Sun Wukong is the representative of the untamed in ancient literary works, unlike other protagonists who follow the rules, Sun Wukong broke the worldly conventions, led a group of goblins to compete with orthodox Taoism, and was later sanctioned by the celestial realm, trapped for five hundred years, and washed away his stubbornness.
When portraying a character, writers often use prototypes in reality, so does Sun Wukong have an archetype in reality? Is there really such a legendary monkey?
There are no monkeys, but there is one man.
Journey to the West was written in the Ming Dynasty, and Chen Chen also lived in the Ming Dynasty. If you have to find a prototype for the role of Sun Monkey, it is Chen Chen.
During the Yongle years, Chen Chen was a high school scholar and was appointed to the Criminal Division, which was considered a small and small Beijing official. What are the duties of the Criminal Division? According to the History of the Ming Dynasty, "he was in charge of the affairs of the six hundred divisions, such as the attendants, the rules, the filling, the collection of remains, and the inspection of the affairs of the six hundred divisions." Where edicts are proclaimed, major events are repeated, and minor affairs are issued; There is a loss, and the seal is still performed. All internal and external offices that have been neglected, copied out in categories, and submitted to the Ministry of Payment, and corrected their violations are all within the scope of the matter given by the Criminal Division.
From a functional point of view, this position is similar to that of a speech official, and it is a job that offends people. Chen Chen is a rather stubborn person, and is a good material for being a speech official. As long as officials who violate the law and discipline fall into chen chen's hands, chen chen will certainly not be affectionate and refer to him. Chen Chen spoke with great confidence, and every time he went up to the court to report on the situation, his voice was like thunder, and several times he even frightened Emperor Zhu Di. In order to make Chen Chen speak quietly, Zhu Di also ordered that Chen Chen be forbidden to eat and let him be hungry for a few days. Who knew that Chen Chen had not eaten for a few days, and he was still full of confidence when he spoke, and his voice was like a flood. Zhu Di was completely helpless, and gave him a nickname called "Loud Show Talent", sighing his nature.
In fact, officials with loud voices abounded, so why did Zhu Di starve Chen Chen for a few days?
It is estimated that because Chen Chen has repeatedly been outspoken and offended many people, Zhu Di gave him a lesson in order to correct the problems of his blunt words. However, Chen Chen did not eat this set at all, who should be impeached every day, if the emperor was dissatisfied, Chen Chen also had to argue on the basis of reason, and fight with Zhu Di for a blushing neck.
Once, Chen Chen finally annoyed Zhu Di and forced Zhu Di to come down from the stage in public. Zhu Di was furious and ordered people to dig a pit outside the Fengtian Gate and bury Chen Chen inside, revealing only his head. Judging from this plot, it is estimated that Mr. Wu Cheng'en was inspired by Chen Chen to bury Sun Wukong under the Five Elements Mountain, leaving only his head outside.
Sun Monkey is a monster, and he can survive without eating or drinking for five hundred years, but Chen Chen is just an ordinary person, how can he carry it for too long? It is reasonable to say that a person can only support a few days at most without eating or drinking. Like Sun Wukong, Chen Chen was cut off from eating, only exposing his head to the outside, and he couldn't even move from his neck down, how long could he hold out in this case?
"Seven days and seven nights without death".
From this, it is estimated that Zhu Di's original intention was to starve him to death in the pit. Fortunately, Chen Chen's physique was good and his willpower was strong, so he survived. Zhu Di saw that he could carry it for seven days, and the purpose of the lesson had been achieved, so he ordered someone to dig him up and reinstate the official.
After being hungry twice and buried once, Comrade Chen Chen should always restrain his mind and become smooth, right?
Not really.
Chen Chen was as blunt as ever, and it didn't take long to annoy Zhu Di again, and the spit star spit on Zhu Di's face. This time, Zhu Di did not starve him or bury him, but arranged for him to be sent to the elephant room and let him feed the elephants. In "Journey to the West", Ma Wen feeds the horses and Chen Chen feeds the elephants, and there are many similarities between the two.
It is reasonable to say that there were many ministers who were punished by Zhu Di to do coolies, but the court officials were the least short of money, and they often hired people to do coolies, and they would not do it themselves. He was honest and honest, did not save much money, did not have money to hire people to feed the elephants, and had to work on his own. Fortunately, Chen Chen worked in the elephant house for a while, and Zhu Di happened to pass by, thinking that this guy was too pitiful, so he let him return to the imperial court to continue to be an official.
It is estimated that Zhu Di has despaired of this guy, and simply transferred him to the "Peach Orchard" and appointed him as the Yin of Shuntianfu. In the days that followed, Chen Chen successively served as an envoy to Huguang and Shanxi. After Emperor Renzong succeeded to the throne, because Chen Chen had exposed the King of Chu, he was demoted to Haiyan Zhi County. Chen Chen's ability was acceptable, and he was promoted to Zhenjiang Tongzhi for his merits, and retired from this position.
In contrast, Chen Chen's situation is far inferior to Sun Wukong's, at least Sun Wukong has gone through hardships and obstacles to finally achieve positive results, Chen Chen also suffered a lot, and finally did not rise but fell, until retirement did not return to Beijing. However, if it is said that Chen Chen's life is a tragedy, it is not entirely true, under the high-pressure situation in the early Ming Dynasty, it is already the greatest miracle that an official like Chen Chen can mix and die a good death. Later generations' evaluation of Chen Chen was mostly lamented that his career was tortuous and failed to be reused.
Here, we quote a comment on qian, which reads: "Chen Gongzhi is straight, nine deaths are unswerving, it is advisable to be simple in the heart of the emperor, and it is not fruitful to be displeased with ruling." Shame! ”
Resources:
【History of The Ming Dynasty" and "Journey to the West"】