Journey To West Views

Books

Journey to the West (simplified Chinese: 西游记; traditional Chinese: 西遊記; pinyin: Xī Yóu Jì; Wade–Giles: Hsi-yu chi) is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Originally published anonymously in the 1590s during the Ming Dynasty, its authorship has been ascribed to the scholar Wu Cheng'en since the 20th century. In English-speaking countries, the tale is also often known simply as Monkey. This was one title used for a popular, abridged translation by Arthur Waley. The Waley translation has also been published as Adventures of the Monkey God, Monkey: [A] Folk Novel of China, and The Adventures of Monkey, and in a further abridged version for children, Dear Monkey.

Journey to the West has a strong background in Chinese folk religion, Chinese mythology and value systems; the pantheon of Taoist immortals and Buddhist bodhisattvas is still reflective of some Chinese religious beliefs today. Enduringly popular, the tale is at once a adventure story, a spring of spiritual insight, and an extended allegory in which the group of pilgrims journeying toward India represents individuals journeying toward enlightenment.

Journey to the West is thought to have been written and published anonymously by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century.[1] At the time, the trend in writing was to write in Classical Chinese and imitate the literature of the Tang Dynasty and Han Dynasty. Wu, influenced heavily by popular stories and folk tales since his childhood, chose instead to write this novel in vernacular Chinese, the vulgar language used in the everyday lives of common people, publishing it anonymously because of the ill repute such works engendered.[1] For at least three centuries, most of China believed the novel had been written by another man, a Taoist priest named Qiu Chuji (Wade-Giles: Ch'iu Ch'u-chi). The people of Wu's hometown, however, attributed it early on to Wu, and kept records to that effect as early as 1625; thus, Journey to the West is the earliest Chinese novel for which the authorship is officially documented.[1]

Some scholars still have doubts about the novel's authorship.[2][3] Translator W.F.J. Jenner, for example, points out that although Wu had knowledge of Chinese bureaucracy and politics, the novel itself does not include any political details that a fairly well-read commoner could not have known. [2] The question of authorship is further complicated by the preexistence of much of the novel's material in the form of folk tales, which the author only compiled and edited.[2] In any case, Journey to the West has become the authoritative version of these stories,[2] and Wu's name has become inextricably linked with the book.[3]