英文摘要 |
Previous studies have tended to regard the implied meaning of the Journey to the West 西遊記 as a one-way single road, an interpretation that overlooks the self-definition of the work revealed at its end which states that there are two ways to the West: the main road (benlu 本路) and the cloud road (yunlu 雲路). The metaphor of two roads was related to the controversy, and confluence, between Chan and Pure Land thought in late Ming Buddhist circles. Critical scholarship has argued that the Journey to the West is permeated with Chan thought; however, Pure Land ideas are also evident in the work. Furthermore, passages in Li Zhuowu 李卓吾's commentary on the novel, which demonstrate traits of syncretism between Chan and Pure Land in Lay Buddhism, complement the original text and vice versa. Through an analysis of Li's use of the terms "stepping on solid ground" 腳踏實地, "home territory" 家鄉, "the cloud road", and "the main road", in chapters two and ninety-eight, this article explores the accumulated history of Chan and Pure Land syncretic thought revealed in these concepts, and the way this syncretic thought was integrated in the structure of the novel. It is argued here that the two ways to the West signify the dual practice of Chan and Pure Land methods. They also represent a metaphor for getting rid of the corrupt practice of Chan through the correct practice of Pure Land, and advance a subtle critique of the same problem in Confucianism and Daoism. |