The videos I watched became popular in ancient times

If the masterpiece "Journey to the West" is a strange book, then the author Wu Cheng'en is a strange man.

Wu Cheng'en was the first person in ancient and modern times to create gods. He not only sketched a fantastic and magnificent world of gods and demons, but also created many classic characters such as Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie.

The emergence of these characters has greatly enriched the spectrum of mythological characters and become classics among classics.

Wu Cheng'en's life can be summarized into three stages.

He became famous when he was young, and had lofty ambitions and a global vision.

He failed in many exams when he was young, but he remained upright and never changed his original intention.

In his old age, he saw through the officialdom, devoted himself to writing, and died miserably.

"During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a man who had a strong interest in rural essays and ancient myths since he was a child. He was Wu Cheng'en."

"Wu Cheng'en is a small county town under Huai'an, and the Wu family is considered a prominent family in the area."

"But there are very few leading figures in the Wu family who serve as officials, so Wu Chengen's father hopes that his son can become an official and bring honor to the family."

"But although Wu Cheng'en was very interested in literature since he was a child, his interest was biased and he liked mythological stories, which made Wu's father very confused."

"Therefore, Wu's father often talked with Wu Cheng'en and told him that fairy tales could not help the family achieve glory."

"Only by learning the art of writing and managing the country can we revitalize the family."

"Therefore, Wu Cheng'en put away his passion for Chinese mythology and turned to studying strategic writings."

"Wu Cheng'en was a man of great perseverance and a love of learning."

"Since he started in private school, Wu Cheng'en has been loved by his teachers."

"Through diligent study, Wu Cheng'en became very good at painting, poetry, strategy, writing and Go, and was even called a genius."

"Later, with the help of his private school teacher, Wu Cheng'en entered the academy run by the local prefect."

"But during this period, his interest in mythology and wonders revived."

"While reading, I collected local anecdotes about Huai'an."

"The teachers at the academy were relatively generous and did not interfere with Wu Chengen's interests. As long as he studied hard, that was all."

"But the irony is that although Wu Cheng'en was smart, diligent and studious, he failed the imperial examination."

"Wu Cheng'en applied for the imperial examination the first year after he reached the age of marriage, but was rejected in the provincial examination."

"The situation was similar in the following years. Wu Chengen was very discouraged by the continuous failures."

"And Wu's father thought that it was his interest in myths and strange stories that ruined him, so he stopped Wu Cheng'en from writing myths and strange stories."

"As he got older, Wu Cheng'en became very confused about his career path."

"Father Wu even planned to ask someone to get Wu Cheng'en into the government as a minor official, to stabilize him first and then gradually get promoted."

"But Wu Cheng'en thought that this would mean that all the hard work he put into studying for the first half of his life would be wasted."

Pu Songling: He became famous when he was young, but ultimately failed in the exams many times. One can imagine how much of a blow this must have been to Wu Cheng'en.

The young Wu Cheng'en was not only well-versed in poetry and literature, but also skilled in painting and calligraphy.

Wu Cheng'en's extraordinary talent enabled him to meet an important mentor in his life, Ge Mu, the prefect of Huai'an who opened a local academy.

As soon as Ge Mu took office, he built a school, recruited students, promoted education, and often gave lectures in academies.

And Wu Cheng'en was the person most appreciated by Ge Mu.

Ge Mu saw the upright character of a young man in Wu Cheng'en's talented writings.

So they invited Wu Cheng'en to write the "A Letter to the Former Teacher" on his behalf. This text was engraved by craftsmen on the main hall of the academy to show encouragement and recognition for Wu Cheng'en.

During Ge Mu's tenure, he implemented many beneficial policies and appeased the people, which was quite effective.

Under his influence, Wu Cheng'en had a clear direction in life.

That is to be determined to be a wise and honest official who selects talented people and serves the people.

Wu Cheng'en and his classmates went to Jinling to take part in the provincial examination held every three years.

Wu Cheng'en wrote down his strategies for governing the country in the examination room, hoping to gain the appreciation of the examiner and realize the earnest expectations of his father and mentor Ge Mu, as well as his own lofty ideals.

However, the long list did not accommodate Wu Cheng'en, which made him feel depressed.

He was clearly praised for his brilliant writing skills and his knowledge of practical applications, so how come he failed the exam?

Not long after, Wu Cheng'en's father died with full of regrets.

Wu Cheng'en was unwilling to let his ten years of hard work go to waste, and even more unwilling to let his talent go to waste.

What he was even more afraid of was that he would let down his mentor Ge Mu's deep expectations and cultivation, and his own ideals, so he began the long journey of imperial examinations in his life.

It’s a pity that after twenty years of hard work and seven attempts at the provincial examinations, he still achieved nothing.

"Later, when Wu Cheng'en was middle-aged, the opportunity finally came to him."

"The court gave Wu Cheng'en the status of a tribute student, which means he has the opportunity to serve as a local official or a minor official in the central government."

"Wu Cheng'en once again came to Beijing with hope. Everything in Beijing made Wu Cheng'en feel bright and warm."

"Wu Cheng'en and other tribute students were waiting outside the palace for an audience, and that was during the reign of Emperor Jiajing."

"Perhaps it was because Wu Cheng'en was too old at that time, and all the tribute students who came with him were given official positions."

"Then I went back to drink and celebrate, but I was waiting the whole time."

"Until someone from the palace came out and told Wu Cheng'en that the official positions had been allocated, Wu Cheng'en was somewhat at a loss as to what to do with the sudden blow."

"Wu Cheng'en had no time to continue taking the imperial examinations. He wasted his youth studying strategic essays, but in return he received a ruthless blow."

"In fact, the tribute students have already prepared themselves mentally for not being selected. After all, there are still many tribute students."

"The number of official positions in the imperial court is limited, and it is impossible to cover everything."

"It's understandable that Wu Cheng'en lost the election. Disappointed, Wu Cheng'en could only find a tavern to drink to drown his sorrows."

"But how should I live my life from now on? I rejected the position my father arranged for me, and I was not selected by the court."

"Reality ruthlessly destroyed the self-confidence of this future great writer. In desperation, Wu Chengen came up with an idea."

"Since you can't be an official, it's better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books. Try to travel thousands of miles yourself."

"It was precisely this journey that gave Wu Cheng'en the idea to write the legendary novel Journey to the West."

"Wu Cheng'en spent nearly ten years traveling around the country, and once settled briefly in a city in Hunan."

"Because Wu Cheng'en was very good at writing and painting, he would often write some calligraphy and paint some landscapes that night and sell them at the market the next day."

"Not many people were interested in the products at the beginning, because Wu Cheng'en was shy and didn't know how to hawk his wares."

"There are too many stalls in the market, and people are often attracted by other shouting and ignore Wu Chengen's stall."

"For a long time, Wu Chengen didn't make much money every day, and even food and accommodation became a problem."

Wang Yangming: When Wu Cheng'en wrote Journey to the West, he used the form of a mythological novel to express his disappointment and dissatisfaction with reality.

Wu Cheng'en grew up in a poor family, but he was very intelligent, hardworking and studious.

I have read a lot of fantasy novels and am familiar with various myths, legends and folk tales.

The foundation of reading extensively in his early years gave Wu Cheng'en a profound literary foundation.

Although Wu Cheng'en was appreciated by Ge Mu, the founder of the academy at that time, for his own efforts during his school years.

But for a long time afterwards, the hardships of life and the failure in imperial examinations for many years deepened Wu Cheng'en's understanding of official corruption.

Finally, Wu Cheng'en was admitted as a tribute student, but he was nearly fifty years old at that time.

The good times did not last long, as Wu Cheng'en's honest and upright character made him unacceptable in the officialdom.

In the end, he resigned in anger due to false accusations.

The frustrations in life and officialdom deepened Wu Cheng'en's understanding of official corruption.

This made Wu Cheng'en devote more time to writing strange stories to express his inner resentment.

It was in this context that Journey to the West was born, which embodies Wu Chengen's ambitions and ideals in officialdom.

Wu Cheng'en's personality actually has many similarities with Tang Seng, such as his honesty.

However, it is impossible for Tang Seng to go to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures alone, just like Wu Chengen's personal political ideal that he could not achieve in real life.

Therefore, in the novel, Wu Cheng'en fantasized about converting his enemies and achieving his goal with the escort of his three disciples.

"Later, I met a monk who generously bought a lot of Wu Chengen's calligraphy and paintings and gave him some extra money."

"Wu Cheng'en was very puzzled and asked the monk why he bought so many of his calligraphy and paintings."

"This master believes that all things in the world are equal, and most people often abandon their dreams because of the confusion of reality."

"The master also saw that Wu Cheng'en's heart was not on doing business, and he was not lazy, so he lent a hand to help him." "The monk's meaning is also very clear, that is, Wu Cheng'en's heart is not on doing business to make a living."

"Since you have a dream in your heart, you should pursue it instead of just being a businessman here to make ends meet."

"Wu Cheng'en later saved enough money to pursue his dream of traveling around the country."

"While traveling around, Wu Cheng'en would often ask questions or go to taverns to listen to the locals' conversations wherever he went."

“I learned a lot of interesting stories from all over the country and patiently wrote them down one by one.”

"While traveling around, Wu Cheng'en began to have the idea of ​​writing a historical mythological novel."

"But this idea is just a basic framework. We need to make preparations before we can start writing."

"After wandering for nearly ten years, the imperial court later appointed Wu Cheng'en to be a county magistrate in Changxing, Zhejiang."

"This official is neither too big nor too small, and he doesn't have many things to worry about. He mainly helps the county magistrate deal with some trivial government affairs."

"Wu Cheng'en is also satisfied with this idle position."

"Wu Cheng'en did not have the lofty ideal of caring for the world and bringing peace to the people. He only had a love for myths and strange stories."

"Later, Wu Cheng'en often composed poems with his friends. He would go out to drink and write poems during his free time. He also became friends with many celebrities of the time."

"Many people also like Wu Chengen's non-confrontational and optimistic personality, which is why Wu Chengen has more and more friends."

"But good times always come to an end, and Wu Chengen did not have a good relationship with his boss."

"The boss was a rather mean and greedy official, while Wu Cheng'en was a more upright and generous person, so the two of them did not get along very well."

"At first, the boss had no intention of touching Wu Chengen, because many of Wu Chengen's friends were high-ranking officials."

"But Wu Cheng'en couldn't stand the arrogance of this superior, and the two of them often quarreled."

"This also made his superiors very angry, and they vowed to punish Wu Chengen, which led to the false accusation incident."

"When Wu Cheng'en heard this ridiculous and false accusation, he was so angry that his lungs were about to explode."

"Literati care most about their own integrity. At that time, others made up a story so sound."

Cao Xueqin: Looking at "Journey to the West" from a satirical perspective, Wu Cheng'en might offend everyone.

"Journey to the West" is loved by people all over the world. In his opinion, "Journey to the West" is a satirical novel.

On the one hand, "Journey to the West" is a novel that satirizes Buddhism.

Because there are many monsters in Buddhism, some of them cause trouble in the human world, and some of them eat people in the human world, but they are not punished in the end.

Like Tathagata's uncle, the Peng bird, who ate all the people in the Lion Country in one bite. His sin was so serious.

There is nothing else to do at the end, and Tathagata has to promise that in the future, all offerings from sentient beings will be given to Dapeng first.

Guanyin Bodhisattva's pet carp spirit eats two boys and girls every year in Chenjiazhuang.

Finally, Sun Wukong found Guanyin Bodhisattva, who went ahead and caught the carp in a basket without saying a word.

The Bodhisattva was about to leave at that time, but it was Sun Wukong who made the Bodhisattva appear and let the people worship him.

It's ironic that pets have eaten so many children, but ordinary people still have to worship Buddha.

On the other hand, Journey to the West is a novel that satirizes Taoism.

Because many of the monsters on the way to the West are related to Taoism.

The White Deer Demon, the mount of the God of Longevity, teamed up with the fox demon to deceive the Bhikkhu King and almost killed more than a thousand children.

But in the end, the birthday god came and took the White Deer Demon away without any punishment.

The birthday star also felt grateful that he arrived in time, otherwise the White Deer Demon would have been killed by Sun Wukong.

These words were said in a rather doting manner, but it was a pity that no apology was given to the people of the Bhikkhu Kingdom.

On the other hand, "Journey to the West" is a novel that satirizes the emperor and the powerful.

Because some kings made mistakes and did not treat the common people as human beings.

For example, he destroyed the King of France and killed so many monks, but in the end nothing happened.

Only the name of the country was changed, but he was still the king.

The king of the Kingdom of Black Chicken was disrespectful to the monk transformed by Manjushri Bodhisattva.

Because the king was puzzled by the monk transformed by Manjushri Bodhisattva, he simply put the monk into the Imperial River to soak for three days.

Although the King of Wuji Kingdom was punished, he still became king later.

In order to prolong his life, the King of Bhikkhu Kingdom used the hearts of 1,111 children to make elixir.

In the end, he was not punished, but instead received three red dates from the birthday star, which prolonged his life.

"Even though that's the case, many people still believe in Wu Cheng'en's character."

"Wu Chengen has always been a non-competitive, cheerful and modest person. How could such a person have the ulterior motive to provoke others? Many people have already seen that it was Wu Chengen's boss who deliberately bullied him."

"Wu Cheng'en simply turned around and left, never to continue working in this government office again. When he returned home, he began to worry about his livelihood again."

“In the beginning, I had support from my friends, but I can’t always rely on them for help.”

"With the help of his friends, Wu Cheng'en became a minor official in the palace of the then Prince of Jing, who was a very cheerful and generous prince."

"The emperors that Wu Chengen admired most in his life were Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang. The royal temperament and charm of the King of Jing, as well as the aura in his every move, also gave Wu Chengen a preliminary understanding of the emperor's thoughts."

"It is said that the image of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, in Journey to the West was created by Wu Chengen with reference to King Jing."

"The most powerful official Wu Cheng'en had ever seen in his life was the Prince of Jing, while Emperor Jiajing himself had never seen one."

"Later, Wu Cheng'en began writing his first novel, which is also his greatest novel, Journey to the West."

"But he only wrote a dozen or so words at the beginning, and these dozen words were considered to be against etiquette and human ethics in the society at that time."

"The monkey has become a spirit, flying up to the sky and hiding underground. Can the Jade Emperor write about it casually?"

"Zhu Bajie is a celestial being, but he is still attracted to the beauty of the mortal world? Wu Chengen was devastated by all kinds of ridicule."

"Many writers thought Wu Cheng'en's work was too ironic, so they advised him to revise it seriously."

"But Wu Cheng'en would rather not write than revise."

"Later, Wu Cheng'en stopped writing books."

"This is mainly because Ming Dynasty society was too strict and had a strong control over speech and writing, which made it impossible for Wu Chengen's advanced ideas to be realized."

"Later, when I reached 40, I thought I didn't have much time left."

"Wu Cheng'en didn't care about other people's opinions and concentrated on finishing Journey to the West, which gave rise to a masterpiece of Chinese literature."

"It was precisely because of Wu Cheng'en's extraordinary experience that he saw through human nature and the fickleness of the world, and wrote a masterpiece that has been popular throughout the ages, such as Journey to the West."

Zhang Juzheng: Wu Cheng'en is hidden in "Journey to the West", and Sun Wukong is his real incarnation.

"Journey to the West" seems to be the farthest away from reality, but it actually reflects many real-life issues in the form of a mythological story.

For example, the hypocrisy of religious sects, the complexity of human nature, the corruption of the bureaucratic system, etc.

Wu Cheng'en, who vowed to carry out the criticism to the end, even wrote himself into the book with his brilliant writing skills.

Wu Cheng'en transformed himself into a character in the book, and directly lashed out at corruption through his thoughts, ideas, and actions.

Wu Cheng'en's incarnation in the book is none other than Sun Wukong who caused havoc in Heaven.

The claim that Sun Wukong is the incarnation of Wu Cheng'en is by no means groundless but has sufficient basis.

The Jade Emperor asked the Buddha to suppress Sun Wukong under the Five Elements Mountain, and the arrogant Monkey King suffered a devastating disaster.

There is a poem commentary in the book which says, "I stole peaches and wine to travel around Tianfu, and was accepted and favored in Yujing."

This poem laments the life experience of Sun Wukong, and Wu Chengen's name appears prominently.

Wu Cheng'en embedded his own name in it, and his sympathy with Sun Wukong is obvious at a glance.

Sun Wukong was determined to realize his great ambitions, but unexpectedly he was made fun of by the bureaucratic system.

Although he was named the Great Sage Equaling Heaven and held an official position in the Heavenly Court.

But he was tired of corruption and decline, so he resolutely abandoned the so-called grace and fortune from heaven and embarked on a path of changing the world.

And this is the most valuable thing about Sun Wukong.

Wu Cheng'en's experience was strikingly similar to that of Sun Wukong. He also retired to the mountains because he was not accepted by the government.

Then he wrote furiously to lash out at the ugliness, and subconsciously he had the idea of ​​changing the world.

However, Wu Chengen did not have the ability or conditions to put it into practice, so he could only vent his feelings through the Monkey King in the mythological novel. (End of this chapter)