Abstract：Annotations of Journey to the West (Xiyouji Ji) is one of the seven extant annotated books of Journey to the West in the Qing Dynasty, which was collected in the National Library under the name of “Huai Ming” (annotator). The Bibliography and Literature Press published its photocopies in 1996. Although some scholars have paid attention to and studied this book before, the real name and identity of its author (annotator) “Huai Ming” has always been an unsolved mystery, and its academic value has not been fully recognized.Based on the research of some materials collected by Zhejiang Library, this paper first ascertained the author of Annotations of Journey to the West, and determined that he was Zhu Dunyi, a scholar at Kuaiji in Zhejiang Province in the late Qing Dynasty. Zhu Dunyi used to adopt “Huai Ming”, “Qingzhou Official” and other pseudonyms with profound implications. The meaning behind “Huai Ming” is “cultivating inner elixir”.In this paper, the religious attributes and characteristics of remarks in Annotations of Journey to the West are clarified through detailed textual research on some Taoist literatures. The research shows that these remarks also interpret Journey to the West with the Taoist theory for inner elixir, which is similar to other annotated books of Journey to the West in the Qing Dynasty. However, the knowledge of the Taoist theory for inner elixir used by it does not belong to the Quanzhen Religion represented by Qiu Chuji, but belongs to the Southern Sect of the Taoist theory for inner elixir represented by Zhang Boduan. In all annotated books of Journey to the West in the Qing Dynasty, it is the only one that does so.This paper also discusses the unique value of Annotations of Journey to the West for the study of Journey to the West and Zhu Dunyi on the basis of relevant achievements of modern academic circles.As one of the seven extant annotated books of Journey to the West in the Qing Dynasty, Annotations of Journey to the West is an indispensable material for the study of the critical history of Journey to the West.Some of the remarks in Annotations of Journey to the West accurately reveal the connotation and interrelationship among the terms of the Taoist theory for inner elixir in Journey to the West (such as Jingong, Mumu, Tumu, etc), which is helpful for modern readers to fully and accurately understand the ideological content of Journey to the West. According to the unique remarks in Annotations of Journey to the West, some of the terms of the Taoist theory for inner elixir in Journey to the west do not come from the well-known Quanzhen Religion, but from the relatively unfamiliar Southern Sect of the Taoist theory for inner elixir. This can provide new perspectives for identifying the author of Journey to the West.Apart from Annotations of Journey to the West, Zhu Dunyi has four other works, three of which have attracted the attention of the academic community and have been compiled into modern books for official publication. With the author of Annotations of Journey to the West being determined, his remarks of hundreds of thousands of words can be used as important references for comprehensive studies of Zhu Dunyi and his works, and can also amend and supplement previous research results. For example, according to the signature on Zhu Dunyi’s work Laozi Daodejing Canhu, some modern scholars think that Zhu Dunyi once worked as a “Qingzhou Official” in Shandong Province, which is actually a misunderstanding. It can be amended according to the hint from remarks of Annotations of Journey to the West: “Qingzhou Official” is actually not Zhu Dunyi’s official title, but a pseudonym he took according to an allusion to the Taoist theory for inner elixir.
郭健. 清稿本《〈西游记〉记》作者、批语及价值考论[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2021, 51(1): 200-209.
Guo Jian. A Textual Research on the Author, Remarks and Value of the Manuscriptof Annotations of Journey to the West in the Qing Dynasty. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2021, 51(1): 200-209.
2021, Vol. 51 
