Wordless Texts, Empty Hands: The Metaphysics and Materiality of Scriptures in Journey to the West

Abstract

Why are the pilgrims given empty scriptures in the final chapters of Journey to the West ? Prevailing interpretations read it as a transparent joke. This article instead proposes that the final chapters of the novel should be read as an extended allegorical commentary on the Heart Sūtra . The metaphysics of the empty scriptures and the materiality of the fragmented scriptures deliberately correspond to the Heart Sūtra ’s duality of emptiness and form, a duality that is ultimately dissolved in the Buddhist paradox of expressing nonduality through linguistic means. Xiyou ji , and in fact Buddhism at large, suggests that all texts—whether they be scriptures or literary fiction—are necessary yet insufficient vehicles in the pursuit of ultimate truth. Texts are only instrumental; the proverbial raft that must be discarded once the river to enlightenment has been crossed. 摘要: 本文將《西遊記》的結局作為《般若心經》的託寓來解讀，分析小說如何 以無字天書的的形而上學的內涵來闡述心經中色與空之間虛妄的雙對性。《西遊 記》指出，在追尋絕對真義的過程中，文本只不過是一個工具而已。这一道理无 异于佛法的基本教義。