Journey to the West

The approach of allegorical interpretation was widely used by Chinese traditional scholars in novel studies. However, since the rise of modern Chinese scholarship at the beginning of the 20th century, the long-prevailing allegoresis approach was unprecedentedly faced with challenges and queries. Hu Shi strongly criticized the research approach of ‘covering “the Journey to the West” with a robe of Confucian, Buddhist or Taoist’, and advocated confining the studies of this masterpiece exclusively to the field of textual research, such as evidential studies on the authors or textual sources of stories, etc. In comparison with the positivistic research of authorship and bibliology, allegorical interpretations are inarguably full of controversy and difficult to judge which of them is a better one. They are thus soon driven out of the mainstream of academic realm. That being said, it is worthy to note that allegoresis has never been suspended entirely, as this approach is tacitly adopted by some modern scholars who consider allegorical interpretations important evidence in the studies of the main theme of the novel. We do not believe in any kind of monism claiming that there is only one single correct interpretation of literary work, nor any kind of hermeneutical anarchism suggesting that all interpretations are equally true. In view of the pluralistic interpretations of the novel, we attempt to articulate some criteria of evaluation that can reasonably assess the appropriateness of different explanations. To sharpen the focus of the discussion, this article will first give an overview of some major allegoresis studies in the past, with a concentration on the five sages and their relationship with the main theme of “the Journey to the West ”. A theoretical framework will also be introduced for evaluating the validity of different interpretations afterwards. Though a relatively comprehensive and reasonable interpretation will be provided at the end, the ultimate goal of the author is solely to construct a common platform for academic dialogue, in the hope of enhancing the accountability of allegoresis.

寓意解讀是中國傳統文人學士研治小說的重要方法，然而自 20 世紀現代中國學術興起後，這種解讀方法面臨前所未有的挑戰。胡適大力批評過去數百年來的評點家「把一部《西遊記》罩上了儒、釋、道三教的袍子」的讀法，認為《西遊記》的研究範圍應限制在以文獻版本為基礎的作者考證和故事源流一類問題之內。與作者、版本等實證研究相比，寓意解讀不免言人人殊，難以判分高下，因而亦逐漸退出嚴肅的學術舞台。然而必須注意的是，寓意解讀並沒有因此而完全中斷，而是隱約地滲進現代學者有關《西遊記》的主題研究之內，成為證立論點的重要手段。面對各種分歧的寓意解讀，我們既不接受文本只有唯一一種正解，亦不相信文本可以毫無限制地任意解釋，因而試圖建立評量寓意的準則，希望以理性的方式說明不同解讀的合理程度。為了令討論的焦點更為明晰，文章先從《西遊記》五聖的象徵意義入手，回顧過去各種寓意解讀及其與《西遊記》主題的關係，繼而引入評估效度的理論框架，分析及比較各種說法的有效程度。文章雖然亦會嘗試展示較為完整和合理的解讀，但其最終目的並不是要提出正解，而是要建立共同討論的平台，提升寓意解讀的說服力。

1930年，海伦· M·海耶斯（Helen M. Hayes, 1906-1987）将明代小说《西游记》节译为英文，题为《佛徒天路历程》（The Buddhist Pilgrim’s Progress），作为英国汉学家克莱默-宾（Lancelot Alfred Cranmer-Byng, 1872-1945）主编的《东方智慧丛书》（The Wisdom of the East Series）的一册，在伦敦和纽约同时出版。在《西游记》的英译史上，该译本产生于从传教士节译本过渡到学院派全译本的时期，对小说在英语世界的广泛传播起到不容小觑的促进作用。遗憾的是，学界对海耶斯译本的研究尚不多见，有关译者和丛书的第一手资料无人尝试挖掘利用。本文通过使用大量被长期埋没的第一手档案，试图重构译者的生平经历和人际网络，探讨译者如何解读和处理原著所蕴含的中国传统宗教思想和元素，如何与自身的西方宗教传统产生对话，论证其译本在促进东西多元宗教——中国佛教、日本佛教和西方基督教——的对话与融合具有典范意义。
[Xiyouji, a sixteenth-century Chinese novel, was partially translated into English under the title “The Buddhist Pilgrim’s Progress” in 1930 by Helen M. Hayes (1906-1987). It was included in the “Wisdom of the East Series” edited by the British sinologist Lancelot Alfred Cranmer-Byng (1872-1945). This abridgement played a conducive role in popularizing the Ming fiction in the English-speaking world as it appeared between missionary condensation and full scholarly translation. Pitifully, it has hitherto received very little attention from scholars, and no effort has been made to uncover and utilize first-hand materials about the translator and the Series. By using long-buried first-hand archival sources, the present study attempts to reconstruct the personal life of Hayes and her social networks, and investigate how she treats the religious messages and elements of the novel and how she creates a dialogue between the religious and cultural traditions of China and the West. This paper argues that her rendition is of important value in exemplifying a dialogue and synthesis of Eastern and Western religions — Chinese Buddhism, Japanese Buddhism, and Christianity.]

明清迄今，不少論者如李卓吾、汪象旭、傅述先、張靜二等人，提出以五行相生剋的視野詮釋取經團隊的內部關係，卻鮮少碰觸人物與食物之間的互動討論。Roland Barthes提醒：「它（食物）也是溝通的系統、成群的圖像，以及用途、情境與行爲的規矩。」因此，本文試圖論析悟空與桃子的五行相生剋之展演，並以第1-7、46、82回爲主要觀察，深掘兩者在《西遊記》中的敘事作用與重複意義。
悟空在取經團隊中的五行位置屬金、屬火，與唐僧（水）、八戒（木）、沙僧（土）形成五行相生剋的關係。作爲本文的觀察對象──桃──其在情節的敘寫上，是否潛藏著五行相生剋之位置呢？桃子在故事中的重複出現，對於悟空、《西遊記》的情節發展又起著什麼作用呢？本文首先以《西遊記》中的評點資料，確立悟空（金、火）與桃（木）的相生剋位置──木可以生火，亦被火所剋。其次，論析兩者的生剋關係與故事情節之發展：以「木」生「火」，指出悟空性格的性急如火、衝動易怒；以「金」剋「木」，從悟空以桃解難的故事情節提出另一新的詮釋面向。
藉由五行相生剋以及人物、食物關係之觀察，悟空與桃子的生／剋展演，不僅在《西遊記》中形成有機的敘事功能，人與物的重複出現亦彰顯作者對於世人經驗的細緻刻畫。

關鍵字︰孫悟空、桃、五行相生剋、食物書寫

This paper reads the final chapters of Xiyouji as an extended allegorical commentary of the Heart Sūtra. The “metaphysics” of the empty scriptures and “materiality” of the fragmented scriptures in Chapters 98 and 99 correspond to the Heart Sūtra’s duality of “emptiness” and “form,” which is ultimately dissolved in the Buddhist paradox of expressing non-duality through binary linguistic means.

The final chapters of the novel are intensely interested in the formal, material nature of the scriptures, emphasizing their status as a token of gift exchange and transnational object of translation. Yet Xiyouji as a novel also suggests that all texts—whether they be Buddhist scriptures or its own status as a literary fiction—are necessary yet insufficient vehicles in the pursuit of ultimate truth. Texts are only instrumental, the proverbial raft that must be discarded once the river to enlightenment has been crossed. The blank scrolls are thus an allegorical trope of Buddhist doctrine, dramatizing the departure from the mortal realm, a valediction of the material world toward the transcendental one.

学界通常将明代小说《西游记》的最早英译文归于1895 年美国来华传教士吴板桥（Samuel I. Woodbridge）翻译的《金角龙王，又称皇帝游地府》（The Golden-Horned Dragon King, or The Emperor's Visit to the Spirit World）。本文论证该译文的底本既非前辈学者所认为的卫三畏编辑的汉语读本，也非《西游记》，而是江苏南通僮子戏唱本“十三本半巫书”之三《袁天罡卖卦斩老龙 记》，且南通僮子胡锡苹藏存的手抄本是目前最接近吴板桥当时使用的底本。 虽然巫书与《西游记》都包含龙王犯天条被斩、唐太宗游地府的故事，但在具体情节与人物形象上存在较大差异，而吴板桥对这两部作品均是熟悉的。为了令在华传教士了解中国人的思想状态，激发他们去感化东方愚昧无知的异教徒，吴板桥选择翻译巫书并借题发挥，通过译文和副文本向西方读者呈现 一个政治腐败、道德堕落、思想愚昧的中国形象。
[The earliest English translator of the Ming fiction Xiyouji or Journey to the West is claimed by scholars to be Samuel I. Woodbridge, an American missionary to China, who published his translation in 1895, under the title The Golden-Horned Dragon King, or The Emperor's Visit to the Spirit World. This paper demonstrates that the original text of Woodbridge’s translation is neither a so-called Chinese literary pamphlet edited by Samuel Wells Williams, nor Xiyouji, but the third book of the “Thirteen and a Half Sacred Books”, a series of scripts of Tongzi Drama in Nantong, Jiangsu Province. The title is “Yuan Tiangang Predicts Rain and the Beheading of the Dragon King,” and the manuscript kept by a Tongzi actor named Hu Xiping is closest to the one used by Woodbridge. Although the “Sacred Books” and Xiyouji both contain stories about the Dragon King being decapitated for transgressing Heaven's decrees and Tang Taizong's visit to the Underworld, there are huge differences as to specific plots and image of characters, and Woodbridge was familiar with both of these works. In order to enable the missionaries to better understand the working of the Chinese mind and inspire them to convert the Chinese heathens, Woodbridge chose to translate the “Sacred Books” instead of Xiyouji, and making full use of the original story, presented an image of China as a country of political corruption, moral depravity and religious ignorance by means of the translation proper and the paratexts.]

Abstract
Perspectivism as a cosmology according to which all beings perceive themselves as humans, has been discussed mainly in connection with the Amazonian region, for the term perspectivism stems from Eduardo Viveiros de Castro who applied it to the indigenous worldview of that particular region. To a lesser extent, it has also been studied in North Asia and some other hunter-gatherer societies. In this article I wish to demonstrate that perspectivism may be more widespread than previously thought and its occurrence is not necessarily limited to hunter-gatherer cultures. Perspectivism can also be found in pre-modern China, which can be seen from such well-known texts as Zhuangzi (4-3th century BC) and the Journey to the West (16th century).
The connecting link that makes the occurrence of perspectivism possible both in South America and East Asia is probably shamanism which is present in both of these regions. For the Chinese perspectivism it is characteristic that the multiple perspectives are not equal, but there is one proper perspective which is at the same time also the moral perspective. Chinese cosmology can contribute to the understanding of the American perspectivism with its concept of cosmological relations that fits the model of perspectivism.

Chinese American Literature without Borders bridges comparative literature and American studies by using an intercultural and bilingual approach to Chinese American literature. It looks both ways at the United States and China to reveal the writers' multiple geopolitical engagements. Part I presents alternative forms of masculinity. It examines gender refashioning in light of the Chinese dyadic ideal of wen-wu (literary arts and martial arts), while redefining both in the process. Part II presents alternative forms of autobiography, theory, metafiction, and translation. It puts in relief the formal experiments of the writers, who interweave hybrid poetics with two-pronged critiques. The writers examined provide a reflexive lens through which transpacific audiences are beckoned to view the "other" country and to look homeward without blinders.
http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137453532

ÖZ: MS. XV. Yu zyılda, Çin'in, Ming Hanedanlıg ı do neminde, Wu Cheng'en tarafından kaleme alınan "Batı'ya Yolculuk; Xi Youji" romanı klasik Çin edebiyatının en o nemli ve en bilinen eserlerinden biridir. Klasik Çin edebiyatında son derece o nemli bir konuma sahip olmakla birlikte tu m du nyaca Çin'e özgülüğü ile de iyi bilinen "Batı'ya Yolculuk" romanı, Budist keşiş Tang Sanzang'ın (Xuanzang) Hindistan'a yaptığı hac yolculuğunu konu etmektedir. Yolculuk boyunca çeşitli mitolojik hayvan, hayalet, canavarlar ve mitik yaratıklarla karşılaşmışlardır. Seyahat boyunca yaşanan olaylar tamamen Budizm ile ilgili öğeler içermektedir. Diğer yandan tüm hikayede Tang Sanzang'ın önderliğinde Hindistan'a gerçekleştirilen hac yolculuğunu ve başlarından geçen on yedi senelik serüveni konu edinmektedir. Bununla birlikte "Batı'ya Yolculuk" romanı klasik Çin edebiyatının dört klasik eserinden biridir. Aralarında "Batı'ya Yolculuk" romanının da bulunduğu, bu dört klasik kitap, "Kızıl Konağın Rüyası", "Su Kıyısı Roman" ve "Üç Devlet Romanıdır." Romanda, Tang Sanzang'ın yolculuğu boyunca yaşanılan serüvenler anlatılmaktadır. Bunun yanı sıra "Batı'ya Yolculukta", Tang Sanzang'ın kutsal hac yolculuğu boyunca kendisine hizmet etmek ve kendisini her türlü sıkıntıdan muhafaza etmek için görevli bulunan "Sun Wukong" ve "Zhu Bajie", "Sha Wujing ve "Beyaz Ejderha Atı" yer almaktadır. Batı'ya Yolculuk romanının Çin coğrafyasına komşu ülkelerde pek çok türevlerine rastlanmaktadır. Hindistan'daki muadili Ramayana ve ana karakterlerden olan Hanuman buna önemli bir örnektir. Ayrıca Kore, Japonya, Kamboçya, Vietnam, Tayland ve Sri Lanka gibi  ülkelerde de benzerlerine rastlanmaktadır. Bu çalışmada Batı'ya Yolculuk romanının tanımı yapılmakta, içerig i ve konusu açıklanmakta, klasik Çin ve du nya edebiyatındaki yeri ve o nemi anlatılmaktadır.

This book employs actor-network theory (ANT) to explore the making of the English translation of a work of Chinese canonical fiction, Journey to the West, demonstrating how ANT, as applied to Translation Studies, can contribute to a richer understanding of the translation process.

The volume builds on previous research to apply ANT theory to translation studies by looking in-depth at a single work, highlighting the unique factors underpinning the making of Monkey, Arthur Waley’s English translation of the Chinese classic Journey to the West, which make the work an ideal candidate for showing ANT theory in practice in translation. Luo uses an in-depth exploration of the work to examine the ways in which both human and nonhuman translation actors and agents interact in different ways in the publication of this translation, showcasing them as dynamic, changing, and active participants whose roles shifted over the course of the translation process, rather than as fixed entities as traditionally categorized in existing research. The book moves beyond a descriptive account of an ANT-based case study toward offering a systematic theoretical and methodological framework of ANT-based translation studies, using the conclusions drawn from its application to a single work to suggest a way forward for applying ANT in translation production on a wider scale.

This book will be of interest to scholars in translation studies, sociology, and comparative literature, particularly those interested in actor-network theory or network studies and their application to related disciplinary fields.

Japan has long been captivated by the fantastic episodes from Saiyūki, or Journey to the West. This supernatural tale, first published in novel form during the Ming Dynasty in China, tells the story of a Buddhist Monk and his four companions (a mischievous monkey, a pig demon, a water sprite, and a dragon) and their exploits as they travel from China to India and back to bring the complete Buddhist teachings to the Chinese people. Throughout this journey they encounter gods, demons, immortals, and humans and must use their scholarly knowledge, as well as their martial brawn to overcome the challenges set before them. In this fashion they gain merit towards achieving nirvana.
While the story remains popular in China, in Japan its fame exceeds that in its country of origin, and the work has been adapted into a range of different genres and media, including manga, anime, and videogames. Initially these reinterpretations were centered on the martial feats of the non-human heroes, relegating the character of the monk to the sidelines. These stories were purely about the martial aspects of the original novel and were supported by crude humor to replace the original’s blatant satire. As Japan has been changing over the last twenty years, so too have the reinterpretations of Saiyūki. In recent years, these martial and scholarly heroes have increasingly been portrayed as ‘bishōnen’, or beautiful boys, instead of the prior muscle laden powerhouses of the 1980s or the more animalistic and traditional representations that are printed in translations of the novel. The evolution of these characters has helped draw a new audience demographic to the martial legend genre. While the texts are still published in shōnen (boys’ comics) magazines, and fighting remains the primary focus of most episodes, more and more women are consuming these products. As a result, even popular series based on Saiyūki created in the 1980s that have released new content since this shift have made their characters ‘prettier’ to better cater to the taste of their female audience.
Interestingly, this development intersects with contemporaneous social transformations, particularly the rise of so-called ‘sōshoku-kei danshi’, or ‘Herbivore Boys’, and the corresponding decline of the Salary man mentality, which have altered masculine gender roles in Japanese society. The appearance of softer, prettier martial heroes during this period both supports the changes in progress and spurs on their continued evolution. These changes affect not only the changing society and culture, but also the continued success of the original novel.
In this paper, I will investigate the shift in the portrayal of the heroes of Saiyūki and what it means for society at large. After providing a survey of popular Japanese reinterpretations created between 1990 and 2010, I will concentrate on one case study, namely Kazuya Minekura’s Gensōmaden Saiyūki series, in order to investigate the changing ideal of the martial hero and its impact on changing notions of Japanese masculinity.

This thesis is about adaptations of two legends from the Ming Dynasty within Japanese popular culture, with specific focus on the way they have been influenced by, and impacted in turn, gender roles in contemporary Japan. I am looking specifically at two legend interpretations that have taken well known martial hero characters and portrayed them using ideals not only similar to the original legends, but also mirroring a nonnormative masculinity that has emerged within Japanese society known as the sôshokukei danshi or “Herbivores”. Defined and categorized by Maki Fukasawa in 2006, these young men are trying to separate themselves from the hegemonic ideal of the salaryman by living more balanced lives with a greater emphasis on family than work.
Iwill examine the portrayal of martial heroes within Kazuya Minekura’s Saiyūki (「最遊記」) (Enix 1997-present) and Ryū Fujisaki’s Hōshin Engi (「封神演義」) (Shōnen Jump 1996-2000) in comparison to their corresponding characters from the original legends, Journey to the West (「西遊記」) and Creation of the Gods (「封神演 義」), in order to discover why these series have remained so popular and what their use of masculinities similar to the Herbivores can tell us about Japanese society. It is my contention that through their use of Chinese Ming era wen-wu masculinity types, these two narratives have portrayed martial heroes with all the key signifiers of Herbivore ideals, given a positive perspective on the phenomenon in Japan, and also provided balanced role models for young Japanese men and women.

This paper applies actor–network theory (ANT) to study the non-human agents that participate in the translation and publication process of Monkey, an English translation of the Chinese classic Xi You Ji. The materials used consist mainly of the letters exchanged between the publisher George Allen & Unwin, the translator Arthur Waley, and the jacket and title page designer Duncan Grant. Moreover, the “Preface” of the translation written by the translator himself and the publisher’s autobiography are referenced as additional sources of information. The research reveals two groups of entities which act as what ANT scholars term as “non-human actors”. The first group consists of texts, more specifically, the “Preface” to Monkey and some letters exchanged between Waley as a translator and Unwin as a publisher, which reveals the reasons of re-translating Monkey and the translation strategy used. The second group includes the Second World War and the influenza epidemic in the 1940s that impeded the reprinting of Monkey. The paper concludes that, in addition to human actors, non-human actors that have also actively exerted influences on both the process and the outcome of a major translation project deserve to receive more attention when looking at translation as a social activity.

The canonization of literary classics is a complex process that is not necessarily based solely on aesthetic excellence; it can also be led by ideological interests. Depending on which set of criteria we use to define literary classics, we find that there are various canons of “classics” and that these sets are themselves dynamic. I personally appreciate the idea of a literary canon based on pure aesthetic excellence, and I do not want to deny the intrinsic literary quality of certain texts. In a time like ours, where the commercialization of literature as munhwa kontencheu (“culture contents”) seems to be in full swing, the discussion about how to define literary quality seems to be more important than ever. In this essay, I want to explore another approach to question the established canon: taking the popularity of a story in Korea as criterion for defining Korean literary classics. By that criterion, I will argue that The Journey to the West (Seoyugi) is more a Korean classic than New Tales of the Golden Turtle (Geumo Sinhwa).

This article examines the way Patricia Chao and Gerald Vizenor have used the narrative structure and characters of the Chinese classic early novel _Journey to the West_ in their American novels. Vizenor sees the Monkey King character (Sun Wukong) as a Chinese trickster figure, and his narrator Griever uses Monkey as a model for his own attempts to liberate the Chinese from neo-colonialism. Conversely, Chao uses the Monkey King character much more negatively to critique the patriarchalism of her Chinese American childhood. Both authors deliberately make references to the major characters of the novel and to its journey motif.