Meta-Rewriting the Xiyou ji 西游记: Yao 妖, Identity, and Intermediality in Langlang Shan Xiao Yaoguai 浪浪山小

The 2025 Chinese animated film Langlang Shan Xiao Yaoguai offers a reflexive meta-rewriting of the Xiyou ji, itself a rewriting of the historical pilgrimage of Tripitaka. Rather than retelling the canonical story, the film constructs a meta-narrative that unfolds within the mythic framework of the Journey, transforming it into a reflection on imitation, identity, and cultural memory. Central to this process is the concept of yao 妖—a culturally specific term retained and initially glossed in the English subtitles—which anchors a meditation on liminality, belonging, and the everyday condition of the “ordinary monster.” The analysis identifies three main displacements: (1) a shift of perspective from divine heroes to “small monsters” (xiao yaoguai 小妖怪), creating a micro-history of the myth; (2) an identity negotiation condensed in the line “We’re not Yaos right now. We’re scripture seekers,” where an imposed classification is temporarily suspended and replaced by an enacted collective affiliation; and (3) an inverted Bildungsroman in which ethical formation produces neither transcendence nor institutional recognition, but culminates in action without guarantee. Through a comparative reading of characters in the Xiyou ji and those in the animated film, this paper explores how Langlang Shan Xiao Yaoguai re-activates the classical narrative as a meta-myth for the present. Following its domestic release, the film was released in several overseas markets. Although comprehensive data on its international reception remain limited, this circulation raises questions about the cross-cultural transmission of Chinese mythological categories and narrative traditions. Within this intertextual and intermedial dialogue, the film transforms the mythic journey into a medium for negotiating identity, authenticity, and cultural continuity in modern China.