Okay, here is the translation following your instructions: The Legend of Wu Cheng'en: Unveiling the Authorship of Journey to the West

Author: Shen Chengqing
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2000-07-01
Features: Since the "Journey to the West" was first published during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, its author has remained a mystery. The author of this article has reviewed a vast amount of literature for reference, utilizing their expertise in various fields of knowledge, integrating common knowledge of folklore, poetry, calligraphy, geography, and more, to cite extensively. It took nearly five years for the author to gradually examine and deduce that the book "Journey to the West" has no connection with Wu Cheng'en, revealing its true author. This has overturned the incorrect conclusion, long celebrated in literary circles for over seventy years, that "Wu wrote the Journey to the West," adding a bold stroke to the history of research on Chinese classical literary masterpieces. The authorship of "Journey to the West" remains a mystery. There are three versions of "Journey to the West": Yang Zhihe's "Journey to the West," Zhu Dingchen's "Transmission of Liberation," and the "Newly Printed Large Character Edition of Journey to the West" from the Shide Hall. If one delves into the relationship between these three versions and pays attention to the inscription "Corrected by the Owner of Huayang Cave Heaven" at the beginning of the Shide Hall edition, this mystery should not be difficult to solve. However, the scholars Hu Shi, Lu Xun, and Zheng Zhenduo mistakenly reversed the publication order of the three versions, compounded by numerous historical reasons, leaving this mystery unresolved. The author of this book starts with the character "corrected" in "Corrected by the Owner of Huayang Cave Heaven" and conducts an in-depth investigation. By comparing the changes and developments in the plot of the three "Journey to the West" editions—only additions, deletions, and revisions—this book argues for the process of the novel's composition and clarifies the publication order of the three versions. Furthermore, by analyzing the historical context in which the novel was published and combining the philosophical threads of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism reflected in it, the author traces the author's background and identity. This book employs knowledge from various fields such as bibliography, textual criticism, history, local chronicles, rhetoric, logic, literature, and philosophy, integrating common knowledge of folklore, poetry, calligraphy, and geography to cite extensively. It took nearly five years for the author to gradually examine and deduce that the book "Journey to the West" has no connection with Wu Cheng'en, revealing its true author as Li Chunfang, known as the "Poetic Chancellor" during the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty. Who is the true author of "Journey to the West"? For four hundred years since its composition, the debate has raged. Based on a wealth of historical materials, Mr. Shen Chengqing, the author of this book, starts with a study of a head (a poem where each line begins with a character forming a meaningful phrase) in "Journey to the West," making a bold hypothesis and conducting meticulous research. He points out that Lu Xun and Hu Shi's claim that Wu Cheng'en is the author of "Journey to the West" suffers from flawed evidence. By comparing and analyzing the three "Journey to the West" editions (Yang Zhihe's, Zhu Dingchen's, and the Shide Hall edition), the author confirms that the Shide Hall edition was the latest to be compiled, thereby refuting the assertion that "Wu Cheng'en is the author of Journey to the West" and deciphering the mysterious "Owner of Huayang Cave." Who is the true author of "Journey to the West"? The answer lies within this book.