西游记 (A Journey to the West)

《西游记》是一部奇书，其想象之瑰奇，情节之生动，带给我们无穷的乐趣，这自然不必细说。但是若深究起来，还是有许多东西，悬浮在我们的视野之外。当然，不懂这些知识，并不妨碍我们欣赏这部伟大的著作，但是终究有许多问题无法回避。例如《西游记》的著者究竟是谁，书中各个有趣的故事有无原型，各路神仙是什么来历，大量动物、植物、器物、典制是怎么一回事，诗词歌赋有没有出处，神奇的修炼口诀、法术咒语都是什么意思等。甚至小朋友都会问，齐天大圣为什么能大战十万天兵，取经路上的孙悟空却反而没那么厉害？(A Journey to the West is a remarkable book with peculiar imagination and vivid plot. It has brought us a lot of fun, and clearly there is no need to elaborate. However, if we study deeply, there are many things that are hanging out of sight. Of course, not knowing those things will not prevent us from enjoying this great work. But there are many unavoidable questions after all. For example, who is the author of the book exactly? Whether there are archetypes for each interesting stories? What is the background of each immortal? What about animals, plants, artifacts, and decrees and regulations? Whether there are source for the poetry? What do the magic practice codes and spells mean? Even children would ask, why could the Monkey King beat troops from heaven but he was not that formidable on the journey to the West?)