I saw such a question on the Internet: In Journey to the West, Zhu Bajie and Gao Cuilan have been married for three years, why do they have no children? (The pig in "Journey to the West" doesn't count, that's another book)
This question is very gossipy, a bit like the old man in the village asking "the young couple has been married for a few years and has no children". In fact, it's normal to have children, isn't it also normal not to have children? Why bother to get to the bottom of it?
However, I see that some people answered, but it was very unreasonable. Some people say that Zhu Bajie and Gao Cuilan have reproductive isolation, because Bajie is a pig and Gao Cuilan is a human; Some people also say that Zhu Bajie will survive the method of war and torture Gao Cuilan to death, Gao Cuilan is in poor health and will definitely not be able to give birth; Some people even said that Zhu Bajie had a problem, and he and his former wife, Second Sister Mao, did not have children.
In fact, this question is not so complicated, and it can be answered from the logic of the original book and the evolution of Journey to the West. Let me first refute the above three claims.
First of all: the two have no children, and it is definitely not because of reproductive isolation.
Whether it is an immortal or a monster, if you cultivate to a certain extent, you can cultivate a human body. And once you have a human body, you can marry a wife or marry a man, and you can have children.
There are many examples of this, even if you don't read a book, you can find some just by watching TV dramas.
For example, in "The Legend of the New White Lady", Xu Xian is a mortal, and the White Lady is a thousand-year-old white snake spirit, but the two are not reproductively isolated, they have children. Their children are not snake spirits, but human beings.
In "The Prequel of Baolian Lantern", Yang Jian's mother is Yao Ji, the younger sister of the Jade Emperor, she also had children with Yang Tianyou, and gave birth to three, the eldest son Yang Jiao, the second son Yang Jian, and the third daughter Yang Chan. These three children are also human beings.
Even in "Journey to the West", there are such examples.
The Kui Wood Wolf is an immortal in the sky and is one of the twenty-eight constellations; However, when he was a demon in the Nether, he was a yellow-robed monster, and his body was a wolf. However, the yellow-robed monster can have two children with Princess Baihuasha.
Baihua was a jade girl in the Phixiang Palace before, but in this life, she is just an ordinary human being, not a demon or a fairy. Judging from the book, the child of this person and a demon is not a monster, but a human being.
The Bull Demon King is a monster, and his body is a big white cow, but he and Princess Iron Fan gave birth to a red child. And the Iron Fan Princess, from the source, she was formerly a ghost and an iron fan demon, and she is not an animal in the Journey to the West, she can be understood as a human being, and can even be understood as an immortal.
The child born by the two is not a bull demon, just like a human.
Therefore, from this point of view, there is no reproductive isolation between Zhu Bajie and Gao Cuilan. Not to mention Zhu Bajie and Gao Cuilan, even Zhu Bajie and Second Sister Mao (judging from the name, it should be a rabbit essence), there will be no reproductive isolation problem.
Secondly: Miss Gao is in good health, and Zhu Bajie is fine.
Zhu Bajie will survive the method of war, but it only comes from the story of "Four Sages Test Zen Heart". At that time, Zhu Bajie wanted to marry Mrs. Jia's three daughters, and even wanted to marry his mother-in-law together, so he said so. In fact, Zhu Bajie's words are likely to be bragging, after all, he was eager to prove his "ability" at that time.
In addition, when Miss Gao was rescued by Wukong, her physical condition was not too bad, because she could not only "pull" her father, but also tell her grievances. The reason why she has a poor complexion, no strength, and bloodless lips is because she was imprisoned in the back room by Zhu Bajie for half a year, and she couldn't shine in the sun, and she couldn't eat or sleep well.
Later, Wukong pretended to become Miss Gao and threw Zhu Bajie on his heels, and Zhu Bajie didn't suspect it. If Miss Gao was dying, and she knocked Bajie down as soon as she made a move, how could Bajie not doubt it? It can be seen that Miss Gao is not in bad health.
As for Zhu Bajie's physical problems, it is even more unreasonable. Zhu Bajie and Second Sister Mao were married for less than a year, and Second Sister Mao died, how can it be proved that Zhu Bajie has a problem? Maybe Second Sister Mao was pregnant at the time, but she just didn't say it.
In short, the second sister died early, and I don't know if she is pregnant, so it can't be said that there is a problem with Zhu Bajie.
So, Zhu Bajie and Gao Cuilan have been married for three years, why don't they have children?
Judging from the logic of the original work, it may be because of Guanyin Bodhisattva that Zhu Bajie and Gao Cuilan did not have children.
When Guanyin Bodhisattva went to visit the person who learned the scriptures, he had already received Zhu Bajie for Tang Seng and asked him to be Tang Seng's apprentice. At that time, the Bodhisattva told Zhu Bajie to let him break the five meat and three hates, and fasted and ate vegetarian.
That is to say, from that moment on, Zhu Bajie was actually already a monk. He lived a life in which he could not drink wine or eat meat, but he could not marry a wife and have children.
It's just that after waiting for a long time, Zhu Bajie didn't wait for the person to come, so he began to slowly break the vow. Although he doesn't eat people, he broke the color ring and married a wife.
Marrying a wife is already breaking the vows, if you have another child, wouldn't the consequences be even more serious? Therefore, as far as Zhu Bajie is concerned, it is impossible for him to have children with Gao Cuilan. Otherwise, there is no way to get it back.
Just think: Zhu Bajie is a monster, even if he marries a wife, he can cut off relations with his wife at any time, so people can't ask for it. In the future, Zhu Bajie is Zhu Bajie, and his ex-wife is just a stranger and has nothing to do with it.
But having a child is not so easy. With a child, no matter where Zhu Bajie goes, the child will always be his child. only has a wife, and he can still be a monk; If you have a child, you can't be a monk anymore.
Therefore, it is impossible for Zhu Bajie to have children with Gao Cuilan. Not to mention three years, it is thirty years, as long as the person who learns the scriptures has not come, as long as Zhu Bajie still obeys the words of the Bodhisattva, it is impossible for him to have a baby with Miss Gao.
From the perspective of the evolution of Journey to the West, before the Ming Dynasty novel "Journey to the West", Zhu Bajie had no children.
Whether it is the Yuan Dynasty miscellaneous drama "Journey to the West" or the plain talk "Journey to the West", even if you trace back to the source, and push forward to the Jin Dynasty Ganbao's "Sou Shen Ji" in the "Several Stories Similar to Zhu Bajie's Wife" (such as "Pig Arm Golden Bell", "General Wu", etc.) There are only "pigs marrying wives" and "pigs being lustful", but not "pigs have children".
From this point of view, it is natural that Zhu Bajie has no children.
In addition, from the perspective of the author's writing, Zhu Bajie has no children, which is very in line with the development of the plot. Because he has no children, Zhu Bajie is separated from his ex-wife, so he will have no worries when he learns the scriptures. This point was also said by Zhu Bajie before he was subdued by Wukong.
If he has children, Zhu Bajie can't learn the scriptures wholeheartedly. After all, even if he doesn't miss his wife, it's always human to miss his children, right? But if there are these concerns, how can Zhu Bajie learn from the scriptures with peace of mind?
Think about it again, just having an "ex-wife", Zhu Bajie can no longer feel at ease in the later period of learning, and he has to divide his luggage at every turn, sell white horses, and return to Gao Laozhuang; If he really had children, then the heart of learning from the scriptures would be even more restless.
Therefore, no matter from which point of view, it is normal for Zhu Bajie and Gao Cuilan to have no children. If the two have a child, it is not conducive to the development of the story.
However, in "some parallel worlds", Zhu Bajie and Gao Cuilan have children, and there is more than one.
In the Big Buddha Temple in Zhangye City, Gansu Province, there is a mural painting of Bajie following Tang Seng to learn scriptures and Gao Cuilan respectively. This is Xu Quanxi's 1998 painting "Drawing of the Scriptures" (detail).
In the mural, Tang Seng and Wukong walk in front and seem to be talking, while Zhu Bajie follows behind, carrying a burden. After Bajie, it is the Gao family, including Mrs. Gao, Mrs. Gao, Miss Gao, the maidservant, and two children.
It can be seen here that Zhu Bajie and Miss Gao have a good relationship. Zhu Bajie carried the burden, reluctant to give up, and looked back; Miss Gao's family was also reluctant, Mrs. Gao and Mrs. Gao were already crying on crutches and holding handkerchiefs. Miss Gao has a high bun on her head, leans sideways, covers her face with a handkerchief and sobs, and the three next to her may be maids.
The two children stretched out their hands, as if to keep Zhu Bajie. The daughter was beside Mrs. Gao, stretching out her hand to run; And the son was beside Miss Gao, and he also stretched out his hand to signal to Zhu Bajie.
Obviously, Zhu Bajie and Miss Gao have a good relationship, otherwise it is unlikely that the two will have children, and the Gao family would not be so reluctant.
Maybe the author thinks that Zhu Bajie has worked for the Gao family for a few years, and he is also sincere to Miss Gao, and he is a husband and wife for a hundred days, so they have the crystallization of love.