Research on the origin of Sun Wukong

A large number of Han Dynasty painted bricks were unearthed in Xinye. In addition to acrobatics and games, there are often wonderful scenes of monkeys, dogs and people hunting and playing together. By the Northern and Southern Dynasties, monkey opera had become popular in Xinye. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, monkey playing was already popular among Xinye folk.

It is said that during his tenure, Wu Chengen lived in Jiancong, paid attention to everything, and was deeply influenced by the folk customs of Xinye County. In particular, he was very familiar with Xinye's traditional folk art monkey opera. Not only that, "Journey to the West" uses a large number of Xinye dialects. For example, Xinye people call "dumplings" "Bianshi" and "unquiet" animals as "Gunrong". Such dialects are more common in "Journey to the West". All of them show that Wu Chengen has a deep understanding of the folk customs of Xinye. Perhaps, because of his meticulous observation of the New Wild Monkey Play and the vivid monkey emotions in the New Wild Monkey Play, the endearing image of the Monkey King in the mythological masterpiece "Journey to the West" was created.

Wuzhiqi is a water monster in Chinese mythology. He is shaped like an ape, with a flat nose, a protruding forehead, a white head and a green body, and blazing eyes. His head and neck are hundreds of feet long, and his strength exceeds that of nine elephants.

Volume 467 of "Taiping Guangji" cites "Rongmu Chat" for a detailed legend of Wuzhi Qi. The story of Wuzhiqi has been circulated for at least five hundred years before the story of Tang Monk's Buddhist scriptures appeared. Among them, the earliest story of Tang Monk's Buddhist scriptures was written by the Mongolian opera writer Yang Na in the early Ming Dynasty. There are eighteen kinds of it today. There are two types of works, "Liu Xingshou" and "Journey to the West". Yang Na's drama "Journey to the West" tells the folklore story of Tang Monk's quest for Buddhist scriptures. In the drama "Tang Sanzang Seeking Buddhist Scriptures from the West" written by the Yuan Dynasty opera writer Wu Changling, the image of Sun Wukong appears, and there is a saying "Wuzhiqi is his sister". It can be seen that the character creation of Sun Wukong has drawn on the image of Wuzhiqi. Eight hundred years after the story of Wuzhi Qi was widely circulated, Wu Chengen processed and compiled "Journey to the West". It was impossible for Wu Chengen, who liked to collect folk legends, not to read such a big book as "Taiping Guangji", just as Mr. Lu Xun said "Wu Chengen acted in "Journey to the West" in the Ming Dynasty, and transferred his magical transformation to Sun Wukong." Since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the story of Yu Fu Wuzhi Qi has been widely circulated among the people, and has become a household name. Wu Chengen's "Journey to the West" After it came out, the image of Wuzhiqi was gradually replaced by Sun Wukong.

If the image of Sun Wukong in Yuan dramas was influenced by Wuzhi Qi, then the Sun Wukong written by Wu Chengen is the incarnation of Wuzhi Qi. Wuzhiqi was chained at the foot of Turtle Mountain by Dayu, and Sun Wukong was pressed by Tathagata at the foot of Five Elements Mountain. Wuzhiqi was shaped like an ape, and Sun Wukong was originally a monkey statue, and his appearance of "fighting, leaping, running, light and sudden" is also the same. .

On August 9, 2014, the "2014 Journey to the West Origin Culture Seminar" was co-sponsored by Suizhou Municipal Culture and Sports Bureau, Suizhou Foreign Affairs and Overseas Chinese Affairs and Tourism Bureau, and hosted by China Journey to the West Myth World Scenic Area. Held in Journey to the West Park in Suizhou City, Hubei Province, at the conference forum, many scholars exchanged, discussed, and argued that the origin of the mythical story of Journey to the West was the Tongbai Mountain area in Suizhou, Hubei Province. The main character Sun Wukong in "Journey to the West" was modeled after Tongbai. Wu Zhiqi, the legendary monkey born in Baishan. Zhang Jinchi, a professor at the Chinese Department of Harbin Normal University, came to the conclusion after studying the evolution of Buddhist scripture stories that the real prototype of Sun Wukong is Shi Pantuo, a Hu disciple whom Xuanzang accepted during the most difficult time of his journey to the West as recorded in "The Biography of Master Tripitaka". The reason is that Sun Wukong is to Tang Monk and Shipan Tuo is to Xuanzang: 1. The role of guide is similar; 2. The role of resolving danger is similar; 3. The identity of the traveler is the same; 4. The subtle relationship between master and disciple is similar; 5. Shi Pan Tuo It’s Monk Hu, and Monk Hu has a close pronunciation to “猢狲”. Under the guidance of religious thoughts, "Tang Monk obtained Buddhist scriptures, Monk Hu helped" was easily translated into "Tang Monk obtained Buddhist scriptures, Hozen helped", which provided an opportunity for the story of Xuanzang's Buddhist scriptures to be transformed into a god and a demon.

Some media reported that after studying the mural "Tang Monk Fetching Buddhist Scriptures" in the Yulin Grottoes in Gansu Province, experts found that a barbarian with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks following Tang Monk in the mural was the prototype of Sun Wukong. This article points out that Mr. Duan Wenjie, the honorary president of the Dunhuang Academy, once wrote that the monkey-shaped man in the picture is the prototype of Sun Wukong, named Shipantuo. Hu Shi believed that its prototype was the Indian monkey god Hanuman. Hu Shi introduced that although "Journey to the West" has been circulated for hundreds of years after it was written, ordinary readers have never understood the origin and evolution of the characters and stories in it, as if it was originally "a monkey jumping out of a crack in the stone." It was not until Lu Xun's "A Brief History of Chinese Novel" was the first of its kind that the identity of "Sun Wukong" was put on the table as a serious academic issue.

Lu Xun believes that since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Buddhist classics have been translated more and more, so Indian stories have also been widely circulated among the people. The literati liked their novelty and strangeness, so they used them intentionally or unintentionally, and these stories gradually became popular among the people. Become Chinese. Regarding the specific image of Sun Wukong, Lu Xun believed that it should come from Chinese folklore. He cited the monster in the novels of Li Gongzuo of the Tang Dynasty - the Huaiwo Water God Wuzhiqi as evidence, and believed that Sun Wukong evolved from it, thus identifying Sun Wukong's character. The prototype comes from China itself.

Hu Shi had a different view on this. He said: "I have always suspected that this powerful monkey is not a domestic product, but an import from India. Perhaps even the myth of Wuzhiqi was influenced by India. Counterfeit." He found the monkey god Hanuman in India's oldest epic "Ramayana" and believed that this was the earliest prototype of Sun Wukong.

Chen Yinke also argued that the prototype of Sun Wukong is Hanuman. The patterns in Gansu murals show that the story of "Journey to the West" has been circulated in the Tang Dynasty.

Because Chen Yinke, a famous historian, is very familiar with Buddhist scriptures, he not only verified that the prototype of Sun Wukong is Hanuman in "Ramayana", but also used another "Sutra of Sages and Fools" as a re-verification. It was discovered that the story of "Havoc in Heaven" originally originated from two unrelated Indian folk tales. After being introduced to China, Buddhist scripture propagators intentionally or unintentionally combined the two into one when telling them.

Some Japanese scholars have proposed that the image of Sun Wukong originated from Buddhist scriptures. They found descriptions of macaques, apes or monkey protector gods in some Buddhist classics, and believed that they were the prototypes of Sun Wukong.