Modern scholars generally believe that Wu Cheng'en is the last finisher of The Journey to the West, one of China's four classical masterpieces.
The Journey to the West is a classical novel of China and one of the "Four Classical Novels" of China. The book tells the story of the Tang Dynasty mage learning from the West and shows the ancient theme of punishing evil and promoting good. The book was written in the middle of the Ming Dynasty in the16th century, and has been widely circulated in China and all over the world since its publication, and has been translated into many languages. The Journey to the West is one of the best fairy tales, and it is also a combination of mass creation and literati creation. The novel begins with seven stories, putting the image of the novel at the top of the book. From the eighth to the twelfth, I wrote stories about Tathagata, Guanyin visiting monks, beheading dragons and being born, explaining the origin of Buddhist scriptures. From 14 to the end of the book, I wrote that I was forced to convert to Buddhism and protect the scriptures. With the help of Bajie, all the way west became a "positive result".
The life of the character
Young genius
Wu Cheng'en's ancestral home is Anton (now Lianshui, Jiangsu). His ancestors moved to Huai 'an River in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, and have been in Wu Cheng'en for five generations. My father is a businessman. Before he died, he very much hoped that his son would become famous. He was named Cheng En, the word Ruzhong, which means that he can study as an official, inherit the business of emperors, benefit the people and be a loyal minister in history.
Wu Cheng'en has been diligent and studious since childhood. He is good at painting, calligraphy, lyrics and Go, and he likes to read books such as ghosts and lemurs, such as novels such as Hundred Strange Records, Miscellanies of Youyang or unofficial history. Zhu was a celebrity at that time, and he was proud of his talent. After seeing Wu Cheng'en, I appreciated it very much, saying that Wu Cheng'en could read all the books in the world and gave Wu Cheng'en half of his books.
Study for an official position
In the sixth year of Jiajing (1527), Wu Cheng'en married the great-granddaughter of Ye Qi, a senior minister of the Ministry of Housing.
In the eighth year of Jiajing (1529), Wu Cheng'en went to Longxi Academy founded by Ge Mu, the magistrate of Huai 'an, and was appreciated by Ge Mu. At that time, Wu Cheng'en's anecdotes had been "hidden in his chest" and he had a creative plan.
In the tenth year of Jiajing (153 1), Wu Cheng'en came to Nanjing Jiangnan Hiram's Hospital to take the provincial examination, but unfortunately he failed in Sun Shan.
In the 11th year of Jiajing (1532), Wu Cheng'en accompanied his father on a trip with depression.
In the 13th year of Jiajing (1534), Wu Cheng'en came to Nanjing to take the exam again, and came last again.
In the 16th year of Jiajing (1537), Wu Cheng'en came to Nanjing to take the exam again, and was also unsuccessful. ?
In the 21st year of Jiajing (1542), Wu Cheng'en completed the first draft of The Journey to the West.
In the 28th year of Jiajing (1549), Wu Cheng'en came to imperial academy to study. ?
Main influence
novel
Wu Cheng'en's main achievement is the completion of the The Journey to the West. Due to the frustration of officialdom and the hardships of life, Wu Cheng'en deepened his understanding of the feudal imperial examination system and the dark social reality, so he used strange novels to express his inner dissatisfaction and resentment. Wu Cheng'en said to himself, "Although my title is intellectual monster, I don't know about ghosts, but I actually remember the variation of human beings, and I have a lesson." The Journey to the West is a wonderful book that reflects the social reality of the Ming Dynasty through artistic processing with the historical event of "Tang Priest's Learning from the Scriptures" as the background. The book mainly describes the story of the Monkey King who made a scene in the Heavenly Palace after his birth and met Tang Priest, Pig Bajie, Friar Sand and Bai. He went west to learn from the scriptures, went through difficulties and obstacles, and turned the devil down. After eighty-one difficulties, he finally arrived in the Western Heaven to see the Tathagata, and finally the Five Saints died.
The Journey to the West showed a high degree of ideological and artistic achievements. First, the novel unifies physical property, humanity and divinity. The characters in The Journey to the West leave readers with a real and cordial feeling. This is because the author unified the physical property, humanity and divinity of those monsters in his works. "Physical attributes" refer to the appearance and habits of elves as some animals and plants. The Monkey King in The Journey to the West, for example, retains the clever habits of monkeys, spiders can spin silk and fish are watery. And "humanity" refers to endowing every monster with human secular desires and making them have human characteristics, and then these monsters have "humanity". At the same time, these monsters have magical skills, so they are "divine". It is in the process of the transformation between "truth" and "illusion" that the author realizes the organic combination of physical property, humanity and divinity in his works.
Second, the characters portrayed in the novel are multi-angle. The main reason why The Journey to the West's characters are deeply loved by readers is that the author uses multi-angle and multi-tone portrayal techniques in shaping the characters. In other words, it is to arrange some characters in the daily civilian society, so that complex characters can depict a variety of colors. The Monkey King, for example, has many characteristics of ordinary people. When communicating with people, he often appears Jianghu terms, common slang and some jargon. Although the Monkey King was an animal, he was an idealized hero. Therefore, even if he has the characteristics of ordinary people-human nature, it does not affect his divinity. Pig Bajie is different from the Monkey King. Although he is Marshal Tianpeng, he is ugly, but Pig Bajie is more like an ordinary person, and the human touch is vividly displayed in him. For example, Pig Bajie was very diligent when he was working in Gaolaozhuang. It was because of his simplicity that he was selected by Cuilan's father to be a son-in-law. When he joined the Buddhist scriptures team, he could bravely swing a nail and knock it on the head when he met a monster. Although I sometimes play some tricks, I also contribute my strength on the way to learn from the scriptures. These are the advantages of Pig Bajie, but he also has the shortcomings of ordinary people, such as lust, gluttony, laziness, and special care about his own gains and losses. Through the description of different aspects of Zhu Bajie, the author shows a more intimate character image. Only by portraying characters from multiple angles can The Journey to the West have so many characters that are deeply loved by readers.
Third, the novel adds jokes to the magic pen. The addition of jokes makes the comic color and humorous atmosphere of the works more intense. Therefore, this kind of joke is not the author's original intention, but the product of his own making, which has little to do with the theme and characterization of the work. For example, the 42nd time, when the Monkey King borrowed a clean bottle from Guanyin Bodhisattva, Guanyin asked him to "pull a hair from the back of his head to help me", and the Monkey King was very unwilling. At this time, Guanyin Bodhisattva scolded: "You monkey! Without pulling a dime, this kind of good luck is hard to give up. " This "penniless" is a conveniently embellished "joke", which makes people laugh unconsciously. Some jokes in Journey to the West can also reflect personality, and sometimes the jokes of Pig Bajie can also show his boastful side. Sometimes jokes are bitter satires on the characters on the basis of humor, and then jokes are also a sword to satirize the world here.
Journey to the West created a magical and gorgeous mythical world through bold and rich artistic imagination and fascinating stories. The Journey to the West's artistic imagination is peculiar, rich and bold, which is rare in ancient and modern novels. The Monkey King's world is close to the fairyland of fairy tales, which is very interesting, and in this world, there are all kinds of strange and interesting monsters, which are really strange and colorful. Romantic fantasy originated from real life reflects the world and human feelings in the description of fantasy. The characters, plots, scenes, even magic weapons and weapons of Journey to the West are full of imagination, but they are all condensed with real life experiences, which can reveal the breath of life in fantasy and reflect human feelings for readers to understand and accept.
The Journey to the West is a classic of China's ghost novels, and is called the four classical novels of China together with Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin and Dream of Red Mansions. As soon as this book came out, it was hailed as one of the "four wonderful books", which was widely circulated among the people and various versions emerged one after another. There were 6 editions in Ming Dynasty, 7 editions and manuscripts in Qing Dynasty, and 13 lost editions in ancient books. ? [5]?
Besides The Journey to the West, Wu Cheng'en also wrote a collection of short stories with Zhi Ding. This is a short story with warning, but it has been lost, and only a preface can be seen.
Poetry and prose
There are more than 240 poems, songs, obstacles and praises in Wu Cheng'en. Except some obstacles and praises belong to entertainment, most of them have great historical, literary and artistic value.
Wu Cheng'en's poems are sincere and passionate, and many famous works have been handed down from generation to generation. Ci is a symbol of love, which is very interesting and "Qin Shaoyou style". This poem is fresh and meaningful, with profound implications. For example, Jiro's song of seeking mountains is the top grade carefully conceived by Wu Cheng'en. Although it was an inscription poem, it exposed the dark reality of "five ghosts" and "four evils" at that time under the fairy tale guise of Erlang God searching the mountains to catch demons. It is expected that "the sword goes through the chest" and "there is a death to save the moon and a bow to save the day". Are there no heroes in the world? ""Who can make great contributions for me and make it last forever? " . This is very similar to the heroic spirit and spirit of praising the Monkey King's "making trouble in Heaven" in the Journey to the West. Su Tianjia's Chai Men shuts off the running water, and the dog barks that the flowers fall and the moon shines, which is a masterpiece. The best examples of Wu Cheng'en's personality are "Send me an Introduction" and "Give Sand Star Stone". Just as Zhang Mian also commented that "from the prosperous Tang Dynasty in Han and Wei Dynasties to the various schools in Song and Yuan Dynasties, there is no difference between teachers and students", "In terms of artistic style, there are the simplicity of Han and Wei Dynasties, the boldness of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the beauty of the late Tang Dynasty and the simplicity of Bai Yuan" ("Talking about Westward Journey"). ?
Wu Cheng'en's poems, ci poems and songs have distinctive artistic features, and his achievements are not inferior to those of the "first seven poets" in Ming Dynasty and the poetry schools in Tang and Song Dynasties. Wu Cheng'en's ancient works, such as Preface to He Xue Pottery Award, vividly revealed the social atmosphere at that time: "Didn't my husband only look at modern practices?" So, I fell to my knees, looked up and spoke, with severe palpitations and instant anxiety. I saw that the courtiers were too tall, and now I am the chief. Bend over, bend over, and answer as if you don't care. In a word, I think the foot soldiers are also among the military commanders, and now they are gentry; Laughter and laughter flatter each other, envy different parties, avoid pandering and love you. I have seen maids and concubines in the boudoir, but now I hear my husband. Hand in hand, eye to eye, eye to eye, eye to eye, eye to eye, eye to eye, eye to eye, eye to eye, eye to eye, eye to eye, eye to eye, eye to eye, eye to eye, eye to eye, eye to eye, eye to eye, eye to eye, eye to eye, eye to eye. "This is very similar to Zong Chen's" Liu Yi Zhang Shu "which exposes the dirty officialdom and official corruption. The author's observation of reality is very keen and meticulous. Wu Cheng'en's Fu on Flowers can be compared with Tao Qian's Fu on Leisure.
Historical evaluation
"The Revelation of Huai 'an Prefecture": "Minhui, rich in books, written for poetry, elegant and beautiful, with the wind of Qin Shaoyou. I am good at banter, and I have written several miscellaneous notes, which made me famous for a while. " ?
"Changxing County Records": "Nature is elegant. As a poem, it is based on feelings and events, and the habits are removed. Its purpose is profound and profound, and its words are subtle and obvious. Zhang Wenqian is almost incoherent. "
Chen's Narration of Wu Sheyang's First Survival Draft: "Today, your works are beautiful because of love, clear and bright, implicit and bright, and profound and profound." Tang Ming is a tribute and a stone. As for the inscription on the secretary's tablet, although it does not imitate anyone in ancient times, it is also the legacy of Ban Mengjian and Liu Zihou. Although poetry does not imitate anyone in the past, it is also the legacy of Xin Youan in Li Taibai. The art of changing Huai River developed from Lujia, Meicheng, Kuang Heng, Chen Lin, Bao Zhao and Zhao Wei in Xianyin Art Garden to Zhang Lei in Song Dynasty. It's because there are so many treasures, they climb high and look far, collect a hundred generations of essays and adopt a thousand-year rhyme. His words were profound and profound, and after he disappeared, he was only one person. It is the place where the great rivers and cold mountains are located! For example, China and Baoying Zhu Zigui are less friendly, and their names are opposite; But the son's price is satrap, and your loyalty sinks in Xialiao. This manuscript is published, which coincides with the mountain pavilion collection. There are two pearls above the sun. Because of the large number of words, it is crowned at the end of Jane. "
Li Weizhen's Selected Works of Mr. Wu Sheyang: "In Jialong, elegance and Taoism flourished, and the seven sons drove near the ancient times, and the country was lonely. Its spirit is not discouraged, so the drafters are rough; Its lattice shall not exceed, so those who intentionally lose it will be detained; Its storage cannot be frugal, so planners are confused; His language is not universal, so the drafter got lost and chickened out. As for today's loss of the "son", the world is called the Qin of Li Sizhi with seven sons of sin, which is the beginning. But Du Wu Ruzhong is not. You are loyal to Qizi, and the so-called best with others, he still advocates peace the most. And according to its setting, seven friends are unique. Rate from the chest, rather than color, Xu Shu is not forced, also won't be embarrassed. People's physics, that is, in the ear at present, does not have to study its changes. Gai Shi equals the former Yuan of Tang Dynasty; However, Wen is different from Luling Nanfeng in Song Dynasty. As for the twist of four or six if Su Duanming, Xiao Ling's new voice if "Flower Room" and "Caotang", adjust the official levy and manage the latitude and longitude; Satire and songs are extreme skills. What matters is your loyalty and consideration to the teacher, not riding a wall for a temporary reputation, that's all. "
Zhu Yizun's Poems and Talks in the Ming Dynasty (Volume 48): "If you quit your habits, you will lose your horse for a while.