變！Metamorphosis in Journey to the West
In the 1592 Ming dynasty novel Journey to the West, the Tang dynasty Buddhist monk Xuanzang (玄奘 602-664) embarks on a dangerous journey to India to bring Buddhist sutras back to China. To protect the human monk, the bodhisattva Guanyin sends four attendants, each of whom has undergone metamorphosis....
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Cogent Arts & Humanities |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2025.2471179 |
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| Summary: | In the 1592 Ming dynasty novel Journey to the West, the Tang dynasty Buddhist monk Xuanzang (玄奘 602-664) embarks on a dangerous journey to India to bring Buddhist sutras back to China. To protect the human monk, the bodhisattva Guanyin sends four attendants, each of whom has undergone metamorphosis. Various transformations enliven and fill the novel: humans change into animals, beasts into human-like forms, and humans and beasts become deities, etc. This article explores a few key questions applicable to Journey to the West: Why metamorphosis? What are the literary, philosophical, or religious origins and functions of metamorphosis in the novel? To answer these questions, this article briefly examines the artistic transformations of stories about the historical travels of Xuanzang, analyzes metamorphosis primarily in Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism, and explores metamorphosis and the Three Religions in relation to mythology and the quest to transcend human limitations and death. |
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| ISSN: | 2331-1983 |