The first conclusion: Inferno is actually a low-grade version of Journey to the West.
01. The “elixir of Life” metaphor
In the first sentence of “Hell Music”, the main character Thrush Mara is required to be executed for betraying his master.
But no matter on his knife or fire cannot hurt him, as if he has King Kong not bad body，
The plot here borrows from the scene in Journey to the West where Sun Wukong is executed after causing a riot in Heaven.
In essence, the purpose of collecting lessons and medicine is to strengthen the position of the oppressor at the top and to strengthen the control and exploitation of the common people at the bottom.
When Tang monks go to the West to collect sutras, they are equivalent to obtaining the “certificate of authority” issued by the Buddhist system.
When he returned to the Tang Dynasty, he could use these authoritative scriptures to “brainwash” the common people and make them more obedient to Buddhist culture.
As the superior and disseminator of the Buddhist system, he can naturally enjoy the worship and genuflection of the people…
For the Tang monk, “collecting sutras” and “purposing all living beings” were just a cover. His real purpose was to harvest and control enough heads by using authoritative discourse.
The ruler of Inferno seeks the elixir of life, ostensibly to preserve his own life, but in fact to preserve the life of the ruling power he represents.
In other words, the elixir is a metaphor.
It is a metaphor for the real ruling class, which will do whatever it takes to oppress the people at the bottom for a longer time.
In addition, the rulers in Journey to the West have already realized “eternal life” because they are all immortals.
Buddha, representing Buddhism; The Jade Emperor, representing Confucianism and Taoism，They are called Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism for short. They are the three most representative ruling forces in Chinese history.
While “Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism” are “deified” and their “eternal life” is not just “deified” and “eternal life” in the literal sense.
It is that they can travel through time and exert an indelible control and influence over the minds of every generation of Chinese (and Japanese).
For example, although it has already entered the 21st century, Buddhist culture and Confucian culture are still the two mainstream cultures in East Asia, and perhaps Taoist culture is on the decline at present…
02. Going to Fairy Island to “look for medicine”? Or “invasion”
The setting of searching for medicine in the Music of Hell comes from the allusion to Cu Fu’s Voyage to the East sent by the First Emperor of Qin.
At that time, the First Emperor of Qin was really bored after unifying the six States. He had become a master and could not find a new purpose in life…
With no new territory for him to conquer, the status quo will have to be maintained.
And if he wants his reign to last, he must find the elixir of life.
However, in addition to the search for medicine, Qin Shi Huang sent Cu Fu to the east, should have another purpose…
According to the Historical Records, Qin Sichuan first visited Mount Langham on his first visit to the East China Sea, and was surprised to see it come to charm.
It was at this time that Cu Fu met the First Emperor of Qin and wrote a letter asking him to move east.
In the letter, there are three sacred mountains overseas, which are the residence of immortals. They are called Bengali, Abbot and Yangzhou. And the elixir of life is there.
No doubt any emperor would be tempted to hear the elixir of life, so Qin Shi Huang sent thousands of men to Cu Fu to search for it.
But could Cu Fu’s letter have easily impressed Qin Shi Huang?
As the first emperor in history to achieve unification, Qin Shi Huang had unprecedented ambitions.
When he knew there was unknown territory, it must have stirred his desire to conquer.
In Records of the Grand Historian, these three sacred mountains do have their place, in which Bengali is Japan’s North Nine Island; The abbot is Juju Island in South Korea; Yangzhou means Ryukyu, which is the island of Taiwan…
The First Emperor of Qin sent Cu Fu to search for these three sacred mountains. Cu Fu went for many years, but when he came back, he found nothing and thousands of people along with him were gone.
However, instead of blaming him, the emperor told him to go again with a hundred skilled craftsmen and three thousand virgins.
If it’s a simple search, why all this fuss，So this is more like the first emperor of Qin to open up the land, rather than search for a cure.
In addition, Qin Shi Huang, who had just accomplished unification, was in the prime of his life and had little interest in ghosts and spirits. It was only in his later years that he became enamored with the idea of immortality.
So it is unlikely that Cu Fu was in the prime of his life simply seeking medicine when he sent him to sea.
To this day, many historians claim that Cu Fu was the first envoy to promote the friendship between China and Japan.
But I think Qin Shi Huang’s intention was probably just to start a war. When he sent Cu Fu to the east, it was more like he sent a few “forwards” to test the military situation…
So, Cu Fu’s search for medicine may be just a cover, they are essentially preparing for colonization and invasion.
Cu Fu and his wife in a cartoon from Hell
Similarly, from this point of view, “Hell Music”, Thrush cross Mara all to fairy Island, also implies colonization and aggression.
In other words, the ruler ignored the lives of the people at the bottom and sent them to die in a strange territory in order to fulfill his personal desire to conquer.
Whether it is the search for medicine, or the battle, it is death to the people at the bottom.
Therefore, Thrush Ball’s “Kong not bad body” is more like a black humor.
If you can’t kill him, it doesn’t matter what you do to him.
Just as the people at the bottom have to endure in silence no matter how much they suffer…
Moreover, Thrushmaru is also known as the “strongest ninja”, and like Naruto, both comics exaggerate and mythologize the “ninja” identity.
In real history, however, ninjas were nothing more than the humblest of minions. Many powerful people keep them only so that they can die for themselves at any time.
03. The spiritual core of Inferno is not “tragedy”, but “tragedy”.
Going back to the similarities between the Music of Hell and Journey to the West, you will find that the main characters in both works are made up of “guilty” people.
In Journey to the West, except for the leading Tang monk, who was an official dispatched personnel, the other four followers were all “criminals” who violated the laws of heaven and were banished to earth.
It doesn’t matter if they are “guilty” or not, because whoever the ruler says is guilty is guilty.
Since “guilty”, that must “atone”. If he reformed himself and behaved well, he might even be recruited by the ruling class.
After Sun Wukong caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace, the Buddha asked him to make up for it by escorting the Tang monk on a pilgrimage.
After taking the Sutra, Sun Wukong was given the title of “conquering Buddha”, which can be regarded as a mixed official position in the Buddhist system, completing the process of “recruitment” and “recruitment”.
So far, we can conclude that the Music of Hell is very similar to Journey to the West in its story setting and spiritual core.
But there are differences. For example, Sun Wukong fought against the Heavenly Palace. Although he failed and was tamed by the ruling power, at least he fought back once.
And thrush pills，He was giving up the whole time, lying flat. All he cared about was getting his wife away. He never fought.
So the ruler bullied him even harder and did whatever he was told.
A “racket”, a “escape”, this is the difference between the two.
I forget which aesthetic theory said,
(Aristotle’s Poetics, I’m not sure…)
A story, in which the hero is brave enough to fight against a difficult situation, even if he fails, is considered a successful “tragedy”.
This is because fighting is an expression of one’s autonomy (or what is often called free will).
No matter the outcome of the struggle, we can all learn from such stories the value and dignity of being human.
On the other hand, if there is no one fighting in a story, everyone is resigned, numb walking dead. This is not a “tragedy”, then, but a plain “tragedy”.
04. Deadly bug in Hellbender
The cultural works of any era are the reflection of the reality of that era.
Journey to the West is one of the four great masterpieces of Chinese literature, but it also has some “historical limitations”.
Wu Cheng ‘en belonged to a time without democratic ideology, Marxism and other advanced thoughts, so he believed that people like Sun Wukong who fought against the power were doomed to have bad results.
So he asked Sun Wukong to restrain his nature of yearning for freedom, “make amends”, and was eventually “recruited” by the powerful system.
Of course, we can’t complain that Wu’s understanding of the social order is unimaginative, nor can we complain that his plot of rebellion for Sun Wukong is immature.
That, after all, was his “historical limitation”.
However, in such a harsh feudal system, Wu Cheng ‘en still dared to imagine “struggle” and presented it, which itself is a kind of progress
Readers familiar with the original manga may know that the work draws on a lot of Chinese Taoist and Buddhist cultural elements, among which there is no lack of imitation of Journey to the West.
But as a modern work, it is not much better than the magical novel that was written five hundred years ago.
As for the reason, the reality of Japan may be that the class is seriously solidified, the aging is serious, and the young people are lying flat, trapped in the low desire society…
Therefore, it is “understandable” that the main character of “obviously has potential but is very decadent” in “Inferno” is designed.
But the “extenuating circumstances” are still somewhat forced. A fatal bug in Inferno gives us a glimpse of the original author’s inner struggle…
We already know that Thrush cross Pill went to Fairy Island in search of medicine in order to avoid being hunted.
He and Sun Wukong are similar; both have “King Kong not bad body”. When he is taken into custody, no punishment can be given to him that will kill him.
Until Force was about to kill him…
All I’m saying is, with Thrush ball’s strength, he won’t be caught easily. Even if he does, he’s the “strongest ninja” and can get away with it.
After all, ninjas are good at all kinds of invisibility, escape. So, it’s not plausible that Thrush Ball got caught.
And in Journey to the West, Sun Wukong is also “caught” after making a scene in Heaven, but he was “caught” on purpose.
In fact, he is challenging heaven, teasing the Jade Emperor, quite a kind of “I will play with you”, “can you take me?” “Playful attitude
Before he went to the Fairy Island, he was brought before the ruler, who could have killed him on the spot with his strength. But he didn’t.
So, a man who wields great violence surrendered unconditionally when confronted by another ruler who wields violence?
I would understand if, like Sun Wukong, it was the Buddha who really did it.
But Thrush cross Ball’s unconditional surrender, unconditional death for the ruler, I do not understand.
It can be seen that the original author of “Hell Joy”, while giving Thrush cross Ball strong power against the oppressor, but at the same time not allowing him to use this power to do real resistance.
Thrush ball empty has ability, but can only persecute their own system when running dogs……
I’m going to have to fix it at the end.
Since Thrushmaru may not be able to fight back and run away for various reasons, why does the manga finale let Thrushmaru escape?
So, the whole trip to Fairy Island is completely unnecessary?
As far as I’m concerned, the original author has punched himself in the face. Thrushmaru had always been able to run away, but he was a willing dog for his oppressor…
Then I want to take back what I said before: the difference between Sun Wukong and Thrush pills lies in one “trouble” and one “escape”.
No! In fact, Thrush Mara didn’t even have the courage to run away.
…
Tragedy still has the meaning of people, and tragedy in addition to miserable, no meaning.
Hell music?
Is there any joy in hell?
