On the way to the Western Heavens to learn the scriptures, Tang Monks and disciples encountered a lot of monsters, not counting the cave monsters and the mountain spirit monsters, just the big monsters with names, there were forty or fifty of them. And these monsters can be roughly divided into two categories from the perspective of ending, one is killed, and the other is not killed.
Some people say that this is Wu Cheng'en's use to satirize the Buddhist family (or Taoism, or The Buddhist Taoist family), whose mounts or children, even if they eat countless people, will be brought back safely. Those wild monsters who had cultivated themselves into essences were all killed by Goku.
Some people say that this is the author writing about real society through mythology. Because if the yokai have a backstage, they will not be killed; and the yokai without a backstage will be killed.
Personally, I don't think that the journey to the west is a satire on the Buddhist tao, because the book says that "the three religions are one" and "the three religions are one." In che chi kingdom, Sun Wukong also said to the king, "I hope you will unify the three religions, respect the monks, respect the Tao, and also raise talents." This should be the author's philosophy.
In addition, the ending of the monster is not necessarily related to the background.
For example, the Bull Demon King, his younger brother Ruyi Daxian, his son Red Child, his wife Princess Iron Fan, as well as the Black Bear Essence and centipede essence, etc., have no backstage, but they have not been killed. The Scorpion Spirits, including the Golden Horn and the Silver Horn, were also killed by Goku, but Lao Jun later resurrected them.
If so, why are some yokai not killed, and some yokai are killed? What does their life and death have to do with it?
I have a lot of books on the journey to the west, including the research of famous artists, such as Zhao Yulong's "Cross-text Study of the Journey to the West Story", Cai Tieying's "The Birth of journey to the West", Ma Kuangyuan's "Journey to the West Examination", Li Tianfei's "Journey to the West That Never Expected to Be Read Like This", etc.; as well as the stories of the Journey to the West before the Ming Dynasty, such as the Yuan miscellaneous drama Journey to the West, "The Poetry of the Three Tibetan Classics of the Tang Dynasty", etc.
Based on these research materials, I think that the life and death of yokai is related to the culture of the journey to the west, the meaning, and the personal ability of yokai.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > First: Why can't some monsters be killed? </h1>
For example, the red child, he has no backstage, and has been subdued by Guanyin Bodhisattva, but Goku did not kill him, and Guanyin Bodhisattva did not execute him. Princess Iron Fan is also, although basho fans have been taken away and deceived Goku several times, but Goku did not kill him.
This is because the prototype of the red child is the love child of the devil's mother, also known as the love of the slave child, the fire child, and one of the archetypal characters of the iron fan princess is the devil's mother.
Yokai Culture
Tang Dynasty Buddhist texts record that the devil's mother had 500 sons, the youngest of whom was called Ai'er. Later, the devil's mother became black and liked to eat children, sometimes even pregnant women. The Buddha grabbed Ai'er and held her in a bowl. The devil's mother came with a monster to take it, but she was no match for the Buddha, and after the Buddha preached, she obeyed.
By the time of the Ming Dynasty, there were also portraits of the devil's mother and Ai'er, and there were also many people offering them. The great painter Qiu Ying even painted "Unveiling the Bowl", which depicts the story of the ghost mother who summoned a group of ghosts and monsters to forcibly uncover the Buddha's bowl and rescue Ai'er.
Just because the devil's mother and ai'er are still worshipping, their evolutionary figures naturally cannot be killed.
Another point is that the mother and son are very capable, the red child has high martial arts, can be three true fire, and the iron fan princess has a banana fan, so the first consideration of the Buddhist family is to incorporate. The return of the Iron Fan Princess and the Red Child to the Buddhist family is equivalent to the return of the devil's mother and Ai'er to the Buddhist family.
Similarly, there are roc birds, green lions, white elephant spirits, Chang'e's jade rabbits, and white deer of Shouxing, these animals have long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, if the author writes that they were killed, wouldn't it be very unpopular?
The same is true of the mouse spirit, which is with Li Jingnezha.
In the Tang Dynasty, he worshipped King Vishamon and later evolved into Li Jing. In the "Vishamen Ritual Rules", Dashi and other five kingdoms besieged Anxi City, and Tang Xuanzong interceded with the King of Vishamen for help, and the Heavenly King had a golden rat under his command, and he made a lot of efforts. And the white rat in the journey to the west is the golden nose.
The carp essence of Guanyin is also the same, and the fish basket Kannon has always been a painting of the bodhisattva worshippers by folk people, and the carp is an important role. That being the case, nature cannot be killed.
Monster meaning
As for the Bull Demon King, he is actually a heart ape, and like Sun Wukong, he will change seventy-two, using a stick as a weapon, he symbolizes the heart of the Buddha, so he must be returned to the Buddha's family. In this way, naturally, the Bull Demon King could not be killed.
The Bull Demon King's true body is the Great White Bull, which means the success of cultivation. Because the Buddhists use the white bull as a metaphor for the mind, the famous "Ten Bull Diagrams" is the process from the black bull to the white bull, which is also a figurative practice.
The red child, in fact, he himself means that the cultivation has taken a crooked road, there is an evil fire in the heart, and it has formed an evil fetus, so it is necessary to go to the evil fire and evil fetus and make it embark on the right path, so that it can be successful in cultivation. He will have three true fires, and that's why.
Monsters are in trouble
There are also some demons that are originally for Tang monks and apprentices, and people have come to help with tasks. When he subdued the boy with the yellow eyebrows, Maitreya Buddha said such a thing.
Maitreya said, "First, I am not careful and have lost the population, and the other is that your masters and disciples have not yet completed their magic obstacles, so the lark netherworld should suffer." I'm here to take him with you. ”
The golden horn and the silver horn are also, it was Guanyin Bodhisattva who asked Lao Jun to borrow it three times, and they only went down to the nether realm as a demon, and they were difficult for Tang monks and apprentices. Lao Jun himself said this.
Since people are here to help, they naturally can't be killed.
In fact, many times, the monkey does not know whether the monster has a backstage, and if he can kill him, he will also die.
For example, the Golden Horn and the Silver Horn, Goku killed them. There are also Guanyin's Golden Retriever Roar, Shouxing's White Deer Taiyin Xingjun's Jade Rabbit, etc., when Goku is going to kill the killer, these people appear in time to save the pet.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="10" > Second, why do some monsters have to be killed? </h1>
On the other hand, some demons have to die for different reasons.
For example, the white bone essence, also known as the corpse demon. The reason why three dozen white bone essences are needed is because Taoists pay attention to "cutting three corpses".
The three corpses are obstacles on the way, including: the upper corpse, called Qinggu, likes treasures; the middle corpse, called Baigu, likes the five tastes; the lower corpse, called blood gu, likes lust. Only by beheading three corpses can we attain enlightenment.
The six-eared macaque means two hearts, which is Goku's inner demon, or the inner demon between Tang Monk and Wukong. Naturally, we must fight to the death, and only by eliminating the two hearts can we single-mindedly learn the scriptures.
Some female goblins will also be killed because they force Tang monks to marry, such as scorpion essences, spider spirits, apricot immortals, etc.
As for some small wild demons, such as jade-faced foxes, white-faced foxes, leopard spirits, python spirits, etc., they are guilty in themselves, and Goku has eliminated them by the way, which can only be blamed on their low skill, otherwise even if they can't escape like the Hydra, they can choose to submit.
Don't talk about monsters, even mortals, once they have a meaning, they must be killed.
For example, the six thieves that Sun Wukong encountered, one called to see joy, one called to hear anger, one called to sniff love, one called to taste the tongue, one called to be opinion desire, and one called to be worried about the body. These six thieves mean six roots, and the cultivator must have six pure roots, so he must kill the six thieves.
In short, the monster of Journey to the West, its life and death and whether there is a backstage have nothing to do with it, and it is related to the author's meaning, the culture in it, and the consciousness of the people.