The Journey to the West, the work of Wu Cheng'en, a novelist in Ming Dynasty, was not signed at first. Later, Wu Yuzhuan, a scholar in Qing Dynasty, proposed that the author was Wu Cheng'en in Ming Dynasty. But The Journey to the West is a work accumulated layer by layer, because the images of Wukong, Bajie and Tang Priest have already appeared in some scripts of the Song Dynasty.
In the first year of Zhenguan of Emperor Taizong, Xuanzang, the prototype of Tang Priest, went hiking in Tianzhu. At that time, he was only 25 years old and in his prime. Xuanzang set out from Chang 'an to India and experienced many difficulties and obstacles on the way. He studied in India for two years, and finally returned to Chang 'an in the 19th year of Zhenguan, bringing back 657 Buddhist scriptures, which caused a sensation. Later, Xuanzang's disciples compiled Xuanzang's oral story about his journey to the West into "The Tale of the Western Regions of Datang".
So the story of Tang Priest's learning from the scriptures began to spread widely among the people, and many folk creators created legends, operas and scripts based on this story. It was on this basis that Wu Cheng'en began to create The Journey to the West.
Main influence
Since The Journey to the West, there has been a climax of writing ghost novels in Ming Dynasty. There are Zhu Xingzuo's Biography of Twenty-four Arhats Becoming the Tao, Deng Zhimo's Cycas Flying Sword Cursing Jujube, and Xu's Biography of Immortals. The Journey to the West also had a far-reaching influence on the traditional operas in China.
The court drama "Shengping Bao Raft" in Qing Dynasty is a western game, with 10 copies and 240 copies. The Journey to the West not only has sequels and imitations, but also has an influence on later novels, operas, baojuan and folk customs. The Journey to the West's drum ci is found in his disciple's book in Qing Dynasty, which shows its great influence.