Summary of the content of "The Four Saints Test the Zen Heart": The four masters and disciples of Tang Seng arrived in Hezhou, Xiniu, and stayed at the home of a family named Jia. Mrs. Jia wanted to recruit a son-in-law and asked Tang Seng to be her head. Tang Seng rejected Mrs. Jia, and the four masters and disciples were kicked out. Zhu Bajie was interested and returned to the Jia family, wanting to marry his three daughters. However, he was teased by the Jia family's mother and daughter before rejecting the offer. The next day, Tang Seng and others found that Mrs. Jia's home was missing. Wukong revealed that the mother and daughter of the Jia family were all Bodhisattva disguised. They went to look for Bajie and found him hanging from a tree.
The main content of "The Four Saints Test the Zen Mind"
The four masters and disciples of Tang Monk arrived at Hezhou, Xiniu, and stayed at a house named Jia. The woman was a widow with three flowers. Xiyu's daughter. Mrs. Jia hoped that Tang Seng could become a parent, but Tang Seng never forgot his roots and only wanted to learn Buddhist scriptures.
Zhu Bajie had an idea, but he couldn't say it clearly, so he started making noises and was scolded by Tang Seng. When Sun Wukong saw Zhu Bajie having an ordinary mind, he went back to report it to his master. When Bajie came back, Tang Seng left him at Mrs. Jia's house.
Zhu Bajie became greedy and wanted to monopolize Mrs. Jia’s three daughters, but Mrs. Jia refused. She first put a handkerchief on his head and told him to marry which one he caught, but the result was unknown. Why, Bajie couldn't catch him no matter what.
Later, the lady took out three more brocade clothes and told him which one he could marry. As a result, Zhu Bajie was greedy and got all of them at once. The brocade clothes turned into ropes and hung Zhu Bajie up. But the lady and three daughters were all gone.
When Tang Seng got up the next day, he found that Mrs. Jia’s house was gone. He only found a post. After reading it, he realized what happened last night. It was the Guanyin of the South China Sea, the Samantabhadra Bodhisattva and the old mother Lishan. A bureau designed to enlighten the Zen mind of master and disciple.
The post stated that Bajie needs to take care of his ordinary mind. Looking for Bajie again, they found him hanging from a tree. As for Zhu Bajie, he swore that he would never be ordinary again, so he was rescued.
The source of "The Four Saints Test the Zen Heart"
The Four Saints Test the Zen Heart comes from "Journey to the West", which is the first romantic chapter-length novel about gods and demons in ancient China. , the author was Wu Cheng'en of the Ming Dynasty. The book mainly describes the birth of Sun Wukong and the turmoil in the Heavenly Palace. He met Tang Monk, Zhu Bajie, Sha Monk and White Dragon Horse, traveled west to learn Buddhist scriptures, experienced hardships and dangers along the way, defeated demons and demons, and experienced ninety-nine and eighty-one years. Despite the difficulty, he finally reached the Western Heaven and saw Tathagata Buddha, and finally the Five Saints came true. This novel is based on the historical event of "Xuan Zang's Pursuit of Buddhist Scriptures". Through the author's artistic processing, it can more deeply depict the social life conditions of the people in the Ming Dynasty. Creation background
In the first year of Zhenguan (627) of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, the 25-year-old monk Xuanzang traveled to Tianzhu (India) on a walking study tour. After setting off from Chang'an, he passed through Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, going through many hardships and obstacles, and finally arrived in India. He studied there for more than two years and was a keynote speaker at a large-scale debate on Buddhist scriptures, receiving praise. In the 19th year of Zhenguan (645), Xuanzang returned to Chang'an and brought back 657 Buddhist scriptures, which caused a sensation. Later, Xuanzang's oral account of his journey to the West was compiled into twelve volumes of "The Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" by his disciple Bianji. However, this book mainly tells the history, geography and transportation of the countries seen on the road, without any story content.
When it comes to the "Biography of Master Tripitaka of the Great Ci'en Temple of the Tang Dynasty" written by his disciples Huili and Yancong, it adds a lot of mythological color to Xuanzang's experience. From then on, the story of Tang Monk's Buddhist scriptures began It is widely spread among Chinese people.
The Southern Song Dynasty has "The Tripitaka of the Tang Dynasty Searching for Buddhist Scriptures", the Jin Dynasty version has "The Tripitaka of the Tang Dynasty", "Peach Club", etc., and the Yuan Dynasty dramas include Wu Changling's "The Tripitaka of the Tang Dynasty Searching for Buddhist Scriptures from the West" and the unknown person's "Erlang Shensuo Qi" "The Great Sage of Heaven" and so on, all of which laid the foundation for the creation of "Journey to the West". Wu Chengen also completed the creation of "Journey to the West" after painstaking re-creation based on Chinese folklore, scripts and operas. Introduction to the author
Wu Chengen (about 1500-1582), courtesy name Ruzhong, also known as Sheyang Jushi, was a native of Hexia, Shanyang County, Huai'an Prefecture, South Zhili Province (now Huai'an, Jiangsu Province) (One says Tongcheng, Anhui), his ancestral home is Andong. Ming Dynasty litterateur.
Wu Chengen has been smart since he was a child and has read a lot of books, especially fairy tales. He is good at painting and calligraphy and is versatile. After repeated setbacks in the imperial examination, Jiajing passed the imperial examination and became a Gongsheng student. In the twenty-eighth year of Jiajing (1549), he moved to Nanjing and made a living by selling literature. In the 39th year of Jiajing's reign (1560), he was appointed as the magistrate of Changxing County, Zhejiang Province, and soon resigned and returned. Due to difficulties in his official career, he decided not to pursue an official career in his later years, so he wrote books behind closed doors and stayed at home until his death.
Modern scholars generally believe that Wu Chengen was the final author of "Journey to the West", one of China's four major classical masterpieces.