Also, Tang Sanzang solely for unpopular opinion and one thing you wish would've happened in canon. I know how you feel about his character because it's the same for me. 😤
Thank you for giving me the chance to rant about my childhood grudge against this monk, Ruijie uwu
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My unpopular opinion about this character:
OKAY SO I THINK MY UNPOPULAR OPINION IS JUST WHAT I WOULD’VE ANSWERED FOR WHAT I THINK OF HIM GFJDKSLDSD
I don’t think Tang Seng is that good of a person and I don’t think he learned enough on his pilgrimage to warrant enlightenment! He’s flawed, and his flaws aren’t acknowledged enough.
I think his relationship with Wukong is... not fun, not good. With Chinese filial piety culture, the shifu-tudi dynamic, and the fact that Wukong’s jail bail is semi-dependent on Sanzang’s success, there’s already an uneven power dynamic between him and Wukong, despite Wukong’s physical strength. And the way Sanzang chooses to navigate that power dynamic is by using the tightening sutra far too liberally and proving to Wukong again and again that he’ll never trust him, despite how Wukong’s shown again and again that he wants this journey to go smoothly. He doesn’t really seem remorseful of his actions either, and when he does regret them, it only seems at a level of “I shouldn’t have pushed Wukong away ): What will we do now ): The journey will be so much harder” rather than “My actions were unfair and harsh.”
And his habit of playing favorites annoys me. Bai Longma carries him for the entire journey without complaint? Longma who? Sha Wujing is hardworking, dedicated, and respectful? Always looking out for him and the most dedicated to becoming a proper Buddhist monk? Eh, okay, whatever. Sun Wukong tries to learn, scouts ahead, finds food when they’re not in a place where they can beg for alms, identifies possible threats, disposes of said threats, and saves his life multiple times? He’s a untrustworthy and dangerous monkey! Zhu Bajie lies, tries to get out of work, sleeps on the job, misbehaves overall, and is clearly not invested in the pilgrimage for like half of the journey at least? Yes of course, whatever you say, Bajie :)
And here’s a more petty point, and I’m regurgitating this point from my mom who also hates him, but Sanzang’s not even that good of a monk during the journey, and if he grew up as a monk, he really should be aware of this. He’s got a mega powerful horse so he doesn’t even have to walk on his own pilgrimage, he’s not even the person who goes begging for alms most of the time, and the 81 hardships really proved to be more hardships for Sun Wukong than him (not to mention he was the one got the group into a lot of those hardships by ignoring Wukong’s advice). He preaches being a good holy monk. He recites the teachings but doesn’t really put in the work. “Wukong, we were whisked off by a demon for a mile, so we didn’t actually travel that much. We have to go back and retrace our steps for a proper pilgrimage.” And he proceeds to retrace his steps by riding on Longma. That is all bark and no bite performance, and he knows this.
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One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:
JTTW is a story about becoming a better person on the road to enlightenment so I wish he had gotten some character development. If the points I stated earlier just happened in the beginning/middle of the story and he had made an effort to improve by the end, then I think I’d like him a lot more. I really don’t think he sees that he’s in the wrong, so I’d just like for him to get a wake up call. Maybe someone calls him out on his behavior. Maybe he sees how much more at ease Wukong is with his other sifu Puti, or even Taibai Jinxing since that guy seemed to have a soft spot for Wukong. Maybe he just has a moment of clarity! I just want him to apologize sincerely and to start taking the steps to becoming a better sifu.
Ask game: Give me a character and I’ll tell you my thoughts! (JTTW and Chinese mythology only) :D