Tower of Myriad Mirrors Author:Tung Yueh, Shuen-fu Lin (Translator), Larry Schulz (Translator) All who have enjoyed the adventures of Monkey in Arthur Waley's translation of the classic Chinese novel Hsi-yu chi will be gratified to find that the outrageous demon has another set of adventures recorded by the seventeenth century Buddhist monk and scholar Tung Yueh (1620-1689) in his novel Hsi-yu pu ('Supplement to Jo... more »urney to the West').
From the opening chapter, in which he slays a group of happily playing children in a fit of irritation (and then, to escape guilt for the deed, composes a eulogy to the slain innocents which is an unforgettable spoof on sententious writing), through his meandering voyage in wondrous realms in which he acts out our fantasies of sex, greed and power, to his final awakening which reunites him with his pure but naive Buddhist master, we are led not only through a metaphorical process of enlightenment, but through a rich dream sequence which in imagery and structure lends itself to fascination interpretation according to the discoveries of Jung and depth psychology.
This novel, the first conscious exploration of dream in Chinese literature (which pre-dates modern Western dream theory by two and a half centuries) has the light and deft cutting edge of Lewis Carroll's writings, and, like Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass, although playful fantasy, simultaneously serves as biting social commentary.
This is an eminently readable translation, with an informative historical and interpretive introduction, which is a must not only for Sinologists, but for all lovers of world literature.« less