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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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Cogent Arts & Humanities |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2025.2471179 |
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| author | Eric Hodges Moss Roberts Soraj Hongladarom |
| author_facet | Eric Hodges Moss Roberts Soraj Hongladarom |
| author_sort | Eric Hodges |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4be328870eb94c669c415075deacabc6 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2331-1983 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cogent Arts & Humanities |
| spelling | doaj-art-4be328870eb94c669c415075deacabc62025-08-20T02:30:28ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Arts & Humanities2331-19832025-12-0112110.1080/23311983.2025.2471179變！Metamorphosis in Journey to the WestEric Hodges0Moss Roberts1Soraj Hongladarom2Center for Science, Technology, and Society, Chulalongkorn University, Pathumwan, ThailandDepartment of East Asian Studies, New York University, New York, NY, USACenter for Science, Technology, and Society, Chulalongkorn University, Pathumwan, ThailandIn 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.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2025.2471179Metamorphosis西遊記BuddhismDaoismConfucianismdeath |
| spellingShingle | Eric Hodges Moss Roberts Soraj Hongladarom 變！Metamorphosis in Journey to the West Cogent Arts & Humanities Metamorphosis 西遊記 Buddhism Daoism Confucianism death |
| title | 變！Metamorphosis in Journey to the West |
| title_full | 變！Metamorphosis in Journey to the West |
| title_fullStr | 變！Metamorphosis in Journey to the West |
| title_full_unstemmed | 變！Metamorphosis in Journey to the West |
| title_short | 變！Metamorphosis in Journey to the West |
| title_sort | 變 metamorphosis in journey to the west |
| topic | Metamorphosis 西遊記 Buddhism Daoism Confucianism death |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2025.2471179 |
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