"Dong Du Ji" Research

The value and religious concept which was described in Dong Du Ji is very different from those in Chan Zhen Yi Shi and Chan Zhen Hou Shi.The view that Dong Du Ji was written by the author of the latter two books is incorrect.Based on the analysis of dialect and customs in the latter two books,with the addition of the customary way of writing the word “Hu” in ancient literature,I hold the view that the author “Gu Shui Qing Xi Dao Ren” of Chan Zhen Yi Shi and Chan Zhen Hou Shi whose native place is Lanxi City of Zhejiang Provence instead of Xingyang City of Henan Provence.By analyzing clues contained in the text of The Romance of the Three Teachings,and comparing the Preface Postscript and the Seal of Dong Du Ji and The Romance of the Three Teachings,I draw a conclusion that the author of Dong Du Ji is Pan whose native place is Xingyang City.His families had lived in Nanjing for generations.Another hypothesis is that the author is Pan's son,Pan Jingruo,who created the work with Pan's pseudonym.Secularizing Process of Buddhism and Taoism reached a climax,which became the remarkable feature of them in the late Ming Dynasty.The religions secularization was mainly manifested by their believers in Dong Du Ji.The influence of hedonism was the reason why the ethos of religious groups had become more and more corrupt.The soul of the believers was empty and dirty,and they were indifferent to religious practice.They yearned for the secular life.Meanwhile,they were absorbed in chasing for secular power and fame.With the development of the city and the prosperity of the commodity economy,the public view of life had changed.People believed in religion out of a utilitarian motive,which also led to the sanctity of religion gradually dispelled.All these had turned believers from staunch believers into businessmen who catered to people's religious needs.Religious activities of Buddhism and Taoism,such as the rites and vegetarian ceremony,were labeled as commodities by believers just for profit.The government in late Ming dynasty was very corrupt.It could not make religions under control so that many monks and Taoist appeared without official permissions.These all further aggravated the corruption within the religious groups and promoted the secularization process of the Buddhism and the Taoism.The thought of “the combination of the three teachings” is distinctly reflected in Dong Du Ji.The characters in this novel often have a deep understanding of the three teachings and strongly support the thought of “the combination of the three teachings”.They have multiple religious identities in the novel.At the same time,they are consistent in many aspects,such as value judgment,behavior,etc.Ordinary believers also strive for the integration of the three teachings without any prejudice to the three religions.Due to the inclusiveness and openness of Chinese culture,the tradition of polytheism,the strong advocacy from the rulers,the consistency in social functions and many similarities in the doctrines of the three religions,it is possible that the three religions can combine with each other.Furthermore,these conditions provide a broad and solid basis for the combination of the three religions.From the goal of maintaining social order,regulating interpersonal relations and revitalizing social morality,the author of Dong Du Ji advocated the view that "combining of three Chinese traditional thoughts into Confucianism " and emphasized the dominant position of Confucianism.Although Dong Du Ji imitates the Journey to the West in many aspects,it still has its own artistic value.The author made a breakthrough on the basis of inheriting the previous generation's experience in writing novels.Based on the narrating technique of Novel of Manners,the author used the narrating techniques of Historical Novel and Hero Legendary Novel to create Dong Du Ji.While describing the gods and demons,the author turned his perspective to a broader world.He developed new fields of Supernatural Evil-spirit Novel.Similarly,he improved the scope and depth of Supernatural Evil-spirit Novel about reflecting and criticizing reality.Meanwhile,the author cleverly crafted the complex saga of Dharma into a complete story by using doublet and chain type structure.The diction of this novel is concise,without any sense of obscurity and inflexibility.Likewise,the language style of this novel has the characteristics of being lively and humorous by using popular folk words.