This study examines the narrative of Wen Zhong (聞仲), the character of the Chinese Ming novel Fengshenyanyi (封神演義), and discusses the meaning orientation of that narrative and its cultural implications in connection with Taoism culture and Korean cultu ...
This study examines the narrative of Wen Zhong (聞仲), the character of the Chinese Ming novel Fengshenyanyi (封神演義), and discusses the meaning orientation of that narrative and its cultural implications in connection with Taoism culture and Korean culture.
Since the narrative of the novel Fengshenyanyi is based on folk tale, it reflects the “mentalité” of the basic people, apart from the actual history of the ShangZhou Revolution (商周革命). In this novel, Wen Zhong, who appears as the supreme commander (太師) of the Shang Dynasty and the immortal (仙人) of the Jiejiao (截敎), was defeated in the war and enshrined in the Taoism thunder god (雷神), Jiutianyingyuanleishengpuhuatianzun (九天應元雷聲普化天尊). Therefore, we obtain the basis for exploring some aspects of the narrative knowledge and the collective sensibility of this deity from the Wen Zhong narrative in the novel.
The discussion in this study proceeded in the following three areas.
First, I considered the narrative shape of Wen Zhong. The outer features of Wen Zhong are that he has a whip “Cixiongbian (雌雄鞭)”, rides an animal “Moqilin (墨麒麟)”, and wears a hat “Jiuyunlieyanguan (九雲烈焰冠).” He also has the characteristic of three-eyed man (三目人). A comparison was also attempted with the narrative of Jiang Ziya (姜子牙) and Huang Feihu (黃飛虎), because they play a role in contrast to the Wen Zhong characters in the novel, helping to understand him.
Next, through the Wen Zhong narrative, I discussed the principle of deification of “fengshen (封神),” a key motif that penetrates the entire Fengshenyanyi. The novel evokes a sympathetic sentiment for Wen Zhong representing the position of the victim and the loser, which is closely related to the shamanism principle “haewon (解冤).” Therefore, fengshen can be understood as an act of reward mechanism that entrusts the heros of the Shang who have been sacrificed, while revealing the appearance that Shang’s shamanism paradigm is changed and distorted, and moving in the direction of the human culture pursued by Zhou.
Last, I argued that the narrative of Wen Zhong was relevant to Korean culture, focusing on the fact that Wen Zhong was enshrined in the thunder god Jiutianyingyuanleishengpuhuatianzun. It was examined that the narrative shape of Wen Zhong is deeply related to the tradition of the thunder god of Gojoseon (古朝鮮) and the symbolic system of Dongyi (東夷) myth. Also, it was discussed that the reason why the author of the Taoism scripture “Yushujing (玉樞經)”, very popular during the Joseon Dynasty, was known as “Moontaesa (聞太師)” was because of the fashion of Fengshenyanyi. At the same time, it was argued that the shape of Wen Zhong in Joseon was recognized in the cultural context of Korea along with Yushujing.
The narrative of novel based on a folk story is of great value in that it contains a wealth of collective memories behind the scenes that historical records or religious scriptures can not contain. Through a review of the narrative of Wen Zhong in the novel Fengshenyanyi, which based on the narrative imagination of a historical event ShangZhou Revolution, it was demonstrated that the collective memory that the Taoism thunder god Jiutianyingyuanleishengpuhuatianzun is a deity from Dongyi is contained in it.