Story, Knowledge, and Conception: The Textual Layers of the One-Hundred-Chapter Version of the Journey to the West

Abstract

The one-hundred-chapter version of the Journey to the West of the Ming Dynasty is a product of the long-term evolution of the scripture-seeking stories. As a full length novel, it possesses an internal unity. This unity can be systematically examined across three layers: story, knowledge, and conception. On the story layer, it marginalizes the Tang Priest and establishes Sun Wukong as the core protagonist who runs through the entire narrative. On the knowledge layer, its text covers a remarkably broad range of subjects, but it also contains various types of factual errors. In particular, its explanations of Buddhist knowledge appear to be deliberately distorted. This deliberate distortion correlates closely with the “author’s” intent to dominate the entire book through a Daoist conception. However, this intent of Daoistization is manifested mainly in the composition of the chapter titles. As far as the textual narrative is concerned, the actual principles and justifications governing the actions of various characters are provided by a vast corpus of proverbs and idioms, which are introduced through formulaic expressions such as “the old saying goes,” “the saying goes,” and “as the common saying goes.” This defining feature, which permeates the entire text, represents the ultimate unity achieved by the one hundred-chapter version on the conception layer. It embodies the life ideal of the common people, thereby cementing the one-hundred-chapter version as a classic text of popular literature.

Keywords

conversion of the Hu people / Buddhism / Daoism / proverbs and idioms

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