西游记英语简介

Synopsis of Journey to the West西游记概要The novel comprises 100 chapters. These can be divided into four very unequal parts. The first, which includes chapters 1–7, is really a self-contained introduction to the main story. It deals entirely with the earlier exploits of Sūn Wùkōng, a monkey born from a stone nourished by the Five Elements, who learns the art of the Tao, 72 polymorphic transformations, combat, and secrets of immortality, and through guile and force makes a name for himself as the Qítiān Dàshèng (simplified Chinese: 齐天大圣), or "Great Sage Equal to Heaven". His powers grow to match the forces of all of the Eastern (Taoist) deities, and the prologue culminates in Sūn's rebellion against Heaven, during a time when he garnered a post in the celestial bureaucracy. Hubris proves his downfall when the Buddha manages to trap him under a mountain and sealing the mountain with a talisman for five hundred years.Only following this introductory story is the nominal main character, Xuánzàng, introduced. Chapters 8–12 provide his early biography and the background to his great journey. Dismayed that "the land of the South knows only greed, hedonism, promiscuity, and sins", the Buddha instructs the bodhisattva Guānyīn to search Táng China for someone to take the Buddhist sutras of "transcendence and persuasion for good will" back to the East. Part of the story here also relates to how Xuánzàng becomes a monk (as well as revealing his past life as a disciple of the Buddha named "Golden Cicada" (金蝉子) and comes about being sent on this pilgrimage by the Emperor Táng Tàizōng, who previously escaped death with the help of an underworld official).The third and longest section of the work is chapters 13–99, an episodic adventure story which combines elements of the quest as well as the picaresque. The skeleton of the story is Xuánzàng's quest to bring back Buddhist scriptures from Vulture Peak in India, but the flesh is provided by the conflict between Xuánzàng's disciples and the various evils that beset him on the way.The scenery of this section is, nominally, the sparsely populated lands along the Silk Road between China and India, including Xinjiang, Turkestan, and Afghanistan. The geography described in the book is, however, almost entirely fantastic; once Xuánzàng departs Cháng'ān, the Táng capital, and crosses the frontier (somewhere in Gansu province), he finds himself in a wilderness of deep gorges and tall mountains, all inhabited by flesh-eating demons who regard him as a potential meal (since his flesh was believed to give immortality to whoever ate it), with here and there a hidden monastery or royal city-state amid the wilds.The episodic structure of this section is to some extent formulaic. Episodes consist of 1–4 chapters and usually involve Xuánzàng being captured and having his life threatened while his disciples try to find an ingenious (and often violent) way of liberating him. Although some of Xuánzàng's predicaments are political and involve ordinary human beings, they more frequently consist of run-ins with various goblins and ogres, many of whom turn out to be the earthly manifestations of heavenly beings (whose sins will be negated by eating the flesh of Xuánzàng) or animal-spirits with enough Taoist spiritual merit to assume semi-human forms.Chapters 13–22 do not follow this structure precisely, as they introduce Xuánzàng's disciples, who, inspired or goaded by Guānyīn, meet and agree to serve him along the way in order to atone for their sins in their past lives.The first is Sun Wukong (simplified Chinese: 孙悟空), or Monkey, previously "Great Sage Equal to Heaven", trapped by Buddha for rebelling against Heaven. He appears right away in Chapter 13. The most intelligent and violent of the disciples, he is constantly reproved for his violence by Xuánzàng. Ultimately, he can only be controlled by a magic gold band that the Bodhisattva has placed around his head, which causes him bad headaches when Xuánzàng chants certain magic words. The second, appearing in chapter 19, is Zhu Bajie (simplified Chinese: 猪八戒), literally Eight-precepts Pig, sometimes translated as Pigsy or just Pig. He was previously Marshal Tīan Péng (simplified Chinese: 天蓬元帅), commander of the Heavenly Naval forces, banished to the mortal realm for flirting with the Princess of the Moon Chang'e. He is characterized by his insatiable appetites for food and sex, and is constantly looking for a way out of his duties, which causes significant conflict with Sūn Wùkōng. Nevertheless he is a reliable fighter. The third, appearing in chapter 22, is the river-ogre Sha Wujing (simplified Chinese: 沙悟净), also translated as Friar Sand or Sandy. He was previously Great General who Folds the Curtain (simplified Chinese: 卷帘大将), banished to the mortal realm for dropping (and shattering) a crystal goblet of the Heavenly Queen Mother. He is a quiet but generally dependable character, who serves as the straight foil to the comic relief of Sūn and Zhū. The fourth disciple is the third prince of the Dragon-King, Yùlóng Sāntàizǐ (simplified Chinese: 玉龙三太子), who was sentenced to death for setting fire to his father's great pearl. He was saved by Guānyīn from execution to stay and wait for his call of duty. He appears first in chapter 15, but has almost no speaking role, as throughout most of the story he appears in the transformed shape of a horse that Xuánzàng rides on. Chapter 22, where Shā is introduced, also provides a geographical boundary, as the river that the travelers cross brings them into a new "continent". Chapters 23–86 take place in the wilderness, and consist of 24 episodes of varying length, each characterized by a different magical monster or evil magician. There are impassably wide rivers, flaming mountains, a kingdom ruled by women, a lair of seductive spider-spirits, and many other fantastic scenarios. Throughout the journey, the four brave disciples have to fend off attacks on their master and teacher Xuánzàng from various monsters and calamities.It is strongly suggested that most of these calamities are engineered by fate and/or the Buddha, as, while the monsters who attack are vast in power and many in number, no real harm ever comes to the four travelers. Some of the monsters turn out to be escaped heavenly animals belonging to bodisattvas or Taoist sages and spirits. Towards the end of the book there is a scene where the Buddha literally commands the fulfillment of the last disaster, because Xuánzàng is one short of the eighty-one disasters he needs to attain Buddhahood.In chapter 87, Xuánzàng finally reaches the borderlands of India, and chapters 87–99 present magical adventures in a somewhat more mundane (though still exotic) setting. At length, after a pilgrimage said to have taken fourteen years (the text actually only provides evidence for nine of those years, but presumably there was room to add additional episodes) they arrive at the half-real, half-legendary destination of Vulture Peak, where, in a scene simultaneously mystical and comic, Xuánzàng receives the scriptures from the living Buddha.Chapter 100, the last of all, quickly describes the return journey to the Táng Empire, and the aftermath in which each traveler receives a reward in the form of posts in the bureaucracy of the heavens. Sūn Wùkōng and Xuánzàng achieve Buddhahood, Wùjìng becomes an arhat, Sāntàizǐ the dragon prince horse is made a nāga, and Bājiè, whose good deeds have always been tempered by his greed, is promoted to an altar cleanser (i.e. eater of excess offerings at altars).

Pilgrimage to the West is the first novel of romanticism in ancient China.

《西游记》是中国古代第一部浪漫主义章回体长篇神魔小说。

One hundred copies of Journey to the West published in Ming Dynasty have no author's signature.

现存明刊百回本《西游记》均无作者署名。

Wu Yuqing, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, first proposed that the author of Journey to the West was Wu Cheng 'en of the Ming Dynasty.

清代学者吴玉搢等首先提出《西游记》作者是明代吴承恩。

The book mainly describes the birth of Sun Wukong and after the chaos in Heaven, met Tang Priest, Zhu Bajie, Sha Priest and White Dragon Horse, and went west to fetch scriptures.

全书主要描写了孙悟空出世及大闹天宫后，遇见了唐僧、猪八戒、沙僧和白龙马，西行取经。

All the way through the hardships and dangers, the devil down, experienced ninety-eight difficulties.

一路上历经艰险、降妖伏魔，经历了九九八十一难。

Finally arrived in the west to see the Buddha, the final five sages come true story.

终于到达西天见到如来佛祖，最终五圣成真的故事。

The novel is based on the historical event of the Tang Priest's acquisition of scriptures.

该小说以“唐僧取经”这一历史事件为蓝本。

Through the author's artistic processing, the social reality of Ming Dynasty is deeply depicted.

通过作者的艺术加工，深刻地描绘了明代社会现实。

《西游记》创作背景

唐太宗贞观元年（627年），25岁的和尚玄奘天竺（印度）徒步游学。他从长安出发后，途经中亚、阿富汗、巴基斯坦，历尽艰难险阻，最后到达了印度。

在那里学习了两年多，并在一次大型佛教经学辩论会任主讲，受到了赞誉。贞观十九年（645年）玄奘回到了长安，带回佛经657部，轰动一时。

后来玄奘口述西行见闻，由弟子辩机辑录成《大唐西域记》十二卷。但这部书主要讲述了路上所见各国的历史、地理及交通，没有什么故事。

及到他的弟子慧立、彦琮撰写的《大唐大慈恩寺三藏法师传》，则为玄奘的经历增添了许多神话色彩，从此，唐僧取经的故事便开始在中国民间广为流传。

南宋有《大唐三藏取经诗话》，金代院本有《唐三藏》《蟠桃会》等，元杂剧有吴昌龄的《唐三藏西天取经》、无名氏的《二郎神锁齐天大圣》等，这些都为《西游记》的创作奠定了基础。吴承恩也正是在中国民间传说和话本、戏曲的基础上，经过艰苦的再创造，完成了《西游记》的创作。