"Journey to the West", one of the four classical masterpieces in China, tells the story of the Tang monks and disciples who traveled west to learn the scriptures, descended demons and demons along the way, experienced hardships, and finally reached the Western Heavens after 9981 difficulties, met Rulai, and obtained the true scriptures.
It depicts dozens of stories with Sun Wukong as the main force and the demon Voldemort.
For these demons and ghosts, as well as the deeds of Sun Dasheng's demon, I think everyone is already familiar with it.
Among the many demons, the Bull Demon King and his family are the most typical and special.
First of all, most of the demon-descending stories in "Journey to the West" are complete and independent, and the demons involved are rarely mentioned in other retrospectives.
However, the Bull Demon King family is a special case, and each member of it has a special chapter in the book, which is closely related to each other, echoing back and forth, and runs through most of the "Journey to the West".
Members of this family include:
The Bull Demon King and his wife, Princess Iron Fan,
Ox-Devil King's concubine, Princess Jade-faced (Jade-faced Fox),
Red Child, son of the Bull Demon King,
The Bull Demon King's brother Ruyi Zhenxian,
The Bull Demon King's friend of the Ten Thousand Saints Dragon King Family, he has a fierce horse nine-headed worm.
Secondly, in the ninety-nine eighty-one difficulties experienced by the Tang monks and disciples, the Bull Demon King family had "contracted" ten difficulties, and the weight of the weight was evident.
The ten difficulties are:
Related to the Red Child, "Twenty-Eight Difficulties of the Horn Mountain", "Twenty-Nine Difficulties of the Wind-Shooting Holy Monk", "Thirty Difficulties of the Heart Ape", "Thirty-one Difficulties of Asking the Holy Demon to Descend";
Related to the Bull Demon King and the Iron Fan Princess, "Forty-Seven Difficulties of Blocking the Flame Mountain", "Forty-Eight Difficulties of Seeking the Banana Fan", and "Forty-Nine Difficulties of Binding the Demon King";
The "Forty-two Difficulties of Draught Poisoning" related to Ruyi Zhenxian;
Related to the Dragon King of All Saints and the Nine-Headed Worm, "Fifty Difficulties of Sweeping the Tower of Saicheng" and "Fifty-one Difficulties of Taking Treasure and Saving Monks".
Third, these demons also have one thing in common, that is, they are all "evil forces" who act as a blessing for the evil side.
From the Horn Mountain and the Western Liang Female Kingdom to the Flame Mountain and the Sacrifice Kingdom, the Bull Demon King Family formed a huge network of forces.
The Bull Demon King was originally Sun Wukong's brother-in-law when he was king at Huaguo Mountain, and was the head of the "Seven Saints". Later, he established a family, married his wife and had children, took concubines and made friends, and dominated one side.
The first to appear on the way to the scriptures is the Son of the Bull Demon King and the Iron Fan Princess, the Red Child, nicknamed the Holy Infant King. The Bull Demon King sent him to guard the horn mountain and live in the Fire Cloud Cave of the Dry Pine Stream.
He suppressed the mountain gods and the land, leaving them unclothed and hungry one by one, and even forcing the gods to burn fires and doors for him, raise bells and drink trumpets, causing public indignation.
Although princess Tiefan, the wife of the Bull Demon King, is a virtuous fairy, she also uses a magical banana fan to be a powerful party.
The Flame Mountain is extremely hot all year round, and the local people need to make a good offering to pray to her in order to grow grain to feed them, and use the banana fan to "extinguish the fire, two fans to produce wind, and three to rain", in order to spread seeds and harvest, otherwise there will be no grass.
Ruyi Zhenxian, the brother of the Bull Devil King, took a few apprentices and occupied the fountain in the cave of the Broken Child in the Xieyang Mountain in the south of his daughter Guozheng, blackmailing the people, "but those who want water need to pay a red table, a plate of sheep wine and fruit, and dedication, and only ask him for a bowl of water."
Related to the Bull Demon King Family, there is also his good friend, the Ten Thousand Saints Dragon King Family of the Chaoshi Mountain. He had a fierce son-in-law, the Nine-Headed Worm, who stole the National Treasure Buddha Beads from the Pagoda of the Golden Light Temple of the Sai Kingdom, causing an unprecedented injustice to the monks of the country.
Sun Wukong was very dissatisfied with the Bull Demon King's making such friends: "It turns out that he befriended this gang of demons and specialized in bad things." ”
These demons and ghosts clashed with Tang monks and disciples, especially Sun Wukong, and were eventually defeated or surrendered.
Interestingly, whether it was the Bull Demon King Family or the Ten Thousand Saints Dragon King Family, the "main criminal" saved his life——
The red child was ambushed by Guanyin Bodhisattva, became a boy of good fortune, and was honored to the immortal throne; although the Bull Demon King and Ruyi True Immortal were defeated, they all left a life; the Iron Fan Princess also took back the treasure fan, practiced in anonymity, and later obtained the right results.
Even the fierce and cunning Nine-Headed Worm was only bitten off by the Erlang God's Wheezing Heavenly Dog, and then fled to the North Sea in a hurry, disappearing without a trace.
And some relatively minor characters in the "criminal and evil forces" have a very tragic ending-
The Bull Devil King's concubine, the Jade Faced Fox, actually did not do any evil, but was finally killed by the Pig Eight Commandments and a Palladium, becoming the only one in the Bull Devil King's family who lost his life;
The Ten Thousand Saints Dragon King family was even more miserable, because of their participation in the theft of the Buddha's treasure, which led to the disaster of extinction: the Dragon King, the Princess of All Saints and the Dragon Son Dragon Grandson were killed, and the chaotic rock mountain and the blue wave pool were bulldozed; only the Ten Thousand Saints Dragon Lady asked for "unknowingly", but had to live, was escorted to the sacrificial country, wore a pipa bone, and watched the tower forever.
The "main offender" was able to save his life and even ended happily; while the "accessory" ended up with a tragic death -- I wonder why the author of "Journey to the West" arranged it this way?
What do you think about that? Welcome to leave a message to express your opinion!
-Ends-
【If you think it is good, welcome to like and pay attention to us, code words are not easy, thank you for your support!】 】
Related Reading:
In the "Journey to the West", why did you "copy" the words of Yuan Shi Tianzun?