Wu Cheng'en was born in Jiajing period, and his family background is OK. Wu Cheng'en was clever since he was a child. He wrote a book. His father hopes that he can get a formal job and win honor in the future. Wu Cheng'en lived up to expectations and was appreciated by his teacher at the age of 20, but later his luck seemed to be bad. When I was 44 years old, I got a position of 24-year-old Gong Shengren, but I was repeatedly frustrated waiting for a formal position in Beijing. At the age of 50, I got a position as a county magistrate.
The Tang Priest on the Journey to the West took four disciples to the Western Heaven to learn Buddhist scriptures. On the way, he experienced many difficulties. Eighty-one is difficult. Many people will say why he has to go through so many difficulties. He is tired of writing. But look at Wu Cheng'en's experience. He was smart and blessed in his early years, just like Tang Priest was given the title of "Emperor's Brother" and set out in a mighty way. The result still suffered a lot, just like Wu Cheng'en's officialdom experience.
On the way to learn Buddhist scriptures, Tang Priest met Chechi King, who made demons out of Buddha. At this time, Wu Cheng'en was obviously satirizing the current emperor. Emperor Jiajing ignored national politics, believed in Taoism, and regarded Taoists as immortals. He also made five fragrant leaf crowns for his close courtiers instead of wearing them himself.
When the Tang Priest and his party arrived in Elysium, they were told that they had to pay some money to learn from the scriptures. Later, they also said that the scriptures should not be taken for nothing. Ironically, the court was fatuous and corrupt. The most ridiculous thing is that the Tang Priest's scriptures were found to be blank, which is a mockery of the court legislation.