Chapter 35 postscript

creative talk When I was writing the "Chinese Classics of Five Thousand Years of Culture" series, when I wrote the Buddhist volume and the figure volume, I was deeply shocked by Xuanzang's will and perseverance, and thus the idea of ​​writing about this historical figure sprouted.Xuanzang is a great man. To be honest, it is unprecedented in ancient and modern times that a Chinese can receive such high reverence at home and abroad. Even the emperor cannot compare with him.In particular, his iron bones, hatred and patriotism are really precious qualities of the Chinese nation from ancient times.

The prototype of the Tang monk in the book is Xuanzang, which is fair.However, in this mythological novel, the protagonist is Sun Wukong, and Xuanzang is just a contrast to Sun Wukong.That Tang Monk was a timid person who could not distinguish between good and evil, which was very different from the real Xuanzang. Therefore, it can be said that Xuanzang in the novel is the Tang monk who has been vilified and distorted.Therefore, it is my historical mission to write this book to restore Xuanzang's true colors and to truly and artistically reproduce this great historical figure. When I wrote the volume on Buddhism, I did in-depth research on Buddhist theories, Buddhist classics, and Buddhist figures, which naturally laid the foundation for the writing of this book.

In this book, Tang Monk Xuanzang's study of Buddhist scriptures has surpassed Xuanzang himself, the Buddhist world, and the national border. It has become a symbol of perseverance, the spirit of the Chinese nation, and a model for mankind.It is my purpose to write this book to show the spirit of the Chinese nation to the world through outstanding characters. The protagonist of this book is Xuanzang, and the success of this character is related to the success or failure of the whole book, so I put a lot of effort into the portrayal of Xuanzang. First of all, Xuanzang is a Buddhist scholar, but at the same time he is a man of flesh and blood, so I want to show his transcendence as well as his flesh and blood.For example, his longing for his parents and brothers, his gratitude to his mentor, and his love for his disciples are all human, even monks are no exception.

Although Xuanzang was born, he was not all empty, but a man with great achievements.For example, despite all kinds of difficulties and dangers, he went to the Western Regions to learn Buddhist scriptures, studied hard in the Western Regions for more than ten years, and translated the scriptures day and night after returning to China, all of which showed that he was a man of action, so that Tang Taizong persuaded him several times to return to secular life and enter politics. Xuanzang is still a man of love and righteousness.For example, he could have taken the sea route when he returned to China, but in order to repay the care of King Gaochang for him when he came, he decided to go the same way.

As a result, he suffered enough on the way back. Xuanzang is also a man of courage and strategy.In the novel, Tang Monk learns Buddhist scriptures with Sun Wukong in the front, followed by Drifting Monk and Zhu Bajie, but the real Xuanzang learns Buddhist scriptures alone. The difficulties and obstacles can be imagined, but he is not afraid.In the novel, Tang Seng was scared and hid behind Monkey King tremblingly when he was in danger, but the real Tang Seng stood up and fought against the evil righteously.For example, when he was about to kill innocent merchants more than once, he stood up bravely and saved everyone wisely.For example, when a Persian woman was bullied, he repelled the villain with justice and sternness.For example, he sighed that Tang Taizong conquered Korea, which showed his sense of justice.

In particular, Xuanzang is still a patriotic person.For example, there was not a single day in India where he was not eager to return to his motherland as soon as possible.In addition to learning Buddhist scriptures in the Western Regions, he also paid special attention to the politics, history, customs, folk customs, products, and military affairs of the Western Regions... After returning to China, he wrote "Da Tang Western Regions", which became a precious material for the Tang Dynasty to learn from West Asia and Central Asia. And it is known as the first-hand material for preserving the history of India, Nepal and Central Asia.

He was greeted at the head of state level in India and other countries in the Western Regions, but he was always courteous and courteous, establishing a good Chinese image in front of foreigners. There are three other things that Xuanzang shines the most: First, King Gaochang begged him to stay, but he went on a hunger strike for seven days to protest.One is that the King of India Harmony asked him to stay, but he politely declined.The third is that Tang Taizong persuaded him to return to politics and accompany him to the expedition, but he also declined.These three things are enough to make him flourish and benefit him for a lifetime.However, he flatly refused.These are enough to show that he does not seek fame and wealth, and does not seek glory and wealth, which fully demonstrates his greatness.

Xuanzang was extraordinary in appearance and knowledgeable, so it was inevitable that he would be loved by women.But Xuanzang never hurt their white statues, but declined them politely, which not only maintained the dignity of Buddhism, but also reflected his noble personality. In a word, the image of Tang Monk Xuanzang learning Buddhist scriptures in this book has surpassed himself, the world of Buddhism, and national boundaries, and has become a spirit recognized by people in China, India, Asia and the world.Xuanzang's study of scriptures is like the ancient "kuafu chasing the sun" symbolizing a kind of perseverance of the Chinese nation.

This book endows Tang Monk Xuanzang with a human touch, thus making the image of Xuanzang vivid, so that people can feel that this Buddhist master is not a clay sculpture like ordinary people, but a person with flesh and blood.Because Xuanzang's strength of character is highlighted and his temperament is sublimated, the shaping of this character image is also successful. The plot is the trajectory of the characters' activities, and the main function of the plot is to show the personality of the characters through the plot.A typical plot is a necessary condition for shaping a typical character.The opening chapter of this book shows the hardships and extraordinary will of Xuanzang's journey to the west with the typical plot of escape from death, which is closely related to the title of the book.And because the suspense is set at the beginning of the chapter, the dangers are everywhere and the readers' hearts are firmly grasped. This is why the stories in this book are "exciting", and it is also one of the artistic techniques of the book.

Thrills and turning dangers into safety are the main plots of this book, as well as the real experience of Xuanzang's journey to the west.The storylines in this book are all artistic processing based on the truth, not the author's fabrication, because only the truth can prove his greatness, and if it is fiction, it will be of little value. However, because this book is a historical novel rather than a biography, it gave me a certain virtual space, that is, it gave me the mission of typicalizing and artisticizing it. Therefore, in order to enhance the readability, I followed the principle of studying history but not muddling it, and under the premise of not violating the laws of history and not damaging the personalities of the characters, I made appropriate virtualizations of small characters and small things. The main characters stay absolutely true.This is not only a respect for historical figures, but also a respect for readers.

Of course, although historical novels have given a certain amount of virtual space, we must grasp the degree of virtual reality.The purpose of fiction is to enhance the artistry and appeal of the work, while real writing is to reproduce the real style of historical figures. Only by grasping the degree of the two is the perfect unity of historical reality and artistic reality, which will be accepted by readers.Of course, this is much more difficult than fabricating it out of thin air, but this principle must be adhered to. This is the law of historical novel creation, that is, the literariness of historical novels. The scene is the stage on which the characters of the novel act.The typical environment plays an important role in setting off the typicalization of the characters.When I wrote this book, I paid great attention to the scene, because almost all of Xuanzang's near-deaths on the way to the west were related to the dangerous environment, so typicalizing the typical environment naturally became a key point in writing this book well. In particular, the environment has a great effect on the display of the character's personality, so in the book, I focus on the endless desert, the iceberg with sword peaks, the swamp covered with dark rivers, the iron gates on the cliffs, and the dense forest that blocks the sun. Renders were made, and of course these had to be real.On the one hand, "The Biography of the Great Merciful Master Sanzang" is written in classical Chinese, so the scene description is limited, which requires me to add description. The purpose of the scene description is to exaggerate the atmosphere. Ruqu Nucheng is an occasion to reproduce Xuanzang's profound knowledge and wit.So I focused on showing the atmosphere of the venue, including the magnificence of the scene, the lineup of people attending the debate, and the duration of the debate, etc., in order to fully reflect the wisdom of this Buddhist scholar that no one dared to refute during the 18-day debate.For another example, after the debate, Xuanzang sat on an elephant for a grand pilgrimage, and the 18th king of India, including the King of the Sun, sent Xuanzang farewell. The scene when Xuanzang returned to Chang'an caused a sensation in the city and the completion ceremony of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The funeral for Xuanzang... was a sensational event at that time. I have made artistic renderings of these big scenes under the real premise, so as to reproduce the mountain scenery of this thousand-year-old man. I spent 20 years writing historical and cultural series in Peking University Library and Beijing Library, which laid the foundation for me to write historical novels, so I have actually prepared for 20 years to write these ten historical novels.Especially when I was writing "China's Five Thousand Years of Literary Classics", I spent a lot of time doing serious research on the writing art of various novels in ancient and modern China and abroad, which created conditions for my novel writing style. My ultimate goal is to write good novels. I want to prove a truth, that is, when literature, history, philosophy and medicine are mastered, they will reach a higher level, and the novels I write must be extraordinary. The last thing I want to say is that when I write this novel, I don’t want people to believe in Buddha, and I don’t believe in Buddha myself. I just want to learn his spirit. In addition, let me introduce the history of India related to Xuanzang: The ancient history and culture of India can be roughly divided into six periods.That is, the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, the period of the Maurya Dynasty, the period of the Gupta Dynasty, the period of the Jieri Dynasty, the period after the Jieri Dynasty and the period of the Mughal Dynasty: First, from the seventh century BC to the second century BC.This period is the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, and it was the birthing period of Indian Buddhist culture. At this time, a great figure - Sakyamuni (2,500 years ago) appeared.He practiced under the bodhi tree for seven days and seven nights, and finally realized the Four Noble Truths, thus establishing Buddhism.Sakyamuni's Buddhism is opposed to Brahmanism. It opposes Brahman's creation theory of Brahman with dependent origin, opposes Brahman's caste superstition with equality of all beings, and opposes Brahman's "brahman and I are one" with selflessness.This established the position of Buddhism in India and made Buddhism the core of ancient history and culture.At this time, it is equivalent to the Spring and Autumn Period in our country.The famous Indian poetry anthology - "Veda" originated from this period. Second, the Ashoka period, 320-185 BC.This period of Indian history is known as the Maurya Dynasty. Tianzhu has a hero - Ashoka.He unified the sixteen countries, made the northern state of India realize the first unification, and once appeared strong and prosperous.Because of Ashoka's respect for Buddhism, Buddhism flourished in northern India.India was then divided again. Thirdly, the Gupta Dynasty period, 185-320 BC. This period experienced the collapse of the Mauryan Dynasty, India fell into division again, and the Gupta Dynasty in the Magadha area unified India, thus entering the period of India’s first feudal dynasty .Monk Faxian visited Tianzhu during this period. Fourth, during the period of King Jieri, from 320 to 700 A.D., there was a second unification of India at this time, and the culture was unprecedentedly developed. The two epics of India - "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana" It was written in this period.But the struggle between Buddhism and Brahmanism was more intense.Afterwards, India fell into division again. In the sixth century, an outstanding king named King Jiri came out. He unified India for the third time and made Indian culture flourish again.King Jieri highly admired Mahayana Buddhism, and the struggle between Mahayana and Mahayana Buddhism was fierce at that time. It was during this period that Xuanzang sought the Dharma in India.The arrival of Xuanzang and the strong support of King Jieri brought Buddhism in India to an unprecedented prosperity. Fifth, the period after the Jieri Dynasty, from 700 to 1500 AD, after the death of King Jieri, ministers usurped the throne, India was in chaos, small countries were established, and India fell into division for a long time; neighboring countries in the north invaded, and Indian culture, including Buddhist temple buildings, were brutally destroyed . Sixth, during the Mughal Dynasty, from 1500 to 1800 AD, Babur, a descendant of the Mongolian Turkic tribe, invaded India and established the Mughal Dynasty before India was reunified.When Europeans invaded in the eighteenth century, India became a British colony.India declared independence in the 1850s. Xuanzang made outstanding contributions to the development of Indian Buddhism and the prosperity of culture. In addition, it should be explained that, for the sake of the structure of the novel, some changes have been made to Xuanzang's pilgrimage to the Buddhist sites in India, and some deletions have been made, which are hereby explained. Finally, please let me express my heartfelt thanks to all the staff, leaders and editor-in-chief Xi Yaohua of China Federation of Literary and Art Publishing House for their strong support for the publication of my historical novels "Eternal Series". Mr. Zhou Wanchun, thank them for their strong support and hard work.