"Journey to the West" was called "the first wonderful book in the history of Chinese novels" by Mr. Lu Xun mainly because its position in the history of Chinese novels was very special. It was a classic work of ancient Chinese novels and an important chapter in the history of world literature.
Mr. Lu Xun called Journey to the West one of the "Four Great Masterpieces" because Journey to the West was a classic novel with a strong cultural background and rich cultural content, which occupied an important position in the history of Chinese literature. Journey to the West tells the story of the four main characters, Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Monk Sand, and Tang Sanzang, who have gone through great hardships to go to the West to obtain scriptures. This novel depicted a rich and colorful mythical world, full of imagination and romanticism, while also reflecting the traditional Chinese culture, history, philosophy, morality and other aspects of the meaning. Mr. Lu Xun had a high evaluation of Journey to the West. He thought that this novel "connected the thoughts of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, and fused many myths, legends, and folktales into a magical, colorful, and magnificent mythological world" and "from a modern point of view, it still does not lose its literary value." Therefore, Lu Xun's naming of Journey to the West as one of the "Four Great Masterpieces" was not only an affirmation of the novel itself, but also a respect for the history of Chinese literature and cultural traditions.
Journey to the West was called "an immortal work in the history of Chinese novels" by Lu Xun and praised it as "the only complete version of Chinese novels". Lin Geng was known as the " Great Master of Chinese Literature after Wu Chengen."
Lu Xun's A History of Chinese Fictions, Journey to the West: Journey to the West was a fantasy novel set in the Tang Dynasty. The author was Wu Chengen, a novelist of the Ming Dynasty. The novel mainly tells the story of Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Monk Sand protecting Tang Sanzang's journey to the west to obtain the scriptures. After 81 difficulties, they finally obtained the scriptures. The Journey to the West enjoyed a high status in the history of Chinese literature and was regarded as a classic of ancient Chinese novels. It not only had a profound influence on the development of Chinese literature, but also had an important impact on world literature. Lu Xun's History of Chinese Fictions: Romance of the Three Kingdoms was a historical novel set in the Three Kingdoms period. The author was Luo Guanzhong, a novelist of the Ming Dynasty. The novel mainly tells the story of various political struggles and military conflicts during the Three Kingdoms period, showing an important period in Chinese history. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms was also a classic in the history of Chinese literature, which had a profound impact on the development of Chinese literature. It was not only translated into many languages, but it also occupied an important position in the history of world literature.
In Lu Xun's " A brief history of Chinese novels ", there was no comment on " Journey to the West ". However,"The Later Journey to the West" was not a novel that Lu Xun had read. Instead, it was adapted from Lu Xun's contemporary "Journey to the West". Lu Xun's " A brief history of Chinese novels " was an overview of the historical development of Chinese novels, and " Journey to the West " was not a novel that he was familiar with.
Lu Xun once classified Journey to the West as a "demon novel" in his "A brief history of Chinese novels".
Lu Xun listed Journey to the West as the representative work of mythological novels in the History of Chinese Fictions.
Lin Geng called Journey to the West a work of childlike innocence. Watching Journey to the West: Sun Wukong Beats the White Bone Demon Three Times is not enough. Everyone is welcome to click to read the novel!
Lu Xun classified Journey to the West as a "demon novel" rather than a "mythical novel". The difference between the two was mainly reflected in the following aspects: 1. Story background: Demon novels usually describe supernatural forces or magic elements. The story background is usually ancient or mythical. Journey to the West is a fictional ancient mythical world, including many mythical characters and elements of myths and legends. 2. Character image: The characters in the demon novels are more complicated and usually contain good and evil, positive and negative characters. In Journey to the West, there are many complex and diverse characters such as Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, etc. 3. Thematic thoughts: The novels about gods and demons usually contain certain religious, philosophical or moral meanings. Journey to the West is more concerned with the adventure stories of the characters such as Sun Wukong and the myths and legends of the Western Heaven. It reflects the moral and Buddhist thoughts in Chinese traditional culture. 4. Literature style: The literary style of demon novels is usually more gorgeous and romantic. Journey to the West uses more realistic literary style to describe the inner contradictions and struggles of the characters and the difficulties and obstacles in the process of learning. Therefore, Lu Xun classified Journey to the West as a "demon novel" rather than a "mythical novel" because it was different from the traditional "mythical novel" in terms of story background, character image, theme, and literary style.