When Ouyang He killed the ape and got his wife, his wife was already pregnant with the white ape. He gave birth to a son, Ouyang Xun, who was good at writing and calligraphy and had an extremely ape-l

When Ouyang He killed the ape and got his wife, his wife was already pregnant with the white ape. He gave birth to a son, Ouyang Xun, who was good at writing and calligraphy and had an extremely ape-like appearance. Wu Chengen is an expert in describing the Monkey King. I wonder if he has received any inspiration from this story. Wu Chengen's calligraphy was quite famous at that time, and he was responsible for many of the gold and stone tablets in his hometown. When he was an official in Changxing, he also wrote three stone tablets. Wu Chengen also likes to collect celebrity calligraphy and painting stickers. The old rubbings of the "Bolo Tree Stele" written by the famous Tang Dynasty calligrapher Li Yong were collected by him. The Brahma tree mentioned in this inscription is native to India, and it is said that Sakyamuni passed away under this tree. This is originally a story related to Buddhism. "Journey to the West" mentions the "Salou Tree" in several places. It can be seen that this old rubbing book had a certain influence on his creation of "Journey to the West". Wu Chengen loves poetry, calligraphy, etiquette and music, and is good at music, chess, calligraphy and painting. When he was still young, he was famous in Huaihe with his literary works. Therefore, he was highly appreciated by officials, celebrities and country gentry. In the leap August of the fifteenth year of Zhengde (AD 1519), Cai Ang, who had won the top prize and served as editor of the Hanlin Academy for six years, went home for the first time to entertain guests and show off to his hometown. At that time, some high-ranking officials were honored to be invited to banquets, and even to meet or talk with them. A fifteen-year-old boy, Wu Cheng'en, came to the door to speak, and he was tactful and quick in dealing with things. He was immediately appreciated by Cai Hanlin, the man who visited the flower shop, and was treated as a guest of honor. He aroused the envy of many people! Wu Chengen himself still remembers this incident twenty years later. At that time, Baoying Zhu Yingdeng, who was known as one of the "Four Great Masters of Jinling" and one of the "Ten Talents", met Wu Cheng'en and "loved him as his own son. He said that Ru Zhong could read all the books in the world, and divided half of it with the pictures and history collected by his family." "So, Wu Cheng'en's knowledge increased day by day, and his talent and reputation were greatly improved. For a while, he went to build a hut, and "those who beg for words and calligraphy will always belong to him." Wu Cheng'en also often wrote articles for the government and Jin gentry, and often traveled around Nanjing and Suzhou. He had a close friendship with Zhu Rifan and sang in harmony constantly. He was appreciated by the king and exchanged letters many times. He also sang in harmony with Wen Zhengming on the stone lake and visited Jinshan Temple with his friends. For a while, I was full of poetry and full of fantasies about the future.

Wu Chengen was talented and famous for his literary work. Even the school inspector was "strange for his writing" and thought that he was "like picking up a mustard ear". Logically speaking, his career in science (examination?) should have been smooth sailing. However, the fact was just the opposite. He was extremely dissatisfied in the examination room. He failed to pass even one examination after taking the exam many times. It was not until the 29th year of Jiajing that he was admitted as a senior Gongsheng student at the age of 45. This phenomenon fully illustrates the decadence of the social system and the darkness of politics at that time.

The cruel fact that he failed in the imperial examination and had nothing to offer to the emperor's family gave Wu Chengen a ruthless blow, making him depressed and hesitant. In addition, he came from a humble background, so he was looked down upon everywhere. Wu Chengen's father was an honest businessman. He had always accepted the oppression and extortion from the government and subordinate staff. He would rather be bullied and oppressed than fight with others. Therefore he was called "idiot". When Wu Chengen was playing in the market when he was a child, he was often called "Wu Fool's son". This planted the seeds of resentment and rebellion in his young mind. He had long made up his mind to study hard, become an official when he grew up, honor his ancestors, and change his family. Reality shattered his dream, and he had no choice but to read for his own entertainment, write books with anger, and vent his grievances.

Wu Chengen began writing his famous work "Journey to the West" when he was still in his prime. "Journey to the West" is a novel about gods and demons. To create such a novel, one must master a large number of mythological stories and writing skills, and Wu Cheng'en fully meets this condition. Wu Chengen's father was a simple gentleman. When he had nothing to do, he would take his only son to visit the ancient temples and jungles in the suburbs, often wandering in them. Sometimes while looking at the clay and wood-carved gods and red and green painted murals, he would tell Wu Chengen beautiful and magical folk stories, such as Guishan Wuzhiqi, Longwo Great Sacred Hall, Longxing Temple Sandalwood Buddha Statue, the Underworld of Ten Kings Hall, and Laojun Hall. Stories about the Taoist priests, the God of Thunder in the Temple of Thunder, etc. made Wu Chengen have the habit of listening to interesting stories since he was a child. This habit later enabled him to collect a large amount of mythological materials, and he even wrote a masterpiece with hundreds of chapters and 800,000 words, which became a treasure in the world's literary world.

At this stage, he also wrote many personal poems. But soon, due to disagreements with his boss, he resigned and returned to Huaihe. Then he was elected as "Jishan of Prince Jing's Mansion", and he may have served as an official there for a period of time. Since then, he has been at home and continued writing his "Journey to the West".

It was during this period that the final draft of "Journey to the West" was completed.

Once the 100-chapter version of "Journey to the West" came out, it was immediately welcomed by people. At that time, people regarded it (?) as one of the four great wonders of the Ming Dynasty, and later it was listed as one of the four famous ancient Chinese novels. Since its creation, other novels on the theme of "Journey to the West" immediately pale in comparison and lose their existence value; while the hundred-chapter version of "Journey to the West" has gradually gained a unique status. The main characters in the book, Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie, are vivid and lovable. In particular, the image of Sun Wukong has become a representative of heroes who are brave and tenacious, dare to defy difficulties, and dare to fight. It has been popularized for hundreds of years and is known to almost all women and children. Unfortunately, due to various reasons, Wu Chengen's name was not signed in the various versions of "Journey to the West" at that time, so it was not known for a long time that he was the real author of this book. His copyright was unreasonably seized by Qiu Chuji, a Taoist priest in the early Yuan Dynasty. It was not until the May Fourth Movement that Mr. Lu Xun corrected this problem. Now, with the large number of foreign translations of "Journey to the West", Wu Chengen's name has spread all over the world.

Wu Chengen's literary talents are multi-faceted. His most famous achievement is the novel "Journey to the West", and other aspects have been overshadowed. In fact, Wu Chengen's artistic attainments in poetry are also very profound. His poems are fresh and lovely, full of strong people's character, such as "Boat Journey": "A flock of egrets rush across the river, and the setting sun reflects on the trees. It is about to rain in the front village, and I lean on the boat window to watch the hanging dragon." How refreshing it is. Meaningful! The poem "Summer" goes: "The beauty in the high hall can't help but feel the heat, and the ice-coated mats dream of autumn rain; how could she know that the cold wind can transport heaven and produce grain and millet for our people." This is the voice of the working people. The famous "Erlang Searching the Mountains Picture Song" is even more popular. Wu Chengen's poems come from his heart and do not imitate the ancients. It is not easy to break through the fog that enveloped the literary world at that time and become his own family. It is not easy. Ding Yan, a native of the Qing Dynasty, mentioned him together with Binghe Lao Lao and Zhang Yushan as the three pillars of Huai'an in the Ming Dynasty. Chen Wenzhu compared him with Huai people Lu Jia, Mei Cheng, Kuang Heng, Chen Lin, Bao Zhao, Zhao Gu and Zhang Lei, calling him "after Wen Qian, there was only one person."

In 1582 AD, which was the tenth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, Wu Chengen was old and sick and died at his home in Huai'an at the age of seventy-seven. He was buried in his ancestral tomb in Guangou (now Erbao Village, Madian Township), twenty miles south of Huai'an City. In 1982, on the 400th anniversary of Wu Chengen's death, the Huai'an County People's Government allocated funds to rebuild his mausoleum to welcome experts and scholars from across the country who studied "Journey to the West". The first ever "Journey to the West" conference was held in his hometown of Huai'an. "Notes" academic seminar.