In this chapter, Xuanzang (aka Tripitaka) begins his journey and almost immediately loses nearly everything. His servants are devoured by monsters when he stumbles on their front door, and then he finds himself beset by wild animals before being rescued by a hunter and invited over for dinner.
It’s an interesting contrast, and since we know this novel to take great interest in parallels, we can see how at the beginning Xuanzang is presented as food, and in the end, he is invited by the hunter to eat. General Yin, a tiger spirit, converses casually with his guests as they devour Xuanzang’s assistants much in the way you or I might converse while animals are prepared for slaughter and cooking.
Later, we have what seems to be virtually the same story, told with virtually no supernatural elements. Tripitaka is once again set upon and nearly devoured by wild beasts, only this time he is saved by a hunter and invited to dinner. Being a devout monk, he cannot eat meat, so they bring him vegetarian food. In return for their kindness, Tripitaka chants holy sutras, the Buddhist equivalent of Christian prayer, and frees the hunter’s father from torment in the afterlife. It’s a nice alternate vision of the cruel and violent hosts Tripitaka encountered earlier and is perhaps meant to showcase how much better life can be after showing you just how bad it gets.
These days we take it for granted that neighbors will be more or less kind and courteous to one another because we (mostly) live in times of plenty. But those who lived during the time in which this novel is set, and the times in which it was written, were not so lucky. So a moral tale of this sort served to emphasize why you shouldn’t prey upon wanderers who turn up on your property but help them instead.
Either way, it’s clear Xuanzang can’t make the journey alone, which is why we hear his greatest disciple calling to him at the chapter’s close. For one as soft-spoken as the gentle Tripitaka, it helps to have a fellow traveler who carries a big stick.
And so the journey continues!