What is the ideological significance of The Journey to the West?

The real meaning of The Journey to the West:

The Journey to the West showed people a gorgeous world of ghosts and gods, but under the cloak of ghosts and gods, it wrapped the essence of real life, which profoundly reflected the optimism spirit of the broad masses of people resisting evil forces and demanding victory over nature and difficulties, and reflected the social outlook of feudal times in a tortuous way.

The Journey to the West's ideological value lies in his relentless attack and denial of ugly reality, with bitter irony. By describing the adventures and experiences of Tang Priest's disciples on the way to learn from the scriptures, the book mercilessly exposes the absurd behavior of the rulers to replace the dark forces in feudal society with monsters and ghosts. Some kings confuse right and wrong because of their lust for women, and want to dig people's hearts. Some kings have a clear distinction between black and white, allowing demons and ghosts to control state affairs and bring disaster to the country and the people, and so on. The meaning is self-evident. The Monkey King is deliberately portrayed by the author and is the most popular artistic image so far. He has superb skills and wisdom, is not bound by ethics, and dares to challenge the supreme jade emperor of heaven and earth. He hates evil and is upright. He is the embodiment of strength and represents the belief of working people to overcome all difficulties. He is a dazzling hero.

In a word, The Journey to the West is clear-cut, complicated but not chaotic, with lively language, mixed with dialects and proverbs, and full of life. The theme played down the original religious color of the story, and the book skillfully blended well-meaning ridicule, bitter satire and serious criticism, which directly affected the development of satirical novels. The Journey to the West also played an important role in the history of world literature.