THE CHARACTER ZHU BAJIE IN “JOURNEY TO THE WEST” BY WU CHENGEN

Abstract

“Journey to the West”, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, was adapted for cinematographic, theatrical and television production, amongst others and spread beyond China’s border, making it familiar to millions of readers and audience in many parts of the world, including Vietnam. On the journey to retrieve original Buddhist scriptures for China, the character Pigsy or Zhu Bajie is portrayed as a half-man, half-pig monster with both good and bad personalities which are represented by the animal part and human part. In the article, the analytical and synthetic methods are used to clarify the meaning and significance of the image of Pigsy or Zhu Bajie in “Journey to the West” by Wu Chengen, and this contributes to teaching ancient Chinese literature to Vietnamese students.