Immigrants from Zhang Kan

Wu Cheng'en (1506- 1582), whose real name is Ruzhong, was born in Huai 'an in the Ming Dynasty and was the author of the novel The Journey to the West. As a teenager, Wu Cheng'en liked to listen to stories such as the Huaihe River Water God and the Sangha Great Sage. After middle age, he began to combine the story of Tang priest's journey to the west with Tang legends, Buddhist classics, folk stories and Huai 'an local stories, and wrote hundreds of stories about the journey to the west in the study "Sheyang (Bamboo Zhaos)". As soon as this book came out, it was hailed as one of the "four classic novels" and became a treasure of the world literary world. Wu Cheng'en is good at painting and calligraphy.

When Wu Cheng'en was a child, he was eager to learn and read and recite quickly. He is good at painting, calligraphy, lyrics and Go, and he also likes to collect Fa Tie's famous paintings. As a teenager, he was famous in his hometown for his outstanding literary talent and was appreciated by people. He thought he was "as good as picking up a mustard tuber" in the imperial examination. The Records of Huai 'an Prefecture recorded that he was "quick and wise, rich in books, and wrote for poetry." In addition to being eager to learn, he also likes to search for anecdotes and read books such as immortals, ghosts, foxes and monkeys. For example, unofficial history, with the growth of his age, developed a hobby of seeking novelty in this colorful mythical world, which had a great influence on his The Journey to the West creation. After the age of 30, the anecdotes he searched have been "hidden in his chest" and he has a creative plan. At the age of 50, I wrote the first ten chapters of The Journey to the West, which was interrupted for many years for some reason. It was not until he resigned in his later years and returned to his hometown that he finally finished The Journey to the West's creation which lasted for seven years.

Wu Cheng'en, who entered his youth, is a wild and arrogant young man. Low social status, poverty and hardship made this great genius wild and uninhibited, which attracted a flood of laughter. Gone are the days when he was praised by others.

When Wu Cheng'en was about twenty years old, she married a girl from her hometown named Ye. After marriage, she had deep feelings. Although Wu Cheng'en was bohemian, she was virtuous and faithful to her wife.

In the ten years of Jiajing, Wu Cheng'en achieved excellent results in the annual examination and scientific research, obtained the qualification of Jinshi, and went to Nanjing to take the provincial examination with friends. However, his talent is not as good as his companion's. He, a famous genius in a village, fell into Sun Shan.

The following spring, his father passed away with regret. Wu Cheng'en accepted the lesson of his first failure and studied hard for the next three years, but he still failed in the exam in the autumn of Jiajing 13th year. Wu Cheng'en felt ashamed and resentful, and fell ill this winter. The defeat of two provincial examinations, coupled with the death of his father, was a heavy blow to Wu Cheng'en. In his view, it is not only unreasonable to fail the jury in the exam, but also a shame for parents and grandparents. However, he didn't think that he didn't have the ability to get in, but his fate was not good. He believes that "fame and fortune have their own lives, and it is stupid to have them?"

Wu Cheng'en lived a different life, upright and upright. The reason why he is so talented and tried and tested is probably related to his unwillingness to please Shangguan against his will. He hates corrupt officialdom, doesn't want to go against his heart, and holds a negative attitude towards the dark reality. He wrote in the poem "Jiro's Song of Seeking Mountains": "The disaster of human beings is not for apes and cranes, but for insects. Sitting in the song room with the five ghosts, I didn't see the four murderers in court. Ye Fu was very grateful, but he felt sorry for his kindness. Wear an evil knife on your chest. You can't hate it. Save the moon has a goal to save the Japanese bow. Are there no heroes in the world? Who can make a contribution of forest air for me and let it last for ten thousand years? " It is believed that the reason for the "civil disaster" and the ugliness of social reality is that the rulers are not good at employing people and let the bad guys like "Five Ghosts" and "Four Fierces" take power. He wanted to "make a fortune" and "be king" to turn Gan Kun around, but he was short of talents and ambitious, so he could only sigh generously when the wind came.

The hardships of life have brought Wu Cheng'en no less pressure than the failure of scientific research. After his father died, he needed to manage all the expenses at home, but he was unable to support his family, let alone the means to support it. The source of family life, in addition to getting back six dou of rice from the university every month, can only eat the legacy left by my father.

Wu Cheng'en, who had tasted the ups and downs of social life, began to think more clearly and deeply about the problems of social life, and used his own poems to fight against unreasonable society.

② Wu Cheng'en and The Journey to the West.

Wu Cheng'en once wrote a strange novel Yu Zhi Ding. In the preface of this book, he said that although his novels and fairy tales are written about immortals and ghosts, they are actually centered on "human beings", in order to pin his political ideals on evil forces and make readers "afraid", either doing nothing or making fun of strange things. He wrote about The Journey to the West for the same purpose. The Journey to the West wrote in forty-five times that when the Monkey King arranged clouds, thunder and rain for the god of nature, he specially ordered Lei Tianjun to say, "Lao Deng will take care of that corrupt official, that unfilial son, and kill more people for public!" What the Monkey King hates most is "corrupt officials", which is completely consistent with Wu Cheng'en's special hatred of corrupt officials in many poems. In the mythical world of Journey to the West, there are human shadows everywhere: the sacred heavenly palace is resplendent on the surface, but the supreme jade emperor is ignorant and very fatuous, and the heaven is like a dynasty on earth; The underworld is strict, officials protect each other, take bribes and bend the law, and innocent people have grievances, just like the yamen on the ground; Demons and ghosts kill and eat people, love money and lust, dominate one side with spells, and do evil, which is simply the embodiment of human bully bureaucrats. The Journey to the West also wrote about some secular countries, where the rulers were mostly "poor in civil and military skills, and the monarchs didn't follow the rules", which is also a portrayal of the crimes of the Ming court. Wu Cheng'en's Monkey King is full of hatred and magical power, which pushes all monsters who call themselves fierce and crazy under its golden hoop, loses their former prestige, dies or gives in easily, which embodies Wu Cheng'en's strong desire to sweep away social ugliness and ugly forces, and is also the essence of democracy in Journey to the West.

Wu Cheng'en, who was poor all his life, made every effort to complete the famous The Journey to the West at home and abroad, and passed away in the ten years of Wanli.

(3) the main characters of The Journey to the West.

Tang's monk, the layman's surname is Chen, his birth name is Xuanzang, and he was the first monk in the Tang Dynasty, so he was called Tang's monk. When Emperor Taizong of Li Shimin went west to learn Buddhist scriptures, he gave Sanzang a dharma name. At the age of eighteen, Tang Priest became a monk and converted to Buddhism. He often studies Buddhist scriptures in the evening, and his understanding is extremely high. In his twenties, he was famous for China Buddhism and was deeply loved by Emperor Taizong. Later, he was secretly selected by the Tathagata, went to the Western Heaven to learn Buddhist scriptures, and got the three treasures, namely, the cassock, the nine rings and the golden hoop mantra. Tang Priest is tall and elegant, kind-hearted, and highly accomplished in Buddhist scriptures. It is 81 difficult for him to learn from the west, and he never changes his original intention. With the help of the Monkey King, Pig Bajie and Friar Sand, he finally retrieved 35 scriptures from the western Buddhist Leiyin Temple, which made great contributions to Buddhism. Up to now, he is still talked about by people and never forgets his historical achievements.

The Monkey King, a monk, is a great disciple of the Tang Priest, who can change seventy-two times and walk in clouds. A pair of eyes can see through the tricks of ghosts and ghosts; A somersault can turn 108 thousand Li; The weapon used is Ruyi Golden Hoop, which can be changed at will, from embroidery needle to indomitable spirit. Taking Guo Huashan as the king, he claimed to be the Great Sage of Qitian, disturbed the Queen Mother's flat peach victory, stole the old gentleman's elixir of life, defeated 100,000 generals in the Heavenly Palace, overreached himself and killed the Tathagata, and was crushed under the Five Elements Mountain for more than 500 years. Later, after the inspiration of Guanyin Bodhisattva, Tang Priest went to the West to learn Buddhist scriptures and was protected. Monkey King Thrice Defeats the Skeleton Demon surrendered to Hon Hai 'er and put out the flaming mountain. After 81 difficulties, he finally got back the true scriptures. He hates evil, is fearless, persevering and fearless. After learning the scriptures, it was named Doufo.

Pig Bajie, also known as Wuneng, is the second disciple of Tang Priest, who was originally Marshal Tian Peng of the Jade Emperor. He was expelled from heaven for molesting Chang 'e and reincarnated into the world, but he mistakenly threw a pig fetus, and his face was similar to that of a pig. He can transform, he can walk on clouds, and his weapon is palladium with nine teeth. When the Tang Priest passed by Zhan Yundong for Buddhist scriptures, Zhu Bajie was surrendered by the Monkey King. Since then, Pig Bajie has become a good helper for the Monkey King to protect Tang Priest's Buddhist scriptures. Bajie is gentle, honest and simple, and has great strength, but he is lazy. He likes to take advantage of petty advantages and covet women. He is often fascinated by the beauty of monsters, and it is difficult to tell the enemy from me. He listened to his brother and was loyal to his master, which made a great contribution to Tang Priest's learning from the scriptures. He is a comic figure deeply loved and sympathized by people.

Friar Sand, who has no Buddhist scriptures, was originally the general of the shutter of the Jade Emperor in Tiangong. He was expelled from heaven for violating the dogma and made waves in the quicksand river on earth. The weapon he used was crescent shovel, who had high martial arts and was not afraid of strong enemies. Enlightened by Guanyin Bodhisattva in the South China Sea, he worshipped Tang Priest as a teacher, and together with the Monkey King and Zhu Bajie, he protected Tang Priest's Buddhist scriptures in the West. He has two treasures on him, one is a bodhisattva gourd, and the other is a collar composed of nine skeletons. Later, he took nine planes as the nine palaces, put bodhisattvas and gourds in them, and turned them into a French boat, as steady as a canoe, and successfully helped four people cross the river westward. Friar Sand protects the Tang Priest from going to the Western Heaven for Buddhist scriptures. He works hard, loyal and reliable. After studying Buddhist scriptures, it was named golden body arhat. Wu Cheng'en wrote a poem "To the Foothills of Sok Li", and the stone in the foothills is Li Chunfang's name. Li, a native of Xinghua, Jiangsu Province, was the number one scholar in Jiajing period. He was promoted to Zaifu because of his excellent writing of Qing Ci. When I was a child, I studied in Huayang Cave, Jiangsu, so I was nicknamed "Master Huayang Cave". He was appointed as the Yongle ceremony of the general school. There is a poem by The Journey to the West in the ninety-fifth chapter: "Colorful fragrance, a barren mountain suddenly smells fragrant;" The rainbow flows through the Qinghai River and the Sea for thousands of years, and electricity travels around Changchun and the Tang Dynasty. Flowers and trees are elegant, and wild flowers are moist and fragrant. Ancient elders left behind relics, and now I am glad that Mingjun lost the Jubao Hall. Mr. Shen found that the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh sentences of this poem implied "the old friend stayed behind", and the frontispiece "Huayang Dong Tian Teachers College" meant "making up a journey to the west".

Hu Shi and Lu Xun claimed that Wu Cheng'en was the author of The Journey to the West on the basis of The Records of Huai 'an Prefecture, which will be published tomorrow. The record records that Wu Cheng'en is The Journey to the West, but it doesn't explain why such a book was published. Xianfeng reprinted Huai 'an County Records in Qing Dynasty, and deleted this article.

At the end of 1983, Mr. Zhang pointed out in the article "Is Journey to the West Written by Wu Cheng'en" that during the more than 300 years from the advent of The Journey to the West to the 1920s, all kinds of publications were either edited by Zhu, or only edited by Huayang without the author's name, or written by Qiu Chuji, and none of them recognized Wu Cheng'en's copyright. Hu Shi also said in the preface of The Journey to the West in 192 1 that this work was "written by an unknown novelist after the middle of Ming Dynasty". Later, Mr. Lu Xun argued that Wu Cheng'en said that Hu Shi got the materials copied by Lu Xun, and Textual Research on Journey to the West also held this opinion. But a closer look at their textual research is based on two indirect materials and only one direct material.

The Journey to the West author Wu Cheng'en (1506— 1582) was born in Huai 'an in the middle of Ming Dynasty. Huai 'an was once called Sheyang County in the Han Dynasty, and there was a lake in the southeast of the county called Sheyang Lake, so Wu Cheng'en took Sheyang as his name and often called himself Sheyang lay man. Later generations also called him "Sheyang Mountain Man", probably not his own name. Huai 'an is located in the south of Huaihe River, which was Huaiyin County in Qin and Han Dynasties. The Tang Dynasty was Chuzhou, which was once renamed Huaiyin County, so when he signed his name, there was often the word "Huaiyin" in front. This is the general atmosphere of literati in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Little is known about Wu Cheng'en's family background at present. Because there is too little information, so far, the only information available is the epitaph of Xian Fubin. Now, based on this epitaph and other materials, I make the following speculation.

Wu was born in Lianshui and later moved to Huai 'an. When did you move to Huai 'an? He didn't say it himself. I guess it should be no later than early next year. There are two reasons:

First, in terms of time, it should be before the early Ming Dynasty. Xian Fubin's Epitaph says:

In the past, people in Lianshui were not as good as when they moved to Yangshan. Poor and lonely, I lost my genealogy, so I can't elaborate on it for more than three generations. Great-grandfather taboo tripod; Ancestor taboo inscriptions, Yuyao commandments; Chastity, benevolence and religion are taboo in imperial examinations.

The great grandfather, grandfather and emperor mentioned here are all based on the identity of Wu Cheng'en's father Wu Rui. The so-called "more than III" refers to these III's, excluding Wu Cheng'en and his son. If you count them together, it's V .. These five generations of Wu Cheng'en all know it. From his father's great-grandfather Wu Ding, he is "unable to elaborate". Wu Cheng'en was born at the beginning of16th century, more than 30 years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty. According to the usual saying, 3 0 years is a lifetime, and it happened in the early Ming Dynasty from Wu Cheng'en to the last four generations 12 0 years. The meaning of "more than three generations can't be detailed" obviously means that Wu Ding is not the ancestor who moved to Huai, but moved to Huai in a previous life, two or even several generations, just because there is no genealogy, which Wu Cheng'en can't explain clearly. Therefore, Wu Qianhuai was not the night of the early Ming Dynasty.

Second, there were frequent wars at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, especially in Huai 'an, where indigenous deaths were scattered and the population dropped sharply. According to Huang Lizhou's Biography of Huai 'an Yang Shijie, as well as Cao Pi's Jin Chengxin in Huai 'an and Yang Qingzhi's Memories of Spring Night, "whoever survives in the early Ming Dynasty stops at seven". "Huai people" probably refers to the residents in the city, and "Qijia" may refer to seven surnames. It is said that these seven surnames are "Xu (Ji), Li, Zhang pian, Mianhe Wang, Wang, Nanmenpan (Yu)" and so on. In addition, some people say that Wu is one of the seven surnames, but that refers to Wu Jie and later advised by Jinshi, and has nothing to do with Wu Cheng'en. Wu Cheng'en's ancestral home in Huai 'an was not a adherent of Yuan Dynasty, but moved from Lianshui at the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, Ming Taizu implemented the immigration policy in view of the scarcity of residents in Jiangbei. Most of the immigrants who come here are from Jiangnan, mostly rich children or officers. Today, many Huai 'an people have been handed down from generation to generation, and their hometown is Suzhou in the south of the Yangtze River or somewhere else. Wu Cheng'en's home is north-south, which naturally does not belong to this trend. It should be the migration of bankrupt farmers in the late yuan dynasty and early Ming dynasty.

What occupation did Wu Cheng'en engage in after his ancestors moved to Huai River? It is not mentioned in Xian Fubin's epitaph. At that time, some people transferred to Huai 'an were recruited into An Wei, Dahewei and Kuanhewei hospitals in Huai 'an. Have a plenty of business, engaged in commercial activities; There are also some people who were settled by their ancestors in Huaishang as officials; Some people are engaged in medicine, such as Pan Jia and Lu Jia. There are still many people who practice Confucianism, eat by reading and being an official, and so on. Wu Cheng'en's family is not a soldier, nor a descendant of a big official, nor is it like Confucianism from the beginning. According to Xian Fubin's Epitaph, Wu Cheng'en's family produced two generations of scholars: great-grandfather Wu Ming taught in Yuyao County, Zhejiang Province, and grandfather Zhen Wu taught in Renhe County, Zhejiang Province (now Hangzhou City) (volume 9 of Shanyang County Records of Tongzhi and volume 102 of Hangzhou Prefecture Records of Guangxu are all instructions). Discipline and discipline are cold officials with low salaries. Being far away from home, their wives and children often can't get together. When Wu Cheng'en's father Wu Rui was four years old, his mother Liang Shi took him to Renhe to reunite with his family. A few months after the reunion, something unfortunate happened: my father, Wu Cheng'en's grandfather, Wu died of illness. Liang had no choice but to take the four-year-old orphan back to Huai 'an. Because two generations of his family are running "poor Confucianism", they have no savings and no other income, so their family is getting poorer and poorer. Due to poverty and lack of support from relatives and friends, Wu Rui could not go to school when he was old enough. He started studying social studies several years later than other children. Because there is no money to give Melissa Zhou a gift, Melissa Zhou doesn't teach Wu Rui very much. However, Wu Rui is very clever. He listened carefully to what Mr. Wang told others. He actually studied all the classes, and he did well. Wu Rui's cleverness touched Mr. She Xue, won his praise and recommended him to continue studying in rural schools. But it didn't work out because of the difficulties of the Wu family. Mrs. Liang said bitterly, "Wu finished it in the second year. If so, I am very helpless! " First, Mrs. Liang cried, then Wu Rui also cried, and both mother and son began to cry. We don't know what we did after dropping out of school, but when he was twenty, he married the daughter of the Xu family, a small businessman, and became a family. Buddhists have been selling lace, thread and other small commodities for a living for generations, so Wu Shuo inherited the family business and became a small businessman sitting in a shop. From this record, we can see some family background of Wu. The so-called "Xiuwen II" probably refers to debt-ridden great-grandfather Wu Ming and grandfather Zhen Wu. Further pondering this sentence, it seems that Wu's Confucianism is only two generations, and his predecessors are not scholars. Wu Zushang is neither a Confucian scholar, nor a military commander, nor an official. Besides, they are either engaged in agriculture or business. Comparing the two, I think it may be more like running a small business when his family first moved to Huai. There are two reasons.

1. The Wu Cheng'en family has no real estate income. Some people say that after Wu moved to the Huaihe River, he once lived in an irrigation canal and engaged in agricultural production. Based on the fact that Wu Cheng'en was buried here after his death, they called it "Fairy Dragon". This evidence is insufficient. "Dragon" means cemetery, and "dragon head" means ancestral grave, which doesn't mean how much land his family has there. People in the city can't be buried in the city when they are dead. Burying in the country is inevitable. It is normal to buy a piece of land in the country as a cemetery. Of course, the Wu family bought this property from the beginning, so there is no need to buy it again. But I don't think it's possible. The Wu family moved from Lianshui. If he had been a landlord and a rich man, he wouldn't have given up his original land and left his home to land again. If he is a bankrupt farmer, he has no money to buy land in Huai 'an countryside. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, people migrated from Jiangnan to Jiangbei because Jiangbei was vast and sparsely populated. The purpose of mobilizing wealthy Jiangnan people to reclaim land in Jiangbei was to develop Jiangbei. At that time, it was driven away by administrative means, and there is still a saying that "Hongwu drove away" among Huai' an farmers. The economic situation of Lianshui in the early Ming Dynasty will not be better than that of Huai 'an, and the Wu family has never been "driven away" because of their money.

On the other hand, if the Wu family had a certain property, after the death of Zhen Wu, an Oracle, the Wu family would not be so poor. Wu Cheng'en's father couldn't afford to go to school, and he didn't go to school for several years. Went to social studies, had no money to give gifts to her husband, and was discriminated against; Finally, I dropped out of school. According to my guess, his family has no real estate at all, and his ancestors were not farmers at all after they moved to Huaihe River.

Second, I think the Wu family lived under the river after they came to Huai. At that time, the river was under the Huaihe River (then also called the Yellow River). After the Yellow River captured the Huaihe River, the lower reaches of the Huaihe River in this area were also the lower reaches of the Yellow River. ), the canal is in the west, and the river is between the two rivers, which is a commercial port. At that time, there were many businessmen and people from all over the world, and most of them lived here. These people gradually joined the Yang Shan nationality. After his family moved to Huaihe River, he settled down by the river, in a market where every family did business. Therefore, it is natural for him to engage in some small businesses to make a living. Judging from the surrounding environment under the river, it is true: Datong Lane, Nailhu Lane, Zhang Fen Lane and Appraisal Street surround his home. The residents in these alleys basically run the businesses listed in the name of the alley. When their business was in surplus and their living conditions improved, they made some progress in the direction of being an official, and made some achievements, resulting in two generations of academic palaces (although Zhen Wu was born in Gong Sheng, he may have to pay a little money, but this just proves that his family has both scholars and a small surplus in economy). At this time, his family abandoned the business that was not commensurate with the status of an official (although it was a dirty little official), and the source of life depended entirely on the meager salary of learning. If this road goes wrong, there will be trouble. Sure enough, Zhen Wu is dead and has no official salary. The life of the whole family is in an imminent crisis, and even Wu Shuo is difficult to go to school. If it were a bureaucratic landlord family, such problems would not arise. It is conceivable that the Wu family has no real estate and lives a hard life. At this time, forced by life, the scholarly children of the "second generation of Xiuwen" dropped out of school, got a shop and started a small business, and suddenly returned to the status of a small businessman. For the Wu family, it is natural and unobtrusive for future generations to pick up the occupations that their ancestors operated and get familiar with them.

Wu Cheng'en described his family's situation as "poor and lonely". "Poverty and loneliness" is the main feature of his family background. The so-called "poverty" mainly refers to economic difficulties. As I said before, his family is really not rich, and sometimes it is quite difficult. In addition, it may also mean that fate is not very good. For generations, twists and turns have been underdeveloped, and it is unlucky to be an official and make a fortune. I have been a junior official for two generations. Instead of rising, I returned to my original position and got into trouble. The so-called "loneliness" probably means that the population is not prosperous, and several generations are single-handedly, and the population is weak and small. The Wu family is in trouble and no one supports him. Wu Cheng'en's father was blackmailed by the government and petty officials, and no one was fair to him. All these clearly show how "poor and lonely" his family is. There is no one in the family who can make a lot of money as his political or economic backer. I'm afraid there are very few brothers and uncles in his family, and there is no record of other people in his family yet. There are indications that his family may be passed down from generation to generation.

Wu Cheng'en's kinship has nothing to show off. Ancestral relatives, Wu Cheng'en didn't speak, probably praise is not enough. Grandma Liang's family is not clear. She is probably from Huai 'an. At that time, Liang's family in Huai 'an didn't show off, and his great-uncle knew nothing about it. Neither my ancestors nor my aunt recorded it, so it is impossible to talk about it. The first mother, Xu, is the daughter of a businessman, and the biological mother, Zhang, knows nothing about anyone. I haven't even seen a word about my uncle's house and my aunt's house, or there is no aunt at all. The situation of Wu Cheng'en's relatives above the level of parents is simply a mystery.

Some people like to praise two relatives of Wu Cheng'en's own generation: one is the brother-in-law Shen family, and the other is the brother-in-law Ye family. They are descendants of Shen Yi and Ye Qi respectively. Shen Yi and Ye Qi were the ministers of the southern and northern governments in Jingtai and Hongzhi years respectively, and they were both important figures in Huai 'an. But Wu Cheng'en's brother-in-law and wife are probably just the two ethnic groups, not the direct descendants of the two ministers. But in the end, it is still a relationship between relatives and friends, and it has something to do with it.

Wu Cheng'en's father-in-law, Ye Jia, is somewhat similar. Ye's ancestor was Ye Heng, the prime minister in the early Southern Song Dynasty, who lived in Jinhua, Zhejiang. Ye Qi's great-grandfather, Julia, was famous for his poems in the Yuan Dynasty, and wrote "Qiao Yun Solo". His grandfathers Ye Tulian and Hong Du once guarded Huai 'an, so he became Huai 'an Shoujiang. There is a biography of Ye Qi in Volume 185 of Ming History. According to legend, Qi Zi was originally in the Qing Dynasty, and Jingtai was buried in the soil for five years, and was awarded the Imperial History. During Chenghua's reign, he was tired of being the prefect of Datong. In Hongzhi's fourth year, he went to the Ministry of Finance to look for Prince Taibao. The epitaph was written by Li Dongyang. According to the epitaph, Ye Qi was born in 1426 and died in 150 1 year. He "has a long beard and is called a great weapon by people who see him", "worthy of his wife, following Quelikong and sealing his wife, all of whom are experts". He's story is unknown, but Kong's is Wu Cheng'en's Ye Laotai, Ye Laotai and Ye Taimu's Preface to Poetry (see Volumes 1 and 2 of Mr. Sheyang's Draft). In these two articles, Cheng En said: "The first assistant is the minister of the country and the talent of the pillars, Kang Fan is the minister of the sea, Gong Zhenbaoyi", and "Taifuren is the true descendant of her predecessor's forty-five generations". Say it again; Thank you for your marriage. Mrs. Ban's great-grandson was the last one. Although Wu Cheng'en only said in Xian Fubin's epitaph that he "married Ye" and did not specify which Ye family he came from, we can know from these two articles that Ye is a descendant and a great-grandson member. Kong was born in 1468, 42 years younger than her husband, who died at the age of 34. From the time point of view, Ye Shi, Cheng En's wife, can't be Kong's great-granddaughter, only in the "class" of his great-grandson, and she is also the "last one". It seems that Ye's wife is not a direct descendant. The record of Kong's family in Ye Qi Epitaph written by Li Dongyang only exists in Volume 24 of Huailu Tanghou Manuscript in Ming Dynasty. In the hardcover edition of this book, the words "following Kong's family in the que, sealing his wife, there are experts" have been deleted. This reminds me of Wu Cheng'en's sister Wu Chengjia. Perhaps this is the fate of a woman. She married a small room, a small room, or had no son. Kong, who was sealed as his wife, is still the same. Wu Chengjia, an ordinary woman, doesn't belong to the Shen Shi family tree. What is there to say? Two brothers, Ye Qi, and his younger brother's name is Yang Ye. Cotyledon basket, Yu Chongli, Tianshun Chen Geng buried. According to Volume 16 of the Records of the Apocalypse Huai 'an Prefecture, he "is strict outside the official, and the prison should be ruled by law, and the people dare not be private." Abide by the three counties, perform their duties diligently, do not brush feelings to attract resentment, and do not innovate to invite names. Tired of work and punishment, Second Assistant Minister. " These two uncles were important people in the Ye family at that time. Cotyledon Lu Ye, called Xidi, is Cheng En's uncle. He wrote the first volume of Sheyang Survival Draft, the poem "Send a Letter to Ye", and the fourth volume, "Where is Great-grandfather Weng's Seven Words". Ye Huan's family condition is very superior, his father is an official of the imperial court, and his shadow is the book of Guanglu Temple (Volume 9 of Tongyi County Records). Uncle Bao Ye is very rich. It is said that Ye Zhi has been in the official position for more than 40 years, and he has paid all the expenses for going in and out. According to the word barrier, Ye Sasakawa "is your son, a wise man when he left, and a country guy when he returned from fatigue." When I was a teenager, I liked to make friends with all kinds of people. "Jianghu Rangers, time is at their doorstep; Heresy Ji Fang, the sky is listed in front of it. " Then he changed his way of life and made friends with celebrities all over the world: "hanging foil and having piano and chess, spending money to collect paintings and calligraphy." Flute, write fine print, beg for the spring rain pavilion and avoid the west pavilion. "However, he always values wealth and righteousness." If you are short, you will forget lunch. "When it is abundant, diners are several times as many as families." Although Wu Cheng'en was his nephew Qian, he was regarded as a distinguished guest because he was a celebrity at that time. Their friendship is very good. When Zuo Ye was in Beijing, he wrote a poem "Send Xiaoxi to Ye Taizhang", which gave people a feeling of "hanging the old reward, leaving dreams around Cangbo" and asked Zuo Ye to "miss Laoshan radish". In fact, Ye Sasakawa is not much bigger than Wu Cheng'en. Qin Long's seventieth birthday is in the fourth year (1570), so he should have been born in 150 1 year, which is similar to Wu Cheng'en's age. Zhang Zi also said, "I have been married for forty years." This sentence needs to be considered. "Yu" should be mistaken for "Yu", but the word book says that "Yu" and "Yu" are interlinked. The ancients like to use generic terms and can put them aside. In ancient Chinese, "forty years left" means "hanging for forty years" and "nearly forty years", so this sentence is very problematic. We try our best to make the "remaining forty years" as big as possible, that is, thirty-eight or nine years. It was not until 1570 that Wu was married for 389 years, so his marriage date should be 1532. This year, Wu Cheng'en's father had just passed away, and in the epitaph he wrote for his father, he just caught up with "marrying into Ye's family", which was so mysterious. Besides, Wu Cheng'en is almost 30 years old this year. For a one-child family in their forties, I'm afraid they will never let their children get married and start a family until they are near death in their seventies. So I think this "remaining forty years" should be a mistake of "more than forty years". In this case, it makes sense for Paul to get married in his twenties.

Wu, the son of Zuo Ye, was buried in the 29th year of Jiaqing, and was the official of the Imperial Academy. His Sun Wu won the first place in the military competition in the 20th year of Wanli. This is behind Wu Cheng'en's back. In a word, Wu Cheng'en is such a relative, and seems to be better than the Shen Shi family.

How many children does Wu Cheng'en have? There is no record. He had a son named Mao Feng, but he died young. No other children can't know. Chen Wei wrote A New Order of Flowers and Plants for him, saying that after Wu Cheng'en's death, the Wu family "had no cooking and no fire". According to this sentence, Wu Cheng'en was the last person in the family to die, and there were probably no other children. After his death, the chimney stopped smoking and the fireworks were broken. Even if she had a daughter, she would have been married long ago. But there is no material to prove this.

Wu's situation has only been mentioned in two places. First, "Introduction to Society" says that "you owe your son heartfelt friendship all his life, and attach importance to marriage friendship". Another epitaph of Shen Kun's parents reads: "We are connected with each other and we know each other. I lost my son's phoenix feather, and I tasted the wine sacrifice. The last article said that in the twenty-third year of Jiajing (1544), Shen Kun was the first scholar in three years, and the emperor gave gifts to his parents, which coincided with Shen Mu's 64th birthday to celebrate. The twenty-third year of Jiajing was an eventful autumn for Shen Kun. In the twenty years of Jiajing, he won the top prize. In this year, the emperor gave a gift to his parents and wife, and his sister-in-law Zhang Kan was buried underground in this year. His family is rising. At this time, it was really important for Shen Kun and Wu Cheng'en to order their children's in-laws, and he did not forget the friendship and attached great importance to Wu Cheng'en. But it is more reasonable to say that the engagement was a few years ago, that is, before Shen Kun won the highest prize. Therefore, Mao Feng was born between the 11th year of Jiajing and the 20th year of Jiajing. The second article was written in the winter of the thirty-fifth year of Jiajing (1556). In the article, Mao Feng is called "the dead son", indicating that he has died, and it may have been some time. Because the epitaph says that one of the parents' three granddaughters married Zhou, and the other two may have hired someone else. Of these three people, of course, including the daughter who was engaged to Wu, because she died and married someone else. But it seems that the past time won't be too long, because Cheng Si remembers it vividly, and he wrote it on the epitaph of Shen Kun's parents. Maybe Mao Feng died just a year or two ago. But these are all speculations. It is difficult to tell when Wu was born, when he died and how old he lived.

The above is a brief textual research on Wu Cheng'en's family background and related conditions, aiming at providing reference for scholars studying The Journey to the West and Wu Cheng'en. Many places are bold speculations, and new information needs to be found to correct and enrich them.