Journey to the West is one of the four great works of China, and the realistic basis of this divine and demonic novel is the Western Heavenly Scripture of the Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang.
In "Journey to the West", the most admirable thing is Tang Sanzang, with a mortal body, surrounded by countless demons, using his own perseverance to survive the ninety-nine eighty-one difficulties.
The Tang monks in the novel are not easy, and the real Master Xuanzang is even more difficult.
"After traveling to the west through hardships, I finally saw a strong will, and I was willing to be a bodhi tree and purify all sentient beings."
In the public impression, Tang Sanzang was the first person to learn the scriptures from the Western Heavens, but in fact he was not. In the novel, he has nine reincarnations; in reality, there are still monks who succeed in taking the scriptures.
As early as 200 years ago, during the "Four Hundred and Eighty Monasteries of the Southern Dynasty", there were Eastern Jin Dynasty monks Faxian and his party who went to the Western Heavens to collect the scriptures and bring the Buddhist precepts of Tianzhu back to Middle-earth.
After the Dharma Manifestation, many monks followed suit, but too many died on the path of seeking because of the difficulty of the road.
The mythical Tang Sanzang has apprentices to maintain the escort, while the real Master Xuanzang can only grope on his own.
In the novel, Tang Sanzang's westward journey is supported by Emperor Taizong. Indeed, if there is a strong country to back it up, any foreign exchange will be successful. But in fact, Xuanzang's westward journey was not officially recognized, and his behavior even belonged to smuggling.
In the second year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin, who had experienced the change of Xuanwumen, had just seized the throne, and at that time, he was worried about internal and external troubles, so the flow of people was strictly restricted, and Xuanzang's application to the official was not approved, and he had no choice but to pretend to be a displaced person to smuggle.
Without the endorsement of the state, Xuanzang behaved like a rootless Ping. In the novel, whenever the Tang monks went to a country, they would visit the local rulers as the royal brothers of the Tang Dynasty and receive a grand reception. In reality, Xuanzang could only hang orders in the monastery as an ascetic.
In the novel, Tang Monk has three apprentices with high magic power, but on the way to the west, Master Xuanzang's only apprentice also chose to leave, and he could only go to Tianzhu alone.
The most terrifying thing about the westward journey is not the demons, but the difficult verbal communication.
In the TV series "Journey to the West", everyone speaks Mandarin, in fact, this is just to let the audience have a better experience.
Xuanzang traveled tens of thousands of kilometers, passing through 110 countries, and their speech was not the same.
Because of the language difference, Xuanzang could not communicate with the locals, let alone how to obtain the Buddhist scriptures, even if it was a simple food, clothing, shelter and transportation was a big problem.
It is difficult to travel west, but it is difficult to master the languages of different countries, which is a test everywhere.
Xuanzang has experienced 17 years of learning the scriptures, and this long time is not only spent on the rush, but also on the learning of language.
Fortunately, Master Xuanzang was gifted with extraordinary language talent, excellent language talent, and excellent memory, so that he could overcome language difficulties and obtain the True Scriptures. And after returning to Chang'an, he dictated the Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty, an outstanding geographical document of ancient times.
For many people, perhaps languages other than their mother tongue are already difficult. Put yourself in the shoes of Master Xuanzang even more.