Why did he feel that Journey to the West was a novel that belittled Taoism?
Journey to the West was not a novel that belittled Taoism. In the novel, Taoism was a very important character and Sun Wukong and others were also closely related to Taoism. In the novel, the Taoist practice methods and ideas were described as very advanced and very different from science and western philosophy. In addition, the novel also described many Taoist immortals and Taoists. Their image and strength were very powerful, and they were not inferior to the gods in Western mythology. Therefore, Journey to the West was not a novel that belittled Taoism, but a literary work that integrated Chinese and Western ideology and culture to show the profound background of Taoism.
Why was it said that Journey to the West praised Taoism and belittled Buddhism?
"Journey to the West" does not explicitly praise or belittle any religion. It is a fictional novel that tells the story of Tang Sanzang and his four disciples going to the West to obtain scriptures. Buddhism and Taoism both played important roles in the novel, but the plot and characters were not judged based on any religious belief. The main characters in Journey to the West had their own backgrounds and personalities. Their actions and decisions were influenced by their own values and beliefs. For example, as a Buddhist character, Sun Wukong abided by Buddhist teachings to protect Tang Sanzang and his disciples, but when he encountered difficulties, he would also use some Taoist methods to solve the problem. The plot and storyline of Journey to the West were very complicated, involving many different elements and topics, including adventure, love, power struggle, moral education, and so on. Therefore, it did not simply praise or belittle any religion. Instead, it showed the interaction and exchange between many cultures and beliefs in a creative and imaginative way.
Is the novel Journey to the West respecting Buddha or Taoism?
Journey to the West was a novel that respected Buddhism and suppressed Taoism. The protagonist of the novel, Sun Wukong, was a Buddhist character. He fought with all kinds of monsters and immortals on the way to learn Buddhist scriptures, and constantly cultivated his own Dao. At the same time, he also had some understanding of Buddhist ideas. However, at the end of the novel, Sun Wukong also realized that the Taoist ideology of "everything has karma" expressed the author's respect and recognition of Taoist ideology. Therefore, it can be said that Journey to the West is a novel that respects Buddha and restrains Taoism. It has both Buddhist and Taoist backgrounds.
Is the novel Journey to the West about the Golden Elixir of Taoism?
The Journey to the West did not directly interpret the Taoist's Jindan. Instead, it used a fictional fantasy world as the background to tell the story of Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Monk Sand, who finally obtained the true scriptures after 81 difficulties. In the novel, Sun Wukong and the others not only encountered all kinds of demons and ghosts in the process of learning from the Western Heaven, but also came into contact with Taoist thoughts and cultivation methods. Although the novel didn't directly touch on Jindan, the thoughts and cultivation methods of Taoism were reflected in the novel. For example, the novel described the Taoist way of cultivation-alchemy, and some of the monsters that Sun Wukong and others encountered on the way to obtain scriptures relied on the Jindan Dao to pursue immortality.
Why were there incarnations of Buddhism and Taoism in Journey to the West?
Journey to the West is a novel that combines Buddhist and Taoist elements. Many of the characters are the embodiment of Buddhism and Taoism. In Buddhism, Sun Wukong was the incarnation of Guanyin Bodhisattva, Zhu Bajie was the incarnation of Mars god, Sha Wujing was the incarnation of Saturn god, and Tang Sanzang was the incarnation of Buddha Shakyamuni. In Taoism, Sun Wukong was the incarnation of Taishang Laojun, Zhu Bajie was the incarnation of the Jade Emperor, Sha Wujing was the incarnation of the South Pole Immortal Weng, and Tang Sanzang was regarded as the teacher of Tang Sanzang and his disciples who went to the West to obtain scriptures. In addition, many other characters in Journey to the West were also incarnations of Buddhism and Taoism. For example, Bai Jingjing was the incarnation of God Jingjing, the Black Wind Monster was the incarnation of the Demon King Black Bear, and Monk Sha was the incarnation of God Nazha. Journey to the West combined the elements of Buddhism and Taoism, combining the stories and characters of the two religions to show the understanding and exchange of beliefs of the ancient people.
Journey to the West anime Heavenly Court and Taoism war
In the original setting of Journey to the West, the Heavenly Court belonged to the Taoist system, and the scope of the Heavenly Court's power was part of the Taoist power, so there was no war between the Heavenly Court and Taoism. If the Heavenly Court and Taoism were at war, from the perspective of power division, the main top-level combat forces of Taoism were the Three Pure Ones, Four Protectors, and Five Elders. Among them, the Three Pure Ones were higher than the Jade Emperor, and the Heavenly Court was under the command of the Jade Emperor. If the Three Pure Ones didn't participate in the battle and only considered the Heavenly Court's forces, they had high-end combat forces such as the Four Protectors and low-end combat forces such as the 100,000 heavenly troops. However, the celestial heavens did not have a strong central power. Most of the immortals 'combat power was wandering outside, and only a small number of them served the celestial heavens. Their mid-to-high-end combat power might be weaker. However, if the other forces of Daoism joined the battle, their top-notch combat strength, the Three Pure Ones, would far exceed the other forces in the Heavenly Court, and would pose a huge threat to the Heavenly Court. From the perspective of the status of both parties, the setting in Journey to the West made the Heavenly Court the highest ruling symbol of the Three Realms, and the Taishang Laojun, one of the Three Pure Ones of Taoism, became the national teacher of the Jade Emperor. This change in status also hinted that if the Heavenly Court and Taoism went to war, the status of the Heavenly Court would conflict with the Three Pure Ones of Taoism, and the status and strength of the Three Pure Ones gave them a great advantage. However, this was only a hypothesis based on the setting of Journey to the West. <a href="/?from=ask_words" style="color:red" target="_blank">Read more exciting novels for free</a>
On the Thought of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism from Journey to the West
Journey to the West contained rich thoughts of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. From the perspective of Taoist ideology, there were a large number of Taoist inner elixir cultivation metaphor. It quoted more than 30 poems from the Daoist Canon. It also often appeared in the contents of the cultivation classics of the Quanzhen Sect such as the Double Cultivation of Life and Death, the Ten Thousand Deity Guizhi, and the Golden Core Secrets. Moreover, the book included many Taoist figures, such as Taishang Laojun, the God of Sun and Moon, the Four Great Protectors, the Four Great Zhenrens, and the Three Yuan Emperor. From the point of view of Buddhism, the main plot of Tang Sanzang and his three disciples going to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures reflected the idea that Buddhism attached importance to the progress and consciousness of human soul and morality. This journey of obtaining Buddhist scriptures was a kind of practice and promotion of Buddhist doctrines. From the perspective of Confucianism, Journey to the West was written in the Ming Dynasty, when the three religions were at their peak. At that time, the influence of Confucianism was everywhere, and the influence of Confucianism was reflected in the story. For example, Confucianism emphasized the positive attitude of doing things. Journey to the West was a mixture of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. It was a cultural carrier with profound content. <a href="/?from=ask_words" style="color:red" target="_blank">Read more exciting novels for free</a>
Journey to the West integrated Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. In what ways?
Journey to the West was a classic novel that integrated Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. It was embodied in the following aspects: The plot of the story is a fusion of Confucian ideas: there are many explanations about morality, ethics, and philosophy of life in the novel. For example, in the Legend of Wukong, Sun Wukong's path of cultivation is planned according to the Confucian idea of "cultivating one's moral character, regulating one's family, governing the country, and pacifying the world". In addition, there were many discussions about human nature, good and evil, and desire in the novel, which also reflected the thoughts of Confucianism. 2. The characters are integrated with Taoist thoughts: many characters in the novel have the shadow of Taoist thoughts, such as Sun Wukong's Tao, Zhu Bajie's laziness, Sha Wujing's loyalty, etc. Taoism's emphasis on "governing by inaction" was also well reflected in Journey to the West. Many characters in the novel were escaping from reality and pursuing a realm of governing by inaction. 3. The art form is integrated with Buddhist thoughts: There are many Buddhist elements in the novel, such as monsters, immortals, Buddha, etc. The image and plot design of these characters are integrated with Buddhist thoughts. In addition, there were many Buddhist scriptures and doctrines in the novel, such as the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra. These scriptures also reflected Buddhist thoughts.
Why did Journey to the West elevate Buddhism and belittle Taoism?
The Meaning and Principle of Worshipping Buddha and Suppressing Taoism in Journey to the West
The so-called " Journey to the West worships Buddhism and restrains Taoism " was a common view of Journey to the West. On the surface, there were some phenomena in the book that seemed to support this view. In terms of image creation, the Buddha and Bodhisattvas of Buddhism were relatively positive. For example, when Sun Wukong encountered a monster that was difficult to solve, Guan Yin Bodhisattva could often solve most of the problems. If it was really impossible to solve, it could be solved by asking the Buddha. However, a deeper look would reveal that this view was not comprehensive. From the analysis of the characters in the book, the plot of the representative of Taoism, Taishang Laojun, showed a different situation. For example, when Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen were gambling, Guanyin wanted to use the clean bottle to plot against Wukong. This behavior did not conform to the usual moral standards and was not an act to glorify the image of Buddhism. Taishang Laojun took out the diamond chakram to hit the top of Wukong's head, and later proposed to put Wukong in the Eight Trigrams Furnace to be burned into ashes and recover the Golden Elixir. This showed that his image was not completely positive. At the same time, the images of monks and Taoists that Tang Sanzang and his disciples met on the road were also good and bad. For example, Tang Sanzang was timid and blamed others for their shortcomings after an accident. In the Western Paradise, Anuo and the two venerables asked Tang Sanzang for human affairs before giving him the scriptures. This also showed that the image of monks was not all positive. From a more macro perspective, the writing of Journey to the West was influenced by Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. It could not be simply attributed to worshipping Buddhism and suppressing Taoism. The influence of Confucianism could be seen from the reign of the Tang Dynasty. Tang Sanzang's Buddhist scriptures had the purpose of stabilizing the country and saving all living beings. The description of the Heavenly Court was influenced by Taoism, and the achievements of the Taoist god system were used as reference. The concept of the Heavenly Court reflected the people's worship of nature and the importance of order in the agricultural civilization. The process of Tang Sanzang's Buddhist scriptures also implied the desire of Buddhism to expand to the West. Moreover, due to war and suffering, the people had a demand for the spread of Buddhism. Therefore, Journey to the West was a work created under the cultural background of the integration of the three religions. It was not accurate to simply think that it was a work of worshipping Buddhism and suppressing Taoism. <a href="/?from=ask_words" style="color:red" target="_blank">Read more exciting novels for free</a>