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In our country, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin", "A Dream of Red Mansions" and "Journey to the West" are called the "Four Great Classics" by readers " is almost a household name, known to all women and children. The ancients also said: "...Reading the Three Kingdoms is better than reading the Water Margin. The text of the Water Margin is true, although it is better than the fantasy of Journey to the West, but it is not difficult to create something that rises and falls at will, but it is not as difficult as the Three Kingdoms to narrate certain events, and there is no room for it. Change. But it is difficult to be ingenious, and the talents of the Three Kingdoms are prosperous, and all of them are outstanding, and there are tens of thousands of people who are superior to Wu Yong, Gongsun Sheng and so on. I think the Romance of the Three Kingdoms should be the first among the scholar's books. "
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"Water Margin" is a great novel written by the author Shi Naian based on his own life experience and the peasant uprising in the Northern Song Dynasty. The novel's tendency is to clearly describe the people's actions against oppression. It summarizes the struggle path of people from different classes at that time from awakening to resistance. It is these artistic achievements that make "Water Margin" one of the four major literary masterpieces in ancient my country.
"Water Margin" is a long heroic legend and one of the representative works of ancient Chinese novels. It was created based on the story of Song Jiang's uprising. The Songjiang Uprising occurred during the Huizong period of the Northern Song Dynasty, and is recorded in the "History of Song", "Huizong's Annals", "Hou Meng's Biography", and "Zhang Shuye's Biography". Since the Southern Song Dynasty, the story of the Songjiang Uprising has been circulated among the people. "The Drunkard's Talk" records some independent legends about the Water Margin heroes. "The Legacy of Xuanhe of the Song Dynasty" connects many Water Margin stories together and is very close to the novel. . There were many Water Margin operas in the Yuan Dynasty, and a group of Liangshan heroes appeared as stage images. "Water Margin" is based on the long-term spread of the story of Song Jiang's uprising among the people, and absorbs the nutrients of folk literature.
"Water Margin" is one of the Chinese people's favorite classical vernacular novels. It was produced in the Ming Dynasty and was processed, compiled and created by the author on the basis of stories, scripts and operas about the Water Margin since the Song and Yuan Dynasties. The book takes the peasant uprising led by Song Jiang as the main theme and artistically reproduces the tragic picture of the ancient Chinese people's resistance to oppression and heroic struggle. The work fully exposed the decadence and cruelty of the feudal ruling class, revealed the sharply opposed social contradictions at that time and the cruel reality of "officials forcing the people to rebel", and successfully portrayed a number of heroes such as Lu Zhishen, Li Kui, Wu Song, Lin Chong, and Ruan Xiaoqi. figure. The novel has a tortuous plot, vivid language, and distinctive characters, and has a high degree of artistic achievement. However, the work praises and beautifies Song Jiang and advocates "loyalty" and "doing justice for heaven", which shows serious ideological limitations.
Tang Monk's study of Buddhist scriptures is a real thing in history. About 1,300 years ago, in the first year of Zhenguan (627) of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzang, a 25-year-old young monk, left the capital Chang'an and went to Tianzhu (India) to study alone. After setting off from Chang'an, he passed through Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, going through many hardships and obstacles, and finally arrived in India. He studied there for more than two years and was a keynote speaker at a large-scale debate on Buddhist scriptures, where he received praise. In the 19th year of Zhenguan (645), Xuanzang returned to Chang'an and brought back 657 Buddhist scriptures. His journey to the West lasted for nineteen years and covered tens of thousands of miles. It was a legendary long march that caused a sensation. Later, Xuanzang's oral account of his journey to the West was compiled into twelve volumes of "The Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" by his disciple Bianji. But this book mainly tells the history, geography and transportation of the countries seen on the road, without any stories. When his disciples Huili and Yan Cong wrote "The Biography of Master Tripitaka of the Great Ci'en Temple of the Tang Dynasty", it added a lot of mythological color to Xuanzang's experience. From then on, the story of Tang Monk's Buddhist scriptures began to be widely circulated among the people. The Southern Song Dynasty has "The Tripitaka of the Tang Dynasty Searching for Buddhist Scriptures", the Jin Dynasty version has "The Tripitaka of the Tang Dynasty", "Peach Club", etc., and the Yuan Dynasty dramas include Wu Changling's "The Tripitaka of the Tang Dynasty Searching for Buddhist Scriptures from the West", and the unknown person's "The Great Sage Erlang Suo Qi", etc., all of which are The creation of "Journey to the West" laid the foundation. It was on the basis of folk legends, scripts and operas that Wu Cheng'en went through painstaking re-creation and completed this great literary masterpiece that the Chinese nation is proud of. Wu Chengen, whose courtesy name was Ruzhong and whose nickname was Sheyangshan, was from Shanyang, Huai'an Prefecture (now Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province).
He was born between the 13th year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty and the first year of Zhengde (1500-1510), and died in the 10th year of Wanli (1582). Wu Chengen's great-grandfather and grandfather were both scholars and served as tutors and lecturers in the county school. But in his father Wu Rui's generation, because his family was poor, he married into the Xu family, "then he took over the Xu family's business and became a small businessman." Despite this, the Wu family has not lost the tradition of reading. It is said that although his father Wu Rui was a businessman, he was not only a decent man, but also good at reading and talking about current affairs. This naturally had a great influence on Wu Chengen. Wu Chengen was very smart since he was a child. He entered school very early. He became successful at a young age and became famous in his hometown. Volume 16 of Tianqi's "Huai'an Prefecture" said that Wu Cheng'en was "sensitive and intelligent, and he was well-versed in books. He wrote poems and essays, and was successful in writing." However, Wu Cheng'en was not smooth as an adult, and he encountered many obstacles on the way to the imperial examination. Due to setbacks, he only made up one year-old tribute student in his forties. In his fifties, he served as the county magistrate of Changxing County, Zhejiang Province, and later served as Jishan of Prince Jing's Mansion. This was a sinecure position at the same level as the county magistrate. Wu Chengen composed "Journey to the West" probably after his middle age, or it may be thought that it was written in his later years. The specific time cannot be determined. In addition to "Journey to the West", he also wrote long poems "Erlang Searching the Mountains Picture Song" and "Yu Ding Zhi". There are currently four volumes of "Mr. Sheyang's Manuscripts", including one volume of poetry and three volumes of prose. They were compiled by Qiu Du after Wu Chengen's death. The whole book "Journey to the West" has one hundred chapters. From the overall structure, it can be divided into three parts. Chapters 1 to 8 are the first part, which mainly tells about the birth of Sun Wukong, his apprenticeship, and the troubles in the Heavenly Palace. This is the most exciting chapter in the book. It is very lively. Sun Wukong has a great time in heaven and earth, showing his rebellious character. Incisively and vividly. Chapters 8 to 12 are the second part, which mainly describes Tang Monk’s origins and the reasons for learning scriptures. Chapter 13 to the last chapter is the third part. It mainly tells about Monk Tang’s journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures. On the way, he successively accepted three disciples: Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Monk Sha. After going through ninety-nine and eighty-one difficulties, he finally obtained the true scriptures and completed the practice. Positive result.
"Journey to the West" shows people a colorful world of gods and demons, and people are all amazed by the author's rich and bold artistic imagination. However, any literary work is a reflection of a certain social life, and "Journey to the West", an outstanding representative of novels about gods and demons, is no exception. As Mr. Lu Xun pointed out in "A Brief History of Chinese Novels", "Journey to the West" "satirizes and teases based on the state of the world at that time and describes it in an exaggerated way." He also said: "The author's nature is to be good at comedy. Therefore, although he describes the changing and sudden things, he also mixes in explanations every time, so that the gods and demons are humane, and the charm is also sophisticated." This is indeed the case. Through the illusory world of gods and demons in "Journey to the West", we can see the projection of real society everywhere. For example, in the creation of the image of Sun Wukong, the author's ideals are placed on it. Sun Wukong's indomitable fighting spirit and his fearless spirit of raising the golden cudgel and sweeping away all demons and monsters reflect the wishes and demands of the people. He represents a force of justice and shows the people's belief in victory over all difficulties. Another example is the demons encountered on the way to seek scriptures, which may be phantoms of natural disasters or symbols of evil forces. Their greed, cruelty, insidiousness and cunning are also the characteristics of the dark forces in feudal society. Not only that, the Heavenly Palace ruled by the Jade Emperor and the Western Paradise governed by Tathagata Buddha are also heavily colored with the colors of human society. The author's attitude towards the supreme ruler of feudal society is also quite interesting. In "Journey to the West", there is simply no competent emperor; as for the foolish and incompetent Jade Emperor and the king of Chechi who dotes on monsters, he wants to treat children as his heart and soul. The king of the bhikkhu kingdom of Yao Yinzi was either a coward or a tyrant. The depictions of these images, even if they are easy to draw, all have strong practical significance. "Journey to the West" not only has profound ideological content, but also achieved high artistic achievements. It builds a unique art palace of "Journey to the West" with its rich and unique artistic imagination, vivid and tortuous storyline, lifelike characters, and humorous language. But I think the greatest artistic achievement of "Journey to the West" is the successful creation of two immortal artistic images, Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie. Sun Wukong is the first protagonist in "Journey to the West" and a very amazing hero. He has infinite abilities, is not afraid of anything, and has an unyielding spirit of resistance. He has the extraordinary demeanor of a great hero, but also has the disadvantage of loving compliments. He is witty, brave, witty and playful. And his greatest characteristic is his courage to fight. Dare to fight against the supreme Jade Emperor, and the reputation of the "Monkey King" will be known; Dare to fight against monsters and monsters, never let go of a monster with piercing eyes, never show mercy to monsters under the Ruyi Golden Cudgel; Dare to fight against all difficulties Fight, never retreat and bow your head.
This is Sun Wukong, a glorious mythological hero. Speaking of Zhu Bajie, his ability is far inferior to that of Sun Wukong, let alone glorious and tall, but this image is also portrayed very well. Zhu Bajie is a comic figure. He is honest, honest, powerful, and dares to fight monsters. He is Sun Wukong's first right-hand man. But he is also full of problems, such as being fond of food, taking advantage of others, being a womanizer, and being afraid of difficulties. He often retreats and always thinks about Gao Laozhuang's wife. Sometimes he likes to tell lies, but he is clumsy and clumsy. He also said it was unreasonable; from time to time, he provoked Tang Monk to recite the tightening curse to make Sun Wukong suffer; he even hid some private money and stuffed it in his ears. He has many faults, which are the bad habits of small private owners. The author's criticism of Zhu Bajie's shortcomings is very harsh, but also well-intentioned. He is not a negated character, so people do not dislike Zhu Bajie, but on the contrary, they find him very real and lovely. The image of Tang Monk is also well written, but compared to Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie, it is much inferior. Drifting lacks distinctive character traits, which can not but be said to be a shortcoming of "Journey to the West". Despite this, the artistic achievements of "Journey to the West" are still very amazing. The two images of Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie have set up an immortal artistic monument in the history of Chinese literature with their distinctive personalities.
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“A paper full of absurd words, a handful of bitter tears. It is said that the author is an idiot, who can understand the meaning?” The indescribable "Dream of Red Mansions", says The endless Cao Xueqin. It has been more than two hundred years since "Dream of Red Mansions" was written, but the "words" of Cao Xueqin and the "taste" of "Dream of Red Mansions" are different people's opinions, and everyone has their own interpretation. Many red scholars have spent their entire lives creating only "original" opinions, with almost no final conclusion.
The debate on red science has been going on for more than a hundred years, and many mysteries are far from becoming clearer and clearer and will be solved someday. Instead, they have become more foggy and unclear. For a very basic thing, there are many opinions on whether "A Dream of Red Mansions" was written by Cao Xueqin. Furthermore, where is Cao Xueqin’s birthplace? Is he Han or Manchu? In what year was he born? How many years have you lived? "Dream of Red Mansions" is about which dynasty? Judging from "Zhi Yanzhai's Re-Evaluation of the Story of Stone", the 110 chapters of "Dream of Red Mansions" manuscripts were completed. Why were the last thirty chapters lost? Were the last forty chapters continued by Gao E? Is Zhi Yanzhai a boy or a girl? What is the relationship between Cao Xueqin and Zhi Yanzhai and Jihusou? ... There is a long list of questions about "Dream of Red Mansions".
The Museum of Modern Literature of China invited three generations of domestic red scholars, including Feng Qiyong, Zhou Ruchang, Wang Meng, Cai Yijiang, Li Xifan, Sun Yuming and Hu Deping, to the Literature Museum to give lectures and give new interpretations of "A Dream of Red Mansions". Many questions were discussed. This book is a collection of speeches, with twelve special topics, which will help you appreciate "Dream of Red Mansions" carefully and appreciate more profound meanings.
As far as I know personally, the first person to rank popular novels was Jin Shengtan. According to him, he planned to review six scholarly books at that time, "Zhuangzi", "Li Sao", "Historical Records", "Du" "Poetry", "Water Margin" and "The Romance of the West Chamber". During the Kangxi period of the later Qing Dynasty, Mao Zonggang and his son named the revised Three Kingdoms "The First Book of Talented Scholars - Romance of the Three Kingdoms" under the pseudonym of Jin Shengtan (the fact that they relied on Jin Shengtan's name rather than someone earlier can also explain some problems). At that time, there was a saying of the "Four Wonderful Books of the Ming Dynasty", and its introduction must have been a commercial method of booksellers (booksellers at least played a role in promotion); later, The Red Chamber replaced The Jin Ping Mei as one of the "Four Wonderful Books of the Ming and Qing Dynasties" , the Four Wonderful Books have now been finalized. The "Four Great Classics" is a modern term for the "Four Great Books", and the time is naturally not too early.
Therefore, the current reference to the "Four Great Classics" (Four Great Books) must have appeared after "A Dream of Red Mansions" was written.
But some people have verified that the term "Four Wonderful Books" should have been established in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.
Li Yu once wrote a preface to the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" published by Zuitian Jingtang: "Feng Menglong also has the title of four great books, namely Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West and Jin Ping Mei. ..." It can be seen that By the end of the Ming Dynasty, Feng Menglong had already proposed the Four Great Wonders. Li Yu accepted his statement and published it as the "No. 1 Wonderful Book" in the Three Kingdoms. It was probably at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty that the "Four Great Wonders" were proposed. The method has become quite established and popular.
But no matter what, the term "Four Wonderful Books" is the original term of "Four Great Classics", and this should be confirmed.
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"A Dream of Red Mansions"
"A Dream of Red Mansions" has endless descriptions and endless stories. It is truly a wonderful book through the ages!
"A Dream of Red Mansions" is the most famous and widely circulated among ancient Chinese novels, has the largest number of readers, and is the most widely published. Since the publication of this classic masterpiece, critics have come up in droves with divergent opinions, and it has naturally formed a The most important thing is the red school. People are still publishing, reading, and studying "Dream of Red Mansions". This is the eternal charm of this classic literary masterpiece, and this is the immortal value of this classic literary masterpiece. Masters of traditional Chinese painting from the north and south spent two years carefully creating 350 color traditional Chinese paintings. The artist accompanied the text with pictures, some describing moods, some expressing scenes, some thick ink, or meticulous outlines, artistically reproducing the rich social life and vivid characters of the original work.
"Journey to the West"
Wu Chengen's mythological novel "Journey to the West" is magnificent in scale, with twists and turns in the plot and vivid language. It also uses romantic creative techniques and is extremely rich in imagination. It is A treasure in ancient Chinese novels. "Four Classic Paintings by Famous Painters: Journey to the West" invited more than 40 famous painters such as Dai Dunbang and Zhao Hongben to draw 240 Chinese paintings with high artistic value, which are either bold and rough, or simple and beautiful, and include people, gods, demons, monsters, mountains, etc. Water, flowers, insects, birds, beasts, etc. are colorful. The painting methods may be meticulous sketching or freehand brushwork. The style may be bold and rough, or simple and beautiful. The techniques are outline, rendering, contrasting, splashing ink, vivid and colorful. It shows the most exciting scenes in the novel. The text adds elegance to the painting, and the painting adds unique charm to the text. The pictures and text are alternately blended together.
"Water Margin"
Shi Naian's novel "Water Margin" contains extremely vivid life scenes and colorful characters. The 108 characters in Water Margin have different identities and temperaments. , is a wonderful flower in ancient Chinese novels. The text of "Four Classic Paintings by Famous Painters - Water Margin" incorporates 293 traditional Chinese paintings, which were jointly painted by 41 famous traditional Chinese paintings such as Dai Guobang, He Youzhi, and Chen Baiyi. The painters painted vivid life scenes with their masterful hands. , the characters and plots are vivid and have profound meaning.
"The Romance of the Three Kingdoms"
In the history of Chinese literature, perhaps there is no work that can attract so many readers for a long time like "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". For hundreds of years, She has been passed down from generation to generation by almost the entire nation. Reading, it can be said that "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has been deeply rooted in every corner of our national life. "Four Classic Paintings by Famous Painters: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is composed of 35 masters of painting, including Dai Guobang, Chen Baiyi, and Dai Honghai, who painted 292 traditional Chinese paintings with colorful brushes. The painters have different styles and schools, either meticulous, like a needle and thread, or freehand, like flowing clouds and flowing water, all in one go. They colorfully display the grand war scenes and numerous characters during the Three Kingdoms period, reaching the level of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" It is the pinnacle of painting creation and also demonstrates the unique style of traditional Chinese painting, an undiscovered treasure of China. Especially some of the most popular and famous chapters, such as the friendship in Taoyuan, Fengyi Pavilion, Discussing Heroes over Cooking Wine, Three Visits to Thatched Cottage, Thousand Battles with Confucian Scholars, Borrowing Arrows from a Thatched Boat, Seven Captures of Meng Huo, etc., are brilliant.
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< p>The story of the Three Kingdoms was quite popular among ancient Chinese folk. It was put on the stage in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and more than 30 kinds of Three Kingdoms plays were performed in the Jin and Yuan Dynasties. During the Zhizhi period of the Yuan Dynasty, "Quanxiang Three Kingdoms Zhi Ping Hua" published by the Yu family of Xin'an appeared. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Luo Guanzhong synthesized folk legends, operas and scripts, combined with historical materials from Chen Shou's "Three Kingdoms" and Pei Songzhi's notes, and based on his personal understanding of social life, he created "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms". The earliest extant edition is from Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty. Published in 1999, it is commonly known as the "Jiajing edition" and has 24 volumes. During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, Mao Lun and Mao Zonggang and his son revised the historical events, added and deleted text, and revised it into the 120-chapter version of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" that is currently in use today.There are many versions of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", mainly including: "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms" printed by Hongzhi of the Ming Dynasty, with simple words and simple content; In 2000, this book was most widely circulated in society. It has been reprinted and published many times by People's Literature Publishing House.
Author
Luo Guanzhong (between 1330 and 1400), named Huhai Sanren, was a popular novelist in the Ming Dynasty. His birthplace is said to be Taiyuan (today's Shanxi), and another is said to be Qiantang (today's Hangzhou, Zhejiang), which cannot be confirmed. According to legend, Luo Guanzhong once served as the secret agent of Zhang Shicheng, a peasant uprising army in the late Yuan Dynasty. In addition to "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms", he also wrote popular novels such as "The Chronicles of the Sui and Tang Dynasties" and dramas such as "The Legend of Zhao Taizu, Dragon and Tiger". In addition, a considerable number of people believe that the last thirty chapters of "Water Margin" were also written by him.
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Author
There are generally three views on the author of "Water Margin":
The entire book was written by Luo Guanzhong.
Co-written by Shi Naian and Luo Guanzhong.
The entire novel was written entirely by Shi Naian. This view is the most familiar.
The first theory has been proposed as early as the Ming Dynasty. Some people who support this view believe that Shi Naian is a fabricated person and does not exist in reality.
Those who hold the second view also have the following two opinions:
Some of them believe that the first seventy chapters of "Water Margin" were written by Shi Naian, and the later chapters were written by Shi Naian. Chapter 30 is written by Luo Guanzhong.
The Ming Dynasty's "Baichuan Shuzhi" said that "Water Margin" is "the original version of Shi Naian of Qiantang, compiled by Luo Guanzhong." In other words, it was mainly written by Shi Naian, and compiled and edited by Luo Guanzhong. This view is influential in academia.
Another view is that "Water Margin" is a cumulative mass creation. Undoubtedly, Shi Naian referred to, borrowed and absorbed a lot of materials during the creation process, including historical books, notes and some complete novels. , opera works or some fragments thereof, but Shi Naian’s creative work cannot be obliterated.
Shi Naian (1296-1370) was a Chinese novelist. The author of "Water Margin", one of China's four great classics. Born in Jiangsu Province, he is a native of Baijuchang, Xinghua. There is some controversy about the accuracy of his biographical information, and there is also a theory that this person has not been found. The main reason is that the author of Water Margin has always been controversial. One test shows that the book was not written by Shi Naian at all, but by Luo Guanzhong. In the TV series "Water Margin" shot by CCTV, the authors were written as Shi Naian and Luo Guanzhong.
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Controversy about the author in academic circles
The author of Journey to the West is generally believed to be Wu Chengen of the Ming Dynasty. All versions of "Journey to the West" published today are signed by Wu Cheng'en. However, since the publication of "Journey to the West", there has been controversy over its author.
The various versions of "Journey to the West" circulated in the Ming Dynasty were not signed. Wang Xiangxu of the Qing Dynasty proposed in the "Book of Journey to the West" that "Journey to the West" was written by Qiu Chuji in the Southern Song Dynasty. After this view was put forward, most literati in the Qing Dynasty agreed. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, people such as Ji Yun and others began to doubt this theory, believing that "Journey to the West" contains many descriptions of the customs and customs of the Ming Dynasty, and that Qiu Chuji was from the last generation of the Southern Song Dynasty (from the dynasty before the Ming Dynasty); in addition, "Journey to the West" The Huai'an dialect of Jiangsu is used in many places in the book, but Qiu Chuji has been active in North China throughout his life and has never lived in Huai'an. There were also Taoist priests and literati from the Ming and Qing dynasties who believed that "Journey to the West" was a book for Taoist priests to refine alchemy.
During the Republic of China, Lu Xun, Hu Shi and others inferred that Wu Chengen of Huai'an was the author of the novel "Journey to the West" based on what was recorded in the "Huai'an Prefecture Chronicles" during the Tianqi period of the Ming Dynasty, and based on previous discussions. This has become a conclusion.
In the late Republic of China, since the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially after 1980, research on the author of "Journey to the West" has gradually become a hot topic. Scholars continue to question Wu Chengen's authorship. The reason is that the writing of "Journey to the West" is never mentioned in the extant poems and articles of Wu Cheng'en and his friends; secondly, the "Journey to the West" written by Wu Cheng'en in "Huai'an Prefecture" does not indicate that it is a romance or a barnyard official, but usually At this time, Romance and Barnyard Officials were not included in the local annals; thirdly, "Journey to the West" written by Wu Chengen was included in the geographical category (i.e. geography category) in the "Qianqingtang Bibliography" written by Huang Yuji, a scribe of the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, some people have re-proposed that "Journey to the West" was written by Qiu Chuji, or by his disciples and successors. There are also very few scholars who argue that "Journey to the West" was written by Li Chunfang, the "Qing Ci Prime Minister" of the Ming Dynasty. However, due to the sparse and far-fetched evidence, most scholars do not agree with this theory.
On the other hand, the arguments proving that Wu Chengen is the author of "Journey to the West" seem to be more numerous and more convincing. The main ones are: 1. Wu Chengen's personal situation is completely consistent with the characteristics of the creator of "Journey to the West". Second, it provides more reasonable explanations for various doubts that are consistent with the actual situation. The third, and most convincing, is the study of dialects in various texts of Journey to the West. After 1980, research in this area made breakthrough progress, proving almost irrefutably that Wu Chengen was the author of "Journey to the West". (For related research, please refer to Liu Xiuye's works and Yan Jingchang's "Journey to the West" Poetry Rhythm and Author Issues)
So it is generally believed that religion was prevalent in the Ming Dynasty society, and it is related to the Tang Dynasty Master Xuanzang's journey to the West to learn Buddhist scriptures. Biographies, legends and other religious legends and folk stories are widely circulated in society. It was under this social and cultural background that Wu Chengen used the above-mentioned biographies, legends and stories as materials to create the novel "Journey to the West" we see today. 》.
After Wu Chengen's re-conception, organization and writing, compared with the previously circulated biographies, legends, stories and commentaries, the novel "Journey to the West" is not only much richer in content, the storyline is more complete and rigorous, and the characters are more vivid. It is lively and full, the imagination is more colorful, and the language is simple and accessible. More importantly, the novel "Journey to the West" has reached unprecedented heights in terms of ideological and artistic realm. It can be said that he is a master of all things.
Wu Chengen (about 1504-about 1582), named Ruzhong, was born in Sheyangshan, and was a native of Huai'an, Jiangsu.
Wu Cheng'en was about 40 years old before he was able to make up for one year old Gongsheng student. He went to Beijing to wait for an official position, but was not selected. Because his mother's hometown was poor, he became a Changxing County magistrate. He was eventually falsely accused and was demoted two years later. He "went home" and made a living by selling literature in his later years. He lived to be nearly 80 years old.
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Please see: Red Learning
In the early 20th century, the question "Who is the author of Dream of Red Mansions?" once caused a debate in Chinese academic circles, and this debate still exists today. It can be roughly divided into two theories: first, the Dream of Red Mansions was written by Cao Xueqin; second, the author of Dream of Red Mansions was someone else.
As for the Dream of Red Mansions itself, it is said in the first chapter: The real author of this story is no longer known. It was copied, reviewed, added and deleted several times by Cao Xueqin. Generally speaking, it is a mainstream view that Cao Xueqin is the author of this book.
Cao Xueqin (?1715?1716?1724?1725?—?1763?1764?), whose given name was Zhan, whose courtesy name was Mengruan, and whose nicknames were Xueqin, Qinpu and Qinxi. His ancestral home is Liaoyang. The ancestors were originally Han Chinese, and later became flag-registered and became Zhengbai Banner. A famous writer in the Qing Dynasty of China. The author of the classic "A Dream of Red Mansions".
Gao E (about 1738 - about 1815), a Manchu, was a writer of the Qing Dynasty. The other word is Lanshu, and the other word is Yunshi. His ancestral home is Tieling, Liaoning. He is the author of 40 sequels to "A Dream of Red Mansions".