论文总字数：42788字

摘 要

本文旨在通过西游记中的童话语言研究西游记中所反映出的宗教色彩。

西游记作为一部童话小说，其语言是充满童话色彩的，吴承恩采用诙谐幽默的笔调阐述他对那个时代宗教的总体看法，反映明代的宗教特色。吴承恩作为一个正统的儒家弟子，他的儒家思想自然会在其作品中留下印迹，这主要体现为对封建伦理道德的维护。同时，吴承恩的思想也是复杂的，这主要体现为宗教思想上的复杂关系。通过西游记中的童话语言研究，我们可以发现，吴承恩对道教神灵世界的攻讦，同时对佛教也免不了进行一番讽刺。

关键词：西游记；童话性；语言特色；宗教色彩

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature review 2

2.1 Languages characteristics in Journey to the west 2

2.2 Religious tinge in Journey to the west 3

3. Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism from the fairy-tale language characteristics in Journey to the west 6

3.1 The Buddhism reflected in Journey to the west 6

3.2 The Taoist characteristics reflected in Journey to the west 9

3.3 Confucianism reflected in Journey to the west 11

4. Reasons analysis 13

4.1 Historical background 13

4.2 The author’s psychology and emotion 14

5. Conclusion 16

Works Cited 18

1. Introduction

Written by Wu Chengen of Ming dynasty, Journey to the west is one of four Chinese great classical novels, telling about a story of adventure. Till now, many researches about Journey to the west have been published, and these researches give us great help to understand Journey to the west. Researches about the work cover many aspects. For example, Lu xun and Hu shi focus on the problem of the source of Sun wukong, and many other scholars, such as Yuan yulin, make great efforts on Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism in the work. However, among these studies, few people analyze the religious tinge from the fairy-tale language characteristics. They do not connect language characteristic to the religions in the work. They do not see the elements in the work as a whole.

As a fairy-tale novel, the language of the work is full of fairy-tale characteristic. Wu Chengen uses a humorous method to state his whole attitude towards that time and reflect religious tinge of Ming dynasty. As a confucianist, his Confucianism thoughts must leave some trail in his work and he maintained feudalism ethics morals in his work. At the same time, the thoughts of Wu Chengen are complex, and this is reflected by his complicated religious thoughts. In Journey to the west, we can notice that Wu Chengen criticizes Taoism and satires Buddhism.

This essay first analyzes the fairy-tale language characteristics of Journey to the west. Then, the religious tinge is explained by the analysis of the fairy-tale characteristic in the work. The most important task is to connect language characteristics to religious tinge and analyze the approach of connection. Through the analysis, the relationships between fairy-tale language characteristics and religious tinge will be found. The time background of Journey to the west and the real reasons why Wu Chengen wrote the work is also analyzed in the work. What’s more, the analysis of author’s psychology and emotion will help us to read and understand Journey to the west. At the same time, the condition of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism in Ming dynasty and the author’s view to these three religions are stated in the essay. In one word, a new angle to understand Journey to the west is given and the author’s true psychology and emotion are analyzed in the essay.

2. Literature review

2.1 Languages characteristics in Journey to the west

Journey to the west is a unique book. Zhang shukun, of Qing dynasty, summarized Journey to the west as “five odds”, that is: “the surroundings are all strange land; features are all strange people; stories are all strange things; space is strange thinking; and then the poems, songs, article are all strange works”. (Zhang shukun, 1991: 5) The “five odds” tell us the goodness of Journey to the west, and among these odds the language characteristics play an important role. Language characteristics lie in the use of folk adages which are widely used in common society. These folk adages dilute the baldness of Buddhism and create an air of comedy style. Because of the odds, we can feel the interesting of Journey to the west. And they also make the work unique. When it comes to the reasons, He manzi put forwards his viewpoint that ‘Journey to the west talks about the themes of Buddhism and Taoism in an informal manner deliberately and mixes up the themes and the way of cultivation of Buddhism and Taoism deliberately. The author inserts many folk adages in some formal occasion’. (He manzi, 1992: 22) The author expresses his view from the angle of children which makes the article full of interest. Wu Chengen mixes up religious thoughts together

Many scholars hold the point that the language characteristic of Journey to the west is secular style. The language in Journey to the west has obvious characteristics: language is designed for the given person, and language represents person’s character and spirit. Every sentence has its own philosophy no matter who says it and reflects an incline of secularity. Language characteristics in Journey to the west reflect the characters of Ming dynasty. In Preface of folk—custom, Zhong jinwen says ‘the function of folk—custom is obvious’, ‘people can not work day to night, they have to have some entertainments at some appropriate time to fresh themselves and adjust spirits. Every country and people has festivals, entertainments and arts. These elements are necessary to human’s life.’ （Zhong jinwen, 1998: 35）We can say that every secularity is inserted by the elements of entertainments. Journey to the west covers the characteristics of secularity and entertainment. Lu xun once said that ‘although the author is a confucianist, the book is written from the angel of entertainment… （Lu xun, 2006: 133）The author does not focus on only one religion, instead, he mixes up these three religions. We can see the beauty of the work, and from the description of the religions we can analyze the author’s attitude towards the religions in Ming dynasty.

As for the fairy feature of Journey to the west, some people like Hu shi once mentioned about it in the beginning of the 20^th century. Not only did Hu shi define Journey to the west as a myth novel, but also it was referred to be a fairy novel. When it comes to the assessment of the story of havoc in the first seven chapters, he considered it to be parallel to the classic fairy Alice in wonderland, and he said: ‘just like the English version of Alice in wonderland, The Journey to the west, despite the fact that it contains some mysterious philosophy, is still a very funny and absurd fairy novel’ (Hu shi, 1999: 236)

The fairy feature of Journey to the west is mainly manifested through its fairy language, which makes the plot full of childish joy and at the same time shows a characteristic of game-style. The characteristic of the fairy language in Journey to the west makes the novel more innocent and romantic. (Li yi, 2012: 149）Take chapter 74 for example, which portraits the scene of the Monkey king’s itinerating the mountain: ‘When looking back quickly, Monkey king realized that it was just an elf, with a banner writing’ ling’ on the shoulder and a bell in his waist, knocking clapper in hand, walking from north to south…the elf questioned :it is a wonder that your tip mouth suddenly changed into smooth one! How hard to recognize! We don’t belong to the same party. I seldom met you…’ ( W.J.F.Jenner 1993 1030) Every novel has its specialty, and every novel has its own language characteristic, which earns the respect of people. Journey to the west also has its own language characteristic.

2.2 Religious tinge in Journey to the west

When Journey to the west initially came into being, nobody knows the author’s real name. What’s worse, the disciples of three religious, according to their respective standpoint and stubbornly conscious of protecting their own religion, just flatter the works at random, thinking it as an expansion of ‘Huayan’ or ‘another name of The Great Learning’ ‘the first outstanding book throughout history both in the east and west’. Different people often see the world in different aspects. It seems that Journey to the west has become a mysterious event and been unknown to the world throughout times.

If you have done a research on Journey to the west, you will find an evident feature that Journey to the west is indeed in close relation to the religion. The resentment in the novel Journey to the west originally comes from the religious propaganda. This by-product of the religion does not change into an independent art until it met the author Wu Chengen whose horizon don’t limit to the narrow conscience of the religion. However, it still contains some contents of the religious history and branches with the religious ideas.（Zuo shaofeng, 2007: 212） The philosophy and characteristic of the acceptance lie in China enables the whole cultural orientation in the Song and Yuan dynasty, especially after the middle age of Ming dynasty which makes the integration of the three religions.

Journey to the west is a myth in the medieval of China. The dominant belief at that time in China is Confucianism, which is different from the religious society in Europe and it is a special religion that no other religions can simply compare with. Wu Chengen, an unknown Confucianism in Huaihai，who is deserted and excluded by Confucianism is still a disciple in Confucianism. After all, he is neither the scholar nor the author of the other religions. In Journey to the west, he seems to be familiar with all kinds of terminology and mythology and use them freely, regardless of the fact whether they contradicted each other...（Zhang chengjian, 1988: 288）Wu Chengen expresses his own religious attitude in the work and tell us the condition of three religions in Ming dynasty. However, so many scholars analyze Journey to the west just from the singe angle of religion, and the fail to connect religions to other elements.

In China, the ancient religion is a ghost and evil system tinged with Taoism, civil religion and Buddhism. This unique Chinese pattern of god and evil’s world has some features, 1. Gods admit each other 2. Borrow things each other 3. Affect religious ideas each other. The phenomenon that the three religions blend into one doesn’t mean that they are absolutely in total harmony with each other. Instead, separation is included in the combination. Even though the phenomenon isn’t formed in one day, they still retain their own god system, religious standpoint, theoretic system… (Chen he, 2006: 66) In Journey to the west, we can see the combination of the three religions, and these religions affect each other. In the novel, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism thoughts mix up together. Sometimes, they are in a harmony relationship and sometimes they have conflict.

The principal line in Journey to the west is Buddhism. The story itself tells about the story of seeking for the Bible. In summary, the master Tang seng comes from the Buddhism while the three disciples Sun wukong, Zhu bajie and Sha seng come from Taoism. These four people explain the combination of the three religions. The original position of Zhu bajie is the marshal in the sky, Sha heshang is the captain. When it comes to the white horse, it isn’t a real horse, instead, it is the son of the dragon king… The Buddhism accepts the rebels and surrenders who are against the god’s will. (Yue qing, 2009: 76)

In one word, many scholars see the reflection of the combination of the three religions. They focus on the issue of ‘heart’ and they consider the issue of heart is the common source of the three religions. The universal concept that the heaven and people is an integrity corresponds to the opinion that ‘heart means Buddhism’; Wang yangming in the Ming dynasty puts forward an opinion that ‘to your consciousness’, ‘follow your heart, you will know yourself, know yourself and you will know the heaven’. Quan zhengjiao, the main party of Taoism in the Yuan and Ming dynasty, has argued that we shouldn’t have evil thoughts and three religions should get along well together. The eminent philosopher once said that the three religions should become a unity, ‘unity’ means your inner heart, which is used to understand the real metaphysical of culture with your heart and is also the motivation to make the author create.( Timothy Richard, 1913: 27) For example, the story of Sun wukong’s fighting with the Great Immortal Tiger Power in the kingdom of Tarrycart and recognition of the white deer’s devil of a potion made from the hearts of 1,111 little boys. The author criticizes the outer of Taoism. However, the author appreciates the inner Taoism. The scholars throughout history analyze the religious feature in the novel Journey to the west according to the opinion that the three religions become a unit.

Too many scholars make great efforts on the analysis of religions in the book, which influence the thoughts of people to the book. However, some scholars fail to catch the real emotion of Wu Chengen. As a result, they fail to recognize the real condition of that time.

3. Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism from the fairy-tale language characteristics in Journey to the west

Journey to the west is a myth work so we can find fairy-tale characteristic among the words of the characters. When it comes to the work, religions are eternal topics. From Journey to the west, we can find the special characteristics of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. In the following analysis, religious tinge is analyzed from the fairy-tale language characteristics of Journey to the west. Fanglitian once said that ‘religion is important for a society, and it is an eternal topic from the given people in the given culture. The function of religion can be seen, felt, and enjoyed in many aspects of history…’ So religions must be taken into consideration when it comes to Journey to the west.

3.1 The Buddhism reflected in Journey to the west

Buddhism believes that all things in the world all follow the laws of karma. Buddha says: What is the cause? It is the internal cause of the things. What is the reason? It is the external condition of things. The Buddha thinks that everything is produced from internal and outer harmony, such as water which is from hydrogen and oxygen. And once internal and outer edge are discrete, everything will be destroyed. From the law of karma, the Buddhism puts forward contact law, and believes that the world is mutual affinity, mutual causal, and interconnected. The world is like an interactive web and if you take a corner you will move all of them. The Buddha says people can not only see the trees, but see the forest. From this sense, the human, society and the society, need to cooperate, need to help each other.

Buddhism passed into China in the end of Han dynasty. It has been blended into Confucianism and is rooted into the Chinese culture in the long period development. After the mid-Ming dynasty, the cultural trend has become a unit, which gives birth to the magic novel Journey to the west. The novel is based on the real historic event in Tang dynasty when Sanzang takes pain to seek for the bibles. Therefore, phenomena concerning the Buddhism is unavoidable.

In chapter 14, Sun wukong killes a bunch of small−time crooks naming Eye−seeing Happiness, Ear−hearing Anger, Nose−smelling Love, Tongue−tasting Thought, Mind−born Desire, and Body−based Sorrow." when monkey king just became Sanzang’s disciple, which means one heart can subdue six bandits (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind).In chapter15,Guanyin says, ‘there is no difference between the god and the evil, it is our inner heart that does.’ although it is just a joke to Sun wukong, it contain s the philosophy of sudden understanding of ‘nature’s heart’, In chapter 24 Sun wukong tells Sanzang: if you see your true nature, are determined to be sincere, and always remember to turn your head back to enlightenment, then you would have reached Vulture Peak. "Wukong’s ridiculous answer is a good reflection of the problem of ‘Nature’s heart’. According to the essence of the nine nines, whether you can be a Buddhist depends on your inner meditation, setback is a good process of thinking and is also an important part of the Buddhism.

According to the Chinese system of Journey to the west, ‘soul’ is considered as an altogether concept of the goodness and devil. There are two ways to consummate yourself in Buddhism’s eye: one is to understand this mortal life and the definition of ‘emptiness’ thoroughly, then one can be absorbed in Buddhism and give up everything; the other is to obtain lots of materials from the world. Finally, you turned to Buddhism after being burned with too much pressure. Sun Wukong, the first famous monster throughout history, belongs to the latter. In chapter 1,Sun Wukong suddenly comes into the world from nowhere, the description of his inhabitant, the water curtain, just like the word ‘heart’ which is upside down .His first master, the most mysterious figure in Journey to the west, the Patriarch Subhuti lives in a place whose outline shaped like ‘Moon and the Three Star’ means ‘heart’. It is a kind of luck that makes an observant and conscientious person meet with a master who cultivates his heart. The Patriarch imparts the Way of Immortality to Sun Wukong, which contains the cultivation of heart, namely, immortality comes from the cultivation of heart. The Patriarch also imparts seventy-two transformations and "somersault cloud to him. Seventy-two transformations are changed with heart. One somersault can go sixty thousand miles. The author tells us later that it will take sixty miles to go from east to the west, which means that the goodness and devil has subtle difference. Sun Wukong is born of Heaven and Earth, so The Patriarch gives him the Dharma−name Wukong , which is so called ‘To smash foolish emptiness he had to be awakened to emptiness’. He just acquired the skills rather than the ‘emptiness. Therefore, he was forced to leave and his master will never meet him again. The Patriarch said, "I"m sure that your life will not be a good one”. As expected, when he comes back, his restless heart of desire and thirsty for reputation make him pay a terrible price. As a result, The Mind−Ape Is Fixed Beneath Five Elements Mountain.

In addition，the Buddhism causal retribution and reincarnation are reflected in Journey to the west. ‘Karma’ is the theory for Buddhism to illustrate all relationships and is the basis for all kinds of Buddhist doctrines. ‘Karma’ means that All thoughts, speech, behavior will produce corresponding result, and it thinks that good to good, evil to evil.

Karma and reincarnation can be found everywhere in Journey to the west. In chapter 100, the Tathagata says, "in an earlier life you were my second disciple, and called Master Golden Cicada. But because you would not listen to my sermon on the Dharma and had no respect for my great teaching I demoted your soul to be reborn in the East… Once he leads his men and horses hunting with falcon and hound. They come to the Fallen Phoenix Slope, where a young peacock and peahen, two children of the Buddha"s mother in the West, and the Bodhisattva MauryaVidya Rani are resting. When the king shots with his bow he wounds the cock, while the hen dies with an egg still in her. After the Buddha"s mother realizes this, she regrets what has happened so she orders the prince should be separated from his wife for three years. Examples of such in Journey to the west are beyond count.

From the character in Journey to the west, a glimpse of the Buddhist denial is witnessed. Journey to the west tells the story of "Tang Taizong’s decree that makes Sanzang pursue Mahayana in the west. It is obvious that it is difficult for him to depart from Changan to Tianzhu. There is no doubt that Sanzang should be the protagonist. It takes him 17 years to take back the real Buddhism, and then he tells his disciple his experiences during the journey orally and let them write down, which is a valuable resource for the research of the history of Middle East. Journey to the west should regard Tang Seng as a hero; on the contrary, he is depicted as a coward who is weak, stubborn, and stupid. On one hand, he is afraid of everything. On the other hand, he lacks of assertive opinion and likes being flattered. For example, when he meets with the monsters, he does nothing but cry. He fears that he may not come back to Changan. Besides, he has no confidence with his purpose because of the long way and much difficulty. The only one he can rely on is Wukong. If Wukong doesn’t satisfy him, he will punish him severely. His gracious and kindness can be seen nowhere. Sun Wukong is loyal to him, but he has no sympathy with him, it is disaster falls on him that he can thinks of his disciple who can come to his rescue. When it comes to the monster, he is so kind that is beyond belief. What infuriates Sanzang is Wukong killed the the Corpse Fiend. Although he knows the normal people won’t be in the evil place, he still thinks that Wukong is too cruel .despite the fact that Wukong saved him, he shows no thanks to him and expels him. In this book, Sanzang is described as a wretched and ignoble person.

From the description of the image of God and Buddha in Journey to the west, it can be seen that the works of Buddhism is hated. When they finally come to the destination, they don’t get the Buddhism directly. They don’t know that monks want to take bribe. It is obvious that Buddhism’s corruption is notorious. Besides, Buddha said; ‘in the Southern Jambu Continent they are greedy and lecherous and delight in the sufferings of others; they go in for a great deal of killing and quarrelling. That continent can with truth be called a vicious field of tongues and mouths, an evil sea of disputation. I now have Three Stores of True Scriptures with which they can be persuaded to be good’

In a word, the novel Criticizes Buddhism rather than praise, but it is assessed in terms of this novel. Anyway, Buddhism, as Chinese ancient cultural thoughts still has its merit.

3.2 The Taoist characteristics reflected in Journey to the west

Taoism takes "moral" thought as the main doctrine. Taoism believes that invisible "Tao" gives birth to the universe God is the substitute for Taoism and its model as well so the Taoism believes both the Taoism and gods. The "God" and "Tao" is the one unity, and Taoism integrates the gods, gods also represents Taoism, which says the importance of the consistency of the respect for Taoism and worship for gods. Taoism can benefit the people and reward the virtuous ones. According to the Taoism, We can pray for bless from god. ‘Moral’ says "The ways of heaven are impartial, which is often with a good God that embodies the heaven, so the person should worship the Taoism rather than something that is non-Taoism.

The people believe in God, not only in God can avoid disasters, bless the business, but also in God and path, that changes to further realized Taoism As Chinese indigenous religion, Taoism has much to do with novel’ Since the beginning of the novel generation, the fairy spectacle publicity seeking genuine genre is in a continuous, becoming an important aspect of the study on An cient Novels. The Qin and Han Dynasties Novels are good evidence, which contain many myths about Taoism. Therefore, Journey to the west which serves as a novel in Ming dynasty is absolutely affected by this trend. Four masters walk to the west, and they always meet a lot of troubles. When sun wukong couldn’t defeat the enemy, it is Guanyin who helps them solve the problem. This reflects the mode of the struggle between good and evil. The basic belief and significant feature of Taoism is the belief in fairies, which distinguishes Taoism with other religions. The main feature of the gods is to live forever and never die.

Taoism immortality belief reflects people"s love for nature and life and distaste for death Live forever and never die. What Sun Wukong is seeking is the Taoist immortal belief. The Taoist not only believes the way that live forever and never die fairy, but also believe that fairy has a variety of spells for example, It can predict fortune gods, pray for clear sky, slaving to pray for rain, mountain stone, illnesses and disease treatment, by the wind, solving the problem of the plague and taking poison. Both gods and monsters spell have much to do with Taoism. For example, Buddha presses Sun Wukong in the five mountains, and then takes a post from the sleeve, and passes it to Ananda, and tells him to stick at the top of the hill, as a result, Sun Wukong couldn’t come out. This reflects the author’s respect for the Taoism

Since Journey to the west is a novel of supernatural evil spirit, the writing is full of gods, and the basic belief of Taoism is the respect for gods. Gods takes control over the real world, and everyone should obey the gods’ will. Otherwise, he will be punished by the god. For example, in chapter87, the commander’s wife throws the tributes to the dog, which makes the emperor very angry, making the place a dryer place for three years. It is with the help of Sun Wukong that this place can be forgiven by the god. This example fully proves that all the things are under control of the god. If you show no respect for him, you will get nothing but disaster.

The Taoist Yin Yang and the five elements thought is an important part of Taoist Culture. For example, in chapter7, the dear Great Sage hurriedly braced himself to jump, but the Buddha turned his hand over and pushed the Monkey King out through the Western Gate of Heaven. He turned his five fingers into a mountain chain belonging to the elements Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, renamed them the Five Elements Mountain, and gently held him down. What’s more, in chapter41, when in the cave FIRE−WIND CAVE, WITHERED PINE RAVINE, MOUNT HAO.

That fire fiercely blazes and fills the sky,

Covered the earth with a terrible red,The descriptions above are good examples. Flew up and down like a fire−wheel,

Danced East and West like sparks.

This was not the fire of the Firemaker rubbing wood,

…

The two examples above are a good evidence to support the wuxing in Taoism. Absolutely, the criticism to Taoism in Journey to the west can be seen easily. Nothing good will happen as long as the Taoist comes to the stage. In the Kingdom of Tarryca, when the three Taoists come, they begin to demolish temples and kill monks, making the country in a mess.

What’s worse, in the kingdom of Bhiksuland, the Taoist gives a beauty to the king, which makes the king trust him, and then he should ask for 1000 children to make medicine, which makes us feel horrible. These Taoists are changed from the monsters, who are not the authentic Taoists. However, we shouldn’t think that the author didn’t want to satire the Taoists.

3.3 Confucianism reflected in Journey to the west

Confucianism takes Confucius as the master and it has significant influence on the development of China. Some scholars think that Confucianism thoughts are the kernel of religion. Confucianim basically adheres to the "closing and closing", and respects the legislative principle, advocates "virtue" and attaches great importance to the "rule of man". Confucianism has a great influence on the feudal society and the feudal rulers take it as orthodoxy for a long term.

Confucianism plays an important role in the development of Chinese history. Wu Chengen lives in the society where Confucianism is greatly worshipped, so he is bound to express his opinion about Confucianism in his novel. In chapter1, he has extraordinary courage and bravery than other monkeys; what’s more, he is interested in the reputation, which is important to Confucianism. For example, then one monkey made a suggestion: "If anyone is clever enough to go through the fall, find the source, and ome out in one piece, let"s make him our king." When this challenge had been shouted three times, the stone onkey leapt out from the crowd and answered at the top of his voice, "I"ll go, I"ll go."…The monkey sat himself in the main seat and said, "Gentlemen, A man who breaks his word is wortless… Confucianism takes junior level as the core of ideological system. The basic meaning of "virtue" is equal, and everyone has its special code of conduct. Country"s development depends on the stability of rank order. The stone monkey takes the throne, he adventures to the curtain fall and has the ability to gain his reputation, and this is what Confucianism encouraged.

Confucianism confirms the real value of people, respects for human life. Confucianism fully affirms the significance of life, thinks that among heaven, earth and human, man is the center. In Confucianism, every one should try his best to fulfill his value. If someone can get a position in government, then we can say he is successful. In the beginning of chapter 5, it describes the plot as follows; the story goes on to relate that the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, a mere monkey devil after all, was quite satisfied that his name was on the register of office without caring about the grading of his job and his own rank, or the size of his salary.

What’s more, the monarch differentiates his subjects in hierarchy, the rank is very strict. If the monarch says a word, the people must do it no matter it is right or wrong. The monarch is authority, and no one can shake his place. The minister should take monarch as his leader, and the minister must follow the will of the monarch. For example, in chapter 4, Sun Wukong stood bolt upright beside him, not bothering with any court etiquette, but just concentrating on listening…

From the above examples, we can see that the emperor is the authority, everyone should respect him. This is just what Confucianism stressed. As a confucianist, Wu Chengen shows a special mind towards Confucianism, and he admires Confucianism. In the work, he shows his believing and respect to Confucian thoughts and thinks that Confucianism is different to Buddhism and Taoism. Confucianism is quite important to the development of society.

4. Reasons analysis

Through the above analysis, the relations between religious tinge and fairy-tale language characteristics have been found. But why Wu Chengen wrote the work? And why author showed different opinions towards three religions? In the following paragraphs, the historical background and the author’s psychology and emotions will be analyzed.

4.1 Historical background

Wu Chengen lived in Ming dynasty in which the position and effect of Buddhism became lower and lower. The first monster of Ming dynasty, Zhu yuanzhang respected Confucianism and Taoism. Once he said ‘Now the country is peace, I’m willing to talk about scriptures with confucianists and abandon other theories.’ He showed a sick attitude towards Buddhism. He would be quite angry if someone talked about ‘Being a monk’. At the early of Ming dynasty, government confined the development of Buddhism. Temples could not damage land and monks and priests couldn’t look for food from outside. The monster Zhu li also showed an ill attitude towards Buddhism, and he treated Buddhism as ‘disturbing government and deceiving pupils’. Living in this kind of political environment, it’s impossible for Wu Chengen to enjoy Buddhism and eulogized Buddhism. Wu Chengen did not believe Buddhism and he treated himself as ‘she yang shang ren’, instead of ‘ju shi’ like other scholars. The rulers of Yuan dynasty used Buddhism to confine the idea of people. Wu Chengen criticized this way. So he wrote Journey to the west to criticize Buddhism. He seemingly showed respect to Ru lai and Guan yin. Indeed, he used an obscure way to satirize Buddhism.

Because rulers of Ming dynasty advocated Taoism, the position of Taoism was important. Zhu yuanzhang had a close connection to Taoism in the process of getting regime. He used Taoism to allege the validity of his power. Zhu yuanzhang declared that his ancestral grave was a perfect place, and it was a monarch place. Then he declared that his birth was also mysterious. He said that his mother ate pill given by a Taoist when she was pregnant so his birth had the omen of ‘bright light filling in the house’. During the war, he could leave the help of Taoists when he meted with difficulties. Many Taoists such as Zhou dian and Zhang zhong did many things for Zhu yuanzhang. When he got the power, Zhu yuanzhang gave a great development to Taoism. Zhu yuanzhang thought that Buddhism was ‘self-cultivation’ and had no help towards his power. So he gave much space to the development of Taoism.

Among the emperors, Ming shizong was most interested in Taoism. When he got the power, he destroyed temples, and expelled monks. He made great efforts in helping the development of Taoism making Taoism get the top in Ming dynasty. Ming shizong believed in immortal and built many Taoist temples. Every year, the government spent much money on building temples. The ministers must flatter this behavior and could not show other attitudes. Anyone who dared to admonish no matter clan relatives would get publish. What’s worse, he believed in necromancers and awarded them with high post with matched salary. Ming shizong also believed in Taoism syndromes and varies astrology. He believed that eating pills can prolong life so he took every way to look for the pills. Because of the action of Ming shizong, the government was lost in a mess, and people lived a difficult life. Wu Chengen wrote the work to satirize the dark society.

Living in Ming dynasty when Confucianism was popular, Wu Chengen must be influenced by Confucianism of. In writing, Wu Chengen emphasized subject consciousness. When shaped the character of Sun wukong, Wu Chengen emphasized the idea. At that time, in poem creation enjoyed vintage style. Even though, his friends such as Xu zhongxing and Chen wenzhu were reversion Aries, he was not influenced by the environment. Scholars in that time used ornament to replace real feelings. However, Wu Chengen broke vintage style and expressed his own feeling. In policy, Ming dynasty was an empire where official corruption and moral degeneration could be seen. Wu Chengen wrote Journey to the west to express his real feelings.

4.2 The author’s psychology and emotion

Wu Chengen has a complex feeling, which is full of conflicts between the new and the old thoughts. As a feudal intellect, he has been affected by Confucianism throughout his life, which is a dominant cultural at that time. Wu, just like other latest thinkers, belongs to the landlord class. Therefore, it is no wonder that his works, especially his poetry, witnessed that his world outlook still contains some old ideas obviously. Ming dynasty is close to the end of feudal society and the capitalism is rising, and the new and exotic trend has burgeoned .All these factors are inevitable to the author. Wu Chengen’s family is a small craftsman, which is a humble and unstable position. It is his travel around the world particularly in the southeast part affects him a lot. So these new trends have an impact on him both in subject and object way. His attitude towards the history in the society can be defined as an idealism which worships the hero. He has a deep touch about the corruption in that period, and he thinks it is necessary that the current system should be changed. He wants to change the society but has no ability, so he puts his hope on the hero who is prominent in all respects. He is especially critical about the autocracy, which is a good reflection of the democracy. His scheme to rescue the society is still within the content of lord. He abhors the devil officers such as Yansong. He has a fantasy that the hero like Sun wongkong can sweep down all these devil spirits. However, he doesn’t want to overturn the emperor. He wishes to meet with a brilliant emperor, if not, he still wishes him to turn to be a good one and he wishes emperor to employ some talented people like him to take part in the politics and achieve their ambitions. It is obvious that his appreciation and envisage for the country life were influenced by the Taoism, for the Taoism advocates free spirits and liberation which corresponds to his pursuit. He also has a close hobnob with some Taoists, and their thoughts are bound to be related to Taoism. Wuchengen also shows his interest to Buddhism, so Buddhism has some effects on him to some extent.

Wu Chengen loves to read unofficial histories, to understand the ancient mythology and folklore since his childhood. The corruption of officialdom and his poor life make him deeply realize the darkness of the feudal imperial examination and the feudal society, so he wants to express his inner discontent and anger in the form of mystery novels. He says that: "although my title is for mystery, but my works cover not only ghosts, but also real human society ". Obviously, although he gives his book mystery name, it is not special for the monsters. Indeed his works embody the human lives, reappear the reality of the society, contain profound moral meaning. Through the description of mythical figures, Wu Chengen expresses strong dissatisfaction of social reality and the strong desire to change the social reality, implicitly reflects the desire to establish a harmony society. From his works, we can read his political ambition. Wu Chengen expresses strong democratic tendency in Journey to the west.

Wu Chengen was studious and quick when he was young. And he was wild uninhibited as well. Because of low social status and poverty , his action caused the deluge of scorn. Because of the corruption of that time, he missed many years exam. He thought that taking imperial examination not only costed too much but got no result. Influenced by his family and his father, Wu Chengen was not willing to live like others. Although he was industrious, he did not get his position in government through repeated trying. This was because he was not willing to write composition which is against his heart and his true feelings. He hated corruption, would not betray his own soul, and he always show a negative attitude to the dark social. this is destined that he is impossible getting any promotions in politics. So his dissatisfaction with society and officialdom are reflected in his works.

5. Conclusion

From the analysis above, as a fairy novel, Journey to the west has fairy-tale language characteristic. Religious characteristics of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism are reflected by fairy-tale language. At the same time, Journey to the west is affected by Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. The author abandons doctrines with literary works. The author uses a humorous way to explain the mystique and seriousness of religions.

The language of the work is full of fairy-tale characteristic. A humorous method is used to state his whole attitude towards that time and reflect religious tinge of Ming dynasty. As a confucianist, his Confucianism thoughts occur in his work and he maintain feudalism ethics morals in his work. In Journey to the west, we can notice that Wu Chengen criticizes Taoism and satires Buddhism.

The characters of Journey to the west are symbolic, and have special connotation. On one hand, things reflected in the novel are deposits of our Chinese people, on the other hand, they are also reflection of social ideological trend and social life of Ming dynasty. From Journey to the west we can understand era characteristics and spirits of the time. Through the analysis above, people can understand Journey to the west from the connection between fairy-tale language and religions in the great book. Journey to the west is treasure of China, and the researches should cover every aspect. This paper is just a supplement to the previous researches and work need to be done to enrich the study of Journey to the west.

Works Cited

Wuchengen. Journey to the west. ( W.J.F.Jenner Trans.). Foreign Language Press, 1993.

Timothy Richard. A mission to heaven: aggregate Chinese epic and allegory. Christian Literature Deport, 1913.

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