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The Influences Of Winston's Journey To The West

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Compared to other myths and legends, Chinese mythology has been traced all the way before 2000 bce. With the creation of these myths and legends, its history and influence of Chinese tradition and culture is substantial. Because of this, their country was molded, shaped, and intertwined into the many folklore stories surrounding it. For instance, one of the most prominent Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, Journey to the West, by Wu Cheng ‘en, reflects upon the many morals that myths bring to light, to which society embraces as a part of their established beliefs. Not only does this novel have much impact in past Chinese society, but it also has high prestige in modern-day culture. Therefore, China’s extensive history, culture, …show more content…

Even if it is extremely ancient, it still survived to have much influence over many books, movies, and games. Notably, the four main characters of Journey to the West, Sun Wukong, Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing have influenced the creation and personalities of four of the characters, Winston, Roadhog, Reinhardt, and Zenyatta, in the game Overwatch. In this game’s website, it expresses, “...’Winston’s Journey to the West’ recounts one of China’s oldest and most revered pieces of literature through the eyes of everyone’s favorite gorilla scientist”(“Overwatch Tapestry: ‘Winston’s Journey to the West’ ”). As can be seen, each character is symbolized respectively as the companionship in the original novel. Also, being praised as the most authentic interpretation of Journey to the West, its 1986 TV series adaption brings to light Comparatively, the Nezha, a protection deity in Chinese mythology, has been interpreted and retold in modern culture. As the website, Revolvy, states, “The story of Nezha have been made into several animated films”(“Chinese Mythology in popular culture”).Particularly, Nezha’s lore serves as the base plot, characters, and setting for an assortment of modern movies. In essence, these modern analysis of ancient folklore more than 4000 years old prove that Chinese mythology is still alive and thriving in present-day

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