The Journey to the West, Moral principles and Concept in Literature

Abstract

The journey to the West is one of the four great works of Chinese literature and is also known to Thai readers. The story centers on the journey of Tang Sanzang and his disciples to obtain the Buddhist scriptures, featuring many miracles and supernatural events. This article presents the concepts of the literature from a literary perspective, including the author's background, moral lessons embedded in the main characters, and social ideas present in Journey to the West.

This article found that the author, Wu Cheng'en, was a writer with a background in social critique. The primary purpose of writing Journey to the West was to spread Mahayana Buddhism by creating main characters who represent various moral teachings and weaving these into the story. Additionally, the narrative subtly incorporates political and social ideas.