Wu Cheng'en and Journey to the West

This film (drama)Also known as吴承恩与西游记，is aMainland ChinaProducerbeauty live，At2010Released in year 。The dialogue language isMandarin Chinese，Current Douban rating2.5(For reference only)。

In the play, the protagonist Wu Cheng'en is wise yet humble, values justice, is charming and talented, excelling in poetry, calligraphy, and painting; the characters from *Journey to the West*, such as Sun Wukong, Tang Seng, and Zhu Bajie, resonate with the original depictions in the play; the rich and extraordinary myths, fantasies, chivalric adventures, along with bold and interesting artistic expressions and modern high-tech three-dimensional techniques, greatly expand the extraordinary imagination of heaven and earth. In the Ming Dynasty during the Jiajing period, a minor official named Wu Yue from Shanyang County in Huai'an, Jiangsu, took his son to Huaguo Mountain's Yuntaisi to discuss with an old friend, Monk Puyin, in hopes that his son Wu Cheng'en could study, become an official, and bring glory to the family. However, the talented Wu Cheng'en, who had an excellent memory, became enamored with the lively monkeys in the Water Curtain Cave on Huaguo Mountain, imagining himself free and boundless like the monkeys. 76-year-old Li Laofu, who failed the imperial exam for over 60 years, entered the examination room with a rope, declaring he would only die if he failed again. However, this time Wu Cheng'en topped the list, while his friend Shen Kun ranked second. Li Laofu, who failed again, was filled with regret but had great hope for Wu Cheng'en. Before he died, he entrusted a student to ensure the current court official Cai Ang would guide Wu Cheng'en so that he could rise to prominence and fulfill his unachieved aspirations. Wu Cheng'en's sister, Wu Chengjia, was naturally beautiful, and the wealthy Luo Wanjin from Shanyang County, leveraging his relationship with the court's prime minister Yan Song, tried every means to forcefully marry Wu Chengjia but was rejected by the Wu family. Luo Pan, his son, envied Wu Cheng'en's talent but found himself powerless; thus, the Luo family and the Wu family were bound by an unbreakable grudge. Wu Cheng'en's parents, sister, and wife Ye Yun all hoped he would become an official through his studies, yet Wu Cheng'en persisted in his own way, enjoying watching monkeys, imitating monkey movements, and listening to monkey performances, eventually meeting the monkey performer Niu Yufeng. Hometown friends and talented scholars Shen Kun and Li Chunfang jokingly called Wu Cheng'en "Monkey Fanatic." Despite their efforts to persuade him to cherish his talent and pursue an official career, they couldn't change Wu Cheng'en’s steadfast refusal of formal examinations and his stubbornness in not wanting to become an official, so they allowed him to entertain himself with monkeys, make friends with them, and embark on the ambitious project of writing *Journey to the West*. Accompanied by his beautiful wife Yu Feng and the monkeys, Wu Cheng'en traveled the world and returned to Huaguo Mountain, bringing attention from the court and experiencing various challenges. However, Wu Cheng'en remained resolute and heartened by the common people's hopes, leading to the emergence of stories such as how the Monkey King came into the world, the agile Ruyi Gold-Peg used by him, the havoc created by the monkeys in Heaven, his friend Bajie's rejection of marriage, Yu Feng’s blood sacrifice to save her husband, the battle of wits with the Yellow Wind Daoist, a fierce fight with the Bull Demon King, plans against pirates, and the just building of the Monkey Garden. A mythological masterpiece, symbolizing the indomitable spirit, optimism, ideals, and great wisdom and bravery of the Chinese people, *Journey to the West*, was finally completed under Wu Cheng'en's pen. Years later, a close friend Li Chunfang faced the manuscript of *Journey to the West* left by the deceased Wu Cheng'en, sat formally at a table, and wrote “*Journey to the West, written by Wu Cheng'en*” on the first page, softly murmuring: "Cheng'en, you are the 'Beautiful Monkey King,' you are Sun Wukong! You are Sun Wukong!" Ten years after Wu Cheng'en's death, his work *Journey to the West* was corrected by Li Chunfang and officially published by Shide Tang in Nanjing in 1592. On October 8, 2005, the Wu Cheng'en Memorial Hall was established and opened in Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province…