Sacredness and Satire:The Style Formation of the Novel Journey to the West Based on an Analysis of"Sutra without Words"
The"sutra without words"appears in the ninety-eighth chapter of the hundred-chapter edition of the novel Journey to the West.This term is not fictionalized by the author but is the absorption and processing of ready-made knowledge by the novel.The term"sutra without words"evolved from Buddhism and has later been widely adopted by the discourse system of folk religions.It was not only closely related to the thought of Zen Buddhism that does not establish words and transmits the mind through the heart;but also was influenced by the thought of Taoist inner alchemy.Since the middle of the Ming dynasty,the story of Journey to the West has gradually become popular among folk religions and has been in a concomitant state with the"sutra without words".There are mainly three manifestations:the"sutra without words"compiled into the same inheritance pedigree as the story of Journey to the West;the"sutra without words"that is the same religious metaphor as the story of Journey to the West;and the"sutra without words"as an organic part of the story of seeking scriptures in Journey to the West.All these prove the deep entanglement between the"sutra without words"and the story of Journey to the West.From one aspect,it can also be seen that the appearance of the"sutra without words"in the hundred-chapter edition of Journey to the West is the result of religious factors infiltrating literary narration at a certain stage of the story's circulation.Of course,the humorous and jocular aesthetic taste of the author who finalized Journey to the West has dispelled and demystified the religious sanctity of the story,making it an excellent novel of gods and demons.
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