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Wu Cheng'en (, c. 1500–1582Shi 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 ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...
Ruzhong (), was a Chinese novelist, poet, and politician during the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
. 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 Classic Chinese Novels, great Chinese novels, and has been described as arguably the ...
'', one of the Classic Chinese Novels.


Biography

Wu was born in Lianshui,
Jiangsu province Jiangsu is a coastal province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fifth most populous, with a population of 84. ...
, and later moved to
Huai'an ) , leader_title1 = , leader_name1 = , leader_title2 = , leader_name2 = , leader_title3 = , leader_name3 = , leader_title4 = , leader_name4 = , established_title = ...
. Wu's father, Wu Rui, 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 was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...
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 or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...
until middle age; after that he did become an official and had postings in both
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
and Changxing County, 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 Chr ...
.


Literary work


''Journey to the West''

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 Classic Chinese Novels, great Chinese novels, and has been described as arguably the ...
'' 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, Han, and Tang dynasties, written in
Classical Chinese Classical Chinese is the language in which the classics of Chinese literature were written, from . For millennia thereafter, the written Chinese used in these works was imitated and iterated upon by scholars in a form now called Literary ...
. 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 and his students conducted textual analysis and research into
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
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 simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...
'', 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, 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 ''A Record of the Tripods of Emperor Yu'' 禹鼎记, 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'' 射阳先生存稿. 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), Literary and colloquial readings, also pronounced Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet acclaimed as one of the greatest and most important poets of the Tang dynasty and in Chinese history as a whole. He and hi ...
, 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'', 1st ed. *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Chengen 1500s births 1580s deaths Chinese fantasy writers Chinese male novelists Journey to the West Ming dynasty novelists Ming dynasty poets Ming dynasty government officials Mythopoeic writers Poets from Jiangsu Politicians from Jiangsu Writers from Huai'an Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 16th-century Chinese poets 16th-century novelists 16th-century Chinese male writers