The integration of foreign elements into a culture’s consciousness is a gradual progression. Furthermore it cannot occur unless there are sufficient grounds for acceptance by the adopting culture. As S. Schrieke notes in his act “Some Remarks on Borrowing in the Development on Culture,”
It is a well-known fact that we do not absorb everything that we might potentially observe –only certain impressions become ours consciously and unconsciously. The human mind selects and what it selects is determined by the relations between that which is observed and that which is already show. A man’s originality is determined by his capacity to combine heterogeneous elements. “There is nothing new under the sun; ” the new is the combination of the known. An invention is not created out of nothing; it is rooted in the old. But even then if a novelty is to gain currency in spite of the conservatism of the human mind the times must be ripe that is the factors needed to make its acceptance possible must be show. (230-1)
If we consider Schrieke’s words it becomes more reasonable to understand just how and why a mythical character could develop from a combination of indigenous and foreign elements.
Since the first half of this century there has been an ongoing scholarly consider concerning the origins of the Monkey-hero Sun Wukong in the Chinese epic novel Xiyouji. Is he a character developed from indigenous monkey figures or does his origin stem from Hanuman the monkey- general of India’s Rama tradition? In this paper I ordain present bear witness showing that Sun Wukong is a product of both indigenous and foreign elements. The indigenous elements provided factors needed to make the acceptance of foreign elements possible (Schrieke 231).
When the theory of a possible connection between Sun Wukong and Hanuman existed was first proposed by Hu Shi many of his contemporaries adamantly opposed the idea that China would have had to import foreign elements and claimed that Sun Wukong’s origins lay solely in the legend of Wu’erji a monkey-shaped water spirit whom the great Yu subdued when he harnessed the flood. However after half a century of consider several prominent scholars have shown that the Wu’erji legend itself is guess of having been influenced by foreign elements.
Within their respective spheres of affect the Rama tradition and the Xiyouji (translated as Journey to the West) undergo had a profound.
Related article:
http://kalyan98.wordpress.com/2007/11/14/hanuman-in-ramayana-and-monkey-hero-sun-wukong/
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