Author: Lin Geng
Publisher: Beijing Publishing House
Format: Paperback
Genre: Non Fiction
Date: February 2011
Pages: 185
Book Series: "Little Books by Great Masters" (Dajia Xiaoshu)
Number of issues: 392
ISBN: 9787200084634
Language: Chinese
Adaptation: Meta
Summary:
Musings on "Journey to the West"—part of the "Great Works by Eminent Scholars" (Dajia Xiaoshu) series—presents an interpretation of the classic novel by the poet and literary historian Lin Geng. He argues that Journey to the West employs a fairy-tale-like narrative to reflect the heroic ideals of urban commoners. Centering his analysis on the character of Sun Wukong (the Monkey King), Lin explores the deeper implications of the text; he refutes the notion that Sun Wukong’s personality is analogous to that of a peasant revolutionary, proposing instead that the character is more deeply rooted in the culture of the common folk. Furthermore, he suggests that the world of gods and demons depicted in Journey to the West is intrinsically linked to the secular society of ordinary townspeople.
