Yang Jingxian's Journey to the West

Answer 1

Yang Jingxian's Journey to the West was a drama of the Yuan Dynasty.

This work had six volumes and twenty-four chapters, and had an important position in the dramas since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. It narrated the story of Tang Sanzang's journey to the West in all aspects. When the story of the Journey to the West developed to the Yuan Dynasty, it was richer and full of fantasy than the previous "Poetry Notes on Buddhist Scriptures."

The story outline was unique. For example, after Tang Sanzang set off, he first used public transportation. On the basis of the Yuan Dynasty's courier station, there were horse stations, cow stations, donkey stations, and even dog stations (dogs pulling plows as a means of transportation), cannon stations (similar to launching people with trebuchets) and other strange concepts.

In terms of character image, the author created a group of magical and distinctive character images with Sun Wukong as the typical representative. For example, the ending of Sun Wukong in the Yuan Dynasty drama version was different from that of Wu Chengen's version. In the Yuan Dynasty drama, Wukong, Bajie, and Monk Sand all died in the end, and were cremated by Tang Sanzang himself. Only Tang Sanzang became a positive fruit. In this version, Sun Wukong also had a wife. He kidnapped the princess of the Jinding Empire, Jiaozi, as his wife.

In terms of content, this work was of great significance. It turned the stories of Buddhist scriptures into myths and reality, turning the religious theme of the story into a mythical theme, and then publicizing the awareness and spirit of reality. This transformation was manifested in two aspects: first, the pursuit of a single Buddhist belief turned into a multi-educational feature of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. For example, the image of Yuchi Gong in the works reflected the characteristics of the confluence of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism; Second, the characteristics of non-religious or pan-religious appeared in the ideology. The Buddhist doctrine promoted by the previous generation of Buddhist scriptures was derived into the humanization, socialization, and self-transformation of religious issues. It became a spiritual need of people themselves instead of indulging in religious madness.

While waiting for the TV series, you can also click on the link below to read the original work of "Little Fox Demon Matchmaker" to understand the plot in advance!