Wu Cheng-en was born in 1504 in Huaian and died in his hometown in 1582. He is a famous novelist of the Ming Dynasty. Journey to the West, his most well-known novel, is one of the four greatest classical works in ancient China. Overall, he has achieved brilliant accomplishments in the history of Chinese literature.

What is Wu Cheng-en’s life story?

Wu Cheng-en , courtesy name Ruzhong , pen name "Sheyang Hermit," was a Chinese novelist and poet of the Ming Dynasty, best known for being the probable author of one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, Journey to the West. Wu was born in Lianshui, in Jiangsu province, and later moved to nearby Huaian. Wu's father, Wu Rui, had had a good primary education and "shown an aptitude for study," but ultimately spent his life as an artisan because of his family's financial difficulties. Nevertheless, Wu Rui continued to "devote himself to literary pursuits,"

and as a child Wu Cheng-en acquired the same enthusiasm for literature—including classical literature, popular stories, and anecdotes. Wu Cheng-en was known early in life for his literary leanings. Nevertheless, Wu repeatedly failed the civil service exams. He was 63 years old when he was appointed to the post of Vice Magistrate in Changxing county, but after only two years was thrown into prison on a trumped-up charge of corruption. The details of the case were eventually brought to light and Wu was offered another position but did not take it up. Wu remained poor throughout his life, however, and did not have any children; dissatisfied with the political climate of the time and with the corruption of the world, he spent much of his life as a hermit.

Wu is best known for his connection to the classic Journey to the West, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literatures. Furthermore, it is unknown how much of the novel Wu or whoever the true author was, actually created, and how much he simply completed and edited, since much of the legend behind Journey to the West already existed in folk tales.

Nevertheless, the Journey to the West is the most authoritative version of these stories, as no competing story has appeared since they were compiled in this novel, and Wu has become inextricably linked with the book and is seen as the generally accepted author, even if some doubts remain.

In addition to Journey to the West, Wu wrote numerous poems and stories including the novel Yuding Animals, which includes a preface by Wu, although most have been lost. Some of his work survives because, after his death, a family member gathered as many manuscripts as he could find and compiled them into four volumes, entitled Remaining Manuscripts of Mr. Sheyang. Some of his poetry was included in contemporary anthologies such as A Digest of Ming Poetry and A Record of Ming Poetry.

Both his poetry and his prose have been described as "stubborn" and critical of society's corruption and in one of his few surviving poems Wu described himself as having a "defiant spirit”. Wu's poetry focused on the expression of emotions, and for this reason his work has been compared to that of Li Bai, although even the poems that he published with his name attached still were not quite modeled on the classical styles (although they were not as "vulgar" as Journey to the West). In addition to using his writing to critique society, Wu also took pride in the worldly nature of his work, as opposed to the more fantastic writings of some contemporaries; in the preface to Yuding Animals he wrote, "My book does not just deal with the supernatural; it deals with the foibles of men too."

Wu is widely thought to be the author who published the work in anonymity due to the social pressures at the time. During those time there was a trend in Chinese literary circles to imitate the classical literature of the Qin Dynasty, the Han Dynasty, and Tang Dynasty, written in Classical Chinese; late in life, however, Wu went against this trend by apparently writing the novel, Journey to the West in the vernacular tongue. Because of the ill repute of "vulgar" literature at the time, it is believed Wu published the novel anonymously. For over three centuries most of China remained unaware of its authorship.

Still, the novel's authorship is not certain, as the novel was published anonymously, and Wu did not reference the work in any other of his writings. However, several scholars' textual analysis and research of Qing Dynasty records suggests that he may have been the author, and a 1625 gazetteer from Wu's hometown claims him as the author. Still, there are remaining doubts regarding the author of the novel.

Wu Cheng-en is famous for being the author of Journey to the West, one of Chinese Four Classic Novels. Though living in the most feudalistic society, he brought innovations to the literature, which made him an influential figure in Chinese history.