《西游记》长生术解读

EXPLANATION OF THE TECHNIQUE OF IMMORTALITY IN THE PILGRIMAGE TO THE WEST

中国文化是交互性发展的,不同时期不同层次的文化往往在同时代并存,或统一于一部小说中。《西游记》就是这样一部小说。它蕴意丰富,关注于人自身、人自我价值的实现和精神超越。其中人物的长生追求虽然是原始意识的遗留,却代表着中国文化中人们对生命永恒长久不衰的真挚的追求,同样也从侧面反映了明代肯定世俗人欲、追求享乐长生的思潮。

The development of Chinese culture is complex.The cultures of different periods and different levels always exist in one period or in one novel just like the picaresque novel The Pilgrimage to the West.There are many themes in it,the primary is about the human self,the achievement of individual’s value and spirit.It is the exhibition of primitive conception that all the characters in The Pilgrimage to the West,want to be immortals or have eternal lives.However, it shows the human being’s sincere thirst for eternal life,which exists in Chinese culture for a long time.Additionally,it reflects the social thought trend of secularism and hedonism in the Ming Dynasty.