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西遊記
''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 great Chinese novels, and has been described as arguably the most popular literary work in East Asia. It was widely known in English-speaking countries through the British scholar Arthur Waley's 1942 abridged translation ''Monkey''. The novel is a fictionalized and fantastic account of the pilgrimage of the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who went on a 16-year journey to India in the 7th century AD to seek out and collect Buddhist scriptures (sūtras). The novel retains the broad outline of Xuanzang's own account, '' Great Tang Records on the Western Regions'', but embellishes it with fantasy elements from folk tales and the author's invention. In the story, it deals entirely with the earlier exploits of Sun Wukong, a monkey born on Flower Fruit Mountain from a stone egg that forms from an ancient rock created by the co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gods And Demons Fiction
Gods and demons fiction or Shenmo fiction () is a subgenre of Chinese fantasy fiction that revolves around the deities, immortals, demons and monsters of Chinese mythology. The term ''shenmo xiaoshuo'', coined in the early 20th century by the writer and literary historian Lu Xun, literally means "gods and demons novel". Representative works of ''shenmo'' fiction include the novels ''Journey to the West'' and ''Investiture of the Gods''. History ''Shenmo'' first appeared in the Ming dynasty as a genre of vernacular fiction, a style of writing based on spoken Chinese rather than Classical Chinese. The roots of the genre are found in traditional folktales and legends. Plot elements like the use of magic and alchemy were derived from Chinese mythology and religion, including Taoism and Buddhism, popular among Ming intellectuals. '' The Three Sui Quash the Demons' Revolt'' (, ) is an early gods and demons novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. In the story, Wang Ze begins a re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sun Wukong
Sun Wukong (, Mandarin pronunciation: ), also known as the Monkey King, is a literary and religious figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West''. In the novel, Sun Wukong is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices. After rebelling against heaven, he is imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha. Five hundred years later, he accompanies the monk Tang Sanzang riding on the White Dragon Horse and two other disciples, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, on a journey to obtain Buddhist sutras, known as the West or Western Paradise, where Buddha and his followers dwell. Sun Wukong possesses many abilities. He has supernatural strength and is able to support the weight of two heavy mountains on his shoulders while running "with the speed of a meteor". He is extremely fast, able to travel 108,000 li (54,000km, 34,000mi) in one somersault. He has vast memorization skills and can reme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Folk Religion
Chinese folk religion comprises a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. This includes the veneration of ''Shen (Chinese folk religion), shen'' ('spirits') and Chinese ancestor worship, ancestors, and worship devoted to Chinese deities and immortals, deities and immortals, who can be deities of places or natural phenomena, of human behaviour, or progenitors of Chinese kin, family lineages. Stories surrounding these gods form a loose canon of Chinese mythology. By the Song dynasty (960–1279), these practices had been Religious syncretism, blended with Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist teachings to form the popular religious system which has lasted in many ways until the present day. The government of China, government of modern China generally tolerates popular religious organizations, but has suppressed or persecuted those that they fear would undermine social stability. After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, governments ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Dragon Horse
The White Dragon Horse, known as Bai Long Ma (), and ''Yü Long'' (), in Chinese, is one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West''. He is Tang Sanzang's steed who later became one of the Babu Tianlong Guangli Bodhisattva () at the end of the novel. ''Journey to the West'' In ''Journey to the West'', the Bai Longma is a dragon prince who is the third son of the Dragon King of the West Sea. He once accidentally set a fire that destroyed a pearl that was a gift from the Jade Emperor. He was about to be executed for committing this offense when Guanyin appeared and pleaded for his life. The dragon prince was spared from death and banished to Yingchou Stream () in Shepan Mountain (), on the instruction to wait there for a monk Guanyin is to send on a pilgrimage to the Buddha. When Tang Sanzang is crossing the stream, the prince appears in the form of a gigantic white dragon and swallows Tang's white horse in one gulp. The dragon fights with Sun Wu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, constitute an incomplete paraphyletic grouping; alternatively, if apes (Hominoidea) are included, ''monkeys'' and ''simians'' are synonyms. In 1812, Étienne Geoffroy grouped the apes and the Cercopithecidae group of monkeys together and established the name Catarrhini, "Old World monkeys" ("''singes de l'Ancien Monde''" in French). The extant sister of the Catarrhini in the monkey ("singes") group is the Platyrrhini (New World monkeys). Some nine million years before the divergence between the Cercopithecidae and the apes, the Platyrrhini emerged within "monkeys" by migration to South America likely by ocean. Apes are thus deep in the tree of extant and extinct monkeys, and any of the apes is distinctly closer related to the Cercopith ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taoism
Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', 'path', or 'technique', generally understood in the Taoist sense as an enigmatic process of transformation Ultimate reality, ultimately underlying reality. Taoist thought has informed the development of various practices within the Taoist tradition and beyond, including forms of Taoist meditation, meditation, Chinese astrology, astrology, qigong, feng shui, and Neidan, internal alchemy. A common goal of Taoist practice is self-cultivation, a deeper appreciation of the Tao, and more harmonious existence. Taoist ethics vary, but generally emphasize such virtues as ''wu wei, effortless action'', ziran, ''naturalness'', ''pu (Taoism), simplicity'', and the Three Treasures (Taoism), three treasures of compassion, frugality, and humility. The co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius in the Hundred Schools of Thought era (c. 500 BCE), Confucianism integrates philosophy, ethics, and social governance, with a core focus on virtue, Harmonious Society, social harmony, and Filial piety, familial responsibility. Confucianism emphasizes virtue through self-cultivation and communal effort. Key virtues include ''Ren (philosophy), ren'' (benevolence), ''Yi (philosophy), yi'' (righteousness), ''Li (Confucianism), li'' (propriety), ''Wisdom, zhi'' (wisdom), and ''Xin (virtue), xin'' (sincerity). These values, deeply tied to the notion of ''tian'' (heaven), present a worldview where human relationships and social order are manifestations of sacred moral principles.. While Confucianism does not emphasize an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, first=t, poj=Hàn-thoân Hu̍t-kàu, j=Hon3 Cyun4 Fat6 Gaau3, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism. The Chinese Buddhist canonJiang Wu, "The Chinese Buddhist Canon" in ''The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism'', p. 299, Wiley-Blackwell (2014). draws from the traditions of Confucianism and Taoism as well as the rituals of local Chinese folk religion, folk religions. Chinese Buddhism emphasizes the study of Mahayana sutras and treatises. Some of the most important scriptures in Chinese Buddhism include the ''Lotus Sutra'', ''Avatamsaka Sutra, Flower Ornament Sutra'', Vimalakirti Sutra, ''Vimalakirtī Sutra'', ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, Nirvana Sutra,'' and Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, ''Amitābha Sutra''. Chinese Buddhism is the largest institutionalized religion in mainland China.Cook, Sarah (2017). The Battle for China's Spirit: Religious R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sha Wujing
Sha Wujing ( zh, t=沙悟淨) is one of the three disciples of the Buddhist pilgrim Tang Sanzang in the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West'' written by Wu Cheng'en in the Ming dynasty, although versions of his character predate the Ming novel. In the source novel, his background is the least developed of the pilgrims, and he contributes the least to their efforts. In many stories, Sha Wujing is depicted as a Kappa. Names In English renditions of the story, the character is called "Friar Sand", "Sand Monk", or just "Sandy." His Buddhist Dharma name, "Sha Wujing", given to him by the bodhisattva Guanyin, means "sand aware of purity". His name is rendered in Korean as ''Sa Oh Jeong'', into Japanese as ''Sa Gojō'', into Sino-Vietnamese as ''Sa Ngộ Tịnh''. He is also known as "Monk Sha" ( zh, p=Shā Sēng, c=沙僧; Sa Tăng in Sino-Vietnamese; ''Sua Cheng'' in Thai) or Sha Heshang ( colloquial Chinese), both basically translating as "Sand Monk" or "Sand Priest". O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhu Bajie
Zhu Bajie, also named Zhu Wuneng, is one of the three disciples of Tang Sanzang, along with Sun Wukong and Sha Wujing, and a major character of the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West''. ''Zhu'' means "swine" and ''Bajie'' means "eight precepts". Prior to his being recruited by the bodhisattva, Guanyin, Zhu Bajie went by literally "Strong-Maned Pig"). Buddhist scholars consider that both expressions are related to "Śīla pāramitā". In many English versions of the story, Zhu Bajie is called "Monk Pig", "Pig", "Piggy", or "Pigsy". Zhu Bajie is a complex and developed character in the novel. He looks like a terrible humanoid monster that's part-human and part- pig, who often gets himself and his companions into trouble through his laziness, gluttony, and propensity for lusting after pretty women. He looks up to his senior disciple Sun Wukong as a big brother. Though he occasionally acts rebelliously when injured by Wukong's constant teasing, his schemes usually end in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Śrāvaka
Śrāvaka ( Sanskrit) or Sāvaka (Pali) means "hearer" or, more generally, "disciple". This term is used in Buddhism and Jainism. In Jainism, a śrāvaka is any lay Jain so the term śrāvaka has been used for the Jain community itself (for example see Sarak and Sarawagi). Śrāvakācāras are the lay conduct outlined within the treaties by Śvetāmbara or Digambara mendicants. "In parallel to the prescriptive texts, Jain religious teachers have written a number of stories to illustrate vows in practice and produced a rich répertoire of characters.". In Buddhism, the term is sometimes reserved for distinguished disciples of the Buddha. Buddhism Early Buddhism In early Buddhism, a śrāvaka or śrāvikā is a disciple who accepts: * the Buddha as their teacher * the Buddha's teaching (the Dharma), including understanding the Four Noble Truths, ridding oneself of the unreality of the phenomenal, and pursuing nirvana. See, for instance, the '' Anguttara Nikaya''s seco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tang Sanzang
Tang Sanzang is a Buddhist monk and pilgrim who is a central character in the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West'' by Wu Cheng'en. His birth surname name was Chen (), but having been found in a river as a baby--he was abandoned after birth--he was given the name ''Jiāng Liú'' (; this ' milk name' literally meaning "River Float", a nod to the fact that he was found in a river). When he first became a monk, his Dharma name is ''Xuánzàng'' (; literally meaning "Great Mystery"). Later, upon swearing brotherhood with the Tang Emperor, he gains the new surname, ''Tang'' (), and for the pilgrimage, he is called by the new given-name/epithet, ''Sānzàng'' (, lit. The "Three Baskets"; referring to the ''Tripiṭaka''), but is also widely known by his courtesy name Tang Seng (, lit. the "Tang Monk"). The title ''Sānzàng'' refers to his mission to seek the ''Sanzangjing'', or the "Three Collections of (Buddhist Great vehicle) Scriptures". In some English translations of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
