Writers › Writer / Poet

Wu Chengen

Ming writer from Huai'an, styled Sheyang Shanren, usually credited with the hundred-chapter Journey to the West, though the attribution rests on a local gazetteer

Also known as Zi Ruzhong · Hao She Yang Shan Ren

Wu Cheng'en, courtesy name Ruzhong, styled the Recluse of Sheyang, came from Shanyang in Huai'an prefecture (modern Huai'an, Jiangsu). Known young for his writing but repeatedly failing the provincial examinations, he became a tribute student in the Jiajing reign, and late in life served as assistant magistrate of Changxing in Zhejiang and, by some accounts, as a tutor to the Prince of Jing. His collection of strange tales, the Yuding zhi, is lost except for its preface, and after his death Qiu Du gathered his poems and prose as the Sheyang xiansheng cungao. The hundred-chapter Journey to the West (Xiyou ji) printed by the Shide Tang in Nanjing in 1592 names no author; the Tianqi-era Huai'an gazetteer lists a Xiyou ji under Wu's name, and in the 1920s Hu Shi and Lu Xun assigned the novel to him on that basis. Huang Yuji's early Qing catalogue files Wu's Xiyou ji under geography, so some scholars think it was a travel record, and the question remains open.

Life and times

  1. c. 1500 CEBornMing
  2. c. 1583 CEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Fiction105
    1. Journey to the WestMingMing novel of gods and demons ascribed to Wu Cheng'en: Monkey and the pilgrimage to the West
    2. Journey to the West: Chapter 1: The Divine Root Conceives and the Source Flows Forth; Cultivating Mind and Nature, the Great Way Is BornMing
    3. Journey to the West: Chapter 2: Fully Awakened to the Wondrous Truth of Bodhi, He Severs Mara, Returns to the Root and Unites with the Primal SpiritMing
    4. Journey to the West: Chapter 3: The Four Seas and Thousand Mountains All Bow in Submission; From the Nine Netherworlds and Ten Categories His Name Is StruckMing
    5. Journey to the West: Chapter 4: Appointed Keeper of the Horses, How Could He Be Content? Registered as Equal to Heaven, His Ambition Is Still UnquietMing
    6. +25 more
      1. Journey to the West: Chapter 5: Disrupting the Peach Banquet, the Great Sage Steals the Elixir; Rebelling Against Heaven, the Gods Seize the MonsterMing
      2. Journey to the West: Chapter 6: Guanyin Comes to the Feast and Asks the Cause; The Little Sage Shows His Might and Subdues the Great SageMing
      3. Journey to the West: Chapter 7: The Great Sage Escapes from the Eight Trigrams Furnace; Beneath Five Phases Mountain the Mind-Monkey Is StilledMing
      4. Journey to the West: Chapter 8: Our Buddha Composes Scriptures to Transmit Ultimate Bliss; Guanyin Receives the Decree to Go to Chang'anMing
      5. Journey to the West: Chapter 9: Yuan Shoucheng's Marvelous Reckoning Is Free of Bias; The Old Dragon King's Clumsy Scheme Breaks Heaven's LawMing
      6. Journey to the West: Chapter 10: Two Generals Guard the Palace Gate Against a Ghost; Emperor Taizong of Tang Returns to Life from the UnderworldMing
      7. Journey to the West: Chapter 11: Returned to Life, the Tang Emperor Honors Good Works; Saving Lonely Souls, Xiao Yu Upholds the Gate of EmptinessMing
      8. Journey to the West: Chapter 12: Xuanzang in Sincerity Holds a Great Assembly; Guanyin Appears in Form to Transform the Golden CicadaMing
      9. Journey to the West: Chapter 13: Fallen into the Tiger's Den, the Gold Star Relieves His Peril; At Double-Fork Ridge, Boqin Detains the MonkMing
      10. Journey to the West: Chapter 14: The Mind-Monkey Returns to the Right; The Six Robbers Vanish Without a TraceMing
      11. Journey to the West: Chapter 15: At Coiled Snake Mountain the Gods Give Secret Aid; At Eagle Grief Stream the Horse of the Will Is Reined InMing
      12. Journey to the West: Chapter 16: At Guanyin Cloister the Monks Plot for the Treasure; At Black Wind Mountain a Monster Steals the CassockMing
      13. Journey to the West: Chapter 17: Pilgrim Sun Wreaks Havoc on Black Wind Mountain; Guanshiyin Subdues the Bear MonsterMing
      14. Journey to the West: Chapter 18: At Guanyin Cloister the Tang Monk Escapes Disaster; At Gao Village Pilgrim Subdues a DemonMing
      15. Journey to the West: Chapter 19: At Cloudy Paths Cave Wukong Takes In Bajie; On Pagoda Mountain Xuanzang Receives the Heart SutraMing
      16. Journey to the West: Chapter 20: At Yellow Wind Ridge the Tang Monk Meets Trouble; Halfway up the Mountain Bajie Strives to Be FirstMing
      17. Journey to the West: Chapter 21: Dharma Guardians Set Up a Farmstead to Shelter the Great Sage; Lingji of Sumeru Stills the Wind DemonMing
      18. Journey to the West: Chapter 22: Bajie Battles at the Flowing Sands River; Moksha by Command Takes In WujingMing
      19. Journey to the West: Chapter 23: Tripitaka Does Not Forget His Origin; Four Sages Test the Chan MindMing
      20. Journey to the West: Chapter 24: On Longevity Mountain the Great Immortal Detains an Old Friend; At Five Villages Abbey Pilgrim Steals the Ginseng FruitMing
      21. Journey to the West: Chapter 25: The Immortal Zhenyuan Chases and Catches the Scripture Pilgrims; Pilgrim Sun Wreaks Havoc on Five Villages AbbeyMing
      22. Journey to the West: Chapter 26: Sun Wukong Seeks a Remedy on the Three Islands; Guanshiyin Revives the Tree with Sweet Spring WaterMing
      23. Journey to the West: Chapter 27: The Corpse Demon Three Times Toys with Tang Tripitaka; The Holy Monk in Anger Banishes the Handsome Monkey KingMing
      24. Journey to the West: Chapter 28: At Flower-Fruit Mountain the Fiends Gather in Fellowship; In Black Pine Forest Tripitaka Meets a DemonMing
      25. Journey to the West: Chapter 29: Freed from Peril, River Float Reaches a Kingdom; Grateful for Favor, Bajie Goes Back to the Mountain ForestMing
    7. Open all works→
  2. Literature · Sayings8
    1. Fiery Eyes and Golden PupilsMingIdiom from Sun Wukong's story in Journey to the West: eyes that see through every disguise
    2. A Shake and a TransformationMingIdiom common in Journey to the West: a sudden change of guise, usually pejorative
    3. Three Heads and Six ArmsMingIdiom from Buddhist guardian imagery, seen in Journey to the West: superhuman ability
    4. Tugging Ears and Scratching CheeksMingIdiom from Journey to the West's monkeys: fidgeting with anxiety or with glee
    5. A Person Without Good FaithMingFamous line from the Analects, quoted in Journey to the West: without trust one is nothing
    6. +3 more
      1. Mind Like a Monkey, Will Like a HorseMingIdiom made famous by Journey to the West: a restless, wandering mind
      2. A Hundred and Eight Thousand Li ApartMingIdiom from Chan Buddhist records and Journey to the West: worlds apart
      3. The Spell of the Tightening HeadbandMingIdiom from Journey to the West: a means of keeping someone in check