Wu Cheng’en

Wu Cheng’en (born c. 1500, Shanyang, Huai’an [now in Jiangsu province], China—died c. 1582, Huai’an) was a novelist and poet of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), generally acknowledged as the author of the Chinese folk novel Xiyouji (Journey to the West, also partially translated as Monkey).

Wu received a traditional Confucian education and was appointed a resident scholar at the imperial university in Nanjing in 1544. From 1546 to 1552 Wu lived in Beijing, where he was a member of a small literary circle and became known for his cleverness in the composition of poetry and prose in the classical style. He later traveled extensively before settling back in Huai’an in 1570. Throughout his life he displayed a marked interest in bizarre stories, such as the set of oral and written folktales that formed the basis of Xiyouji.

In its 100 chapters Xiyouji details the adventures of a cunningly resourceful monkey who accompanies the Buddhist priest Xuanzang on a journey to India. One of the most popular Chinese folk novels, Xiyouji is notable for its multiple rhetorical styles that reflect the dialects and regional cultural idiosyncrasies that Xuanzang and the monkey encounter on their journey. The local colour gives added weight to the cutting satire of Chinese culture found throughout the work. Like all novels of its time, Xiyouji was written in the vernacular, as opposed to the officially accepted classical style, and therefore had to be published anonymously to protect the author’s reputation. As a result, the identity of the novelist was long unknown outside of Wu’s native district.

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Famous Poets and Poetic Form

Only two volumes of Wu’s other writings have survived; these were discovered in the imperial palaces and were reprinted in 1930.