Journey to the West is Buddhism.
First, the core content of Journey to the West is the story of the five "people" of Tang monks and apprentices who went to Tianzhu in the West to learn scriptures, and in the process cultivated to become Buddhas. So at the end of the day, this is a book of Buddhist practice.
Second, the story of Journey to the West is also in line with the essence of Buddhist stories. Buddhism as a whole is ultimately a struggle between Buddha and demon. Of course, it all ended with the victory of the Buddha. However, demons can never be destroyed, so Buddhas will always exist. And the so-called 81 difficulties in Journey to the West are actually all fights between Buddha and demons.
Third, there are a large number of Taoist plots and Taoist characters in Journey to the West, but this does not affect the fact that Journey to the West is pure Buddhism**. The reason is also very simple, after Buddhism was introduced to China, it was integrated with the local Taoism, so Buddhism itself has many Taoist characters and Taoist plots. Buddhism, which was introduced to other parts of the world, was also Buddhism after the fusion of Taoism and Buddhism.
Fourth, the theme of Journey to the West is completely consistent with the theme of Buddhism. It not only tells the trials of life and the complexity of society, but also preaches good deeds, emphasizing the causal relationship between man and Buddha.
Of course, as a literary work, Journey to the West also has a very profound innovation on the basis of Buddhism. There are two main aspects here.
On the one hand, there is the character of the character. Journey to the West is not as unfathomable and radiant as ordinary Buddhist characters. Instead, the characters are artistically created, which more reflects their humanity and their respective character traits. These character traits have also left a deep impression on the people of all China.
The second aspect is the ** style. We have an old saying in Sichuan, "The real Three Kingdoms, fake gods, and laugh at the dead when it comes to Journey to the West". The style of Journey to the West is known for its humor, and even deliberately renders this humor in many places to create jokes for readers. This is very inconsistent with the seriousness and indifference of Buddhism. Because the author did not write this book for Buddhism per se, the book is ultimately a literary work.
From these, it can be seen that in the writing environment of the author Wu Chengen. In other words, in his personal living environment, Buddhism and Taoism have completed a deep integration. Moreover, Buddhism has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and has become the main religion of society at that time.
Enjoy the New Year