On the Function of Nan's Travel Notes

The story described by The Journey to the West is fantastic, and the characters in the book are mostly immortals, Buddhists and demons. The illusory world of ghosts and gods implies the author's pursuit of ideals and his exposure and criticism of darkness everywhere.

Huaguang is a hero image carefully shaped by the author. He was born with an iron character, unruly and unruly. Shortly after his birth, he was able to avenge his father, but the first thing that showed his personality was the plot of breaking into Wei Zixu's mausoleum and stealing the golden gun. This childish initiative and stubborn behavior shows his contempt for the etiquette of powerful people. Its resistance has begun to show. Then, at the Qionghua party, Tiangong was shocked by the scandal that "he was not used to the golden gun prince arranging flowers and drinking by himself", and he was not afraid of the prince's spicy power. After he came out of the Heavenly Palace, he galloped freely in Middle-earth and was invincible, so that the Jade Emperor had no choice but to forgive him twice. However, Huaguang did not give up his code of conduct and restrain his personality. In order to save his mother, he made a scene in Dongyue, forced himself into the nether world, and thrived in Du Feng. The underworld was also full of people. At this point, his rebellious spirit of not being afraid of power and breaking through all obstacles has been fully developed and embodied. For this rebellious spirit of Huaguang, the author holds a positive attitude and readers are very welcome. The plot of Huaguang's making a scene in three realms reflects the struggle mentality of the broad masses of the people in feudal times in a tortuous way. The heaven, the earth, the emperor and the nobility in the novel all reflect the mottled images of feudal dynasties and feudal bureaucrats in real life, and Huaguang's rebellious spirit, which is not afraid of power, in a sense reflects the strong demand of working people to break free from shackles and strive for freedom.

In addition to the struggle against power, there are many places in the novel that describe the struggle between Huaguang and monsters. These monsters, such as Judge Feng Huo, Clairvoyance, General Huo Piao, King of Oolong, Rockfall Fairy, etc. , go their own way, either greedy for cannibalism at the expense of boys and girls, or greedy for women, hurting good women and doing evil. Compared with the Jade Emperor and the Prince, their power is not strong, but their behavior is very evil, which is a serious threat to the people. Huaguang's series of righteous acts to subdue evil spirits and benefit the people reflect the strong desire of the broad masses of the people to eradicate evil forces and make Huaguang's literary image more lovely and amiable. The positive significance of this novel not only eulogizes Hua Guang's rebellious spirit, but also affirms his people-oriented thought of doing good and eliminating evil, which is also reflected in the critical spirit throughout the works. It is this critical spirit that makes the thought of the work reach a certain depth.

First of all, it is manifested in the exposure of the powerful class represented by the Jade Emperor, who are often ignorant and bully the weak and fear the hard. In the storm of Qionghua Fair, he didn't blame the prince for his greed and arrogance, but just cut off Huaguang. Later, Tianbing could not defeat Huaguang, so he had no choice but to forgive Huaguang for the second time. The prince relied on the power of the Jade Emperor to be overbearing and arbitrary. However, Deng Hua, a Japanese official, was frustrated because he lost the match with Huaguang. He made things difficult for Huaguang, who was later removed from office, and framed him with his heart, eventually forcing him to oppose the light of China. The Taoist priest in the dragonfly view fell on the rock and was a big fairy. It seems that he occupied the common people and killed people for money. There is a realistic basis for the author to write a Taoist priest as a greedy and lecherous person. Social morality declined in the late Ming Dynasty. Some Taoist priests use this to harm others and do evil. The people have suffered greatly. In a word, the author's description of the world of God, Buddhism and Taoism reflects the darkness of the real society, and has a certain critical spirit to expose all kinds of evil deeds such as the Jade Emperor, the Prince and the Taoist priest, which is valuable in the author's time.

"A Journey to the South" is greatly influenced by The Journey to the West, and the image of Huaguang is a hodgepodge of many folk tales, such as daring to resist heaven or even Buddha, and going to hell to find his mother. , that is, the combination of the Monkey King and Manglietia. Its magical power is mastered by many immortals. In addition to the general means of immortality, Huaguang is also good at two things: one is the triangular golden brick, like the Monkey King's golden hoop; The second is that he is good at change, but unlike Sun, he constantly reinvents himself and changes himself.

There are also many books in this book, such as Water Margin, Romance of Gods, Sanyan Erpai and so on. , such as anti-poetry, such as meat ball metaplasia, such as eating virgins, such as playing Buddha with bricks, such as true and false Guanyin, such as Princess Tiefan and Ding Fengdan, such as the Monkey King and stealing peaches, and so on, and even fragments related to older novels. For example, part of the bet with the princess is in Youxian Cave, while part of the bet with the falling stone fairy and Huang Baijiao is related to the "Erlang Shen" of the "three words". More significantly, Emperor Xuanwu ordered the Vulcan Hua Guang to swallow the "water drop". If he resisted, he read a spell and died within seven days. This kind of writing is certain. Moreover, these extremely secular and legendary fragments are the most exciting part of this book. This book also has some good points in narrative description, such as the wits and courage of Song Wuji and Hua Guang, which is very beautiful to write; Another example is the ghost of Huaguang looking for his mother, arguing with everyone about "one" and "two", like a gag on the stage, which is very lively; And the Monkey King, who has children and calls himself "Old Seven". When stealing peaches, there was actually a discussion about "Famous Festival". This description is even more humorous. Xie: Huaguang's novels are all based on the principle of five behaviors. The fire goes up and down, so don't put it out. The real martial arts is made of water, and then return to the right path.

Son Ye Jin: Travels in the South is a novel with a strong magical color. It is different from Romance of Gods and The Journey to the West. This is based on no historical record. It is purely woven by the author according to Buddhist legends, and it is basically a fictional plot.

Juemin Xu: From The Journey to the West, we can see that many plots are borrowed, imitated and even copied. This novel is full of fantasy and romance.