Fairy Tales for Grownups – Journey to the West

The stories of the Journey to the West had their beginnings in the sagacious monk Xuan Zang’s trip to fetch the Buddhist sutras in India in the year of Zhen Guan during the reign of emperor Tang Taizong. Xuan Zang’s adventures, which were made more adventurous through hyperboles or exaggerations in the succeeding generations, gradually developed from the Buddhist’s stories into a novel of literature. In the Song dynasty there appeared a tale of Buddhist sutras Notes on Xuan Zang’s Trip to Fetch the Buddhist Sutras, in which existed the image of monkey-traveler—a predecessor of Monkey Sun Wukong. In the popular tale of the Journey to the West during the Yuan dynasty the story of a trip of Xuangzang and his three disciples – Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy – to fetch the Buddhist sutras by and large took shape. In the year of Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty the long novel Journey to the West came into existence.

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The author of the Journey to the West is generally believed to be Wu Cheng’en. Wu Cheng’en (1500-1582), polite name Ruzhong and poetic name Sheyangshanren, was a native of Shanyang, Huai’an (present-day Huai’an City, Jiangsu Province). A scholar who came of a family in modest circumstances, he did not distinguish himself in his official career. He was two years a magistrate of Changxin County, Zhejiang Province. He wrote a collection of his poetry and essays: the Extant Manuscripts of Sheyangshanren. www.1155815.cn

Monkey is the hero of the Journey to the West. A son of Nature without any parentage, he springs out of a magic stone. He is brave and fearless in pursuit of freedom and he has the guts to do everything in defiance of any influences. Charged with a rebellious spirit, he shows contempt for the authority and disregard for all rules of etiquette. He breaks into the dragons’ palaces, stirs up Hades and creates havoc in heaven. He renders heaven and earth out of order and peace to the extent that the Jade Emperor is powerless to subdue him. He cries out aloud: “The strongest will prevail, and heroes will contend for supremacy here”, and even puts up the slogan: “Emperors come and go, and next year it will be our turn.” He is possessed of the hatred for the wicked and evil, a sense of justice and a staunch fighting spirit. Daring in his struggles and victories, he is an ever-victorious fighter against any odds. He fights incessantly and subdues all monsters and demons on the journey to the Western Heaven. Without his protection it would be impossible at all for Xuanzang to reach the Western Heaven and fetch the true Buddhist sutras. Intelligent and mischievous, humorous and sympathetic, he borders on a perfect person. He is idealized as a national hero and he breathes the cultural spirit in pursuit of free personality in the mid- and late Ming dynasty as well as the call of the times for a hero.  民俗节庆网

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