Journey to the West (Upper and Lower)

Author: Wu Cheng'en (Ming Dynasty)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-06-01
Features: In Chinese classical fiction, The Journey to the West is the most diverse in content. It blends the thoughts and teachings of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. It features the gods and immortals of both Buddhism and Taoism appearing on stage simultaneously, infuses the human emotions and social realities of the real world into the realm of gods and Buddhas, and sometimes even drops a few Confucian maxims as if showing off knowledge, making it both solemn and playful, full of wit and charm. This characteristic undoubtedly won the love of readers of all cultural levels, making The Journey to the West a timeless fairy tale suitable for people of all ages to read. However, from another perspective, this diversity in content often puts the book in a state of self-contradiction in its descriptions. For example, religious themes coexist with the ridicule of specific details about gods and Buddhas; in the heavens, the Taoist Heavenly Palace and the Buddhist Western Pure Land coexist peacefully, but on earth, Tang Sanzang and his disciples often clash with Taoist masters on their journey westward; in terms of character development, Sun Wukong caused great disturbances in Heaven twice in the first seven chapters, appearing willful, free-spirited, and unruly, but later he willingly accompanies the weak and inept Tang Sanzang on the pilgrimage and even becomes the core figure of the pilgrimage group, and so on. These factors undoubtedly add certain difficulties to our understanding of this novel.