What was the theme of Journey to the West?
Journey to the West was a classic ancient Chinese novel. It mainly told the story of Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Monk Sand, and Tang Sanzang (otherwise known as the "Journey to the West") who went to India to retrieve Buddhist scriptures. The theme of this novel is very complicated. Different people may have different opinions. In literary criticism, Journey to the West is regarded as a work of symbolism and philosophy. It depicted the spiritual growth process of human beings in the face of suffering and setbacks, as well as the exploration of kindness, courage, and perseverance in human nature. At the same time, Journey to the West also reflected various problems in ancient Chinese society, such as class contradictions, official corruption and so on. From a sociological perspective, Journey to the West could be seen as a story about social class and power relations. The difficulties and dangers that Sun Wukong and the others experienced on their journey to the scriptures reflected the differences and power relations between different classes in ancient Chinese society. In psychology, Journey to the West could be seen as a story about self-awareness and self-realization. Sun Wukong and the others constantly overcame difficulties and challenges on the way to learn the scriptures and constantly improved their abilities and wisdom, reflecting the needs and pursuits of human beings in the process of self-recognition and self-realization. Therefore, the theme of Journey to the West was very broad, involving literature, philosophy, society, psychology and many other fields. Different people might have different views and understandings.