The novel “Journey to the West”, published in 1590, is one of the most famous Chinese literary works in the world. This is considered one of the “Four Great Famous Works” of Chinese literature. The novel recounts the fascinating journey to Tay Truc (India) of monk Xuanzang (Duong Tam Tang) and his students.
After nearly a hundred years of being born, characters such as Sun Wukong, Pigsy, the Ox Demon King or the heroic battles against monsters and helping innocent people are still unforgettable memories of the people. generation.
Until now, the world has known that in that fascinating world of gods and demons, only Duong Huyen Trang (about 602-664) is real. He is a Chinese monk, one of the four greatest translators, specializing in translating Sanskrit scriptures into Chinese. He also actually made a pilgrimage to India to study Buddhist scriptures.
As for the great hero in “Journey to the West”, the Great Saint Sun Wukong, who holds his head above the sky and his feet on the ground, that many children admire, has always been considered a fictional character.
However, an ancient tomb discovered in Fujian province suddenly raised doubts about the origin of this character. In the 1980s, people discovered an extremely strange mausoleum in Fujian province, China.
This tomb is located on the main peak of Bao Son mountain, and is a burial tomb. In the mausoleum, there are two stone stele inscribed respectively: Tomb of Qi Thien Dai Thanh and Tomb of Tong Thien Dai Thanh.
Tomb of Qi Thien Dai Thanh
Archaeologists have carefully researched and concluded that this tomb was built at the end of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). The entire tomb area is only about 18 square meters wide. Although there are no gold or jade burial items, they are buried with many artifacts and worship statues related to monkeys.
Historians deduce that “Journey to the West” was born in the 1590s, so it is very likely that the two characters in the tomb found in Fujian were the prototypes to build the character Sun Wu. No, or even the person in the tomb is the Qitian Great Saint Sun Wukong.
According to documents about the life of the tomb owner buried in the mausoleum, Qi Thien Dai Thanh and his younger brother Tong Thien Dai Thanh were two figures during the Yuan Dynasty. Accordingly, Tong Thien Dai Thanh married the princess of Kim Dinh and gave birth to a child with the princess after the marriage.
In particular, archaeologists also found a stick more than 7 meters long made of pure iron in the tomb. It is difficult to give a more suitable explanation for this stick than the hypothesis that this is the Nhu Y stick – Sun Wukong’s weapon in “Journey to the West”.
The discovery of the tomb has led to many heated debates about the authenticity of the character Sun Wukong under the pen of author Ngo Thua An. Due to the erosion of time, a lot of information about the owner of the tomb has been lost. Archaeologists are still actively finding more traces about the two great saints Qi Thien Dai Thanh and Tong Thien Dai Thanh in this real world.