The Journey to the West's Creative Background
Wu Cheng'en lived in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, and went through five dynasties: Hongzhi in Xiaozong, Zhengde in Wuzong, Jiajing in Sejong, Qin Long in Mu Zong and Wanli in Zongshen. The social situation in the middle and late Ming dynasty was very different from that in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Political class contradictions, ethnic contradictions and contradictions within the ruling class groups have intensified and become increasingly acute. With the rise of the ideological and cultural enlightenment, the trend of human liberation is rising, citizen literature is becoming increasingly prosperous, and the creation of novels and operas has entered a period of all-round prosperity. Capitalism has sprouted economically.
In the first year of Zhenguan of Emperor Taizong (627), a 25-year-old monk Xuanzang Tianzhu (India) was hiking. After starting from Chang 'an, he passed through Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and finally arrived in India. 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, which caused 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 on the basis of folklore, scripts and operas that Wu Cheng'en completed this great literary masterpiece through hard re-creation.