Journey to the West and Taoist Culture? (Specific and detailed analysis)

hehe ~ I just saw an article like this.

For ordinary people in China, whether they are old people or children, or The Journey to the West's novels or TV plays, it can be said that everyone knows everything, which shows the charm of famous works and the apotheosis of China. But unfortunately, it slowly became a symbolic symbol. When foreign blockbusters invaded the China market and Chinese people were immersed in the splendid magical world of the West, how many people thought of the unique romance and magnificence of China mythology? From ancient fairy tales to ghost novels in later generations, China's fairy tales have accompanied us, especially the people in the 197s and 198s grew up happily. Among them, The Journey to the West is the best. It is a romantic ghost novel, an alternative in Four Great Classical Novels, and a favorite story of countless children when they were young. However, his artistic value and profound connotation have always been ignored by people. For hundreds of years, especially in modern times, China scholars have two major misunderstandings in studying The Journey to the West! First, The Journey to the West is a novel satirizing feudal society, which created the Monkey King, a hero who was not afraid of power and opposed feudalism. Secondly, The Journey to the West is a novel that promotes Buddhism and suppresses Taoism. Because of these two misunderstandings, how many people have been misled! In particular, the old version of Journey to the West, which was made from this, brought these two misunderstandings into full play! To tell the truth, I like the old version of Journey to the West very much. I liked it very much when I was a child, and I still watch two episodes occasionally until now. But I used to think it was a classic, but after reading the original carefully for more than ten times, I can now say that the old version of Journey to the West is nothing but actors, costumes and music, especially its plot setting, which abruptly cuts off many excellent plots! Think about how many Chinese people only watch TV and don't watch the original works. Think about the bad influence caused by this. It is really hard to calculate! For example, is the jade emperor really so stupid, incompetent and even scared to drill the table? Is the old gentleman really so incompetent, just a boiler burner? Is the Monkey King really strong enough to make a scene in heaven? There are many answers to the questions. If you read the original works carefully, you will find that everything on TV is wrong!

There is a problem in China's literary world. Researchers must say that all classical literature is "exposing social darkness and opposing feudal dynasties". Are ancient novelists cynical? How many online novels are like this now? Will researchers do the same in a few hundred years? Are ancient literati really so boring? All novels are works of cynics? If the Monkey King is really an anti-feudal fighter, but his result is still a failure, and he has been beaten, suppressed and imprisoned, isn't this a kind of disillusionment? Is this result what people who flaunt anti-feudalism want to see? It is true that some novels do, but more novels are just the crystallization of the author's inspiration and fantasy, and they have placed a little affection on the author. The Journey to the West is just like this. Although its connotation and secrets are not as horrible as A Dream of Red Mansions, there are also many things worth pondering slowly. Otherwise, if it is straightforward, how can it live up to its status as Four Great Classical Novels? ! Journey to the West is a novel that advocates the unity of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and the Monkey King's life track just confirms this point. Besides, there are both praises and criticisms of Buddhism and Taoism in the book, but the great cause of learning from the Buddhist scriptures was successfully completed under the care and tempering of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Speaking of the integration of the three religions, it is a bit empty, even utopian, so I don't want to talk about the idea of the integration of the three religions, but I just want to talk about the places that need special attention in the new filming of Journey to the West, hoping that everyone will support and discuss it.

1. The myth system of The Journey to the West

The myth system of China can be divided into four categories: the ancient myth system, the Taoist Buddhist classic system, the folk secular god system and the ghost novel system. Among them, the ancient myth system is romantic and chaotic, with only scattered stories; The classic system of Taoism and Buddhism is too complicated and professional; The system of folk common gods is too messy. Only the ghost novel system is the most complete and the folk influence is the greatest. The mythological system of Journey to the West is just a mythological system of the novels of ghosts and gods that have been Confucian. Let's get rid of the evils and ghosts of this system and talk about the positive class. The positive class is nothing more than three, the celestial world, the Buddhist world and the divine world.

First of all, the concept of immortals is purely religious, which implies that it is exclusive to Taoism. Whether Taoist or not, people or things who become immortals are always closely related to Taoism. Fairy is a person who is sanctified in the flesh and has perfect merits. All objects can become immortals. There are two ways to become immortals. The first is passive immortality, which can be achieved by people, animals, plants and even abiotic beings. For example, being touched by immortals, being infected by immortals, taking Taoist elixirs, or growing in an environment that absorbs the aura of heaven and earth can all make objects immortal, even if they can't become immortals, they can be cultivated into human forms, and then try to cultivate immortals actively. The second is to cultivate immortals actively. In the Journey to the West, it was said that "anyone who has nine tricks can cultivate immortals", so only people and a few animals can cultivate immortals. When they believe in Taoism, they actively practice authentic magic and do more good deeds, and those who are destined can cultivate immortals. But it must be the practice of authentic magic. If you practice the side door, even if you succeed, you can't become a fairy road, only a demon. After becoming an immortal, if it is not officially recognized, it can only be regarded as scattered immortals, not into the real stream, but it has been a happy and immortal body. If it is officially recognized, it will enter the true stream and become a true fairy. At this time, you can choose to be an official in heaven, or you can not go. After all, you are the immortal who cultivated yourself and refused to accept the jade emperor. At this time, you can find a famous island in the fairy mountain, enjoy yourself, play chess, drink and visit friends all day long, and have nothing to do to listen to the Buddha's lectures and stay out of the world. It's really fun!

Let's talk about Buddha again. The Buddha here refers to a broad sense, including Buddhist titles such as Buddha, Bodhisattva and Lohan. The concept of Buddha, like immortals, is purely religious and exclusive to Buddhism. The person who becomes a Buddha must be a monk or nun or related to it, which is similar to immortals.

Finally, talk about gods. It should be noted that the gods mentioned here are the gods of later generations, and they are not the same concept as those great gods in ancient mythology. Don't confuse them. Different from Buddha and immortal, God is a concept of belief and system, which should be paid attention to in detail. God is a person who works in heaven or hell after death. Please note that after death, the implication is that God must have been formed after the death of his soul, without taking away his mortal body, and generally works in heaven. For example, the last one on the list of gods is God. People who become gods don't need a religious background, study and practice related religious classics, and they don't need to be Taoist or monk. As long as you have fate, or an excellent person in the dead, or a person who does more good deeds, or who is respected by the people on earth, you may be named a god by heaven after death and serve as an official in heaven or hell, that is, a civil servant. For example, Bao Zheng, Wen Tianxiang, Guan Yu and others in later generations did not believe in Taoism and Buddhism, and they did not practice it. Because Yang Shi had a great influence and was excellent, they were absorbed as gods by heaven after their death. Therefore, the concept of God is not a pure Taoist concept, which is different from immortal Buddha, but it is often ignored by many people.

A few concepts are clear, so let's take a look at the celestial government in The Journey to the West. It should be noted that in the authentic Taoist immortal spectrum, the position of Sanqing is higher than that of the six emperors, and the Jade Emperor is one of the six emperors. However, this statement was opposed by the emperors and Confucians on earth. They did not allow anyone higher than the emperor in the mythical world, so the status of the Jade Emperor was elevated and he became a veritable Three Realms Emperor. Although the jade emperor was extremely respectful to the old gentleman during the westward journey, he even greeted him at the next level, but the relationship between the monarch and the minister could not be concealed. The old gentleman just called the jade emperor "Your Majesty" and made an alchemy for him, which shows that. Heaven is actually a country with an obvious political division of labor, which is composed of immortals and Buddhists who are dominated by God and absorb some Taoism and Buddhism, with the Jade Emperor as the head of state and government. The Jade Emperor is a Taoist concept. After the celestial government was formed by the immortals, buddhas and gods, the Jade Emperor was pushed to govern the celestial government for the emperor. From this point of view, both the Taoist ancestor and the Buddha were nominally the servants of the Jade Emperor, which was obviously manifested in the westward journey. When Buddha Guanyin mentioned the Jade Emperor, he called it an order. After the list of deities was made, the heaven was composed of 365 gods, ruled by the Jade Emperor. However, in the long reform later, there were many departments and many official positions in Heaven, such as Bi Mawen. In this way, more gods are needed, so many excellent people in the dead are absorbed by heaven to be officials in the sky after their death. Heaven was originally composed entirely of gods, and their mana was not as good as that of the immortals and buddhas. However, when the ranks of gods grew, and they had a considerable organizational scale, even the army, they became a government with real power. At this time, the two families, Xianhe and Buddha, though disdaining the heavenly government, had to face them squarely because they were the only legal government. Therefore, Xian expressed his attitude and was willing to respect the Jade Emperor, and put a large number of elites in the Heaven, such as Zhenwu Emperor, Donghua Emperor, etc., and even Daozu was hired as the chief consultant by Heaven. Later, Buddhism also honored the Jade Emperor, wishing to establish a coalition government, and also allocated a group of elites to serve in the heaven, such as the four heavenly kings. Then, the situation that the immortal Buddha * * * was in charge of the heaven was formed. The Jade Emperor was the leader of the heaven pushed by * * *, both a Taoist fairy and a leader of the celestial world, and the Taoist ancestor and Buddha were willing to be ministers, so the heaven system was successful. However, it should be noted that God is a complete civil servant, and his direct subordinate belongs to the Jade Emperor, while the immortal Buddha may not. They may not have to work and live happily every day, such as the Buddha in the beginning, the Eight Immortals in Penglai, etc. They are not directly subordinate to the Jade Emperor. Only the immortal Buddha who is an official in heaven belongs directly to the Jade Emperor. It's as if it's natural for the Prime Minister to assign orders to state officials, because they are the superiors and subordinates of a system, but it's not appropriate to assign orders to a scientist, writer and company manager, because they are not a system. However, fundamentally speaking, all the immortals and buddhas belong to the Jade Emperor indirectly. It's easy to explain, whether it's the literary, scientific or artistic circles, they all have to listen to the government, and under the leadership of president, they all have to belong to the political circles.

After understanding the mythological system of Journey to the West and the government composition of Heaven, we will find that many mistakes were made in the old version of Journey to the West. First of all, it is the positioning of the old gentleman in Taishang. The position of the old gentleman is extremely noble, which is equivalent to Deng Gong in the general era of Jiang. When the jade emperor saw the old gentleman, he was greeted by the lower rank. However, in the old version of Journey to the West TV, the old gentleman in Taishang became an old minister who was scolded by the jade emperor at will. Secondly, the attitude of heaven towards the Buddha Tathagata. In the original work, when the Tathagata came to surrender the Monkey King, he claimed to be "serving orders" and "rescuing the driver", which showed that he was in the position of a minister. In the old version of Journey to the West, it seems that the jade emperor is as low as a head, which is obviously wrong. Apart from these two, there are still many mistakes about system problems made in the old TV, so I won't point them out one by one.

Second, there are different opinions about the identity of Master the Monkey King's Bodhi ancestor

On the Internet, but personally, there are two theories with the most evidence and the most value, namely, Tathagata and Laojun, among which Laojun said that it was my opinion, and it was first launched in the end of the world. Interested friends can discuss and exchange it. However, I have to admit that this is only my personal opinion, and I will never insist on agreeing with it greatly. Let me briefly describe it below.

1. the Monkey King was born in a natural stone, and then developed the Taoist mind. He wanted to seek immortality by visiting the Taoist, so he found the square inch mountain in Lingtai and the three-star cave in the slanting moon, and met a very important figure in this book, Bodhi's founder. Bodhi ancestors can be analyzed from two aspects, the bright line of appearance and the dark line of connotation. From the connotation point of view, it undoubtedly refers to Wukong's original heart, because "Lingtai, Fangcun, Xieyue, Samsung and Bodhi" all refer to the original heart, but this statement is too abstract and has risen to the height of psychology and philosophy, which is not conducive to readers' understanding from the material level, and it is even more impossible to shoot it on TV. We can only look at it from the appearance, so Bodhi is a real person, so there must be his identity. Who is he? Bodhi is a figure who is also a Taoist and a Buddhist. He is proficient in hundred schools of thought and understands Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. How can a person with such skills be unknown? He taught disciples and preached in Fangcun Mountain. Judging from his ability to teach Wukong, his ability should be very high, but he has taught so many students, all of which are worthless. Even if they can't reach the realm of Wukong, they should have some reputation. Why are they unknown? The appearance of Wukong reflects his value. What if Wukong doesn't appear? Is he so capable that he runs a school on earth to cultivate garbage? It can be seen that Bodhi does not actually exist, but someone conjured it up. He predicted the place where Wukong was going, so he turned into Bodhi there, and it doesn't matter what his apprentice's garbage is. It may be all created by him, and it is all temporary. The Monkey King later made a scene in Heaven, which was known by people within the Three Realms. If Bodhi really lives there for a long time, and really keeps accepting disciples, no one will know that the Monkey King has done such a great thing, and it will certainly spread out, and eventually it will reveal the origin of his apprenticeship. But the Monkey King made a scene in heaven, and none of his other disciples revealed it. There can only be one reason, that is, Bodhi just stayed there in those days, and it was a master illusion, just to teach the Monkey King.

2. In the original text of Journey to the West, when Laojun and Guanyin watched Erlang fighting Wukong, Laojun once said to Guanyin, "This weapon is made of matte steel, and I will return it to Dan, so that it can be cultivated into an aura, which is good at changing, fire and water can not invade, and it can cover all things; A' Jin Gangzhuo', also known as' Jin Gangtao'. It was a great loss to him when he passed the letter and turned Hu into a Buddha. " Please pay attention to the importance of this sentence! The old gentleman was talking to a Buddhist dignitary like Guanyin Bodhisattva at that time. Since he said "turning Hu into Buddha", Guanyin had no objection, which shows that this is indeed a fact. Although nonsense has been denied in history, in view of the fact that we only discuss novels, everything is subject to novels, just as too many Romances of the Three Kingdoms are not in line with history, and they are still in accordance with novels when they are made into TV. In this way, we can know that in the Journey to the West, the old gentleman in Taishang has a dual identity. He is a Taoist ancestor and has changed his mind. It can be seen that he also has a certain connection with Buddhism. Therefore, the identity of Bodhi as a Taoist and a Buddhist is in harmony with the old gentleman, and only the old gentleman is in line with the book Journey to the West. Besides, Bodhi can also teach Confucianism, and he is a person who integrates the three religions. In addition to his dual roles as a Taoist and a Buddhist, Laojun also serves as an important consultant in heaven, which is a government led by the emperor. He naturally has the identity of Confucianism, so it is also the integration of the three religions, and it is even more in harmony with Bodhi.

3. When Wukong was seeking weapons in the East China Sea, Longpo said to the Dragon King, "Your Majesty, it is no small matter to watch this holy place. In our sea collection, the precious iron at the bottom of the Tianhe River is shining brightly and full of spirit these days. Do you dare to appear and meet this saint? " As we all know, the magic weapon is formed by the immortal injecting certain thinking and magic power. Its aura is injected and influenced by the manufacturer. The abnormal situation that Dinghai Shenzhen saw Wukong should be sent by its maker, so who is the owner of Dinghai Shenzhen? Journey to the West "The stick is forged in the furnace by the old gentleman himself. Yu Wang asked for the number of gods and treasures, and the four seas and eight rivers were the test. " It can be seen that the treasure of Dinghai is refined by Laojun, so it should have the aura and thinking of Laojun, in other words, Laojun can control and manipulate it. From Longpo's words, we know that Dinghai Shenzhen began to change, as if it had a fate with Wukong. Isn't this the manipulation of the old gentleman behind the scenes? It can be seen that the stick was given to Wukong by the old gentleman. You know, the golden cudgel is Wukong's only personal thing.