Talk:Journey to the West/Archive 2

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The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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News of a film version

It was mentioned in a British paper today. Not clear if it will ever be shown here, but I liked the imagery. Probably takes great liberties with the plot, but it is that sort of tale. --GwydionM 20:05, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

characters

I moved "character history" from synopsis to "main characters" section. The content contradicts the articles on these characters, so it also needs to be fixed for accuracy. Bertport 21:12, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

Gallery

I oppose the removal of the gallery, as it provides a visual idea of what the characters would look like much better than what discriptions could do. There's no reason for its removal.--Ryz05 00:49, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Why, is there a movement afoot to remove the gallery? Bertport 14:51, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

It was removed until I put it back. I don't know who removed it, but I'm opposed to its removal.--Ryz05 14:54, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

I’m not opposed to the idea of the gallery but I am against the pictures chosen. The argument "provides a visual idea of what the characters would look" rather than descriptions is good if the pictures chosen actually matched the description. I have never seen this version of JttW and it seem they have been chosen as the submitter is a fan of the show rather than for their accuracy.

I have no problem with these pictures being here, especially in the absence of any persuasive argument that these conceptions differ significantly from cultural norms. But maybe it would be better to place them on the separate article devoted specifically to this TV series, and the present article could refer readers to that article for "a popular visual conception of the characters".

Bertport 12:33, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

Out of all the tv series, you have to choose this one. The characters are pretty ugly, and the purpose of visual aid would be better served by finding paintings rather than using real life characters. --Big Wang 05:51, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

I also prefer illusrations from old books rather than picures from recent TV stuff. Besides, why those picures are not seen in the TV series page? --LittleTree 23:07, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Gautama or Amitabha?

We have an editing skirmish going on, as to whether Guan Yin is sent by Amitabha or Gautama. I checked the Jenner translation published by FLP. Chapter 8 is where Buddha gives Guan Yin her orders. He's just called "Buddha" or "Tathagata Buddha" in this edition. There are story elements that suggest Gautama - references to Vulture Peak, and Gautama's disciple Ananda, for instance. On the other hand, Gautama was a human being, not a god, and the Buddha in the novel is clearly a supernatural being, a god. Furthermore, he gets called "Amitofo" (Amitabha) in the 1986 Mandarin language TV series I've watched, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese text says "Amitofo" consistently, and Jenner is just translating it as "Buddha". I suspect that the popular imagination captured in this novel does not distinguish between Amitabha and Gautama. Is there anyone around who can confirm or contradict that, authoritatively? If my suspicion is correct, then I think we should just say "Buddha sent Guan Yin" without specifying Gautama or Amitabha. Bertport 15:08, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

According to my Japanese translation (which uses Chinese proper nouns in the original form as far as possible), the one was called "如來" (Tathagata) in most cases, "釈迦如來" (Shakya Tathagata) or "釈迦牟尼" (Sakyamuni) in a few cases, and in an exceptional case where he introduced himself to the monkey, "I am 釈迦牟尼 (Śākyamuni), that is, 阿彌陀佛 (Āmítuó Fó, Amitabha Buddha)".
In summary, it was Gautama who sent Guan Yin. However, not as the real human being (Gautama Siddhartha) but as the legendary super being (Shakyamuni Buddha). Why he named himself "Amituo Fo" is not known (even to the researcher/translator), but he is not Amitabha as far as Gautama and Amitabha are to be treated as separate beings. And, as you say, if one confuse the two, he can be the both ;-) --LittleTree 20:05, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

I'd say the line you quote indicates that, in the world of this novel, there is no distinction between Gautama and Amitabha. How about we remove references to either in the article, and let it be just "Buddha"? Bertport 01:49, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Found another word to call him in the book, "佛祖" (the founder of Buddhism). Apart from the one single word above mentioned, he is definitely Sakyamuni/Gautama. I am not sure if the word Amitabha was put there really as his name. It might have been just a holly word (see Amitabha#Mantras, which has lost its literal meaning just like Om mani padme hum) to make his words sound sacred. I rather feel some resistance to say "there is no distinction between the two in the world of this novel", but I like your idea; to let it be just "Buddha". --LittleTree 01:18, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Uproar in Heaven

Journey to the West was also the basis for Uproar in Heaven (Chinese Animated Film), which has it's own page but I don't know how to link and am about to leave work.--Saisugoi 22:07, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

It's been the basis for a thousand stories in the 500+ years it's been around, really. It's like finding references to the bible in Western Culture, it's just a common part of the heritage. - 24.10.95.220 18:01, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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