Transformations of monkey

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2004

Abstract

This chapter studies three sequels to the novel Xiyou ji (The journey to the West), namely Xu xiyou ji (Sequel to the journey to the West), Hou xiyou ji (Later journey to the West), and Xiyou bu (A supplement to the journey to the West).1 Liu Tingji, in the 1715 Zaiyuan zazhi (Zaiyuan's random notes), discussed the practice of writing sequels to famous novels and cited, among others, two sequels to Xiyou ji. He praised Hou Xiyou ji grudgingly, recognizing the author's virtuosity in composition. Xu Xiyou ji is, in his opinion, no more than "a dog's tail."2 Liu argued that the original author had exhausted the artistic possibilities; later imitations, even of good quality, could not compare favorably with the original, let alone surpass it. Liu Tingji's statement is a critique of the Xiyou ji sequels in particular, and an assessment of the sequel writing in general (discussed by Huang in the introduction). There is much truth in Liu's argument. However, he, assuming such a dismissive attitude, totally ignores, among other things, the lively, serious dialogue that these sequels have with the original novel as well as their thematic and structural innovations, thus failing to do justice to the works in question. Working within the tight constraints of the sequel genre, these authors had to deal with a different set of conventions and techniques. It is true that the two sequels to Xiyou ji mentioned by Liu are derivative and imitative, but one cannot say that they are devoid of originality. The one hundred-chapter text of Xiyou ji took centuries to evolve; its attributed author, Wu Cheng'en (ca. 1500 - ca. 1582), or anyone else, should not have an exclusive claim of originality in the first place. As an open text, the novel in its final form has gone through the editorship and revision of many writers, editors, and commentators. The sequel authors, by contrast, were responsible for their own works and had to rely on their own creativity, since they were not reorganizing, rewriting, or editing earlier materials whose plot and structure had already taken shape.3 It seems that they are more qualified to be called "authors." Moreover, the popularity of the parent work is, to the authors of Xiyou ji sequels at least, not necessarily an asset, for they must have been aware of the risks of competing with it. The author of Xu Xiyou ji was disturbed by the popularity of Xiyou ji, hence the wide circulation, in his opinion, of erroneous views. These authors, seemingly, did not write to take financial advantage of the parent work, but to correct what they perceived as gross wrongs or lapses there. These novels are all deliberate and self-conscious revisionist and corrective endeavors and continue the discourse started by Xiyou ji. The painstaking efforts of these authors are almost transparent. In short, they engaged the parent novel with a seriousness that has yet to be recognized. The above considerations corroborate Huang's discussion (in chap. 1) about the relationship between the flourishing of sequel composition and the maturity of the vernacular novel as a genre, partly a result of appropriation by an increasing number of literati authors. These sequel writers were consummate literati authors, and their works were extremely "readerly" texts in that they relied on previous texts (not only Xiyou ji) for their compositions and in that they probably targeted better-educated readers (Xiyou bu is certainly a case in point).4 Moreover, it seems that sequel writing and serious endeavors at criticism occurred simultaneously; just consider those writers and critics residing in Wucheng of Zhejiang Province: Huang Zhouxing (1611-1680), a prestigious literatus, refined the one hundred-chapter Xiyou ji and contributed a commentary; the resulting text, Xiyou zhengdao shu (Realizations of the Tao through the journey to the West), became the basis of most Qing editions. Among his friends, Dong Yue (1620-1686) wrote Xiyou bu, and Chen Chen (b. ca. 1614) wrote a sequel to Shuhu zhuan (The water margin) titled Shuihu houzhuan (The later water margin).5 The Xiyou ji sequels are interpretations as well as rewritings of the parent novel,6 thereby giving it reorientations. I will pay special attention to how these authors read and interpreted Xiyou ji, how they consciously departed from it and changed its trajectory by their transformation of the central character, Monkey. I argue that among these sequels, there is an increasing tendency to internalize the journey. Since the centrality of the mind is a common feature among them (manifested in the proverbial mind-monkey, xinyuan), and since they, to a great extent, are fashioned by their authors' understanding of this ubiquitous mind, I will put these works within the context of the Ming cultural milieu, namely the "inward turn" in philosophy and literature. In the traditional Chinese novel, the trend is a conspicuous one. As Hegel points out, "the literary novel in [seventeenth-century] China tends more toward an exploration of mind than an investigation of mere external reality."7 In Plaks' formulation, In tracing the pattern of development from the sixteenth to the seventeenth-century novels, we can see a certain parallel to the "inward turn" [die Verinnerung] of the Western novel described by Erich Kahler. That is, whereas the sixteenth-century novels were all based on pre-existing sources from the popular tradition, the seventeenth-century works come more and more to be based on personal experience, so that the public focus of the earlier work becomes increasingly one of private sensibility.8 It is certainly no accident that this period saw the development of an "interior-ity"-or "neo-Confucian interiority" in de Bary's words-in Chinese philosophy and literature.9 The literary "inward turn" can, to a great extent, be attributed to the intellectual and cultural background in which the authors found themselves writing, which can be characterized by a shift from the external world to the inner reality, or "psychology."10 The inward turn in philosophy and religion is observable in all three influential teachings (sanjiao). It is in the human mind/heart that the three religions have converged; it is here that the syncretism is most fruitful. The culmination of this trend is certainly the Ming xinxue (learning of the mind/heart). 11 Integrating, among other things, Buddhist views of the world, the center of which is the mind, Chinese philosophers offered new interpretations of the Confucian classics; many of their doctrines were developed as commentaries on Confucian classics.12 Lu Jiuyuan (Lu Xiangshan, 1139-1193), a precursor of this school of thought, directed his attention to the human mind rather than the external world and found the human mind to be the center of reality. As a result, the cultivation of the mind became increasingly important; it became the central issue to many of the Confucian thinkers from the Song times. Zhen Dexiu (1178-1235) even compiled passages about the mind from the Confucian classics into a book titled Xin jing (Heart classic), perhaps having in mind the Buddhist Xin jing (Heart sütra).13 According to Wang Shouren (Wang Yangming, 1472-1529), Man is the xin [mind] of Heaven and Earth and all things. The mind is the master of Heaven and Earth and all things. The mind is the word of Heaven; the mind suggests Heaven and Earth and all things. This is direct, simple, and intimate. So it would be better to say, for study one merely needs to develop the mind.14 Wang Yangming elevated and glorified the human mind. However, the consequent cultivation of the mind, paradoxically, resulted in increasing attention to what the thinkers regarded as negative qualities of the mind.15 The most famous image for this mind is the mirror. Oftentimes the mind is not a bright mirror in its pristine state as it should be, emitting good intentions and reflecting the external reality; rather, the mirror is dusty, defiled. Wang Yangming wrote, The heart and mind of the sage cannot tolerate the least particle of dust and has naturally no need of polishing. The heart and mind of the average man, however, resembles a spotted and dirty mirror which needs thorough polishing to have all its dust and dirt removed. Then will the tiniest speck of dust become visible, and only a light stroke will wipe it away, without our having to spend much energy. At this stage, one already knows the substance of perfect ren. When the dust is not yet removed, the mirror may still have certain bright spots, which allow us to detect falling particles of the dust and to rub them off. But whatever accumulates on top of the dirt and dust cannot even be seen. 16 By "ren" Wang Yangming means the "original substance" of xin, or "mind-in-itself."17 This passage certainly recalls the mirror metaphor/simile in Bud-dhism.18 In literature, the bright spot only accentuates the dust that has accumulated. This polishing is the thematic thread that runs throughout the three Xiyou ji sequels. The emphasis on the mind is a heritage of the parent novel. Before Xuan-zang, also known as Tripitaka (Sanzang), sets out, the monks at a temple are anxious about his journey. He points his finger at his own heart and nods his head several times and explains, "When the mind is active, all kinds of māra come into existence; when the mind is extinguished, all kinds of māra will be extinguished" (JW 1:283; XYJ 13.152). Instances are numerous where the human mind/heart is singled out for emphasis. © 2004 by The University of Hawai'i Press. All rights reserved.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Snakes' legs

First Page

46

Last Page

74

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