In the original Journey to the West, Zhu Bajie never called the Monkey King "Monkey Brother", and no one in the whole world of Journey to the West ever called the Monkey King "Monkey Brother". Because the essence of the Monkey King is not a monkey, but an ape, a human heart. It doesn't matter whether the Monkey King looks like a monkey or not, he looks like a human heart.
The Journey to the West is the first romantic novel with chapters and sections in ancient China. There are hundreds of The Journey to the West published in Ming Dynasty, and there is no author's signature. Wu et al., a scholar in Qing Dynasty, first proposed that The Journey to the West was written by Wu Cheng'en in Ming Dynasty.
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.
Domestic influence caused by The Journey to the West
The appearance of The Journey to the West opened up a new category of ghost novels. The ingenious combination of well-meaning satire, bitter satire and serious criticism in the book directly affects the development of satirical novels. So The Journey to the West is the pinnacle of ancient romance novels. In the history of world literature, it is also a masterpiece of romanticism and a pioneer of magical realism.
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.