The following information is taken from Hu Shi's Study on Journey to the West. Four. About the year of Wu Cheng'en's death: I wrote the Preface to the Journey to the West the year before last, and I still don't know who the author of The Journey to the West is. I can only say that "the novel of Journey to the West must have been written after the middle of Ming Dynasty" and "it was written by an unknown novelist after the middle of Ming Dynasty". See "Textual Research of Novels" on page 76, quoting Yang Shanding, saying that The Journey to the West was written by Gong Sheng Wu Cheng'en, a middle-aged man in Jiajing, Huai 'an, according to "Bibliography of Old Records of Arts and Literature in Early Kangxi, Huai 'an Prefecture". Textual research novels contain the worst materials. Dante Rock is a scholar, and his words are based on the records of Huai 'an government, so we follow his guidance to find materials about Wu Cheng'en. I am grateful to Mr. Zhou Yucai for copying many materials he found to me. The transcript is as follows: [The Sixteen Records of the Apocalypse Huai 'an Satrap, Characters 2, Modern Wenyuan] Wu Cheng'en is sensitive and wise, and he is well-read, which makes him a poet, elegant and beautiful, with the style of Qin Shaoyou. The revival of good comedies and several miscellaneous stories were famous for some time. A few eccentric people were awarded the county class II by Mingjing, but soon they lost face and left their hometown. Wild poetry and wine, pawn. There is a collection at home. Qiu Shao and Stuart merged to carve it. [The same book 19, "Literature and Art" I, "Huaixian Wenmu"] Wu Cheng'en: "Sheyang Collection" has four volumes, oral volume; Preface to Chunqiu Zhuan; Journey to the west. 【 Records of Huai 'an Mansion, xi and Twelve Dynasties of Kangxi 】 are the same as those of the Apocalypse. [Tongzhi's "Shanyang County Records" XII, "People"] Wu Cheng'en's word is like the middle, and the number is Sheyang Mountain, which is the exercise book. Jiajing middle-aged (the election record does not contain any year), the official to Changxing County Cheng. British people are rich in tea, and the world pushes it. In an instant, the stone spoke more than his hand. The family is poor, there are no children, and many manuscripts are lost. Qiu Zhenggang, a citizen, packed up the defects and published them in four volumes. Prefect Chen Wen lit a candle as a preface, which was named "Sheyang Save Draft" and a volume of "Continued Draft", which covered its contents. [18] Wu Cheng'en: "Sheyang Save Draft" has four volumes, and "Continued Draft" has one volume. Guangxu's records of Huai 'an mansion (28), people (1) and arts (38) are the same as above. There are also Yang Shanzhi V, Guan Yi and Ming Taishou, which say, "I have been with Qin Long for two years. Uncle Chen Wen, a native of Mianyang, is a scholar, and has just come to Qin Long. Shao Yuanzhe, the first in Wanli. " Jiao Xun quoted Ruan Kuisheng's Tea Guest Talk in Volume 5 of the Theory of Traditional Chinese Opera: In the past, Wu Sheyang was said to be sensitive and wise, writing for poetry, good and ridiculous. There are several kinds of miscellaneous notes written, which became famous for a while. I don't know why Miscellaneous Notes is a book today. However, "Asking Mother with a Fairy" includes "Popular Romance on a Journey to the West" written by Mr. Wang ... which is the beginning of the popularity of this book in the next season, and people in the alley enjoy it. ..... Not far from Sheyang, there is no need to change the surname with secular novels. Its statement should be well-founded. Dialect slang is spoken in rural dialect streets, and children in the streets are familiar with it, but others are unfamiliar, especially pregnant people. However, this is a special pen for Sheyang game, and it talks about the laughter of Zicun Weng boy. You must seek the secret of cultivation and carve it. (This article is not included in the current edition of Tea Ke Hua. ) Mr. Zhou brought the tea. This article is based on the fourth volume of Wu Yuxi's Yang Shan Zhi Yi. The original text is: Mr. Tianqi Jiu is the person in charge of the garden of modern literature. Yun is sensitive and intelligent, and has rich writings. He is a masterpiece of writing poetry and is humorous. There are several kinds of miscellaneous notes written, and the names are shocking at one time. " I don't know why Zaji was waiting for books at first. And read "Huaixian Wenmu" by Mr. Journey to the West. Textual research on The Journey to the West's old name Proverbs, that is to say, it conforms to the purport at that time. "Preface to Yuan Yu Taoist Temple Garden" said that this book was written by Qiu Changchun at the beginning of the founding of the country. And "county annals" refer to the hands of Mr. ... When the apocalypse comes, Mr. is not far away, and his words will be true. Written at the beginning of Changchun, Italy, Mr. Zhi made it a popular romance; For example, The History of the Three Kingdoms, Chen Shou, while The Romance is called Luo Guanzhong. There are many dialects in my hometown in the book, and there is no doubt that there are people who go abroad. Or the cloud has "After Journey to the West", written by Mr. Sheyang. Wu Yuxi also mistook Qiu Changchun in The Journey to the West. The Journey to the West by Qiu Changchun, prefaced by Yu Ji, is a geography book about travel, which has nothing to do with this book. Ruan Kuisheng, though based on Wu Shuo, didn't believe what the real people in Changchun said. Probably after Qianlong, scholars knew the nature of Changchun's original book and said it was broken. There are many materials about Wu Cheng'en in Volume 4 of Wu Zhi, which are recorded as follows: In Jiajing Middle School, Wu Youen was a native of Sheyang Mountain, and I was a gifted scholar. Wu Min Bocha has more hands, and he wants to give a ceremony on the stone tablet for a while. Recommend gentry and brother Tai as knife catchers. Gu, not even, just paid tribute to Changxing County. The poor old man lacked an heir and many manuscripts were lost. Qiu Situ just cleaned up the defects, which were recorded by his friends Ma Qingxi and Ma Zhuquan, and also collected by fellow villagers. It is divided into four volumes, titled Sheyang Save Draft (with a sequel). "Five Yue Wen Candles" is the preface. It simply says, "When Chen Zi was guarding Huai 'an, Changxing Xu Zi crossed Huai 'an. Go to Changxing, such as Zhongcheng, and be nice to your son. The three men called for wine in the Han harem, and they were tireless in writing and poetry. Ruzhong said that since the Six Classics, only the Han and Wei Dynasties were close to ancient times. The poem is from "Three Hundred Poems", but the Tang people are near ancient times. Scholars have become apprentices of Xie Chaohua in recent years, but they don't know much about animals. Without knowing how to wash their hands, it is difficult for them to express their views. Xu Shi Sheng and his son are convinced of this. Today, You Zhong's works are beautiful because of love, clear and bright, implicit and profound. A collection of hundreds of generations of articles, adopting the charm of the Millennium, Shen Cishen, floating algae and floating clouds, Zhang Wenqian is just a latecomer. " It can be said that the future is boundless. Reading his collection of posthumous works, fifteen counties ranked first in the Ming Dynasty. I'm sorry that the book board doesn't exist. I just took a manuscript at first, and all the paper and ink have been used up. Later, four volumes of engraving were collected one after another, and one volume of sequel was also completed. All his poems are included in Old Collections of Yang Shan, where one or two of his outstanding people are chosen to express the fragrance of petals. According to this, Wu Cheng'en was still alive when Chen Wen was guarding Huai 'an, which was in the early Qin Long (about 157O). Based on this, we can get his age: Jia (about 155O), one year old. In the last years of Jiajing (about 156O), he was appointed as Chengcheng of Changdian County. Qin Long Chu (about 157O), a native of Huai 'an, made friends with Chen and wrote papers with wine. At the beginning of Wanli (about 158O), Wu Cheng'en died. He was probably born in the last years of Zheng De (about 152O) and died in the early years of Wanli. The Chronicle of the Apocalypse in Huai 'an was compiled in the sixth year of the Apocalypse. He died in Wu Cheng'en at 1626, which is forty or fifty years old, so it is natural and reliable.

The Journey to the West is a famous novel edited and revised by Wu Cheng'en according to the old version of The Journey to the West. However, the historical record is unknown about who is the author of Journey to the West.

Who is the author of The Journey to the West? This is a historical unsolved case for hundreds of years. The Mystery of The Journey to the West's Author Did Qiu Chuji, a Taoist priest in Changchun in Yuan Dynasty, write about The Journey to the West? Seven or eight centuries later, it is still a mystery. Since Wang advocated the popularity of Qiu Zuoshuo's novel The Journey to the West in the Ming Dynasty, all versions have no author's name. There is inevitably speculation in the society, but after entering the Qing Dynasty, it is widely rumored that the author is Qiu Chuji, and some scholars in the Qing Dynasty almost agree with this statement. Where did this come from? It was not until the early 1930s that Sun's Bibliography of Tokyo Novels was put forward: it was initiated by Wang in Qing Dynasty. Among Wang The Journey to the West's biographies of Qiu Chuji, he said that Qiu Chuji "has Panxi Collection, Ming Dow Collection and Journey to the West". Attached to Yuan Yuji's original preface, it is recorded that Taoist Ziqiong asked him to preface The Journey to the West and said that this book was written by Qiu Chuji. After reading it, Yu Ji realized that it was carrying Xuanzang's scriptures; At the same time, Qiu Chuji's writing intention is often analyzed in The Journey to the West's comments. So eloquent, Zuo Qiu's The Journey to the West theory made the Qing people agree. This The Journey to the West is different from The Journey to the West. However, what Zuo Qiu said in The Journey to the West is really a mistake! Originally related to Qiu Chuji, it was another book with the same name, the full name of Changchun Real Journey to the West. Qiu Chuji was ordered by Yuan Taizu to take his disciples Li Zhichang and others 18 to the western regions. Later, Li Zhichang wrote "Changchun Real Journey to the West" in two volumes with tens of thousands of words, which recorded what his teacher saw and heard on the Journey to the West, questions and answers between master and apprentice, and chanting on the way. Tao Lu's Record of Dropping out of Farming at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, among which The Taoist of Changchun has been published in Zanxi Collection, Ming Dow Collection, The Journey to the West, Fengyun Qinglu, Qizhen Ji and other three books mentioned later, are actually not written by Qiu Chuqi, so there are many side notes. Some people think that the author of this The Journey to the West is also Qiu Chuji. Later, he equated this The Journey to the West with the novel The Journey to the West. However, the theory first advocated by Wang in The Journey to the West said that although the arrangement was very organized, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, some people expressed doubts: First, when writing The Journey to the West in the Ming Dynasty, it was impossible to say that Qiu Chuji was the last person in the Southern Song Dynasty; Secondly, there are many Huai 'an dialects in The Journey to the West, and Qiu Chuji lived in North China all his life. The king's theory was thus shaken. Later, Lu Xun, Hu Shi and others studied the history of China's ancient novels. According to predecessors' theories and records of Huai 'an Prefecture in Ming Dynasty, it is speculated that the author of the novel The Journey to the West is Wu Cheng'en, a native of Huai 'an. This is a great discovery in the history of fiction. Since then, Wu Cheng'en's name has been put on the new The Journey to the West, which is the final conclusion. Tracing back to the source and then reversing the verdict, but Wu Cheng'en and Journey to the West also have doubts. First, Wu Cheng'en's poems and his literary friends did not mention writing The Journey to the West; Second, although the Annals of Huai 'an County was published in Wu Cheng'en and written by The Journey to the West, it did not indicate that it was a romance or an official history, but it was usually said that the official history of the romance was not included in the local chronicles; Thirdly, Wu Cheng'en's works and The Journey to the West were once included in the geographical category in the bibliography of Qing Dynasty. Therefore, once upon a time, on the one hand, some commentators put forward the theory that The Journey to the West is another novel, which was still said by Qiu's disciples and later generations; On the other hand, some critics think that The Journey to the West was not written by Wu Cheng'en. According to The Journey to the West's records, there are many Taoist contents and poems. Moreover, Journey to the West has undergone a long-term evolution and was finally processed and stereotyped by literati. It cannot be absolutely ruled out that some Taoists participated in the revision. On the other hand, those who are skeptical about Wu Zhu's theory have only touched the key point, lacking evidence, and have not proposed others to replace Wu Cheng'en. Now, it seems unlikely to return to Zuo Qiu's theory; It is also difficult to control denying Wu Zhu's theory.