Journey to the East

Name: Journey to the East
ISBN: 9787531876298

方汝浩Heilongjiang Fine Arts Publishing House2016

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Word count: 543 words
Chapters: 40
ISBN: 9787531876298

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Summary

Journey to the East, full title Newly Compiled Journey to the East on Sweeping Away Demons and Upholding Human Bonds, also known as Continued Journey to the West on Proving the Way, is a hundred-chapter Ming novel of gods and demons from the Chongzhen era, attributed to the Qingxi Daoist of Xingyang, commonly identified as Fang Ruhao. It follows the eastward spread of Chan Buddhism: the first eighteen chapters tell of the twenty-sixth patriarch Miduoduo and his disciple Yuantong in South and East India contending with heretical arts; from chapter nineteen it turns to the twenty-seventh patriarch Bodhidharma, who receives the Dharma, crosses east to China, gathers disciples including Daofu, Daoyu, Nun Zongchi, and Huike, subdues demons, and reaches legends such as crossing the Yangtze on a reed and returning west in a single shoe. Its most distinctive feature is turning wine, lust, wealth, temper, greed, anger, delusion, self-deception, turning against kin, and laziness into named demons such as Taoqing, Wang Yang, Aiduo, and the Distraction Demon, personifications of desire that stir up family and social strife until the monks sweep them away. Sweeping away demons means removing evil desires; upholding human bonds means preserving Confucian order, so the book combines supernatural combat with moral exhortation and social criticism, satirizing late-Ming mores and the secularization of monks and Daoists. It follows Journey to the West in subduing demons through the mind but turns to broader real life, in lively plain language mixed with poems, gathas, and songs. Zheng Zhenduo called it very like Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, and Tan Zhengbi said its strange narration is no less than Journey to the West. Because of its heavy didacticism, it long received too little attention. This entry corresponds to the Heilongjiang Fine Arts Press edition in the Chinese Classical Literature Masterworks series, two volumes in simplified horizontal typesetting, based on the Ming Wanjuantang hundred-chapter edition.

Editor's review

读惯了孙猴子一路向西打妖怪，不妨掉头向东看一回。《东度记》写的是达摩东来，路上遇的妖怪却与《西游记》大不相同——不是青狮白象、蜘蛛精蝎子精，而是酒、色、财、气、贪、嗔、痴、欺心、反目、懒惰，一个个有姓有名：陶情爱酒，王阳贪色，艾多恋财，分心魔好斗气。它们不吃人，只拨弄人心，让兄弟分家、夫妻反目、骨肉离散。这种“心魔化作妖魔”的写法，在神魔小说史上相当早，也相当特别。此书的另一层好看，在于它写着天竺异国，照的却是晚明世相：昏君听谗、奸佞当道、僧道逐利、市井欺诈，家宅里的忤逆、溺女、赌博、放债，都被收进降魔故事里。所以它既是神魔书，也是世情书。郑振铎说它“甚似彭扬的《天路历程》”，谭正璧说它“叙述的诡怪变幻，不下于《西游记》”，都不是过誉。当然也要说句实话：作者说教心切，回回忘不了讲道理，情节偶有拖沓重复，慧可以前的祖师谱系、佛道论辩也要费些耐心。本次整理本为简体横排、上下两册，收入“中国古典文学名著丛书”，底本依明代万卷楼刊一百回本，正文完整、便于日常翻阅，适合当作明清小说的“补课读物”慢慢看。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢《西游记》一类神魔小说，想拓展阅读明代同类作品的读者
对佛教东传、达摩传说与禅宗故事有兴趣的普通读者
研究明清小说、宗教文学与晚明社会的学生和爱好者
偏爱寓言式写法、喜欢看“心魔化身”奇思的读者

Not a good fit for

期待紧凑情节、强悬疑快节奏故事的读者，此书说教与斗法段落较多
对章回体长篇、半文半白语言缺乏耐心的低龄读者
只想读八仙过海故事的人，那本《东游记》是吴元泰所作，与此书不同

Reading tips

可先读第一回与第十八至十九回，把握“不如密多—达摩”双线结构，再回头通读
把每个妖魔当成一种人性弱点来读，随手记下对应关系，会读得更顺畅
遇到偈语、诗词可先略过，抓住降魔与度化的主线，不必逐字推敲
配合明代社会史、佛教史读物对读，能看出书中讽世的锋芒

About the publisher

Heilongjiang Fine Arts Publishing House China · Founded in 1984

Founded in 1984, Heilongjiang Fine Arts Publishing House is a professional art publisher in Heilongjiang Province. Its publishing scope covers art theory, technique textbooks, calligraphy and seal carving, art albums, photography, as well as comic books and children's cartoon readers, with books on art college entrance examination techniques as its signature brand. Its library contains 75 titles, which, in addition to art, also involve applied psychology, foreign literature, modern romance, youth literature, and time-travel fantasy. Representative books include Children's Educational Psychology, Have You Seen a Dragon? The Talking Kind, Maugham's Writing Notes, You're Sweet Even When Silent, Smitten with Him Millions of Times a Day, and White Snow and Green Lotus, while its authors include Alfred Adler, W. Somerset Maugham, Chen Guoxing, Zhang Junxian, Su Xing'an, Senmu Daoyu, Chunbai, and Shiwan Yueguang. Public information is limited, and the above is summarized mainly from the books in the library.

Chapter 1: The King of South India Holds a Buddhist Assembly; the Venerable Mido Expounds the Chan School
Chapter 2: A Daoist Boy Rides a Crane into Demonic Air; the Brahmacharin's Wakeful Hut Retains Illusory Arts
Chapter 3: Rush Leaves Joined into Wings Release the Blue Luan; Spears and Staffs Turn to Snakes to Subdue the Many
Chapter 4: The Daoist Followers Move Their Master by Trickery; the Venerable Expounds Skillful Means
Chapter 5: Bandits Raid the Hut at Three-Peak Ridge; One Word at Two-Blade Mountain Converts the Thieves
Chapter 6: Benzhi Tricks His Senior Brother; a Handsome Man Seizes Beauty and Suspects a Singing Girl
Chapter 7: Chunyi Repays Kindness and Keeps the Elder; a Wine Seller Harbors Resentment Against the Monk
Chapter 8: A Wizard Falsely Blames a White Eel Monster; the Venerable Is Merciful to Ants
Chapter 9: Disturbing Quiet Practice, a Stubborn Stone Turns into a Woman; Seeking Revenge, the Wicked Guard the Pass
Chapter 10: At the New Garden the Wizard Explains the Dao; at the Spirit-Passing Pass a Merchant Holds the Sutra
Chapter 11: The Fierce Band Relents Through Good Understanding; the Cowherd's Right Mind Turns the Wheel of Rebirth
Chapter 12: Yuantong Exposes the Spirit-Passing Pass; the Brahmacharin Expands Method Within Method
Chapter 13: Pointing the Lost Back from the Sea of Bitterness; Holding Right Thought Calms Waves and Wind
Chapter 14: One True Word Breaks Illusory Arts; Wondrous Chan Wit Awakens the Five Emptinesses
Chapter 15: A Teacup Reveals the Lay Monk; a First-Rank Testament Recommends the Brahmacharin
Chapter 16: Tricks Secretly Summon Beauties; Sweet Rain Makes All Revere the Wizard
Chapter 17: The New Garden Restores the Old Temple; East India Again Honors the True Monk
Chapter 18: The Twenty-Seventh Patriarch Transmits the Great Dharma; Bodhidharma Converts Yuantong
Chapter 19: At Qingning Abbey Daofu Takes a Master; in the Wheel-Turning Office Yuantong Reads the Records
Chapter 20: Taoqing Shows Off His Wine-Making; the Wind Demon Tricks and Warns Taoqing
Chapter 21: A Concubine Tells Her Heart in Detail; Wang and Fan Meet and Plot a Course
Chapter 22: Wang Yang's Moon Poem Draws Mockery; Taoqing Speaks of Rebirth Over Wine
Chapter 23: Greed, Anger, and Delusion Pass the Distraction; Monks at Qingning Abbey Submit to the Patriarch
Chapter 24: The Divine Office Sends Souls to Rebirth; the Monk Wind Demon Warns Against Breaking Precepts
Chapter 25: Shenyuan Donates Gold to Save Chickens and Pigs; a Daoist Tests a Nun by Trickery
Chapter 26: Gongxing Tests Kou Qianzhi Five Times; the Zhengyi Examination Truly Blesses the State
Chapter 27: The Walker Converts Lady Cui; the King of Wei Restricts the Central Army's Orders
Chapter 28: Cui and Kou Meet Evil Retribution and Are Destroyed; Loyal and Filial Sons Take Masters and Enter the Dharma
Chapter 29: Supporting the Teaching, Arhat Speaks a Gatha; Nun Zongchi Disturbs Quiet to Attend the Feast
Chapter 30: Daofu Discusses the Root of Disobedience; the Patriarch Converts a Second Wife with a Gatha
Chapter 31: Converting the Xiang Family Restores Filial Piety; Transforming Yu Quan's Five Sons' Wicked Hearts
Chapter 32: Stubborn Blindness Falls to Fengdu; Disobedient Demons Are Subdued by True Dharma
Chapter 33: Testing Chan Mind, a White Ape Offers Fruit; Falling to Evil Karma, a Monk Forgets the Sutra
Chapter 34: Seeking Recitation, One Repents and Returns to the Root; Speaking of Loyalty and Deceit, Calamity and Reward
Chapter 35: Monk Qingchen Clears the Case of Sin; Bo Pi's Treacherous Soul Is Struck by the Iron Whip
Chapter 36: A Goddess Turns into a Woman to Test the True Monk; A Grudge Meets a Demon and Plots Revenge
Chapter 37: The Just Old Man Observes Demons; the Self-Offering Walker Explains His Origin
Chapter 38: The Holy Monk Will Not Eat Suspicious Food; the Divine General Can Subdue the Insolent Demon
Chapter 39: Senior and Junior Brothers Fight Over Robes and Bowl; the Dharma-Protecting Divine King Guards the Gate
Chapter 40: The Chaste Wife Resists the Fox Demon; the Demon of Turning Against Kin Flees in Woman's Form

FAQ

《东度记》和讲八仙的《东游记》是同一本书吗？

不是。八仙故事出自明代吴元泰的《东游记》（又名《上洞八仙传》）。《东度记》写达摩东来传法，又名《续证道书东游记》《新编扫魅敦伦东度记》，因别名相近常被混淆，实为两部书。

这本书的作者到底是谁？

原书题“荥阳清溪道人著”，通行说法认为清溪道人即方汝浩，他另著有《禅真逸史》《禅真后史》。但其生卒、籍贯均有争议，也有学者认为《东度记》作者与《禅真逸史》作者并非一人。

全书一共多少回？结构如何？

共二十卷一百回。前十八回写二十六祖不如密多尊者在南印度、东印度度化众生；第十九回以后写达摩受法东渡震旦、降魔传法，至第一百回“东度僧善功圆满”收束。

书里的妖怪有什么特别？

最大特点是“魔从心生”。陶情、王阳、艾多、分心魔等分别隐喻酒、色、财、气，另有贪、嗔、痴、欺心、反目、懒惰等情魔，多为人的欲望所化，危害在于败坏人伦而非吃人。

这个版本适合初次接触古白话小说的读者吗？

相对友好。它是简体横排的现代整理本，上下两册、依据明代万卷楼刊一百回本，语言本身通俗明快。但说教段落较多，建议读时抓主线、略过韵文，耐心读下去并不难。

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About the author

方汝浩 Author

Fang Ruhao is an author of classical Chinese fiction about whom very little is known; public sources contain no clear record of his native place, dates of birth and death, or courtesy names, and the main verifiable fact is his association with the Dongdu Ji (Journey to the East) cycle. Eight of his works are held in the collection, including the three-volume Classic Mythological Novel: Dongdu Ji, Saomei Dunlun Dongdu Ji, Ancient Classic Story Library: Dongdu Ji, and Dongdu Ji (Literary Classic), among other editions. These works use mythological narrative as a framework, combining otherworldly imagination with social and ethical exhortation, and they blend tales of gods and demons with depictions of worldly life; they are commonly classified under otherworld fantasy, culture, social fiction, and classical literature. Judging from the repeated editions, Dongdu Ji is the representative text that circulated widely and was repeatedly compiled and published, and its content often uses supernatural plots to convey moral instruction, with a language marked by the features of classical vernacular fiction. Because historical sources are scarce, Fang Ruhao's own life and social circle cannot be examined in detail, and scholars usually take his surviving works as clues for studying the narrative methods and ethical themes of this kind of god-and-demon fiction.