Chen Zhi then took out a stack of documents, which was a printed Ming edition of "Journey to the West"? He pointed at some of the places with red lines and said,
"But this novel surprisingly matches all the details of Xuan Zang's Journey to the West.
Compared with the boring documentary text of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty, the writing of the novel is more popular and the characters in it are also interesting, so it is easier to be accepted by the common people.
The content of the novel has not changed much. It is based on the historical event of "Tang Monk's Pursuit" and through the author's artistic processing. It describes that after Sun Wukong was born, he met Tang Monk, Zhu Bajie and Sha Seng, and accompanied Tang Sanzang on his journey to the west to obtain Buddhist scriptures.
The story of conquering demons, going through eighty-one hardships, and finally reaching the Western Heaven to see Tathagata Buddha.
The difference is that the protagonist of this book is not Xuanzang, but another character - Sun Wukong!",
When he said this, Chen Zhi put his hands on the table and said in a very serious voice:
"I am very interested in this character. I want to check the origin of this character and see where this image comes from..."
"My mom, are you crazy?" Fat Wei couldn't bear it at all this time.
"Chengzi, don't you believe me when I say you are possessed?
That Sun Wukong was made up by that old boy Wu Chengen. It's a monkey that jumped out of the cracks in the rocks. It's just a fictional novel. Where can I check it?
Besides, do you really believe that there are monkeys jumping out of the cracks in the rocks?
That Journey to the West is so ridiculous, and then the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother all come out, and there are three dozen white-bone demons, and they are from the Daughter Kingdom...
If we take everything in the novel seriously and search for it one by one, we won’t be able to find it even if we are exhausted!”
"Journey to the West is not necessarily a novel, nor can it be confirmed that it was written by Wu Cheng'en!",
Chen Zhi looked at Fat Wei and said:
"I just said that in all textbooks now, the name of the author of Journey to the West is written as Wu Cheng'en, but in fact this is just a common saying.
There is no final conclusion on this matter in academic circles.
As far as I know, Wu Chengen lived in the Ming Dynasty and was unsuccessful in officialdom, but he was upright and rigorous.
It is said that he resigned from office due to official corruption, and in his later years he left office and returned to his hometown, where he was able to formally compose "Journey to the West".
But in fact, the rare copies of Journey to the West from the Ming Dynasty that have been collected now have various layouts, none of which are signed, and some of them were dated far earlier than when he resigned.
Liu Cunren had doubts about the authenticity of this incident. He once looked through religious history and investigated the sources of various versions of "Journey to the West".
We came to the conclusion that the person who actually wrote "Journey to the West" should have been in the early Song Dynasty.
At that time, Wu Chengen was not born yet..."
"real or fake?",
After hearing these words, Fat Wei's eyes widened: "
"Hey, let me go and subvert my elementary school teacher! It turns out that the books I have been reading since I was a child are all fake books!
So according to what you mean, this Journey to the West..."
"That's what I mean!",
Chen Zhi turned his head and looked at Dan Xuan thoughtfully:
"The Journey to the West we saw was modified by Wu Chengen! He is not the original author.
The original author of this book may have existed in the Tang and Song Dynasties!
At that time, the incident where the defense machine was cut off had just happened not long ago, and there are still traces of what happened at that time.
He may know the truth about Xuanzang's journey to the West very well, write it down, and reshape the important characters hidden in it through artistic images.
In other words, the "Journey to the West" he wrote is the real "Journey to the West" of the Tang Dynasty!"
"Ah..." Danxuan's eyes were stunned after listening to Chen Zhi's words, as if he couldn't accept it for a moment.
But Fat Wei was beside him, but he listened with great interest and seemed to be interested:
"So what do we do now?
Even if Monk Tang really had a companion by his side when he was studying for Buddhist scriptures, where would he be able to find clues from events that took place over 1,000 years ago?
You would never ask me to dig a monkey grave in Shuiliandong!"
"Where does he have any other tomb?",
Chen Zhi looked at the mottled ancient Buddhist beads in his hand,
"If I guess correctly, this other westward traveler is the one who was cut in half at the entrance to the downtown area 1,300 years ago because of his affair with Princess Gaoyang!
He died in Chang'an City at that time, leaving no identity or name. Xuanzang did not dare to plead for him, or even acknowledge his existence, so he asked him to take the name of his apprentice Bianji!
The real Bianji endured the stigma and lived alone in the underground palace of Tianfa Temple until he died, not daring to come out! In order to maintain the reputation of the entire Buddhism.
All this proves one thing, this person's identity is very special!
He would not be accepted by the people at that time, the court, or even the entire human society.
He should be..., not a human being!"
"Not human? Demigod?",
Fat Wei's face immediately became serious. He turned to look at Dan Xuan, remembering what he had said in the past, and suddenly everything fell into place.
"right?",
Chen Zhi nodded gently,
"At best, he is a demigod; at worst, he is a monster.
At that time, the Tang Dynasty had just gone through war and was in a state of panic and confusion. The imperial court promoted Buddhism in order to maintain their political rule.
Buddhism excludes aliens, but a non-human creature is an important member of the Westward Journey. This fact makes Xuanzang and even the entire Buddhist community slap themselves in the face.
They could not admit the existence of this man, otherwise the newly emerging Buddhism would be over.
This unknown westwarder died silently under the sword despite being someone else's identity.
Such a person has been abandoned by the Buddhist world and completely abandoned by human society. Who dares to build a tomb for him?"
"Then what should I do?" Fat Wei said with wide eyes, "Then where can I check now?"
"Go back to the westward road...",
Chen Zhi held the broken string of old Buddhist beads tightly in his hand,
"If we want to find him, we have to find his original prototype...
Many historians have concluded and analyzed that in fact, in the original legend of "Journey to the West", there were no characters like Zhu Bajie and Sha Seng.
At first Tang Monk had only one disciple, who accompanied him all the way through thousands of rivers and mountains, and that was the monkey-shaped Sun Wukong!
Later, many historians believed that the image of Sun Wukong was real.
His prototype is a Hu disciple whom Monk Tang took on during his journey to the west! Or a monkey god with boundless power in Hinduism!
But these explanations are far-fetched. We don't need to be too imaginative now, but we should put aside these later shapings and look for the most original legends.
That is the world’s earliest mural of "Xuanzang Sutra Searching Picture" in the Thousand Buddhas Cave in the East of the ancient Western Xia Dynasty..."