Wu Cheng'en (1506- 1582), whose real name is Ruzhong, was born in Sheyang, a writer in Ming Dynasty, and wrote the novel The Journey to the West.

Brief introduction of Wu Cheng'en's life

Wu Cheng'en, born in 1499 (8 years of Ming Hongzhi), died in 1582 (0 years of Ming Wanli 10) and lived for 8 1 year. As the word goes, he is from Shanyang County, Huai 'an Prefecture (now Huai 'an, Jiangsu Province). The Journey to the West is a famous novelist in Ming Dynasty in China and one of the four classical novels in ancient China.

Wu Cheng'en was born in a family where a small official was reduced to a small businessman. His father, Wu Rui, is optimistic and open-minded, pursuing the philosophy of happiness. He was made a loyal minister, hoping that he could study as an official, inherit the emperor and be a loyal minister in history.

When Wu Cheng'en was a child, he was eager to learn and read and recite quickly. When he was a teenager, he was already famous in the village. In addition to being studious, he especially likes to search for anecdotes and read books such as immortals, ghosts, foxes and monkeys. Such as Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio and Miscellaneous Stories of Youyang, the colorful mythological world of unofficial history's novels made him develop a hobby of seeking novelty, which had a great influence on his The Journey to the West creation.

Wu Cheng'en, who entered his youth, is a wild and arrogant young man. Low social status, poverty and hardship made this great genius wild and uninhibited, which attracted a flood of laughter. Gone are the days when he was praised by others.

When Wu Cheng'en was about twenty years old, she married a girl from her hometown named Ye. After marriage, she had deep feelings. Although Wu Cheng'en was bohemian, she was virtuous and faithful to her wife.

In the ten years of Jiajing, Wu Cheng'en achieved excellent results in the annual examination and scientific research, obtained the qualification of Jinshi, and went to Nanjing to take the provincial examination with friends. However, his talent is not as good as that of his companions. He, a well-known gifted scholar in a village, is notorious in Sun Shan.

The following spring, his father passed away with regret. Wu Cheng'en accepted the lesson of his first failure and studied hard for the next three years, but he still failed in the exam in the autumn of Jiajing 13th year. Wu Cheng'en felt ashamed and resentful, and fell ill this winter.

Two defeats after having obtained the provincial examinations, plus the death of his father, dealt a great blow to Wu Cheng'en. In his view, if you fail to pass the exam, you are ashamed of your parents and have negative ancestors. However, he didn't think that he didn't have the ability to get in, but his fate was not good. He believes that "fame and fortune have their own lives, and it is stupid to have them?"

The hardships of life have brought Wu Cheng'en no less pressure than the failure of scientific research. After his father died, he needed to manage all the expenses at home, but he was unable to support his family, let alone the means to support it. The source of family life, in addition to getting back six dou of rice from the university every month, can only eat the legacy left by my father.

Wu Cheng'en, who had tasted the ups and downs of social life, began to think more clearly and deeply about the problems of social life, and used his own poems to fight against unreasonable society.

Wu Cheng'en, who was poor all his life, made every effort to complete the famous The Journey to the West at home and abroad, and passed away in the ten years of Wanli.

Although he never succeeded in his life, he and his The Journey to the West have achieved a glorious and lofty position in the history of China studies, which will shine forever.

The creative process of journey to the west

As we all know, the story of Journey to the West, with Tang Priest as the main line, was spread among the people in the Song Dynasty, but it was rough and incoherent. Wu Cheng'en is bent on writing a complete The Journey to the West on the basis of predecessors' works and folklore. Earlier, he heard that imperial academy, the capital, and imperial academy, Du Nan (both equivalent to the country's highest universities) have a full set of printed copies of Yongle Dadian. There are several different versions of The Journey to the West's Storyteller in the Late Yuan Dynasty and Early Ming Dynasty and Tang Sanzang's Journey to the West. These are all things that need to be read and referenced before writing a journey to the west, but most people simply can't understand them. He thought and thought, borrowed money, brought some letters written by his good friend Shen Bosheng (a scholar in high school and later promoted to a toast in imperial academy, Du Nan), rushed to Nanjing, and stayed at Cao Cao's home, a literary friend in Gulou Street. I took Shen's letter of introduction to several friends in officialdom, and they all said (including an official in imperial academy): imperial academy has strict regulations, so it is impossible to lend a version of the Yongle Grand Ceremony in The Journey to the West. In desperation, only the students who paid to study in imperial academy copied it. But also thanks to imperial academy's friend Shen Bosheng's care. Cao's home is in Wu Chengen's Zhu Temple, a few miles away from Chengxian Street, where imperial academy is located. Wu Cheng'en rushed to the door of imperial academy every afternoon and waited patiently. When he got the transcribed manuscript, he got a treasure to avoid losing a page. When I get back to my residence, I will read it and study it attentively. The cost of copying manuscripts was paid in advance by Zhu Cicao. Because Wu Cheng'en is a poor scholar in Yang Shan, he simply can't afford the money. This trip to Nanjing, which lasted more than one month, is very important for Wu Cheng'en to create The Journey to the West. In an article, he called "A Journey to the South" a treasure hunt. Nanjing is full of people and books, which also left a deep impression on him.

After years of full preparation and data accumulation, Wu Cheng'en started writing at the age of 7/kloc-0. It took The Journey to the West about seven years to complete this world literary treasure.

Wu Chengen and Journey to the West.

Through the efforts of countless folk artists and writers, Journey to the West was created by Wu Cheng'en (15 10? ~ 1582? ) finally finished. It is the best work in China's fairy tales.

The Journey to the West simulated an orderly fairy tale world with obvious realistic social shadow. The majestic Jade Emperor, the noble old gentleman, the "important" Buddhist disciples and the cruel devil all seem to be out of tune with reality.

Strong romanticism is the basic artistic feature of The Journey to the West. In the book, the author imagines a supernatural world, in which the mythical characters, their magic weapons and their environment are mostly based on reality, and at the same time, they reflect people's wishes in the form of magic. When shaping the images of various ghosts and gods, they not only show their supernatural divinity and animal attributes, but also find traces of social personality. I like the Monkey King's flexible, impatient and active personality, which is obviously the characteristic of monkeys. This animal characteristic harmoniously blends with his optimistic and rebellious personality, which makes his works rich in colorful whimsy and authenticity of details.