|
|
Post by siuyiu on Dec 1, 2018 19:32:38 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by yenchin on Dec 10, 2018 7:43:25 GMT
Children's version again  I think an interesting part about this book is that according to some analysts, there IS some deep Buddhist philosophy behind the story. Taoists even claim that this book is actually a secret manual for Internal Cultivation (resulting in some people claiming the author is actually Qiu Chu Ji, yes, THAT Qiu Chu Ji). And despite all this the book it still so fun to read. |
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Dec 13, 2018 3:04:56 GMT
Children's version again I think an interesting part about this book is that according to some analysts, there IS some deep Buddhist philosophy behind the story. Taoists even claim that this book is actually a secret manual for Internal Cultivation (resulting in some people claiming the author is actually Qiu Chu Ji, yes, THAT Qiu Chu Ji). And despite all this the book it still so fun to read. Yeah I heard some claims that the author was Qiu Chuji. But then how come? Qiu Chuji was a taoist monk, while Journey to West is very Budhist in all aspect. |
|
|
|
Post by yenchin on Dec 13, 2018 9:16:11 GMT
Children's version again I think an interesting part about this book is that according to some analysts, there IS some deep Buddhist philosophy behind the story. Taoists even claim that this book is actually a secret manual for Internal Cultivation (resulting in some people claiming the author is actually Qiu Chu Ji, yes, THAT Qiu Chu Ji). And despite all this the book it still so fun to read. Yeah I heard some claims that the author was Qiu Chuji. But then how come? Qiu Chuji was a taoist monk, while Journey to West is very Budhist in all aspect. It is kind of hidden in the story, the whole journey is said to be the process of the Taoist internal Chi cultivation. Wukong being a Monkey is a metaphor of the so called "心猿" or "ape-mind", which needs to be controlled and assist in guiding the cultivation process. There are specific location names in the novel that are claimed to be some of the key points of the cultivation process, such as a place called 夾脊關, which shares the name of the point between the shoulder blades. And thus the stories are like metaphors on how to cultivate one's Chi to pass these key points.
Besides the "secret manual" interpretation, some poem verses, terms and concepts have been cited from Taoist scripts.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Dec 14, 2018 4:09:05 GMT
Yeah I heard some claims that the author was Qiu Chuji. But then how come? Qiu Chuji was a taoist monk, while Journey to West is very Budhist in all aspect. It is kind of hidden in the story, the whole journey is said to be the process of the Taoist internal Chi cultivation. Wukong being a Monkey is a metaphor of the so called "心猿" or "ape-mind", which needs to be controlled and assist in guiding the cultivation process. There are specific location names in the novel that are claimed to be some of the key points of the cultivation process, such as a place called 夾脊關, which shares the name of the point between the shoulder blades. And thus the stories are like metaphors on how to cultivate one's Chi to pass these key points.
Besides the "secret manual" interpretation, some poem verses, terms and concepts have been cited from Taoist scripts.
icic. Interesting! So I read this book, 康熙大帝 in which they talked about the diorama in White Cloud Temple, which depicted the Journey of the West. 《 西 游记》 不是 丘 长春 所作 呢？” 伍 次 友 笑 道：“ 这 何 须到 旁 处去 查， 只看《 西 游记》 本文 便 知—— 祭 赛 国中 的 锦衣 卫， 朱 紫 国 的 司 礼 监， 灭 法国 中的 东城 兵马 司， 还有 唐太宗 朝里 的 大学士、 翰林 中 书院， 都是 前 明 才 设置 的， 丘 处 机 从 哪里 去 捏造 这些？” I haven't read the book, except the comics, so I don't know anything. LOL. |
|
|
|
Post by yenchin on Dec 14, 2018 5:38:18 GMT
It is kind of hidden in the story, the whole journey is said to be the process of the Taoist internal Chi cultivation. Wukong being a Monkey is a metaphor of the so called "心猿" or "ape-mind", which needs to be controlled and assist in guiding the cultivation process. There are specific location names in the novel that are claimed to be some of the key points of the cultivation process, such as a place called 夾脊關, which shares the name of the point between the shoulder blades. And thus the stories are like metaphors on how to cultivate one's Chi to pass these key points.
Besides the "secret manual" interpretation, some poem verses, terms and concepts have been cited from Taoist scripts.
icic. Interesting! So I read this book, 康熙大帝 in which they talked about the diorama in White Cloud Temple, which depicted the Journey of the West. 《 西 游记》 不是 丘 长春 所作 呢？” 伍 次 友 笑 道：“ 这 何 须到 旁 处去 查， 只看《 西 游记》 本文 便 知—— 祭 赛 国中 的 锦衣 卫， 朱 紫 国 的 司 礼 监， 灭 法国 中的 东城 兵马 司， 还有 唐太宗 朝里 的 大学士、 翰林 中 书院， 都是 前 明 才 设置 的， 丘 处 机 从 哪里 去 捏造 这些？” I haven't read the book, except the comics, so I don't know anything. LOL. I guess this is a valid point against the "Qiu Chu Ji wrote the book". According to wikipedia this point was (at least written down) by Ji Xuan, better known as Ji Xiaolan (紀曉嵐), of Qianlong's Court.
Recently I've read that it was noticed that all the foods mentioned in the novel were from Huai region of Jiangsu (around Wu Cheng En's hometown). Some dialects in the book are also from the Huai region. Qiu Chu Ji's activities were mostly in Northern China so it would be unlikely that he would be around that place (unless LOCH is real? ) Qiu Chu Ji's disciple wrote a book called "Travels to the West of Qiu Chang Chun" (長春真人西遊記) which might be the source of this confusion.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Dec 14, 2018 6:38:29 GMT
]Recently I've read that it was noticed that all the foods mentioned in the novel were from Huai region of Jiangsu (around Wu Cheng En's hometown). Some dialects in the book are also from the Huai region. Qiu Chu Ji's activities were mostly in Northern China so it would be unlikely that he would be around that place (unless LOCH is real? ) Qiu Chu Ji's disciple wrote a book called " Travels to the West of Qiu Chang Chun" (長春真人 西遊記) which might be the source of this confusion. Ah, so his disciple wrote Travels to the West of Qiu Chang Chun 長春真人西遊記 ..icic. But it's true that Qiu Chuji went to the west. I visited 白云观 / White Cloud Monastery last October, and there's no more Journey To The West diorama such as mentioned on the book, but there's a diorama of Qiu Chuji went to Samarkand and met Genghiz Khan. So I guess, LOCH was right about the meeting between QCJ and Genghiz Khan  |
|
|
|
Post by chefying on Dec 14, 2018 7:51:18 GMT
It is kind of hidden in the story, the whole journey is said to be the process of the Taoist internal Chi cultivation. Wukong being a Monkey is a metaphor of the so called "心猿" or "ape-mind", which needs to be controlled and assist in guiding the cultivation process. There are specific location names in the novel that are claimed to be some of the key points of the cultivation process, such as a place called 夾脊關, which shares the name of the point between the shoulder blades. And thus the stories are like metaphors on how to cultivate one's Chi to pass these key points.
Besides the "secret manual" interpretation, some poem verses, terms and concepts have been cited from Taoist scripts.
Interesting! I have not heard of this view of the book. I have not been that keen on this story, I much prefer Romance of the Three Kingdoms. As a story, the theme does not change much, monk too trusting, gets into trouble, monkey saves him. Rinse and repeat. |
|
|
|
Post by yenchin on Dec 14, 2018 15:21:40 GMT
Another fun fact. In Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, there is a story （齊天大聖）about a temple worshipping Sun Wukong. In the story, a character is skeptical of the temple and says "Sun Wukong is a fable from Elder Qiu", and mocks the worshippers.
He and his brother gets punished, so he repents and becomes a believer. Sun later brings them on a visit to Heaven, and they meet an old guy who rewards them with artifacts that help them make a lot of money.
|
|
