清朝初期评论家汪象旭和黄太鸿认为《西游证道书》的主题就是解释道教阴阳五行理论。根据孙悟空大闹天宫这个事实，可说花果山是阴阳五行之源：花果指木，水帘洞指水，铁板桥指金，石山指土，孙悟空代表心，心属火。因此，五行都在可称为“一个理想的协调组织”中有代表，即是说那就是道的真正含义。接着孙悟空大闹天宫，那是五行毁灭而造成的，并未涉及任何社会因素。孙悟空作为心猿，属于火，玉帝封他为弼马温，是以火攻火。
在蟠桃园，因木生火，火更旺，八卦炉不能熔化孙悟空，那是因为用火攻火，两火都更熊。
只有在五行山补偿了五行不足之后，心猿才能被止住。汪和黄忽视了小说的结构，把注意力集中在概括的象征形象上，认为是象征形象的寓意构成了小说的真正旨义。例如，他们争论玄奘和他三个徒弟再加小龙白马组成了同伴五个，与五行相称：孙悟空属火，猪八戒属木，沙僧属金，玄奘属土，小龙白马属水。这些表明五行间互相促进和制约。必须记住，在吴承恩生活的时期，道教思想非常盛行，《西游记》中很多描述和观念不能不受阴阳五行理论的影响。不过，《西游记》是小说，而小说则是通过人物和故事情节来尽力表达思想感情的。
如果我们忽视人物和故事情节间形象化描述的联系，把它们简单地看成是一系列象征或谜语，那我们就违背了文学解释世界的特殊方法。《西游证道书》的影响是巨大的。接踵而来的是《西游真诠》、《新说西游记》、《西游原旨》。但只有少数学者有那种特殊洞察力，从小说的建构角度去探讨其中费解的五行。他们中有人谓其旨在劝学，或云其旨在谈禅，或言其旨在讲道，但我们必须看清大多数读者是把《西游记》当成小说来读的事实。
In their A Taoist Interpretation of Journey to the West， the early Qing Dynasty critics Wang Xiangxuand Huang Taihong see the main theme of the novel as an education of the Taoist theories of Yin and Yangand the Five Elements. Monkey’s causing Havoc in Heaven， according to this point of view， is explained bysaying that the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit is the source of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements：“Fruitand flowers refer to wood； the Water Curtain refers to water； the Iron-Plated Bridge refers to metal； therocky hill refers to earth； and Monkey， representing the heart， resides in fire. So all the Five Elements arerepresented in what could be called“an ideal cosmic setup”. That is to say that it is the true meaning ofTaoism. And so， it follows that Monkey’s wreaking Havoc in Heaven was brought about by the withering ofthe Five Elements， and there were no societal factors involved. Sun Wukong as the Mind Ape， belongs to theelement fire. The Jade Emperor making him Protector of the Horse is using fire to fight fire. In the Garden ofthe Peaches of Immortality， because wood produces fire， the fire is enhanced. The Eight Trigrams Furnacecannot melt Monkey， because it uses fire to attack him， and“two fire elements make each other stronger.”Itis only after the Mountain of the Five Elements remedies deficiencies in the Five Elements that the MindApe is reined in. Wang and Huang ignore the structure of the novel， and concentrate upon the images asgeneralized symbols， the messages of which constitute the novel’s true meaning. For instance， they arguethat Xuangzang and his three disciples plus the White Dragon Horse make the number of the companionsfive， corresponding to the Five Elements： Monkey belongs to fire； Pig to wood； Friar Sand to metal； Xuanzangto earth； and the Dragon Horse to water. These manifestations of the Five Elements mutually promote andrestrain each other. It must be remembered that in the period in which Wu Cheng’en lived， Taoist conceptswere very much in fashion， and so many of the deions and concepts in Journey to the West could nothelp but be influenced by the theories of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements. Nevertheless， Journey to theWest is a novel， and a novel endeavors to express thoughts and emotions through the medium of the charactersand the plot. If we ignore the link of the imagery of the characters and the plot， and regard them simply as aseries of symbols or riddles， then we depart from the special methods by which literature interprets the world.
The influence of A Taoist Interpretation of Journey to the West was immense. Following in its footsteps cameA True Interpretation of Journey to the West， New Explanation of Journey to the West and StraightforwardGuide to Journey to the West. The fact is that there were only a small number of scholars who had thespecial insight to treat the obscure elements in it from the angle of the construction of the novel. Some of themexplained that the theme of the novel Journey to the West was to persuade people to learn. Some of theminterpreted it as propagation of Buddha dharma. Some of them said that it was to preach the Taoist theory—the Way of Nature. But we must see clearly the fact that most readers read Journey to the West as a novel.
在小说《西游记》一百回版本中，第一回至第十二回，讲述的是唐僧西天取经的缘由和取经团队是如何组成的。第十三回到第一百回，共有八十八回，讲述的都是唐僧取经团队在西行途中，遇到了各种妖魔鬼怪，都想吃唐僧肉以获得长生不死，他们经历了九九八十一难，终于到达西天，取得了真经。在阻拦唐僧取经团队西行道路的妖魔鬼怪中，一些是自然力量的化身——火焰山就是一个典型的例子，但大多数却是社会邪恶的表现。小说中描写的各种妖魔鬼怪都是当时各种黑暗、腐败的社会势力的形象。比如，车迟国王有三个最爱而被称为“国师”的道士，他们进出王宫不对国王打招呼，他们对人民的劫掠和折磨都给王国带来了一种致命的氛围。这种情况和明朝嘉靖时期皇帝被道士邵元节、陶仲文掌控如奴的情况非常接近。此外，比丘国王相信道士给他带来的延寿秘方，要一千一百一十一个小儿的心肝煎汤服药的故事，和灭法国王要杀一万个和尚的故事都是嘉靖时期皇帝听信道士谄媚的话并迫害佛教徒的政治现实的反映。小说中的许多恶魔都与天宫的高官有关系，例如，劫持宝象国公主的黄袍怪是天上二十八宿中的奎木狼星下凡的。平顶山莲花洞也有两个妖魔，金角大王和银角大王，是太上老君家奴，看守炼丹金炉和银炉的两个童子，托化妖魔， 想吃唐僧肉。夺取乌鸡王国王权的妖怪是青毛狮子精，本是文殊菩萨的坐骑，乌鸡国王的灵魂向唐僧托梦哀述道：“他（青毛狮子精）神通广大，各处官吏他都熟悉：都城隍常与他会酒，海龙王尽与他有亲，东岳天齐是他的好朋友，十代阎罗是他的异兄弟。因此我也无处投告。”所有这些恶魔都有背后支持者和保护者，正如当时社会上普遍存在的贪官劣绅官官相护或寻求背后支持者，或直接要其受贿者保护一样。由此可见小说的主题思想：《西游记》通过创造一个充满荒诞和幻想的世界，间接地反映了作者生活时期的各种社会矛盾，歌颂头号主人公孙悟空代表的进步势力——他追求平等、自由，反叛天宫的欺诈和歧视而大闹天宫；揭露并批判了象征着贪官劣绅的妖魔鬼怪，他们代表反动势力，都有背后的支持者和保护者，即天上的“神、仙、佛”，“神、仙、佛”象征人间的皇帝和封建制度。妖魔鬼怪与神、仙、佛之间既有矛盾的一面，又有相互依存的一面。孙悟空很想除掉一切妖魔鬼怪，但他只能打死白骨夫人、红鳞大蟒、蜘蛛精之类的小妖。他既气愤又抱怨，但他知道他无能为力，他斗不过神、仙、佛的“联军”。这也反映了作者受时代影响难免有思想局限性。
In the 100-chapter version of the novel Journey to the West， from Chapter 1 to Chapter 12， it tellsreaders about the causes why the Tang Priest travels to the West to fetch the Buddhist ures and howthe companions are made up of. From Chapter 13 to Chapter 100， all together 88 chapters， it tells us that theTang Priest and his companions on the Journey to the West meet with all kinds of monsters and demons，all of whom are eager to eat some of the flesh of the Tang Priest so as to attain immortality， and that they’vefinally reached the Western Paradise and fetched the true ures after the nine times nine ordeals. Ofthe monsters and demons which bar the Tang Priest and his companions way， some are embodiments ofnatural forces—the Fiery Mountains are a classic example， but most are representations of social evils. Allmonsters and demons described in the novel are images of contemporary dark and corrupt social forces. Forinstance， the King of Tarrycart has three favorites whom he calls his“elders”. These three enter and leavethe court without acknowledging the king. Their depredations and affliction of the people bring a pestilentialatmosphere to the kingdom. This situation is very close to that prevailing in the Jiajing period of the MingDynasty， when the emperor was held in thrall by the Taoist priests Shao Yuanjie and Tao Zhongwen. Inaddition， the episodes in which the King of Bhiksuland puts his faith in a secret recipe for longevity broughtfrom overseas and given him by a Taoist and requiring as ingredients the hearts and livers of 1，111 infants，and in which the King of Miefa wishes to slay 10，000 monks are reflections of the deluded and barbarouspolitical reality of the Jiajing period， when the emperor lent his ear to Taoist sycophants and persecutedthe Buddhists. Many of monsters in the novel are connected with high officials in Heaven， for instance，the Yellow-Robed Monster who abducts the princess of Elephantia is the Strider， the Wooden Wolf fromHeaven. Also， the two demons， King Gold Horn and King Silver Horn of Lotus Flower Cave on Flat-TopMountain， who wish to eat Xuanzang， are the boys who watch Lord Lao Zi’s furnace. The monster whichseizes control of the kingdom of Wuji is the Blue-haired Lion， upon which Bodhisattva Manjusri rides. Asthe ghost of the King of Wuji laments to Xuanzang：“His magic powers are so extensive and he is so well inwith all the relevant officials. He’s always drinking with the city god， and he’s connected with all the dragonkings. The Heaven-equaling God of Mount Tai is a friend of his， and all the Ten Kings of the Underworldare his sworn brothers. We have nowhere to turn if we want to bring a case against him.”All these demonshave their behind-the-scenes supporters and protectors， just as the corrupt officials， local tyrants and evilgentry， commonly existing then in the society， shield one another or seek for their supporters behind themor directly ask their bribees to protect. Now from what is explained above we can see the main theme of thenovel： Journey to the West indirectly reflects various kinds of contradictions in the society of the author WuCheng’en’s time by creating a world full of fantasy and illusion. It eulogizes the progressive forces representedby No. 1 hero Monkey—he has been seeking for equality and freedom and rebelled against Heaven’s deceitand discrimination by playing Havoc in Heaven； it exposes amd criticizes the reactionary forces representedby the demons and monsters， symbolizing the corrupt officials， local tyrants and evil gentry. They all havetheir behind-the-scenes supporters and protectors， who are gods， immortals and Buddhas in Heaven andsymbolize the human Emperor and feudal system. The relations between monsters and the gods， immortalsand Buddhas are both contrary and mutually-dependent. Monkey wants very much to kill all demons andmonsters but he can only kill the minor ones such as Lady White Bone， the Red-Scaled Python， the SpiderSpirit and the like. He is incensed and grumbles but he knows that there is nothing he can do about thesituation and the joint forces of gods， immortals and Buddhas are too strong for him to defeat. This also reflectsthat the author’s thinking is inevitably limited under the influence of the times.
除上述表层主题外，小说《西游记》还含有一个非常深刻的深层次主题——“觅个长生不老之方”。如何获得长生不老的秘方呢？《西游记》说明了获取四种长生不老的捷径：
第一种，就是吃“瑶池王母自栽培”的蟠桃。“九千年一熟，人吃了与天地齐寿，日月同庚。”第二种，就是吃太上老君炼的仙丹，不但能长生不老，还能起死回生。第三种，就是吃万寿山上五庄观里镇元大仙的人参果，“三千年一开花，三千年一结果，再三千年才得熟，短头一万年方得吃。”“人若有缘，得那果子闻了一闻，就活三百六十岁；吃一个，就活四万七千年。”第四种，就是吃唐僧肉，唐僧乃金蝉长老转世，西方圣老如来佛第二个徒弟。那唐僧乃童身修行，一点元阳未泄，他是个十世修行的圣人。在所有的妖魔中，男的吃他肉，延寿长生，女的与他交配，可成太乙金仙。但是，没有凡人能走上述任何捷径，仅有极少数大神仙能吃到蟠桃或仙丹或人参果，甚至所有想吃唐僧肉或想与他交配长生不死的妖魔均以失败告终。
Besides the above surface main-theme， a deep main-theme is profoundly implied as well in the novelJourney to the West—seeking the secret of eternal youth. How can one attain the secret of eternal youth？
Journey to the West demonstrates four shortcuts to it. The first one is to eat the peaches“in the PeachOrchard tended by the Queen Mother of the Jade Pool”.“They ripen once every nine thousand years， andanyone who eats them becomes as eternal as Heaven and Earth， as long-lived as the Sun and Moon.”Thesecond one is to eat some Golden Pills refined by Lord Lao Zi. The golden pills of refined elixir can not onlymake anyone who has taken a pill live for ever but also make anyone who has died come back to life. Thethird one is to eat the Great Immortal Zhen Yuan’s Manfruit in the Wuzhuang Temple on the Mountain ofInfinite Longevity.“It took three thousand years to blossom， three thousand years to form the fruit， andanother three thousand years for the fruit to ripen， so that every nearly ten thousand years had to pass beforethe fruit could be eaten.”“Anyone whose destiny permitted him to smell one would live for three hundredand sixty years， and if you ate one you would live for forty-seven thousand years”. The fourth one is to eatsome of the flesh of the Tang Priest. The Tang Priest is a reincarnation of the Venerable Golden Cicada， thesecond disciple of the Tathagata Buddha， the ancient sage of the West. As that Xuanzang has been cultivatinghis conduct ever since he was a boy he has never lost a drop of his primal masculinity. He’s a holy man who’scultivated his conduct for ten successive lifetimes. Among all the demons and monsters， the males who eatsome of the flesh of Tang Priest can live for ever and the females are longing to mate with him so that they canbecome golden immortals of the Supreme Ultimate. But none of mortals can take any of the four shortcuts.
Only few of Great Immortals can eat the Peach or the Golden Pill or the Manfruit， even all demons andmonsters who have tried their utmost to eat some of the flesh of the Tang Priest or to mate with him to attainimmortality end up with their failure.
除上述捷径外，《西游记》当然也清楚地说明了获得长生不老秘方的通常途径，即长期修行，越长越好。玉皇大帝，“他自幼修持，苦历过一千七百五十劫，每劫该十二万九千六百年。”共计二十二亿六千八百万年，修得金身，成为万神之主。如来佛祖在雪山顶上，修成不坏金身，着有三藏真经，可以超脱苦恼，解释灾愆。太上老君，原是我们中国古代历史上的一个真人，姓李，名耳，是道家学说的创始人，着有道家经典《道德经》。他不但自己修成长生不死之身，还为神仙们炼制吃了能长生不死的仙丹。作者还通过讲述头号主人公孙悟空在《西游记》第一章就决心去“觅个长生不老之方”到最后一章“径回东土 五圣成真”的故事，详细说明了西天取经团队如何经过“九九八十一难”、如何往返十四年，行程十万八千里，翻越千山万水，最终取回真经，普济众生，取经团队五圣都长生不死并到达了天堂。
Besides the above-mentioned shortcuts， a normal way to attain the secret of eternal youth is， of course，clearly demonstrated in Journey to the West. That is to cultivate one’s conduct for a long time. The longer，the better. The Jade Emperor“has trained himself since childhood， and suffered hardship for one thousand，seven hundred and fifty halpas. Each halpa is 129，600 years， all together 2，268，000，000 years”. He hastrained his golden body and become the Lord of all gods. The Lord Buddha has cultivated his immortalgolden body on the peak of the snowy mountain and created Three Stores of Scriptures that offer deliverancefrom suffering and release from disaster. Lord Lao Zi is originally a real human being in Chinese ancienthistory and his family name is Li， his personal name is Er. He is the founder of Taoism and has written theTaoist Classic The Book of Tao and Teh. He has not only trained his golden body to become immortal butalso refined Golden Pills for gods who take a Pill and can live for ever. The author of Journey to the Westalso， by telling his No.1 hero Monkey’s story from the first chapter in which Monkey is determined to“seekfor the secret of eternal youth”to the last chapter entitled“The Journey Back to the East is Made The FiveImmortals Achieve Nirvana”， illustrates in details the example of the companions to the West to fetch theures how to stand up to the nine times nine ordeals， how to take 14 years， cover 108，000 li， climb over athousand mountains and cross over ten thousand rivers and at last fetched the true ures to save all livingbeings， the five of the companions have become immortals and achieved Nirvana.
当唐僧师徒走到凌云渡看到那只是一根独木桥时，三藏心惊胆战道：“悟空，这桥不是人走的。”悟空答道：“必须从此桥走过，方可成佛。”“三藏回头，忽见那下溜中有一人撑一只船来。”“那是一只无底的船儿。”三藏“还自惊疑，行者叉着膊子，往上一推。
那师父踏不住脚，毂辘的跌在水里，早被撑船人一把扯起，站在船上。师父还抖衣服，跺鞋脚，抱怨行者。行者却引沙僧八戒，牵马挑担，也上了船，都立在船上。那佛祖轻轻用力撑开，只见上溜头泱下一个死尸。长老见了大惊，行者笑道：‘师父莫怕，那个原来是你。’”“那撑船的打着号子也说：‘那是你！可贺可贺！’”“有诗为证，诗曰：‘脱却胎胞骨肉身，相亲相爱是元神。今朝行满方成佛，洗净当年六六尘。’”由此可见，一个像唐僧那样的凡人，只要人生的目的是“造福生灵，造福社罥”，在人生路上——取经途中，为人民尽可能多做好事善事，尽管他和世人一样，都有善恶两面，仍能成佛——长生不死。
但“不死”的是元神，而不是“胎胞骨肉身”。也就是说，人的生命是由肉体（物质）生命和精神（灵魂）生命组成的。肉体生命和所有的生物生命一样，有生物（动物）性，有生有死，正如老子在他《道德经》的第五十章中所说，“出生入死”；精神（灵魂）生命是长生不死的（如唐僧的“元神”，陈光蕊的魂魄，寇员外的魂灵等）。唐僧肉体生命死了，精神生命永恒。他求取真经，以济众生，造福生灵，造福社罥，真是修真之径，正善之门，完美之道。任何人，只要一生追求并维护和保持“真、善、美”，就能长生不死——精神生命永存——永远活在世人的心中。这就是长生不老之秘方——小说《西游记》之深层次主题。
When the Tang Priest and his disciples went to Cloudtouching Crossing and saw the bridge was only asingle log， Sanzang said in fear and trembling，“Wukong， no mortal man could cross that bridge.”Monkeyreplied，“You can only become a Buddha by crossing this bridge.”“Sanzang then looked round to seea man poling a boat towards them from downriver.”“It was a bottomless craft.”Sanzang“was still verydoubtful， but Monkey seized him by the arms and pushed him forward. Unable to keep on his feet， themaster tumbled into the water， where the ferryman grabbed hold of him at once and stood him on the boat.
The master shook his clothes and stamped his feet， complaining about Monkey， who led Friar Sand and Pigto stand on board bringing the luggage and the horse with them. Gently and strongly the Buddha pushedoff， at which a corpse came floating downstream to the horror of the venerable elder，“Don’t be frightened，Master，”said Monkey smilingly.“That’s you.”The boatman gave a call， then also put in， too，“It’s you！
Congratulations！ Congratulations！”“There is a poem about this that goes：
When the womb-born flesh and body of blood is cast aside，The primal spirit finds kinship and love.
On this morning of actions completed and Buddhahood attainedThe thirty-six kinds of dust from the past are washed away.”
From here we can see that a mortal man like the Tang Priest， so long as his goal of life is“to bringbenefit to the people and the country”， and on the road of life—on the Journey to the West to Fetch theScriptures， tries his best to do as many good deeds and benefactions as possible although he has a humannature of both sides—just as all human beings have—one side is good while the other is evil， can become aBuddha—immortal. But“the immortal”is“the primal spirit”， is not“the womb-born flesh and body ofblood”. That is to say， one’s life is made up of physical (body) life and moral (spirit) life. Physical life， justlike the life of all living beings (animals) has the nature of things—having birth and death， just as Lao Zi saysin his Book of Tao and Teh， Chapter 50，“He who aims at life achieves death.”Moral (spirit) life is immortal(for instance， the Tang Priest’s primal spirit， Chen Guangrui’s soul， Squire Kou’s spirit， etc.) The Tang Priest’sphysical life is dead while his moral life is immortal. He goes to the West to fetch the true ures so as tosave all living beings and bring benefit to the people and the country. These are indeed the path to the truth，the gateway to goodness， the way to perfection. Anyone， so long as he seeks for， maintains and keeps“truth，goodness and beauty (perfection)”all his life， can become immortal—his moral life can be eternal—livingforever in the hearts of the people in the world. This is the secret of eternal youth—the deep main-theme ofthe novel Journey to the West.
1.4 主要人物的人生（经验教训）
1.4 Major Characters’ lives (Experiences and Lessons)
唐僧：俗家姓陈，是唐朝海州弘农郡聚贤庄人氏。法名叫陈玄奘。只因大唐太宗皇帝赐他做御弟三藏，指唐为姓，故名唐僧。其父陈萼，表字光蕊，考毕中选，及廷试三策，唐王御笔亲赐状元，跨马游街三日。不期游到丞相殷开山门首，有丞相所生一女，名唤温娇，未曾婚配，正抛打绣球卜婿。适值陈光蕊在楼下经过，小姐一见光蕊人才出众，知是新科状元，就将绣球抛下，恰打着光蕊的乌纱帽，因此，光蕊被迎入相府成婚。太宗皇帝命陈光蕊为江州州主，即令收拾起身，勿误限期。光蕊领着母亲张氏和新婚妻子温娇一同往江州赴任。在路数日，一天晚上，前至刘小二的万花店住宿，张氏身体忽然染病，与光蕊道：“我身上不安，且在店中调养两日再去。”光蕊遵命。至次日早晨，光蕊见店门前有一人提着个金色鲤鱼叫卖，光蕊即将一贯钱买了，欲待烹与母亲吃，只见鲤鱼闪闪咪眼，光蕊惊异，就把鱼送在洪江里去放了生。光蕊为他母亲租了屋宇，付了盘缠，同妻拜辞前去。他们到达洪江渡口，看见刘洪、李彪二人撑船到岸边迎接。他们都上了船。刘洪见殷小姐如此漂亮，便和李彪设计，将船撑至没人处，候至夜静三更，先将家僮杀死，次将光蕊打死，把尸首都推在水里去了。但陈光蕊的尸首沉在水底不动。龙王仔细一看道：“此人正是救我的恩人。我今日须索救他性命，以报日前之恩。”他问知情况后说：“你前者所放金色鲤鱼即我也，你是救我的恩人，你今有难，我岂有不救你之理？”就把光蕊尸身安置一壁，口内含一颗定颜珠，休教损坏了，日后好还魂报仇。又道：“汝今真魂，权且在我水府中做个都领。”
The Tang Priest： His secular surname is Chen， and he is from Juxian Village， Hongnong Prefecture，Haizhou， in the Tang Empire. His Buddhist name is Chen Xuanzang. But as the Great Tang Emperor Taizongcalled Xuanzang his younger brother and gave him the surname Tang， he is known as the Tang Priest. Hisfather is named Chen E， whose courtesy name is Guangrui. Having been successful in the examination，Chen E went to the palace for the three questions test. The Tang Emperor personally awarded him the firstplace， and he was paraded round the streets on horseback for three days. It happened that just when theprocession was passing the gateway of the minister Yin Kaishan， the minister’s unmarried daughter Wenjiao，was throwing an embroidered ball to see who her future husband would be. When Chen Guangrui passedbelow she saw at once that he was exceptionally handsome， and she knew that he had come first in the recentexaminations. When she dropped her embroidered ball it landed squarely on his black hat. Thus Guangruiwas invited into the minister’s mansion to marry his daughter. Emperor Taizong appointed Chen E prefect ofJiangzhou and ordered him to pack his belongings and set off as he had to be there by a set date. Guangruitook his mother Madame Zhang and his newly-married wife Wenjiao together to his post in Jiangzhou. Onenight， after they had been on the road for several days， they put up at the Liu the Second’s Ten ThousandFlowers Inn， where Madame Zhang was suddenly taken ill.“As I’m not feeling well，”she said to herson，“I’d better stay in this inn for a couple of days to get over it before going on.”Guangrui accepted hersuggestion. The next morning Guangrui saw a man selling a golden-colored carp in front of the inn andbrought it from him for a string of copper coins， intending to have it lightly fried for his mother. Then henoticed it blinking. Guangrui was surprised and had the fish taken back to the Hongjiang River to be releasedthere， Guangrui rent a wing for his mother and gave her some money， then he and his wife took their leave ofher mother and set off. When they reached the ford over the Hongjiang Estuary， they saw two boatmen， LiuHong and Li Biao， punt their ferry to the bank for them. They all climbed sedately into the boat. Liu Hongstared at Miss Yin and saw her so beautiful that evil thoughts surged up in him， and he conspired with LiBiao to punt the boat to a misty and deserted place and wait till the middle of the night， when they killed firstthe servant and then Chen Guangrui. They pushed both the corpses into the river and went away. But ChenGuangrui’s body sank straight to the bottom and did not move. The dragon king examined the body carefullyand said：“This is the benefactor who saved my life. I must save his life today to repay him for the favor hedid me in the past.”He asked and learned the situation， and then said：“I am the golden carp you released.
You saved me then， so I must help you now that you are in trouble.”He had Guangrui’s body placed besidea wall and put a“Face Reserving Pearl”in its mouth to stop it from decomposing so that the soul could bereturned to it in the future for him to obtain his revenge.“As you are now a true soul， you shall stay in mypalace for the time being as a commander，”the dragon king added.
小姐见他打死了丈夫，也便将身赴水，刘洪一把抱住道：“你若从我，万事皆休！若不从时，一刀两断！那小姐寻思无计，只得权时应承，顺了刘洪。那贼把船渡到南岸，将船付与李彪自管，他就穿了光蕊衣冠，带了官凭，同小姐往江州上任去了。殷小姐只因身怀有孕，万不得已，权且勉强相从。光阴如飞。一日，殷小姐生下个男婴，紧紧包裹好，无计可施。忽然刘洪回来，一见此子，便要淹杀，小姐道：“今日天色已晚，容待明日抛去江中。”幸喜次早刘洪忽有紧急公事远出。小姐咬破手指，写下血书一纸，将父母姓名、跟脚原由，备细开载；又将此子左脚上一个小指，用口咬下，以为记验。取贴身汗衫一件，包裹此子，乘空抱出衙门。当她到达江边，她注意到江岸岸侧飘起一片木板，小姐即朝天拜祷，将此子安在板上，用带缚住，血书系在胸前，推放江中，听其所之。小姐含泪回衙。此子在木板上，顺水流去，一直流到金山寺脚下停住。那金山寺长老叫做法明和尚，正当打坐参禅，忽闻得小儿啼哭之声，一时心动，急到江边观看，只见涯边一片木板上，睡着一个婴儿，长老慌忙救起。见了怀中血书，方知来历，取个乳名，叫做江流，托人抚养，血书紧紧收藏。
When the young lady saw her husband killed she tried to fling herself into the water， but Liu Hongput his arms round her and said，“If you come with me， you’ll be all right； but if you don’t， I’ll cut youin half.”Unable to think of any other way out， the young lady had to agree to stay with Liu Hong for thetime being at least. The murderer took the boat across to the southern bank and gave it to Li Biao. Then hedressed up in Chen Guangrui’s clothes and， armed with the dead man’s credentials， went with the younglady to take up his post in Jiangzhou. As Miss Yin was pregnant and the child had not yet been born shehad to force herself to go with him. Time flew by. One day， the young lady gave birth to a son and wrappedthe baby tight in swaddling clothes. She could not think what to do. When Liu Hong came back he wantedto drown the child the moment he saw him， but the young lady said，“It’s already dark： we can throw himin the river tomorrow.”Fortunately Liu Hong had to go a long way away on urgent business the next earlymorning. The young lady bit open her finger and wrote a letter in blood giving a full account of his parentageand background. Then she bit off the little toe of the child’s left foot to be an identifying mark， wrapped himup in one of her own shifts， and carried him out of the official residence when nobody was looking. Whenshe reached the river bank， she noticed a board floating beside the bank. The young lady bowed to Heavenin her gratitude and tied the child to the board with her sash， placing the blood letter next to his chest. Thenshe pushed him out into the stream to go where he would and returned to the yamen in tears. The boy floateddownstream on the plank until he came to a stop under the Jinshan Temple. The abbot of this temple was amonk called Faming who was sitting at his meditation and heard a baby crying， and hurried anxiously down tothe riverside to look. He saw a baby lying on a board beside the bank， and got him out of the water as quicklyas he could. When he read the letter written in blood that was on the baby’s chest he knew why he was there.
He gave the child the milk-name Jiangliu，“River Current”， and arranged for him to be fostered. The letterin blood he put away in a very safe place.