Wu Cheng'en (, c. 1500–1582
[Shi Changyu (1999). "Introduction." in trans. W.J.F. Jenner, ''Journey to the West'', volume 1. Seventh Edition. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. pp. 1–22.] or 1505–1580
),
courtesy name
A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...
Ruzhong (), was a Chinese novelist, poet, and politician during the
Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
. He is considered by many to be the author of ''
Journey to the West
''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popu ...
'', one of the
Classic Chinese Novels
Classic Chinese Novels () are the best-known novels of pre-modern Chinese literature. These are among the world's longest and oldest novels. They represented a new complexity in structure and sophistication in language that helped to establish ...
.
Biography
Wu was born in
Lianshui,
Jiangsu province
Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...
, and later moved to
Huai'an
Huai'an (), formerly called Huaiyin () until 2001, is a prefecture-level city in the central part of Jiangsu province in Eastern China. Huai'an is situated almost directly south of Lianyungang, southeast of Suqian, northwest of Yancheng, almos ...
.
Wu's father, Wu Rui, had had a good primary education and "shown an aptitude for study",
but ultimately spent his life as an artisan because of his family's financial difficulties. Nevertheless, Wu Rui continued to "devote himself to literary pursuits", and as a child, Wu acquired the same enthusiasm for literature—including classical literature, popular stories, and anecdotes.
He took the
imperial examination
The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...
s several times in attempt to become a
mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
, or imperial official, but never passed, and did not gain entry into the imperial university in
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
until middle age; after that he did become an official and had postings in both
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and
Changxing County
() is a county of the prefecture-level city of Huzhou, in the northwest of Zhejiang province, China. Situated on the southwest shore of Lake Tai, it borders the provinces of Jiangsu to the north and Anhui to the west. It has a total area of an ...
,
but he did not enjoy his work, and eventually resigned, probably spending the rest of his life writing stories and poems in his hometown.
During this time he became an accomplished writer, producing both poetry and prose, and became friends with several prominent contemporary writers. However, Wu remained poor throughout his life and did not have any children.
Dissatisfied with the political climate of the time and with the corruption of the world, he spent much of his life as a
hermit
A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.
Description
In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...
.
Literary work
''Journey to the West''
![Evl53201b pic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Evl53201b_pic.jpg)
Wu's likely authorship of ''
Journey to the West
''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popu ...
'' is his main claim to fame. The novel was published anonymously in 1592, and Wu did not refer to the work in any of his other writings.
Wu is thought to have published the work in anonymity, as was usual at the time, because of the ill repute of fiction as vulgar literature. There was a trend in Chinese literary circles to imitate the classical literature of the
Qin Qin may refer to:
Dynasties and states
* Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China
* Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC
* Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...
,
Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
, and
Tang
Tang or TANG most often refers to:
* Tang dynasty
* Tang (drink mix)
Tang or TANG may also refer to:
Chinese states and dynasties
* Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...
dynasties, written in
Classical Chinese
Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning
"literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning
"literar ...
.
However, late in life, Wu went against this trend by writing the novel, ''Journey to the West'', in the vernacular tongue. For over three centuries most of China remained unaware of its authorship, although the people of his hometown attributed the novel to him early on.
However, in the early 20th century,
Hu Shih
Hu Shih (; 17 December 1891 – 24 February 1962), also known as Hu Suh in early references, was a Chinese diplomat, essayist, literary scholar, philosopher, and politician. Hu is widely recognized today as a key contributor to Chinese libera ...
and his students conducted textual analysis and research into
Qing Dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
records and suggested Wu as the author.
In his Introduction to Arthur Waley's abridgment, ''
Monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
'', Dr. Hu, then ambassador to the United States, reported that a 1625 gazetteer, a form of local history, from Wu's hometown claimed Wu as the author.
The ''Dictionary of Ming Biography'' comments that "the identity of the author of the novel is thus still open to question," and that Wu "probably would have remained in oblivion had it not been for this probably erroneous ascription."
Brown University China literature scholar David Lattimore said: "The Ambassador's confidence was quite unjustified. What the gazetteer says is that Wu wrote something called ''The Journey to the West.'' It mentions nothing about a novel. The work in question could have been any version of our story, or something else entirely." Translator
W. J. F. Jenner points out that although Wu had knowledge of Chinese bureaucracy and politics, the novel itself doesn't include any political details that "a fairly well-read commoner could not have known."
[Jenner, W.J.F. (1984). "Translator's Afterword." in trans. W.J.F. Jenner, ''Journey to the West'', volume 4. Seventh Edition.] Furthermore, it is unknown how much of the novel was ''created'', and how much was simply compiled and edited, since much of the legend behind ''Journey to the West'' already existed in folk tales.
Anthony C. Yu
Anthony Christopher Yu (; October 6, 1938 – May 12, 2015) was an American literary theorist, sinologist, and theologian. He was a scholar of literature and religion, both East Asian and Western; and was the Carl Darling Buck Distinguished Serv ...
, in his introduction to his complete translation, states that the identity of the author, as with so many other major works of Chinese fiction, "remains unclear" but that Wu remains "the most likely" author.
[Anthony C. Yu, translated and edited, ''The Journey to the West'' Volume I (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977), p. 16, 21.]
Other works
In addition to ''Journey to the West'', Wu wrote numerous poems and stories (including the novel ''Yuding Animals'', which includes a preface by Wu), although most have been lost. Some of his work survives because, after his death, a family member gathered as many manuscripts as he could find and compiled them into four volumes, entitled ''Remaining Manuscripts of Mr. Sheyang''.
Some of his poetry was included in contemporary anthologies such as ''A Digest of Ming Poetry'' and ''A Record of Ming Poetry''.
Both his poetry and his prose have been described as "stubborn" and critical of society's corruption, and in one of his few surviving poems Wu describes himself as having a "defiant spirit".
Wu's poetry focused on the expression of emotions, and for this reason his work has been compared to that of
Li Bai
Li Bai (, 701–762), also pronounced as Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet, acclaimed from his own time to the present as a brilliant and romantic figure who took traditional poetic forms to new heights. He and his friend Du F ...
,
although even the poems that he published with his name attached still were not quite modeled on the classical styles (although they were not as "vulgar" as ''Journey to the West'').
In addition to using his writing to critique society, Wu also took pride in the worldly nature of his work, as opposed to the more fantastic writings of some contemporaries; in the preface to ''A Record of the Tripods of Emperor Yu'' () he wrote, "My book does not just deal with the supernatural; it deals with the foibles of men too."
Notes
References
*Zhou, Xianshen
"Wu Cheng'en" ''
Encyclopedia of China
The ''Encyclopedia of China'' () is the first large-entry modern encyclopedia in the Chinese language. The compilation began in 1978. Published by the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, the encyclopedia was issued one volume at a time, begin ...
'', 1st ed.
*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Chengen
1500s births
1580s deaths
16th-century Chinese novelists
Chinese fantasy writers
Chinese male novelists
Journey to the West
Ming dynasty novelists
Ming dynasty poets
Ming dynasty politicians
Mythopoeic writers
Poets from Jiangsu
Politicians from Jiangsu
Writers from Huai'an
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown