agree with any of the above statements. Instead, I saw a relatively “niche” statement that won my heart. (The minority is because few have seen it. Perhaps this is an authoritative opinion, but I haven’t verified it yet)
That is: "Journey to the West" is not about Confucianism, Taoism, or Buddhism, let alone the unity of the three religions, but about public opinion.
Because in the eyes of ordinary people, the emperor is the greatest, so in heaven, the person who talks is the Jade Emperor, and even the Supreme Lord and Tathagata Buddha must obey their orders.
Because Avalokitesvara has the greatest reputation in the eyes of ordinary people, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva has always been running around in the West to obtain scriptures.
Because in the eyes of ordinary people, the King of Hell is also under the control of heaven, so the book of life and death was torn up by monkeys, and King Yama wanted to go to heaven to complain.
Looking at it from this perspective, some seemingly inconsistent settings in Journey to the West suddenly become reasonable.
Dear readers, when evaluating a literary work, we must consider the history of its birth. Let’s read "Journey to the West" now, and we can read various metaphors, allusions, and various understandings. Let’s not discuss whether these understandings are correct or not. If we put "Journey to the West" in the era when it was born, it is just a book. best seller!
Precisely to prove that it is a best-seller, Bawan has to prove from the beginning that it is not a banned book. On the contrary, Journey to the West was still a popular book at that time. How popular is it? There is a trend of following the trend.
That is Journey to the East, Journey to the South, Journey to the North, and even "The Romance of the Gods" also has many shadows of Journey to the West.
Then we come back to the issue of respecting the Buddha and devaluing the Tao or respecting the Tao and devaluing the Buddha.
In my understanding, when Wu Chengen wrote this book (some say Wu Chengen was not the author, this is generally accepted), he had no intention of provoking Buddhism and Taoism.
For example, is Taoism in the book really Taoism?
The highest god of Taoism, the Three Pure Ones and Four Imperial Guards, among the Three Pure Realms, only Taishang Laojun appears; among the Four Imperial Guards, there is only one supreme Jade Emperor, and the others are not written at all.
Talking about Buddha, Journey to the West seems to be the same thing, talking about the great prosperity of Buddhism, but there are also things like the closer you get to the Western Heaven, the more demons you get, Ananda Kasyapa asking for bribes, and the yellow-browed boy pretending to be the Buddha, which really puts Buddhism in trouble. Not light.
But if you look at the content carefully, in the original work, when Taishang Laojun used the diamond to attack Sun Wukong, he once said, "It was a great debt to him that I passed the Han Pass and turned Hu into a Buddha." In other words, in the worldview of Journey to the West, that Buddhist , founded by Taishang Laojun.
The saying "turning a tiger into a Buddha" was actually made up by Buddhism during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties in order to find a big tree. But by the time of the Ming Dynasty, Buddhist disciples no longer recognized this statement.
As a result, it was written openly in Journey to the West. Isn’t this paganism?
You know, that's the Ming Dynasty. Especially during the Jiajing period when "Journey to the West" was written, Taoism was the state religion, and even Emperor Jiajing spent all day refining elixirs (Journey to the West contains many examples of kings who believed in Taoism and harmed the country). If you really feel offended, don't say anything. Killing the author and banning a book is easy and enjoyable.
There is also Buddhism, which was also prosperous in the Ming Dynasty. Interested students can check the engraving situation of Buddhist scriptures in the Ming Dynasty, which will be evident. In particular, Buddhism was highly believed by the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, so if they were really offended, they would not attack lightly.
But it just so happens that neither Buddhism nor Taoism makes sense. You must know that the earliest existing version of Journey to the West is the Shidetangfang engraved version of "Journey to the West with newly engraved official inscriptions", which was officially published!
why?
In Bawan's opinion, Wu Cheng'en just borrowed the veneer of Buddhism and Taoism to talk about things, without touching their core teachings at all.
Just hanging around on the outside and not getting in!
It's just a bestseller, whoever takes it seriously will lose.
In addition, it was said before that the court did not care about the contents of the book, so it can only be said that the court did not take it seriously.
Anyway, it’s just for the common people to see and enjoy.
It's like someone pretending to be an emperor on the stage. There's no need to actually arrest him.
To sum up, the standpoint of "Journey to the West" is actually the perspective of ordinary people. It is a superficial view of Buddhism and Taoism, and it has a universal significance. Therefore, there is no need to go to the Buddhist and Taoist classics to get a reluctant answer.
Of course, if Journey to the West can become a classic, it must be successful in terms of content. There are many metaphors in it. But I don’t advocate distorted interpretations. For example, I have seen some people deducing that Red Boy is the son of Taishang Laojun, and that behind Journey to the West is the immortal conspiracy of immortals and Buddhas, etc. To be honest, it is quite interesting, but the author Don't necessarily know.
According to historical records, Wu Chengen failed the imperial examination at the age of thirty and began to write Journey to the West; but suddenly he failed and became an official, up to the county magistrate. After more than thirty years of ups and downs in his career, he resigned and returned to his hometown to continue his career Writing and revising Journey to the West. In terms of time, he experienced the Ming Dynasty, which was the most intelligent and manipulative dynasty in the history of China. Teacher Liu Heping's "The Ming Dynasty 1566" explains everything.
It is impossible to walk away from such a political situation without allusions to the content in Wu Chengen's writings. If making trouble in Heaven is the first half of Wu Chengen's life, then the journey to learn from it is the second half of his life. The game between Buddhism and Taoism in the book may be referring to the period of history that he personally experienced. Perhaps the Buddhism in the book is Zhang Juzheng, who wanted to save all sentient beings, but the New Deal made it difficult for the people to live, but he also brought hope of the Tripitaka Sutra.
It's a bit far to say. Returning to Xianshu, there will be various interpretations of the characters in "Journey to the West", but they are all based on the world view in the book, so there is no need to strictly compare the views of some marketing accounts or big Vs. .
Well, let me say one more thing, the same is true for the subsequent "Feng Shen Yan Yi", there is no need to imitate the world view of the ancient world.
Okay, that’s all that needs to be said. What impact will "Journey to the West" have on the world after it comes out? In what form will Sun Wukong, the greatest saint of all time, appear? How to arrange Western Region Buddhism and Ancient Buddhism? Who wrote this book first, Chen Luo or Bai Ze?
Everything is in "I Used Idle Books to Become a Saint".
Thanks a lot.
One more PS: Someone mentioned those famous Journey to the West songs, and 80,000 will also arrange them well. Here I would like to recommend Mr. Xu Jingqing to my friends. There can be no one who doesn’t know him!
purple pen literature
