Chapter 33: Heretics are obsessed with the true nature, God helps the true heart

Zhu Bajie was caught by the little demons and sent into the cave. King Golden Horn told King Silver Horn that it was Wrong catch. King Jinjiao said that the only way to catch Tang Monk was to catch Sun Wukong. King Silver Horn transformed into an old Taoist priest and deceived Tang Monk. Wukong agreed to carry the old Taoist priest on his back (he knew that the old Taoist priest was a goblin).

The fake Taoist moved several mountains to suppress Wukong, captured Tang Monk and Sha Monk and took them back to the Lotus Cave. King Golden Horn said that Sun Wukong had great magical powers, and he was afraid that the mountain would not be able to hold him down. He sent two little demons, Jinggui and Smart Chong, to take the purple gold gourd and the jade pure bottle to catch Sun Wukong who was trapped under the mountain.

At that time, Sun Wukong had been released by the mountain god and told him that the goblin had come to capture Sun Wukong with the treasure. Sun Wukong found a way to become an old Taoist priest and used a gourd that he had transformed to deceive the little goblin. His gourd could hold the sky, so he demonstrated it once. The little fairy really believed it and agreed to exchange it with Wukong.

Extended information

The ideological content of Journey to the West

"Havoc in Heaven" ends with Sun Wukong's failure, which is consistent with the author's suffering to a certain extent. Related to the influence of feudal orthodoxy. At the same time, it must be pointed out that Sun Wukong's being trapped under the Five Elements Mountain and his subsequent conversion to Buddhism are also inevitable requirements for plot development.

Obviously, the Monkey King on the Huaguo Mountain will never give up his life as a king in the Paradise of Cave for no reason to help Monk Tang in his journey to the West. Without this arrangement, there would be no way to transition to the following story of seeking scriptures. Moreover, the basic outline of the story of Journey to the West had been formed long before Wu Chengen, so it was difficult for the author to make fundamental changes in such critical places.

To sum up, through the fantasy plot, the story of seeking Buddhist scriptures in the West reflects to a large extent the Chinese people’s spirit of overcoming difficulties and bravely moving forward, and reflects the Chinese people’s efforts to destroy all evil forces in society and The desire and confidence to conquer nature.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Journey to the West (one of the four classic Chinese classics)