First, the ancient myths of China
Myth, what is it? It is a story of ancient people's understanding and imagination of natural and cultural phenomena. It is an early unconscious artistic creation of human beings. Myth is not a scientific reflection of real life, but the result that people can't scientifically explain the origin and change of the world, natural phenomena and primitive social and cultural life because of the low level of productivity in ancient times. On the basis of their poor life experience, they personify the natural forces and the objective world with the help of imagination and fantasy.
Myth creation is closely combined with the activities of ancient people struggling for survival and natural forces, and is closely related to ancient life and history, which often shows the ancient people's struggle with natural forces and their desire to improve their own abilities. Marx said: "Any myth uses imagination to conquer, dominate and visualize the forces of nature." Myth is "the natural and social form itself processed by people's fantasy in an unconscious artistic way".
Myth originated from primitive clan society and was constantly created and developed in the long historical process. In the middle and late Neolithic period, matriarchal clan commune developed to its peak, and many female mythical figures appeared, such as Nu Wa and Queen Mother of the West. After the establishment of patriarchal society, the images of male mythical figures appeared in primitive myths, and among many mythical figures, there were corresponding generations and pedigrees. The emergence of generations and lineages provides favorable conditions and foundations for the emergence of subsequent myth systems.
Myth is full of magical fantasy, which casts a strange color on the understanding of the ancients and the growth and change of everything in the world. Most mythical characters also have superhuman strength, which is imagined according to primitive people's own image, production situation, understanding of natural forces and the requirement of improving their own ability, and also makes a good start for future mythological novel creation. However, we should also see that although mythical heroes (gods) are often the creators of human miracles, they often encounter setbacks and bad luck. For example, the Jade Emperor in The Journey to the West, when fighting with the Tathagata in the Monkey King and Journey to the West, said this: "... He (the Jade Emperor) practiced since childhood and experienced 1550 robbery. Every 129600. ..... "Tathagata said, just shows that although the jade emperor is the ruler of heaven, but also suffered a lot. Therefore, this reflects the realistic constraints of myth and fantasy, and there is an idea of suffering first and then sweet.
Primitive myth is the product of unique historical conditions in human childhood, and it is a form for primitive people to understand nature and society. It reflects the early thinking activities of human beings. However, with the continuous improvement of social productive forces and the high development of human intelligence, primitive myths are generally no longer produced, but some literary works based on myths and their forms of expression have appeared.
As early as before BC, many myths have been recorded in ancient books of the pre-Qin period, such as Shan Hai Jing, Zuo Zhuan, Guoyu, Chu Ci, Shilu Chunqiu and so on. During the Han and Three Kingdoms periods, Huainanzi, Historical Records, Hanshu, Wuyue Chunqiu and so on were recorded in classical myths, and during the Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties, there were Search for Ji Shen and Yi Shu Ji. Among them, the myth of Shan Hai Jing is the most abundant, which is close to the original appearance of ancient myths.
China's ancient myths have a long history, not only recorded early, but also many ancient myths are still circulated orally among the people, especially in the Central Plains. Some famous ancient myths in China, such as Dayu, Huangdi, Nvwa 、 Fuxi, Pangu, Kuafu, etc., are still circulated orally in Henan and other places. There are also myths about Shun, Chiyou, Houyi and Qi, which are still circulating in Henan, Hebei and some southern provinces. Because of their long circulation, these myths are different from those recorded in ancient documents in specific plots, and there are many variations. These myths, which are still circulating today, are naturally different from the original classical myths after evolution, but they can prove and subsidize the materials recorded in the literature, which is really beneficial to the study of China myths, especially to understand the ancient and modern forms of myth development.
Second, myths and novels.
Myth occupies an important position in the history of literature. It is a genre that influenced China's various literary creations earlier. Its theme content and deified characters have had many influences on the literary creation and the formation of national epics in past dynasties, especially its rich imagination of natural things and vivid writing methods, which are directly related to the formation of artistic fiction and romantic writing methods of later writers. Its oral narrative form has also become a precedent for narrative literature genres such as novels. Many myths directly provide creative themes for writers and artists, and some famous myths have also become allusions often quoted by the people. Therefore, there is a saying that myth is the "ancestor of novels". Hu Yinglin in Ming Dynasty said: Shan Hai Jing is "the ancestor of strange words in ancient and modern times"; It is also believed that the key lock in Jizhong, which appears in the atmosphere of myth and witchcraft at the same time, should be before Zhuang and Lie. "Shu Xi Chuan" says that all countries dream of evil spirits and write books to cover the ancestors of today's novels.
China myth is also a historical and religious process in the process of its influence on novels. Mythical figures are often included in the imperial pedigree and religious pedigree in novel creation. For example, in The Journey to the West, the Jade Emperor, as the ruler of heaven, ruled the secular world of heaven, earth and ghosts, similar to the emperor on earth; Taishang Laojun is the ancestor of Taoism. In management, he did not belong to the Jade Emperor, but he had a close relationship with the Jade Emperor and acted as a Buddhist. Tathagata and other Western Buddhas, far away from the imperial court, are responsible for ideological education of all sentient beings. This is an immortal structure with the imperial court as the core and Buddhism and Taoism as the supplement.
Third, the myths and characters in The Journey to the West
(A) The Journey to the West's re-creation of some characters.
As we said above, myth has a great influence on the emergence and development of novels, so myth also has a certain influence on The Journey to the West, the masterpiece of ghost novels in the history of China literature. Here is a detailed analysis of its influence on some characters in The Journey to the West.
The Journey to the West is a famous ghost story novel. The whole book is a series of fairy tales, large and small, which runs through the main line of learning from the West. As far as the handling of these myths is concerned, some of them only mention the names slightly, because there are few or no stories about contact with Buddhist scriptures, or they are not in harmony with the stories of Buddhist scriptures after writing, so they just pass by. For example, in the first book "The Fertility of Linggen Originates from the Life of Nourishing the Heart", it was mentioned that "Pangu opened the heaven, Huang San ruled the world, and the five emperors concluded that the world was divided into four continents: ……".
Another is that although the characters in the original myth appear many times in the book, they have not changed as described in legends or some words. For example, the description of the Western Queen Mother has greatly changed the image of the Western Queen Mother in The Journey to the West. The early Queen Mother of the West was a fierce, cruel, half-beast, half-human monster. Her original image was a face with tiger teeth and leopard tail, and her living environment was extremely dangerous. The ugly and vicious goddess created by dangerous environment has brought endless disasters to this world. Great changes have taken place in the image of the Queen Mother of the West since the Han Dynasty, and the Queen Mother of the West in The Journey to the West has inherited this change. She lives in the beautiful Yaochi; In the flat peach garden, we planted peaches that can prolong life and live forever: people who cook once every three thousand years become immortals, but their physique is light; People who cook once every 6,000 years will be resurrected and live forever after eating Xia Ju; People who cook once in 9000 live as long as the world and the sun and the moon. These are all influenced by the fact that the Queen Mother of the West had the right to manage the elixir of life during the transition period of the Han Dynasty.
However, the names of some characters in some primitive myths are exaggerated according to the need of learning from the scriptures, but these exaggerated myths have not been recorded in any other words or passed down orally, such as the story that Jade Rabbit became a princess of Tianzhu from 1993 to 1995. In some myths before The Journey to the West, the rabbit was just a magical rabbit, but in The Journey to the West, it was described as extraordinary, good at conjuring up beautiful women, and some people's secular desires were "full of passion and joy". Even its pestle was brought to Tianzhu and became its protective weapon, which was described as a treasure of "one golden light and four phases, three lifeless elements".
In The Journey to the West, we should also see that many monsters that prevent Tang Priest from learning Buddhist scriptures in the West are mostly evolved from beasts and influenced by natural myths. Among the 81 difficulties, most of the makers of these difficulties are from wild animals. For example, in the 13th session, the Tang Priest once met bison essence, bear essence and tiger essence, which opened the prelude to meeting all kinds of monsters on the way to learn from the scriptures. Some monsters are made up of other animals or plants. Such as the carp essence encountered by Tongtianhe; Several demons encountered in Thorn Ridge were transformed from juniper, cypress, pine, bamboo, Feng Dan and other plants. These different changes are similar to reality. All kinds of wild animals are ferocious and eat people, while plants are much more elegant.
(B) Myth and the main characters in The Journey to the West
With the development of time and the change of people's aesthetic ideology, the myth of creation and the myth of natural forces have lost their status or lowered their taste, and instead they are myths depicting birds, animals, insects and fish. "Inspired by the achievements of Zhang Hui's novels and religious thoughts such as Xin Xue, Zen Buddhism and Neidan, the works have enhanced the exploration of the personality of gods and their inner vitality, thus becoming a mythical cultural structure depicting personality gods and vitality." (2) In The Journey to the West, the author mainly organizes stories through the description of individual mythical figures, but the description of these personality gods revolves around such a great cause as learning from the scriptures.
The Monkey King is one of the main figures in The Journey to the West. The image of the Monkey King in the book was influenced by the legend of Wu in Du Yue Jing of Tang Dynasty. The water god of Huaihe River buried by Dayu during the flood control was attached to the flood myth. The story of The Journey to the West's Zhong Dayu's water control is that he can leave a piece of "Zhenhai Baotie" in the Dragon Palace in the East China Sea, and it becomes a weapon in the Monkey King's hands. Here, the ancient flood myth was degraded and attached to the myth of the Monkey King. In addition, the Monkey King's thought of "emperors take turns to do it, and come to my house next year" has something in common with * * *' s rebellious thoughts of fighting for the emperor and fighting for the gods with the emperor, which is the version of these myths in later generations.
The intricacies of heaven, forest and earth in the Monkey King's personality, as well as the integration of divinity, animality and humanity, are not only manifested in daily behavior. For example, after he stole the flat peach of the Queen Mother, he became a two-foot-long villain sleeping in the dense branches and leaves, stealing the golden elixir from the gourd of the old gentleman, "like eating fried beans"; Moreover, he did not change the monkey's temper, monkey's calculation, monkey's narrowness and monkey's chic in his fighting with Buddha. In the disaster of the Lotus Cave in Pingdingshan, the Monkey King met the Golden Furnace Boy and the Silver Furnace Boy in front of the Taishang Laojun, became the King of Jinjiao and the King of Silver Horn, and stole the golden gourd. At this time, the Monkey King didn't have the pride of eating elixir like fried beans, but as long as he answered the name, he would be sucked into the gourd and turned into pus. He told the Emperor of Heaven to close the sky for half an hour, pulled out a hair and pretended to be a "gourd" to cheat the baby. After being captured by the demon, even if it is renamed as "Sun Monkey" and "Sun Monkey", it is inevitable that it will be sucked into the gourd. Later, the fake gourd was finally replaced by a hair, claiming that the real gourd in his hand was a man and the demon was a woman, which made the demon stumble and beat his chest and said, "Oh, my God! Just say the world will not change! Such a baby is also afraid of her husband. Women are afraid to pretend when they see men! " The monkey god's scheming and narrow-mindedness are vividly manifested in this life-and-death struggle: he is also "pretending to be a gourd", "being a grandson", "being a grandson" and "the baby is afraid of her husband". It regards fierce fighting as a game, fantasizes about lifting weights easily, and permeates deep folk humor in incredible mythical changes.
Another main figure of Journey to the West is Pig Bajie, which is also an image deeply loved by the broad masses of the people. His personality is distinct, with outstanding advantages and disadvantages: hard-working, simple, selfish and cunning. He has his own characteristics. Of course, as a pig, he is greedy and eats like a bucket. Pig Bajie's gluttony also brought some disasters to their Buddhist team. For example, stealing ginseng fruit is a typical example. In addition to being greedy, Pig Bajie has another problem: greed. Back to the 38th time, the Monkey King tricked him into stealing the goblin's baby in order to salvage the body of the infinite emperor in the glass well, and at this time he also bargained with the Monkey King on the baby. At the same time, he also had money, but it was confiscated by the Monkey King at once. Compared with the word "greed", Zhu Bajie is more greedy for "color". In ancient legends in China, there was a saying that black pigs were lewd. On the way to learn the scriptures, all the plots involving men and women are mostly related to Zhu Bajie. He was originally the Grand Commander of Hua Gai in heaven, but he was expelled from heaven for molesting Chang 'e. However, after he converted to Buddhism, he did not change his lewd habit.
The tendency of writing about God and attaching importance to individuality has profoundly influenced the combination structure of the four disciples. As a unique mythological culture, the most dynamic part of this group structure is the different characteristics and complementary advantages of the four groups. There are hidden contradictions between them, but they can cooperate to the end in mutual containment. Guanyin Bodhisattva was ordered to go to Chang 'an from the Western Heaven, and chose these four people to ride among the thousands of waters in Qian Shan. Why did you choose these? There's a reason for this. Maybe they are the best combination of the Buddhist scriptures. The reason is: the Monkey King was chosen because he took a fancy to his "war". There are many crises hidden in the long journey to learn from the scriptures. With such a man who is good at fighting, Tang Priest can better guarantee to go to the Western Heaven. Pig Bajie acted as an emissary with the courage of ordinary people, carrying the burden all the way to learn from the scriptures. When he meets some places full of thorns, he always goes out of his way, which is really a bit silly for farmers. Friar Sand gave us the image of a simple and honest man. He is not only a good helper to subdue demons, but also good at handling, appeasing and mediating the contradictions among his brothers. He is an indispensable lubricant and cohesion in the whole team. In addition, we should also see that the latter two are closely related to water before or after demotion, so they are also closely complementary to walkers who are not good at water warfare. For example, Bajie or Friar Sand acted as a deep-water bomb when saving King Wuji and competing for the carp essence in Tongtian River.
Four. abstract
Myth, as a special cultural form, has a great influence on China's literary creation, and at the same time it is constantly enriched and developed in the process of promoting literary creation. Myth often occupies an important position in literary creation and becomes the center of the plot of the work; At the same time, the rational use of myth in works is very helpful to the artistry of literature.
The Journey to the West is a wonderful work in the history of our country, which is rich in mythological factors, runs through it with the magical image of personality god, and embodies rich philosophy in the game-style writing content. It is a late bloomer of fairy tales and a model of fairy tale creation.