All-rounder Artist-Chapter 605 - 571: Have I Really Read This Book Before?_1

It was only after seeing this brief decoding, many readers suddenly realized...

They didn’t seem to understand Journey to the West at all?

What the experts saw were the novel’s implications, the metaphors within the plot, and the ingenuity of the structure.

Yet, ordinary readers were simply busy shouting:

"Sun Wukong is awesome!"

"The Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal, is awesome!"

They completely missed the point!

Of course, the plot of this novel is exciting.

However, the truly amazing thing about Journey to the West are the elements that are worthy of deep thought, or even reconsideration.

Metaphors and implications are everywhere!

The truly terrifying element is the shocking truth that is not explicitly written, but is revealed between the lines of the novel!

No wonder the former president of the Literature and Art Association went out of their way to endorse Journey to the West!

Before long,

This analysis began to spread among the readers. Soon, fans of Journey to the West were overpowered—

"The expert is awesome!"

"So Journey to the West can be read in reverse!"

"I thought this was a family-friendly story, but the real Journey to the West is so dark."

This content is taken from freёnovelkiss.com.

"I thought the master and his disciples were traveling west to punish evil and promote good, but those monsters with backstories didn’t die at all. This isn’t a mythological novel, it’s more realistic than reality!"

"I actually feel a bit sorry for Sun Wukong now."

"Becoming the Victorious Fighting Buddha sounds nice, but it’s actually a story of a failed rebellion being suppressed and co-opted by Buddha."

"Sun Wukong, in the end, lost his wildness."

"After following these thoughts, I can’t help but feel sad. I feel like I’m living my life like Journey to the West: I have pressures like Wukong, a body shape like Bajie, a bald head like Monk Sha, and the nagging and affectation of Tang Monk."

"The more I look at it, the more Journey to the West feels like a scam?"

"..."

The endless reviews sprouted crazily like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

Any mainstream related forum could easily generate tons of comments that would take dozens of pages to scroll through.

Moreover,

This analysis had a ripple effect, sparking deeper thinking about the plot by more people.

More and more interpretations!

More and more diverse viewpoints!

The netizens were simply dazzled!

Some even said that the so-called pilgrimage was just Tang Monk’s spiritual cultivation!

Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and others simply didn’t exist!

Thus,

This book review, once it appeared, attracted the attention of countless readers of Journey to the West!

This was not only because this interpretation was incredibly fascinating, but also because the author of this review was a very famous book review expert and scholar in the cultural field on the internet.

His article was titled: "Perhaps Journey to the West, from Beginning to End, only involves Tang Monk."

Without reading the content, many people’s first reaction to this viewpoint was...

Nonsense!

Artificially shocking statement!

This is even more far-fetched than the real Sun Wukong being replaced by the Six-Eared Macaque!

It feels like many interpretations are just attention-grabbing stunts!

Some people even started arguing on the spot.

These reviewers love to make bold claims.

However, when everyone clicked on this review, they were somewhat taken aback.

"The true Journey to the West is just Tang Monk’s spiritual cultivation, and the three disciples are all him."

"I know that as soon as I say this, everyone will feel baffled. Don’t rush to criticize, why don’t we have a discussion around the novel?"

"Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Monk Sha, and even White Dragon Horse, actually represent Tang Monk’s inner demons. The process of him taming his disciples is the process of him suppressing his own desires!"

"Otherwise, why would the journey to the West be exactly 108,000 kilometers, and Sun Wukong’s somersault is also exactly 108,000 kilometers? Isn’t it too coincidental? Why didn’t they let Sun Wukong somersault them to the West rather than walking along the long road, going through 81 hardships? Because it does not exist!

It is just one of Tang Monk’s biggest desires, which is to take shortcuts and reach the sky in one step. Additionally, Sun Wukong also represents impulsiveness and wildness. This monkey is direct, unstable, and not at all modest. He was audacious in the early to mid-stage of the story!"

"Zhu Bajie, a lusty character, represents sexual desire. The plot in Women’s Kingdom must have left a deep impression on everyone. In Women’s Kingdom, there wasn’t really much danger, so why did Chu Kuang make such a big deal out of it? Simply because Tang Monk is human, and humans have emotions and desires, but a heart that aspires to Buddha should not move with worldly concerns.

Therefore, this plot is very important; Tang Monk needs to break through his emotional barriers here!"

"And then there’s Monk Sha..."

"So, the hardships on the journey are the grinding of Tang Monk’s heart. Taming the mind is Wukong, harnessing the desire is changing into a dragon, renouncing greed and lust are the Eight Precepts, renouncing killing and anger is attaining purity. With a pure mind and body, one can face Buddha, and wherever the heart is, is the Western paradise!"

"The so-called journey to the West is Tang Monk’s cultivation!"

It seems like...

It makes quite a lot of sense?

The disciples are all of Tang Monk’s obsessions and inner demons?

In the comments section,

Some people even started to resonate and chime in:

"It seems like there’s some meaning to the theory of the five elements. Monkey Sun is Tang Monk’s "mind monkey". The mind monkey is associated with fire and movement, hence he is a "traveler" and needs to attain emptiness. Zhu Bajie represents Tang Monk’s kidneys and is associated with water, representing seven emotions and six desires, hence he is called Eight Precepts.

What Bajie should and shouldn’t do is represented by his Dharma name, Wuneng. Fire and water are incompatible, so there needs to be the harmony of earth, hence the seemingly unnoticeable Monk Sha, because the earth harmonizes conflicts without disputing, which needs to attain purity.

Tang Monk is the primordial spirit, also known as the "Tripitaka" in Daoism, which is the place of the mysterious treasure. The movement of the primordial spirit requires the commanding of the desire horse, hence Tang Monk is riding the White Dragon Horse for the pilgrimage!"

"Yes, yes, yes, I felt something was wrong just by looking at the title of the novel."

"Reading the chapter titles of the entire book together, it feels like a complete cultivation method!"

"..."

Wow!

They even supplemented the viewpoint!

They even brought up the theory of five elements!

They managed to come up with a cultivation method!

The key point is, these people truly managed to tie some things together, giving a sense of justification!

At this moment,

Readers weren’t just dumbfounded.

Many people even started to feel lost…

Their thoughts have already shifted from "Are we reading the same book?" to "Have I actually read this book?"

These interpretations are amazing!

So which interpretation is the correct one?

What is the real …

Journey to the West?

How many implications did Chu Kuang’s Journey to the West hide that were not explicitly stated?

These interpretations that Chu Kuang didn’t explicitly state will never be understood by outsiders.

But there is no doubt,

Regardless of the interpretation, whichever hypothesis, they all prove that Journey to the West is not simple!

For a time, some people even couldn’t help but reread Journey to the West.

The first time, they read it in haste, just for the fun of it.

The second time, many people reread it, with a serious research mentality, as so many interpretations made many people realize that the story of Journey to the West is worth studying.

These are the more diligent readers.

On the other hand,

For readers who are not so diligent and prefer to see the summaries and discussions by experts, they turned their attention to the Primordial Chaos fans who had been picking on Journey to the West all this time…