Chapter 7 Deciphering "Journey to the West"

The author of the book is Wu Cheng'en of the Ming Dynasty in China, and the history cannot be said to be very ancient.The story is obviously influenced by Western Buddhist culture.However, we can say that it is a real mythical story of the Chinese nation, with thrilling twists and turns and fantastic imagination, it is the greatest mythological novel in China.For hundreds of years, it has been loved by generations of men, women and children of the whole nation, and in the foreseeable future, it will be passed down for hundreds or thousands of years with its special charm. The analysis of this mythical story will enable us to gain insight into the human spiritual world and study personality psychology with extremely profound discoveries.

It describes a fairy monkey born from a stone, who was severely punished after creating a legendary deed of wreaking havoc in the Heavenly Palace, and then accepted the arrangement of the Buddha and embarked on the road of learning Buddhist scriptures in the West.On the long road of learning scriptures, he has gone through all kinds of difficulties and dangers, defeated demons and demons, and finally escorted Tang Seng to the Paradise of Paradise, fulfilling the mission of learning scriptures, and he himself has achieved a positive result. The story is full of Monkey King's heroism from the beginning to the end, showing the practicality of the struggle between man and the objective environment, and showing man's efforts to solve contradictions, overcome objects, and conquer the world in practice.

In a mere superficial sense, the story provides a melody for resolving the paradoxes of fantasy within the realm of fantasy.Perhaps just this superficial story can enable us to find its widespread and enduring charm. However, like all human myths, it is not their superficial stories that are powerful.A myth doesn't necessarily really move people when it narrates an imaginary process of resolving conflicts in fanciful terms.The contradictions to be solved by means of fantasy must be real and realistic contradictions.So, what we have to explore is what kind of contradictions this work solves hidden in people's hearts.

Monkey King has gone through all kinds of difficulties and dangers, and successfully defeated the group of demons to learn from the experience. What deeper symbolic meaning does it contain? According to the initial analysis, Sun Wukong's rioting in the Heavenly Palace and his confrontation with the Jade Emperor, Buddha Tathagata, and the world of immortals showed the rebellious spirit of the common people against the kingship and theocracy.He embarked on the path of learning Buddhist scriptures and achieved positive results, which also showed that he had to accept the rule of kingship and theocracy, and was finally recruited.This is an artistic reflection of the political and cultural structure of Chinese feudal society.

This kind of symbolism undoubtedly exists in this novel.From this, we also think of another Chinese classic literary masterpiece "Water Margin". A group of green forest heroes confronted the imperial court and gathered in Liangshanbo to rebel, but unfortunately they were finally recruited by the imperial court. "Water Margin" uses realistic stories to express the same political logic as fairy tales, and embodies the same social reality. However, the lasting and profound influence, the profound emotional touch caused by readers of different age groups, and the enveloping nature of the rest of the sound are destined to have a deeper symbol.

According to the research on Chinese culture, we found that there is also a symbol hidden in the book, which is more consciously implied by the author Wu Chengen in his works. We can regard the process of Sun Wukong's learning from Buddhist scriptures as the process of Buddhist practice. In this cultivation process, the so-called Buddha is exactly the Buddha in the Buddhist sense.The so-called demon is exactly the demon realm mentioned in Buddhist practice, an illusion that one must overcome.Whether this illusion comes from the stimulation of the objective world or directly arises from the heart, it is an interference that practitioners must overcome.

The main characters in the book, Monkey King, Tang Seng, Zhu Bajie, Monk Sha and even Baima, are all metaphors for a practitioner.Monk Tang symbolizes the practitioner's original mind; Monkey King symbolizes the primordial spirit; Pig Bajie symbolizes desire; Monk Sha symbolizes the body.The process of defeating demons one by one is the process of defeating all kinds of demons and demons in the process of cultivation. There are two kinds of scriptures brought from the Western Paradise, the "Scripture without characters" and the "Classics with characters". The "No Words Sutra" is just a metaphor for the Zen saying "Buddha has no words from the west", and it embodies the Zen saying "speech is broken".The so-called "Books with Characters" are all kinds of Buddhist scriptures that can be recited.

The various supernatural powers of change in the book can be found in the corresponding sayings from the supernatural powers of Buddhist practice.The exaggerated and deified high-energy abilities in the book are all mysterious functions in Buddhist practice. There is sufficient evidence to show that under such a tortuous story of overcoming all kinds of difficulties and dangers, Wu Chengen hides a symbol of self-conscious cultivation.The whole narration process of the author also shows his knowledge and views on Buddhist practice everywhere, showing his many professional experiences and comprehensions. Take a cue.

However, there are deeper and more universal symbols of it that have not been discovered.It must solve some major contradictions of universal significance in life, so as to arouse people's inner resonance and shock in the depths of the subconscious.People can experience an irresistible emotional infection in the depths of their beings. In the process of reading, everyone will feel the realization of potential emotions and potential purposes.It can be said that it made many people have a great dream.This dream is more than the generic heroism its superficial story offers It is not only the struggle and surrender of human beings to feudal theocracy and kingship in the general sense; it is also not only a symbol of Buddhist qigong practice and Buddhist religious practice.

Beneath these three levels of meaning, there are more specific, deeper, and universal symbols. In this way, we will enter our discovery of the pair. First, Sun Wukong originally came from a stone that supported the aura of heaven, earth, mountains and rivers. When the aura of heaven and earth merged, the stone broke open, and a naked monkey jumped out.The birth of this monkey actually implies the concept of the origin of human beings, or the concept of the origin of life: the most fundamental source of animal life lies in the space between heaven and earth. This naughty little fairy monkey soon embarked on the road of seeking a teacher and learning Taoism.The book describes how he learned to wear human clothes, learn to walk, and how to learn skills.This process is just a microcosm of human beings moving from a naked primitive state to civilization. It also shows how a person starts from a naked baby, how to put on clothes, and how to start learning human language and mastering knowledge.

In his invented myth, the author involuntarily and symbolically expresses the origin of man, the origin of a man, the first stage of man from infancy to childhood, and the first stage of a man from infancy to childhood. It is from this first step that the author unconsciously begins to symbolically describe the fate of mankind, the fate of a person.He thought he was writing a story about practicing kung fu and cultivating Buddhism, but in fact, he has been captured by human beings, the stories and logic of human life. Second, after Sun Wukong learned how to speak human language, dress up, and learn a certain ability to survive, he lived a carefree life in Huaguoshan for a period of time.During this period of life, he led a group of monkeys to build a paradise for monkeys, attacking the kingdom of people for a while, tossing the dragon palace for a while, going straight to hell for a while, and finally causing trouble in the heavenly palace. This story is but a symbolic description of human childhood. It was a time of lawlessness, a time of disregard for world order, a time of rebellious playfulness, a time of unrestrained and free play for children. Both children and adults can feel the heartfelt joy of this story.Children will have a kind of fascination and resonance from the heart, and adults will re-feel their childhood through this story. For children, it is the contradiction between the demand for lawless play and the norms of order that have been received.This contradiction is fantastically resolved in this passage of the story. Adults face this contradiction even more deeply.He not only recalled the contradiction between the state of children's play and the norms he had received since he was a child, but also felt the intensification of this contradiction in adulthood, and felt the more severe oppression of order. Therefore, the excitement of this story for adults is even deeper, and it fancifully resolves a conflict that lurks in people's hearts. Third, Sun Wukong's lawless behavior alarmed Tiangong and conflicted with Tiangong, a symbol of order.Tiangong's first emergency response was to seal Sun Wukong as Bi Mawen.This recruitment eventually went bankrupt, and Tiangong sent heavenly soldiers and generals to Huaguo Mountain to suppress it.The armed repression was defeated by Sun Wukong's astonishing talents, and Tiangong had to accept Sun Wukong's conditions again, and recognized him as the self-proclaimed "Monkey King". This story very aptly symbolizes the original norms of family and society for children's unrestrained freedom.This norm contains coaxing and appeasement, but also contains a certain degree of severity and beating and scolding. We see very vividly what happens to man in childhood. Sun Wukong's brave resistance to the initial armed encirclement and suppression from Tiangong, and his naive and cute acceptance of appeasement, especially vividly reflect the combination of coaxing and reprimanding parents' hard and soft persuasion and reprimand to their children, which can be seen in families throughout the ages. process. During this period, Tiangong's attitude towards Sun Wukong (or order towards children) was still both kind and strict, with kindness as the main one. Fourth, it is a pity that Sun Wukong failed to keep his duty in this kind of soft but hard appeasement in the end.His childish nature, its unrestrained vitality, finally breaks out of the norms of order in unforgivable bounds.He messed up the sacred event of the Pantao Conference, and it was out of order. Sun Wukong, who caused a catastrophe, fled in horror. However, the severity of the damage made Tiangong unbearable, and the suppression of order began. Next is the large-scale confrontation between Monkey King and the world of order, which is Havoc in Heaven.It was the heavenly soldiers and generals who encircled and suppressed Huaguo Mountain on a large scale.It was Sun Wukong who was put into the gossip furnace to be calcined.It was after he miraculously escaped from the gossip furnace that he fought against the heavenly soldiers and generals even more frantically and unscrupulously. Just when his destructive behavior was overwhelming and seemed invincible, Buddha appeared. The Dharma is boundless──In the confrontation with the Buddha, Monkey King failed.He was subdued under the Five Elements Mountain made by Buddha's giant hands. A particularly important symbol emerges. Xitian Buddha is here a typical father symbol.There is absolutely nothing far-fetched in this symbolism, which is described in " In the structure of Journey to the West is a factor with core significance. In the book, it is written that the Buddha appeared again and again in front of Sun Wukong, including this initial appearance, all the narratives, the author's tone of voice and the reader's reading emotions are very complicated, subtle and accurately depicting the relationship between father and son in this world. relationships, fathers' complex attitudes towards their sons, and sons' complex attitudes towards their fathers. A father is majestic to his son, overlooking, calm, and unassuming.When his children make a mess of the world, his appearance also contains a father's apology for the entire environment that has been destroyed. When disciplining Monkey King, his expression, his tone of voice, and his attitude are completely paternal.He is not full of anger, nor is he completely disregarding the relationship between father and son; however, he is absolutely majestic - when he is still unable to persuade his son with reason, he has enough power to subdue him. Here, Sun Wukong's attitude towards Tathagata Buddha is also a typical example of children's attitude towards their father.Monkey King tried to challenge Tathagata Buddha, thinking that he could challenge him.However, this is just a child's whimsical fantasy.In Monkey King's challenge, all the children's natures are revealed: childish, naive, taken for granted, awe and unconvinced to their father. When the father stretched out his palm and said: Can you jump out of my palm?The father's palm is a symbol of father's authority and ability.Sun Wukong, the youngest son who thought he had boundless mana, turned somersaults for thousands of miles, thinking that he had jumped out of the palm of the Tathagata Buddha. When he complacently pissed under the giant pillar formed by Buddha's fingers, it was just a typical symbol of the son's challenge to his father: he challenged his father's rule with a child's sexual show off. The challenge rightfully failed. When Sun Wukong was still arguing endlessly in the face of failure, the father thought that the reasoning for his son had reached the limit.Facing the dissatisfaction of the entire orderly world with his son, Tathagata subdued his son in a gentle, majestic and irresistible manner.With a push of his big hand, he pushed Sun Wukong under the sky, and then turned his big hand into the Five Elements Mountain, and subdued his son there. The father's large hand embodies the totality of the father's dominion.Any reader can feel the majesty of the father, although not necessarily consciously. The attitude of many readers towards the Tathagata Buddha is the same as that of a son towards his father. They are not convinced, but they have to be convinced; they want to resist, but they are irresistible; they have hatred, but they are Not consciously expressing it.Because the father is the symbol of morality, the symbol of order, the symbol of the human world, and the symbol of all cultures. The father is the greatest antithesis, the greatest obstacle to the son's free will.Don't be obscene with this rule, don't express hostility openly, and don't even dare to face up to this hostility in your heart-maybe most readers haven't been able to really examine the hostility towards Buddha in their hearts when reading this story, but this hostility is already very deep hidden in the reader's mind. Readers will not publicly abuse the Buddha, they just have to accept the result of Sun Wukong being crushed under the Five Elements Mountain with very complicated psychology. In this story, the confrontation between Sun Wukong and Buddha is extremely profound and vividly tells the story of a son and his father.This is not conscious of the author, but also unconscious of the reader.Readers will feel the emotional ups and downs here every time they read this, feel the impulse to confront the father symbolized by Buddha, feel the impulse to reason and argue with the father symbolized by Buddha, and feel the impulse to urinate on Buddha In the hand, the pleasure of performing a genital challenge, feeling the hugeness and majesty of the father's palm. The father does not physically destroy the son.He just subdued his son under the Five Elements Mountain without any excuse.Persuasion is a means of discipline. The father ultimately hopes to force his son to accept the social order and embark on the path of order. Perhaps at this time, he has potentially arranged for his son to learn from the path in the future. These symbols are very typical and are a true portrayal of the relationship between the father and the son. This text deeply touches a person's life experience as a son. Every reader can experience his complex emotional changes in reading, see the process of confrontation between himself and his father, and at the same time find a little solution in the story. Contradictory efforts and attempts. Fifth, when Sun Wukong was crushed under the Five Elements Mountain, which was transformed into the palm of Buddha, Guanyin Bodhisattva appeared as a messenger looking for people from the east to learn Buddhist scriptures. At this time, standing in front of Monkey King is the image of a mother.We can boldly and firmly conclude that Guanyin Bodhisattva is a typical symbol of mothers.That is, when the child is being disciplined and subdued "correctly" by the father, the mother often plays an appropriate role like Guanyin. She defends her father's authority, implements his father's will, and at the same time sympathizes with her son.Her purpose is to lead her son to the path prescribed by his father. On the one hand, regarding the punishment of her son, as a mother, she knows that it is necessary to maintain the authority of the father, it is necessary to maintain the whole order, and it is also necessary for the son's future life; on the other hand, without destroying the authority of the father Under the premise of unswervingly guiding her son on the right path of life, she showed an unconcealable warmth. Whether it is a child or an adult (mainly men), when reading this text, there is a kind of kindness to Guanyin from the heart, which is a strong and warm feeling that goes deep into the heart. Any child can feel the feeling of anticipation, dependence and seeking help when facing the severe oppression of his father, and when he seeks the protection of his mother, he can find the son's attachment to his mother in such a situation from the experience. The Oedipus complex is expressed here in a very artistic and Chinese way. The image and symbol of the supreme father, the image and symbol of the empathetic mother, and their relationship with Monkey King constitute the initial structure of Monkey King from a child to life. Sixth, Sun Wukong finally accepted the arrangement of going to the Western Paradise to learn Buddhist scriptures willingly and joyfully under his father's persuasion and mandatory norms, as well as his mother's comfort and persuasion. Here, the mentality of children is symbolized very vividly. Essentially speaking, going to the west to learn Buddhist scriptures was indeed an action that had to be taken under the oppression of his father, but when Sun Wukong regained his freedom after learning a sufficient lesson, and decided to accept the norms of order to carry out the struggle of life, something unexpectedly happened. A sense of joy.This is the contradictory and real state of mind that children leave the unrestrained period of lawlessness and start to explore the road of life. Next, we meaningfully saw the story of Monkey King, Zhu Bajie, and Monk Sha jointly guarding Master Tang Seng to go to the West to learn Buddhist scriptures.Equally significant, a white dragon horse accompanies them. Let's go a step further. Although Going to the Western Paradise to learn Buddhist scriptures is a structure of five characters: Tang Seng, Zhu Bajie, Sha Monk, Monkey King, and Bailongma, however, this five-in-one structure is a complete personality symbol of the son when he embarks on the path of struggle in the orderly world.These five persons are the development of Sun Wukong during the period of Huaguo Mountain and the period of Havoc in Tiangong. These five characters are actually one character, and they are still only Monkey King. In this scripture-learning group, Tang Seng symbolizes a person's self-ethics.This is an independent existence that has nothing to do with lust, wisdom, and ability. Zhu Bajie is just an explanation of the "food and sex" that has existed in ancient China.In the process of learning scriptures, Zhu Bajie became a symbol of two major manifestations of appetite and sexual desire: one is to eat, and the other is to yearn for the opposite sex.The appearance of Zhu Bajie, on the one hand, makes people feel stupid, because appetite and sexual desire always appear stupid in life; Monkey King is a symbol of the self, especially representing a person's initiative, creativity, wisdom and ability, which is comparable to the "self" mentioned by Freud. Monk Sha is the luggage bearer in this group, symbolizing a person's physical strength and body.Monk Sha also plays a role in regulating the relationship in the group.He often adjusts the contradiction between Tang Seng and Sun Wukong (that is, moral norms and self-awareness and creativity); he often adjusts the contradiction between Monkey King and Zhu Bajie (that is, self-creativity and food-eating nature); he also often adjusts Tang Seng and Zhu Bajie (that is, moral norms). and the contradiction between lust and sexual desire). The symbolic meaning of the white dragon horse is also obvious, it is the companion of Monkey King.Human beings use animals as companions when they are young, and use real animals and toy animals as playmates. In this way, we see the new Monkey King composed of these five in one.In the process of learning scriptures, the interrelationship of the five in one reflects the contradictions and conflicts in the inner character of Sun Wukong, the son of Tathagata Buddha, in his struggle in life. Here, if we do a symbolic analysis of another important factor, it is the golden cudgel used by Monkey King. It is a symbol of male vitality, a symbol of his genitals.The so-called wishful stick can be large or small, just like the male genital atrophy and erection, and the change of wishful thinking.As for the golden cudgel that often hits various caves in the process of learning scriptures, it especially symbolizes the characteristics of the use of genitals from another angle. The golden cudgel can be carried around and hidden in the ear, which more accurately symbolizes that it is an inseparable part of Monkey King's body. Seventh, Sun Wukong and his entire personality group set off in order to learn from the Western Paradise. The background he relies on, Xitian Buddha symbolizes the father, and Guanyin Bodhisattva symbolizes the mother.Going to the West to learn the scriptures is to learn from the father—but it symbolizes taking the success of the father and the status of the father in the orderly world as the goal of life, and taking the father as an example to imitate.Heavenly Palace, Dragon Palace, Hell, and Immortal Realm just indicate different levels of the orderly world. On the long road of learning the scriptures, the symbolic meaning of all kinds of demons and ghosts that have to be faced and defeated directly becomes clearer. They are all kinds of contradictions that need to be overcome in the struggle of life: it is not only the contradiction between the subject and the object, but also the inner contradiction of the subject. . Here, the external monsters and the inner demons are everywhere, and only by defeating them can one achieve a positive result. Eighth, although the son has officially accepted the life path prescribed by his parents, he may still deviate from this path at any time.At this time, the golden hoop worn on the head and the magic spell that can control it appeared.This is the control that parents leave over their sons.It works through Tang Seng, that is, self-morality. The magic spell very typically symbolizes how the moral code of the self conveys the binding force of the orderly world represented by the father.When the son tends to deviate slightly from the correct life path, the magic spell will take effect. Its effect is achieved by a typical incantation, fully showing that all constraints are in fact linguistic. Ninth, in the process of learning scriptures, we see Monkey King fighting wits and courage against the entire objective environment, making full use of his vitality and using his golden cudgel.The process of defeating demons and demons symbolizes a person's journey of overcoming all kinds of difficulties and dangers in life. Internally, he has to constantly fight with the lustful nature symbolized by Zhu Bajie; he also has to fight with the oppressive moral code symbolized by Tang Seng. When fighting against Zhu Bajie, the representative of the nature of food and sex, he can show some kind of ridicule, some kind of teasing, some kind of lightness, and some kind of wisdom, just like when people communicate with their own desires and adjust their own desires. manner.People often use teasing and ridiculing attitudes to mock and suppress desires. When fighting against Tang Seng, that is, the self-ethical norms, there are various methods.The most common method is persuasion, persuasion.Sun Wukong constantly plays the role of persuading and coaxing Tang Seng.This just reflects that when people's self-behavior conflicts with moral constraints, they often have to persuade themselves and persuade themselves so that their own moral norms can pass. However, the way to resolve conflicts is often not to persuade the moral norms, but to have to accept the constraints of the moral norms.The magic spell will work as soon as you say it, and the process of accepting the norms is very painful.The conflict between Monkey King and Tang Seng is often fierce. When Monkey King was driven back to Huaguo Mountain by Tang Seng and expelled from his apprenticeship, we saw the pain and grievance of Monkey King.Many children couldn't help shedding tears every time they read this book. However, leaving the path of learning scriptures and returning to Huaguo Mountain where he used to play freely, without moral self-regulation, and no longer pursuing the perfection and progress of his personality, Monkey King is happy on the one hand, but deeply disturbed on the other hand.When Zhu Bajie came to summon Sun Wukong to rescue Tang Seng in distress, although he pretended to be reserved and didn't seem to care, he couldn't let go of his strong concern for Master in his heart.Here, the heart of return is the mainstream. This fully symbolizes that once a person embarks on the path of accepting order and striving for progress in life, he cannot extricate himself from a strong melody.No matter how tempting childlike freedom is, any realistic person cannot do without the pursuit of utilitarianism in life, the pursuit of success and the pursuit of moral perfection on the road of order. Therefore, Sun Wukong can only resolutely return to the road of learning scriptures after the fragments of leaving his own moral code are over. Ten, Sun Wukong's fighting spirit not only inspires people, but also inspires people to solve such or such problems that may be encountered in life. That is to solve the contradiction with the object, and at the same time solve the contradiction of the inner conflict. Eleven, at many critical moments on the road of learning scriptures, Sun Wukong often received the care of Guanyin Bodhisattva, which is the care that sons often receive from their mothers on the road of progress in life. In the process of taking care of Sun Wukong to learn scriptures, Guanyin vividly and accurately showed the image of a mother: mother The mother is tolerant and loving to her son. We also often see Monkey King teasing Guanyin Bodhisattva with naughty words, but it shows that the son can tease and be intimate with the mother appropriately, and once again conveys the son's deep feelings for the mother. Twelve, however, at the most difficult moment on the way to learn the scriptures, Monkey King relied on his father's strength. At one point the Monkey King was inseparable from the real and the fake, and this inseparability meant that Sun Wukong was sometimes lost, hard to find his true self, hard to truly prove himself, relying on the strength of his father at this moment. This symbolizes that when encountering the greatest crisis in life, the rescuer can only be a strict and kind father. The Tathagata is the typical father figure, which is consistently carried through in this myth. Thirteenth, in the life path of learning the scriptures, in the whole process of struggle, we see that the relationship between the son and the social order has gradually changed. When he was a child, he ignored order, resisted order, and destroyed order. Now, he began to rely on the assistance of order, relying on the power of order formed by the Tiangong Immortal Realm. From this we can see a very interesting logic, Sun Wukong was a very naughty and destructive child in his childhood. Once he accepted order, everyone (the Immortal Realm) feared and liked him at the same time.And after he grew up, he still kept a kind of ridicule of order, in order to maintain the self-esteem after accepting order's recruitment. In fact, this also very profoundly solves the contradictions in a person's life, that is, since childhood, he yearned for freedom and hoped to deny all order, but in the end he had to accept the constraints of order.On the one hand, there are unfettered requirements in reality, and on the other hand, they have to rely on the power of order frequently.This is a deep inner conflict, which often tortures a person's self-esteem. Then, he not only accepted the help of Order, but also ridiculed Order.In this way, the contradiction is resolved, so that readers get a psychological satisfaction. Fourteenth, we also see that many demons come from the heavenly palace and the people or animals in the lower realm of the gods and Buddhas. These monsters are actually rebels against order, and they are essentially the same as Monkey King in childhood, but they become enemies after Monkey King surrendered to order.Because they blocked his progress, because they were still tempting his will, they became the objects that Sun Wukong needed to defeat. Fifteen, Sun Wukong constantly borrowed various magic weapons from the fairy world on the way to defeat the demons and demons, which very cleverly symbolizes the continuous absorption of various technological achievements of society in the struggle of life. The magic weapon is a symbol of human technology.In Chinese myths and stories, all kinds of magic weapons are fantasy objects for human beings to conquer the natural world. Sixteen, we also saw that various banshees kept appearing on the way to learn scriptures. They first conquer Zhu Bajie, that is, the stimulation and seduction of the sexual desire instinct, and the reaction they arouse is time-tested.Human desire is always so vivid, direct and irresistible in the face of temptation. The fortress that these temptations will eventually break through is the self-moral code symbolized by Tang Seng. Here, a person's personality structure is displayed particularly clearly. The self symbolized by Sun Wukong must, through his tenacious efforts, wits and courage, not only restrain the lust symbolized by Zhu Bajie, but also protect the moral system symbolized by Tang Seng, so as to ensure the perfect innocence of self-morality and not be polluted. Seventeen, the road to learning the scriptures has gone through eighty-one difficulties, and finally came to fruition, but it shows that the son has finally obtained the approval of his father, which is the life goal that many people hope to achieve. Many a son spends his life looking at his father as a potential enemy, yet craving his father's acknowledgment throughout his life.This is a very profound truth. Make people solve this contradiction in fantasy. The ending of Sun Wukong means that the son has obtained the approval of the whole society represented by his father, that is, he has obtained social status, achieved success, achieved a perfect moral image, and achieved the consummation of the realm of life.Tathagata Buddha affirmed Sun Wukong's efforts on the long journey of learning Buddhist scriptures, and after giving a full evaluation, Sun Wukong obtained a positive result, and its symbolic meaning is naturally very clear. Eighteen, in the end, it is a happy ending, a successful ending in life, a successful ending after learning from the scriptures, a triumphant ending of overcoming all difficulties and dangers, and a comedy ending. However, whether it is a child or an adult reader, after this ending, there is a general, indescribable, unconscious but very profound sense of loss and emptiness.This feeling permeated my heart for a long time, and the lingering sound curled up. If we analyze this sense of loss and emptiness, then we can see: First, the lawless childhood has been lost since the beginning of learning scriptures, and the success of learning scriptures means a more complete loss.Few people notice this, but every reader accepts the emotional impact of that fact. Second, the son's success was finally recognized and accepted by the father.Through his own efforts, the son finally proved himself to be a good boy in front of his father.However, the latent resistance and hostility towards his father was completely suppressed, and there was no chance to show it, and it was impossible to cause trouble in the heavenly palace again. This potential fact is unconscious to people, but it deeply affects every reader.The emotional response it provoked was also very strong. Thirdly, since then, the relationship between the son and his mother has changed. He has become a Buddha himself, equal to Guanyin Bodhisattva. When a son succeeds, gains social status, and completes his moral image, it will be difficult to get the maternal love he had when he was a child.This also permeates the reader's mind in a very subtle and powerful way. Fourth, if you succeed in life and experience the hardships of struggle, it seems that you can enjoy peace and perfection forever.However, because there is no suffering, no struggle, no twists and turns of the story of fighting against demons, and no such stimulation, I am both detached and empty. Every reader will be at the end of the book, shrouded in the sense of nothingness brought about by success. Fifth, the lovable, kind, and inseparable nature of food and sex represented by Zhu Bajie has also been sublimated and suppressed in the successful progress of life. Zhu Bajie was named the envoy of the altar, but it only shows that after success, he can still have a dignified and elegant diet.In addition, the primitive, vulgar, impulsive and foolishly fun desire instinct was eliminated. As long as you analyze the readers' reading emotions, you will understand that what really makes them melancholy is not leaving Tang Seng, and it doesn't matter if there is no monk Sha, but leaving the two characters Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie. In the world without Monkey King, it makes people feel sad, and without Zhu Bajie, it also makes people feel lost. Leaving Sun Wukong symbolizes leaving the struggle of life.Leaving Zhu Bajie symbolizes leaving the lively, cute, simple and interesting desire. Sixth, the real meaning of life is to wrestle with the object, whether it is a childish havoc or an adult struggle.When the struggle is over, the meaning is gone. Seventh, Sun Wukong's becoming a Buddha means that the son has reached the state of his father and the social status his father has achieved, and it also means that he will play the role of father. This outcome will have the same shock for children and youth who do not become fathers, and for adults who have become fathers. On the one hand, success; on the other hand, loss.On the one hand, the acquisition of fatherhood; on the other, the loss of childhood and adolescence. is one of the best fairy tales in the world.It is the true outpouring of the subconscious mind.It allows us to see the fate of the whole person. It is in that we see a complete picture: We have seen how children grow from infancy; The initial restraints of childhood when he refused to accept appeasement and had to be appeased; saw the son's very complex, comprehensive, and profound attitude system towards his father; saw the son's deep, subtle, and overall attitude system towards his mother . We see a person's relationship to the whole order, to the whole culture, and to the infinite spans between two extreme attitudes toward culture—absolute opposition and total acceptance. We see how, under the majesty of the father, under the oppression of the whole order that the father represents, a person accepts the path prescribed by order and culture. We see how the mother is not only an "accomplice" to the father's authority, but also a factor that alleviates the conflict between father and son, and at the same time, embodies special emotions for the son. We see how a person overcomes lust in life, how he has a lingering intimacy with lust, and how he feels lost when he finally loses it. We see how a person struggles with moral norms in life while simultaneously cultivating himself into an image of moral perfection. We see the double difficulty of a man's struggle against external difficulties and against his own demons. 我们看到了人在成长中不得不依靠母亲，在人生的重大关口又不得不依靠父亲的人生现象。 我们看到了人怎样在一生中一方面怀着对父亲的深刻敌意，另一方面，最终还企图向父亲而不是向母亲证明自己的强烈倾向。 摆在我们面前的是一系列有关人生的象征，这些象征在幻想中解决了人生的各种问题： 它歌颂了一生奋斗的英雄主义；歌颂了智勇双全的完整人格；歌颂了一个人在复杂的秩序世界中取得人生成功的努力；歌颂了一个人处理自己和秩序世界的关系的智慧；歌颂了一个人处理好自己与父亲、母亲复杂关系的成熟；歌颂了一个人在性与生殖方面的生命力──用金箍棒打遍天下。 这些都极为有力地满足了人们解决人生中遇到的各种矛盾的强烈愿望。 包括如何解决被强烈压抑的对父亲的对抗情绪，都用曲折巧妙的方式使人们得到完美的满足：既抗争了父亲，又取得了父亲的承认。这真是人生中难以两全的满足。 我们不能不说在这个象征层面上取得了成功。 此外，我们还看到一个更加深刻的层面。 故事以儿子得到父亲的承认──孙悟空得到正果被封佛而结束，正是在这个圆满的结局下面，我们看到了那个笼罩着读者心灵的失落感和虚无感。通过隐蔽的情绪结论，全书表达了一个与之歌颂人生英雄主义奋斗的象征层面完全相反的结论，那就是对奋斗的英雄主义人生的彻底否定。 取经的过程是接受秩序取得父亲认可的象征，这是作者并不自觉的；而这种对整个人生进取的否定，则是作者更不自觉的。 然而，只要稍一回想，读者就能感受到那个失落、无奈与空虚的情绪。没有人在情绪上对这种人生的归宿感到真正满意。 一方面歌颂了孙悟空在被迫的规范下进行的智勇双全的努力，他的每一步奋斗都象征着这种努力，故事的每一个情节都歌颂着这种努力；然而，另一方面，故事的结尾以潜在的情绪影响宣布了相反的纲领：批判和否定孙悟空的一生。 通过这个整体的否定，解决了人类的一个基本矛盾。 人不得不接受秩序，不得不接受父亲的权威，不得不接受文化的规范，不得不按照社会的种种规定努力，人一生都在这种努力之中；然而，人一生又都在反对这种规范，反对这种努力。 完美地解决了人类如此深刻的矛盾──既欣赏自己人生中每一阶段的奋斗；同时又从心底里吐出一口闷气，以此表现对不得不接受秩序规范的反抗。