Abstract
“The Journey to the South”, a fantasy novel written in the Ming Dynasty, is not a classic work, and in general, usually regarded as an imitation of “The Journey to the West”, a classic work. It has long been overlooked by researchers, and this study aims at improving this situation. Xiang-Dou Yu, a book dealer active in the Ming Dynasty, has been identified as the editor of this novel. Because there are only few studies for this novel around, this study will focus upon its inner contexts and constructions, and manage to prove that efforts and designs had been done by the editor, and the result is far from a mere imitation of a classic work. Originally titled as “Biography of Hua-Guang, the Wu-Xian Ling-Guan Emperor”, “The Journey to the West” is a religious biographical novel. Emperor Hua-Guang, its protagonist, is assigned a multi-dimensional image consisting Wu-Xian God, Wu-Tong God, and Commander Ma. The dichotomy between the orthodox and the heterodox religions is adopted to analyze the multiple images of Hua-Guang and the texts of the novel. Generally, in fantasy novels, duels between the Gods and the Evil Spirits dominate the plots. However, “The Journey to the South” is an exception: duels between Hua-Guang and the Heaven play an important role in it, and battles involving various treasures are hugely stressed. Treasures are made the focus in the battles. Inspired by the methodology hired in material culture researches, functions of the treasures in the structure of this novel are also introduced as a theme of this study. Different sides of the personality of Hua-Guang, the protagonist, are revealed when fetching and losing treasures. After sifting and arranging the folk resources, the editor reshaped the mixed images of Hua-Guang in the work, and reminded the readers of Hua-Guang’s affinities towards treasures. While emphasizing the importance of Buddhism, the editor also restrained Taoism in the work. Thus, the active image of the Emperor Hua-Guang is successfully built. These efforts from the editor promise the literary values of this novel, and shall raise it from misjudgments or total oblivion.