本人嘗針對現存於韓國，建造於高麗王朝時期（中國元代）之「敬天寺」十層佛教石塔之「西遊」故事浮雕進行研究。「車遲國」故事除見於此塔（圖像文本），亦見於《朴通事》（文字文本），此種獨見於高麗王朝，而不見於中國載籍之特殊現象，應當是一項值得人們關注的研究命題。
本文擬從石塔之建造過程進行考察，推測此圖出現之因由，配合世本「車遲國」與「朱紫國」二事之中與元蒙相關之事例，證明「古本」《西遊記》在元代應當已經存在。「車遲國」故事浮雕可能是政治產物，「朱紫國」故事所載異事乃是元蒙婚制與高麗貢女制度的歷史印記，此乃文學（小說）反映社會之明確事例。世德堂《西遊記》刊本乃現今及見之最早者，學者多認為《西遊記》成於明代，然其書應有所本，其中仍有被眾人輕忽之元代遺跡。

This study begins with the stories related to the Journey to the West inscribed on the relief on the ten-storied Buddhist tower of Jingtian Temple (敬天寺) built in GaoliDynasty period (高麗朝 ca. Yuan dynasty). The story of Chechistate (車遲國) is seen hereas well as the written text of Putongshi (朴通事PakT’angsa) only. The case that story appears in Gaoli but finds no traces in Chinese documents is peculiar and deserves academic attention.
This article will look into the building process of the stone tower, speculating on the causes of its erecting, trying to relate to its possible connections with the Yuan Dynasty through the discussion of the stories of Chechi and Zhuzi states (朱紫國) in the Journey. This could establish the hypothesis that an “ancient proto-text” might already existed in Yuan Dynasty. The story of Chechi in the relief might be the product of political struggle at the time, and the story of Zhuzi could be the representation of real events of Yuan Mongolian marriage customs and the sending of tributary lady attendants from Gaoli to the Yuan Court. This could support the case that fiction is able to reflect the social reality; what were presented in the Journey in great measure have their basis in real world. This link in Yuan times, however, has long been missing and ignored by scholars of the Journey.