Journey to the West

Journey to the West (Chinese: ; pinyin: Xī Yóu Jì) is a

Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty Journey to the West
and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is one of the Four Great Classical
Novels of Chinese literature. It has been described as arguably the
most popular literary work in East Asia.[2] Arthur Waley's abridged
translation, Monkey, is known in English-speaking countries.

The novel is an extended account of the legendary pilgrimage of the

Tang dynasty Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who travelled to the
"Western Regions" (Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent) to
obtain Buddhist sacred texts (sūtras) and returned after many trials and
much suffering. The monk is referred to as Tang Sanzang in the
novel. The novel retains the broad outline of Xuanzang's own
account, Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, but adds
elements from folk tales and the author's invention: Gautama Buddha
gives this task to the monk and provides him with three protectors
who agree to help him as an atonement for their sins. These disciples
are Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, together with a dragon
prince who acts as Tang Sanzang's steed, a white horse. The group of
pilgrims journeys towards enlightenment by the power and virtue of
cooperation. Earliest known edition of the book
from the 16th century
Journey to the West has strong roots in Chinese folk religion, Chinese
mythology, Confucianist, Taoist and Buddhist philosophy, and the Author Wu Cheng'en
pantheon of Taoist immortals and Buddhist bodhisattvas are still Original title ⻄遊記
reflective of some Chinese religious attitudes today. Enduringly Country Ming China
popular,[3] the novel is at once a comic adventure story, a humorous
satire of Chinese bureaucracy, a source of spiritual insight, and an Language Written vernacular
extended allegory. Chinese
Genre Gods and demons
fiction, Chinese
Contents mythology, fantasy,
adventure
Authorship
Publication c. 1592 (print)[1]
Historical context date
Synopsis
Journey to the West
Main characters
Tang Sanzang or Tripitaka
Sun Wukong or Monkey King
Zhu Bajie or Pigsy
Sha Wujing or Sandy
Journey to the West in Traditional
Sequels (top) and Simplified (bottom)
Notable English-language translations Chinese characters
 Media adaptations Traditional Chinese
See also Simplified Chinese 记
Notes Literal meaning "West Journey
References Record"

Further reading Transcriptions

Critical studies Standard Mandarin
External links Hanyu Pinyin Xī yóu jì
Wade–Giles Hsi1-yu2 chi4
IPA [ɕí jǒu tɕî]
Authorship
Wu
The earliest known full-length version of Journey to the West was Suzhounese Si yøʏ dzǐ
published anonymously in 1592, preceded by two briefer versions.[4] Yue: Cantonese
The question of authorship is further complicated by the fact that a
Yale Romanization Sāi yàuh gei
good deal of the novel's material had been published in the form of
folk tales.[5] Anthony C. Yu, writing in 2012, warned that "this Jyutping Sai1 jau4 gei3
vexing dispute over the novel's authorship, similar to that on the IPA [sɐ́i jɐ̏u kēi]
priority of its textual versions, see-sawed back and forth for nearly a Southern Min
century without resolution." [6]
Tâi-lô Se iû kì (col.)
Hu Shih, literary scholar and former Ambassador to the United States, Sai iû kì (lit.)
wrote that the novel was thought to have been written
and published anonymously by Wu Cheng'en. He
reasoned that the people of Wu's hometown attributed
it early on to Wu, and kept records to that effect as
early as 1625; thus, claimed Ambassador Hu, Journey
to the West was one of the earliest Chinese novels for
which the authorship is officially documented.[7]

Recent scholarship casts doubts on this attribution. The four protagonists, from left to right: Sun Wukong,
Brown University Chinese literature scholar David Tang Sanzang (on the White Dragon Horse), Zhu
Lattimore states: "The Ambassador's confidence was Bajie, and Sha Wujing
quite unjustified. What the gazetteer says is that Wu
wrote something called The Journey to the West. It
mentions nothing about a novel. The work in question could have been any version of our story, or something
else entirely."[8] Translator W. J. F. Jenner points out that although Wu had knowledge of Chinese bureaucracy
and politics, the novel itself does not include any political details that "a fairly well-read commoner could not
have known."[5]

Regardless of the origins and authorship, Journey to the West has become the authoritative version of these
folk stories,[5] and Wu's name has become inextricably linked with the book.[9]

Historical context
The novel Journey to the West was based on historical events. Xuanzang (602–664) was a monk at Jingtu
Temple in late-Sui dynasty and early-Tang dynasty Chang'an. Motivated by seeking better translations of
Buddhist scripture at the time, Xuanzang left Chang'an in 629, in defiance of Emperor Taizong of Tang's ban
on travel. Helped by sympathetic Buddhists, he traveled via Gansu and Qinghai to Kumul (Hami), thence
following the Tian Shan mountains to Turpan. He then crossed regions that are today Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan
and Afghanistan, into Gandhara, in what is today northern Pakistan, in 630.
Xuanzang traveled throughout the Indian subcontinent for the next thirteen
years, visiting important Buddhist pilgrimage sites, studying at the ancient
university at Nalanda, and debating the rivals of Buddhism.

Xuanzang left India in 643 and arrived back in Chang'an in 646. Although he
had defied the imperial travel ban when he left, Xuanzang received a warm
welcome from Emperor Taizong upon his return. The emperor provided
money and support for Xuanzang's projects. He joined Da Ci'en Monastery
(Monastery of Great Maternal Grace), where he led the building of the Big
Wild Goose Pagoda to store the scriptures and icons he had brought back
from India. He recorded his journey in the book Great Tang Records on the
Western Regions. With the support of the emperor, he established an institute
at Yuhua Gong (Palace of the Lustre of Jade) monastery dedicated to Big Wild Goose Pagoda in
translating the scriptures he had brought back. His translation and Xi'an
commentary work established him as the founder of the Dharma character
school of Buddhism. Xuanzang died on 7 March 664. The Xingjiao
Monastery was established in 669 to house his ashes.

Popular and story-teller versions of Xuanzang's journey dating as far

back as the Southern Song dynasty include a monkey character as a
protagonist.

Synopsis Porcelain pillow showing characters

The novel has 100 chapters that can be divided into four unequal
parts. The first part, which includes chapters 1–7, is a self-contained
introduction to the main story. It deals entirely with the earlier exploits of Sun
Wukong, a monkey born from a stone nourished by the Five Elements, who
learns the art of the Tao, 72 polymorphic transformations, combat, and secrets
of immortality, and whose guile and force earns him the name Qitian
Dasheng (simplified Chinese: ⼤ ; traditional Chinese: ⼤ ), or
"Great Sage Equal to Heaven." His powers grow to match the forces of all of
the Eastern (Taoist) deities, and the prologue culminates in Sun's rebellion
against Heaven, during a time when he garnered a post in the celestial
bureaucracy. Hubris proves his downfall when the Buddha manages to trap
him under a mountain, sealing it with a talisman for five hundred years.

The second part (chapters 8–12) introduces the nominal main character, Tang
Sanzang, through his early biography and the background to his great 18th-century Chinese
journey. Dismayed that "the land of the South (i.e. Tang China) knows only illustration of a scene from
greed, hedonism, promiscuity, and sins," the Buddha instructs the bodhisattva Journey to the West
Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin) to search China for someone to take the Buddhist
sutras of "transcendence and persuasion for good will" back. Part of this
section also relates to how Tang Sanzang becomes a monk (as well as revealing his past life as a disciple of the
Buddha named "Golden Cicada" ( 蟬 )) and comes about being sent on this pilgrimage by Emperor
Taizong, who previously escaped death with the help of an official in the Underworld.

The third and longest section of the work is chapters 13–99, an episodic adventure story in which Tang
Sanzang sets out to bring back Buddhist scriptures from Leiyin Temple on Vulture Peak in India, but
encounters various evils along the way. The section is set in the sparsely populated lands along the Silk Road
between China and India. The geography described in the book is, however, almost entirely fantasy; once
Tang Sanzang departs Chang'an, the Tang capital, and crosses the
frontier (somewhere in Gansu province), he finds himself in a
wilderness of deep gorges and tall mountains, inhabited by demons
and animal spirits who regard him as a potential meal (since his flesh
was believed to give immortality to whoever ate it), with the
occasional hidden monastery or royal city-state amidst the harsh
setting.

Episodes consist of 1–4 chapters and usually involve Tang Sanzang

being captured and having his life threatened while his disciples try to An illustrated edition of the story
find an ingenious (and often violent) way of liberating him. Although
some of Tang Sanzang's predicaments are political and involve
ordinary human beings, they more frequently consist of run-ins with various demons, many of whom turn out
to be earthly manifestations of heavenly beings (whose sins will be negated by eating the flesh of Tang
Sanzang) or animal-spirits with enough Taoist spiritual merit to assume semi-human forms.

Chapters 13–22 do not follow this structure precisely, as they introduce Tang Sanzang's disciples, who,
inspired or goaded by Guanyin, meet and agree to serve him along the way in order to atone for their sins in
their past lives.

The first is Sun Wukong, or Monkey, whose given name loosely means "awakened to
emptiness," trapped by the Buddha for defying Heaven. He appears right away in chapter 13.
The most intelligent and violent of the disciples, he is constantly reproved for his violence by
Tang Sanzang. Ultimately, he can only be controlled by a magic gold ring that Guanyin has
placed around his head, which causes him unbearable headaches when Tang Sanzang chants
the Ring Tightening Mantra.
The second, appearing in chapter 19, is Zhu Bajie, literally "Eight Precepts Pig," sometimes
translated as Pigsy or just Pig. He was previously the Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy, a
commander of Heaven's naval forces, and was banished to the mortal realm for harassing the
moon goddess Chang'e. A reliable fighter, he is characterised by his insatiable appetites for
food and women, and is constantly looking for a way out of his duties, which causes significant
conflict with Sun Wukong.
The third, appearing in chapter 22, is the river ogre Sha Wujing, also translated as Friar Sand
or Sandy. He was previously the celestial Curtain Lifting General, and was banished to the
mortal realm for dropping (and shattering) a crystal goblet of the Queen Mother of the West. He
is a quiet but generally dependable and hard-working character, who serves as the straight foil
to the comic relief of Sun and Zhu.
The fourth is Yulong, the third son of the Dragon King of the West Sea, who was sentenced to
death for setting fire to his father's great pearl. He was saved by Guanyin from execution to stay
and wait for his call of duty. He has almost no speaking role, as throughout the story he mainly
appears as a horse that Tang Sanzang rides on.

Chapter 22, where Sha Wujing is introduced, also provides a geographical boundary, as the river that the
travelers cross brings them into a new "continent." Chapters 23–86 take place in the wilderness, and consist of
24 episodes of varying length, each characterised by a different magical monster or evil magician. There are
impassably wide rivers, flaming mountains, a kingdom with an all-female population, a lair of seductive spider
spirits, and many other scenarios. Throughout the journey, the four disciples have to fend off attacks on their
master and teacher Tang Sanzang from various monsters and calamities.

It is strongly suggested that most of these calamities are engineered by fate and/or the Buddha, as, while the
monsters who attack are vast in power and many in number, no real harm ever comes to the four travelers.
Some of the monsters turn out to be escaped celestial beasts belonging to bodhisattvas or Taoist sages and
deities. Towards the end of the book, there is a scene where the Buddha commands the fulfillment of the last
disaster, because Tang Sanzang is one short of the 81 tribulations required before attaining Buddhahood.

In chapter 87, Tang Sanzang finally reaches the borderlands of India, and chapters 87–99 present magical
adventures in a somewhat more mundane setting. At length, after a pilgrimage said to have taken fourteen
years (the text actually only provides evidence for nine of those years, but presumably there was room to add
additional episodes) they arrive at the half-real, half-legendary destination of Vulture Peak, where, in a scene
simultaneously mystical and comic, Tang Sanzang receives the scriptures from the living Buddha.

Chapter 100, the final chapter, quickly describes the return journey to the Tang Empire, and the aftermath in
which each traveller receives a reward in the form of posts in the bureaucracy of the heavens. Sun Wukong
(Monkey) and Tang Sanzang (monk) achieve Buddhahood, Sha Wujing (Sandy) becomes an arhat, the dragon
horse is made a nāga, and Zhu Bajie (Pig), whose good deeds have always been tempered by his greed, is
promoted to an altar cleanser (i.e. eater of excess offerings at altars).

Main characters

Tang Sanzang or Tripitaka

The monk Tang Sanzang ( 三 , meaning "Tripitaka Master of Tang,"

with Tang referring to the Tang dynasty and Sanzang referring to the
Tripiṭaka, the main categories of texts in the Buddhist canon which is also
used as an honorific for some Buddhist monks) is a Buddhist monk who had
renounced his family to become a monk from childhood. He is just called
Tripitaka in many English versions of the story. He set off for Dahila
kingdom ( 国 , an appellation for India in ancient China) to retrieve
original Buddhist scriptures for China. Although he is helpless in defending
himself, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin) helps by finding him
powerful disciples who aid and protect him on his journey. In return, the
disciples will receive enlightenment and forgiveness for their sins once the
journey is done. Along the way, they help the local inhabitants by defeating
various monsters and demons who try to obtain immortality by consuming An illustration of Tang
Tang Sanzang's flesh. Sanzang

Sun Wukong or Monkey King

Sun Wukong ( 悟 ) (pinyin: sūnwùkōng) is the name given to this character by his teacher, Subhuti, the
latter part of which means "Awakened to Emptiness" (in the Waley translation, Aware-of-Vacuity); he is often
called the Monkey King. He is born on Flower Fruit Mountain from a stone egg that forms from an ancient
rock created by the coupling of Heaven and Earth. He first distinguishes himself by bravely entering the Water
Curtain Cave on the mountain; for this feat, his monkey tribe gives him the title of "Handsome Monkey King
美猴王
( )." After seeing a fellow monkey die because of old age, he decides to travel around the world to seek
the Tao, and find a way to be able to live forever. He eventually found the "Grand Master of Bodhi ( 菩提祖
師 )," who taught him the 72 heavenly methods of transformation and a "sumersault cloud" which allows him
to travel 108,000 li almost instantaneously. After angering several gods and coming to the attention of the Jade
Emperor, he is given a minor position in heaven as the Keeper of Horses ( 弼⾺溫 ) so they can keep an eye on
him. When Sun realises that he was given a low position and is not considered a full-fledged god, he becomes
very angry. Upon returning to his mountain, he puts up a flag and declares himself the "Great Sage Equal to
Heaven." The Jade Emperor dispatches celestial soldiers to arrest Sun Wukong, but no one succeeds. The Jade
Emperor has no choice but to appoint him to be the guardian of the heavenly peach garden. The peach trees in
the garden bear fruit every 3,000 years, and eating its flesh will bestow
immortality, so Sun Wukong eats nearly all of the ripe peaches. Later, after
fairies who come to collect peaches for Xi Wangmu's heavenly peach banquet
inform Sun Wukong he is not invited and make fun of him, he once again
starts causing trouble in Heaven and defeats an army of 100,000 celestial
troops, led by the Four Heavenly Kings, Erlang Shen, and Nezha. Eventually,
the Jade Emperor appeals to the Buddha, who seals Wukong under a
mountain called Five Elements Mountain after the latter loses a bet regarding
whether he can leap out of the Buddha's hand in a single somersault. Sun
Wukong is kept under the mountain for 500 years, and cannot escape because
of a seal that was placed on the mountain. He is later set free when Tang
Sanzang comes upon him during his pilgrimage and accepts him as a disciple.

His primary weapon is his staff, the "Ruyi Jingu Bang," which he can shrink An illustration of Sun
down to the size of a needle and keep in his ear, as well as expand it to Wukong
gigantic proportions. The rod, which weighs 17,550 pounds, was originally a
pillar supporting the undersea palace of the Dragon King of the East Sea, but
he was able to pull it out of its support and can swing it with ease. The Dragon King had told Sun Wukong he
could have the staff if he could lift it, but was angry when the monkey was actually able to pull it out and
accused him of being a thief; hence Sun Wukong was insulted, so he demanded a suit of armour and refused to
leave until he received one. The Dragon King, fearful of Sun wreaking havoc in his palace, gave him a suit of
golden armour. These gifts, combined with his devouring of the peaches of immortality, three jars of elixir, and
his time being tempered in Laozi's Eight-Trigram Furnace (after which he gained a steel-hard body and fiery
golden eyes that could see very far into the distance and through any disguise), makes Sun Wukong the
strongest member of the pilgrimage by far. Besides these abilities, he can also pluck hairs from his body and
blow on them to convert them into whatever he wishes (usually clones of himself to gain a numerical
advantage in battle). Futhermore, he is a master of the 72 methods of transformation ( ⼗⼆变 ),[a] and can
transform into anything that exists (animate and inanimate).[a] Notably, however, Sun cannot fight as well
underwater. The monkey, nimble and quick-witted, uses these skills to defeat all but the most powerful of
demons on the journey.

Sun's behavior is checked by a band placed around his head by Guanyin, which cannot be removed by Sun
Wukong himself until the journey's end. Tang Sanzang can tighten this band by chanting the "Ring Tightening
Mantra" (taught to him by Guanyin) whenever he needs to chastise him. The spell is referred to by Tang
Sanzang's disciples as the "Headache Sutra," which is the Buddhist mantra "oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ." Tang
Sanzang speaks this mantra quickly in repetition when Sun disobeys him.

Sun Wukong's childlike playfulness is in huge contrast to his cunning mind. This, coupled with his great
power, makes him a trickster hero. His antics present a lighter side in the long and dangerous trip into the
unknown.

After completion of the journey, Sun is granted the title of Victorious Fighting Buddha ( ⽃战胜 ; ⾾戰 ;
dòu zhànshèng fú) and ascends to Buddhahood.

Zhu Bajie or Pigsy

Zhu Bajie ( 戒, literally "Pig of the Eight Prohibitions") is also known as Zhu Wuneng ("Helpless Pig"),
and given the name Pigsy, Monk Pig or just simply Pig in English.

Once an immortal who was the Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy commanding 100,000 naval soldiers of the
Milky Way, he drank too much during a celebration of the gods and attempted to harass the moon goddess
Chang'e, resulting in his banishment to the mortal world. He was supposed to be reborn as a human but ended
up in the womb of a sow due to an error on the Reincarnation Wheel, which
turned him into a half-man, half-pig monster. Zhu Bajie was very greedy, and
could not survive without eating ravenously. Staying within the Yunzhan
Dong ("cloud-pathway cave"), he was commissioned by Guanyin to
accompany Tang Sanzang to India and given the new name Zhu Wuneng.

However, Zhu Bajie's lust for women led him to the Gao Family Village,
where he posed as a handsome young man and helped defeat a group of
robbers who tried to abduct a maiden. Eventually, the family agreed to let Zhu
Bajie marry the maiden. But during the day of the wedding, he drank too
much alcohol and accidentally returned to his original form. Being extremely
shocked, the villagers ran away, but Zhu Bajie wanted to keep his bride, so he
told the bride's father that if after one month the family still doesn't agree to let
him keep the bride, he would take her by force. He also locked the bride up in An illustration of Zhu Bajie
a separate building. At this point, Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong arrived at
the Gao Family Village and helped defeat him. Renamed Zhu Bajie by Tang
Sanzang, he consequently joined the pilgrimage to the West.

His weapon of choice is the jiuchidingpa ("nine-tooth iron rake"). He is also capable of 36 transformations (as
compared to Sun Wukong's 72), and can travel on clouds, but not as fast as Sun. However, Zhu is noted for
his fighting skills in the water, which he used to combat Sha Wujing, who later joined them on the journey. He
is the second strongest member of the team.

Being spiritually the lowest of the group due to his lust for women, extreme laziness, and greediness, he
remained on Earth and was granted the title "Cleaner of the Altars," with the duty of cleaning every altar at
every Buddhist temple for eternity by eating excess offerings.

Sha Wujing or Sandy

Sha Wujing ( 悟 , "Sand Awakened to Purity"), given the name Friar

Sand or Sandy in English, was once a celestial Curtain Lifting General, who
stood in attendance by the imperial chariot in the Hall of Miraculous Mist. He
was exiled to the mortal world and made to look like a monster because he
accidentally smashed a crystal goblet belonging to the Queen Mother of the
West during a Peach Banquet. The now-hideous immortal took up residence
in the Flowing Sands River, terrorising surrounding villages and travellers
trying to cross the river. However, he was subdued by Sun Wukong and Zhu
Bajie when Tang Sanzang's party came across him. They consequently took
him in, as part of the pilgrimage to the West.

Wujing's weapon is a magic wooden staff wrapped in pearly threads. He also

knows 18 transformation methods and is highly effective in water combat.
An illustration of Shā Wùjìng
Wujing is known to be the most obedient, logical, and polite of the three
disciples, and always takes care of his master, seldom engaging in the
bickering of his fellow disciples. He has no major faults nor any extraordinary characteristics. Perhaps this is
why he is sometimes seen as a minor character. He does however serve as the peacekeeper of the group
mediating between Wukong and Bajie and even Tang Sanzang and the others. He is also the person whom
Tang Sanzang consults when faced with difficult decisions.
Wujing eventually becomes an arhat at the end of the journey, giving him a higher level of exaltation than Zhu
Bajie, who is relegated to cleaning altars, but lower spiritually than Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang, who are
granted Buddhahood.

Sequels
The brief satirical novel Xiyoubu ( 补 , "A Supplement to the Journey to the West," c. 1640) follows Sun
Wukong as he is trapped in a magical dream world created by the Qing Fish Demon, the embodiment of desire
( , qing). Sun travels back and forth through time, during which he serves as the adjunct King of Hell and
judges the soul of the recently dead traitor Qin Hui during the Song dynasty, takes on the appearance of a
beautiful concubine and causes the downfall of the Qin dynasty, and even faces Pāramitā, one of his five sons
born to the rakshasa Princess Iron Fan,[b] on the battlefield during the Tang dynasty.[10] The events of
Xiyoubu take place between the end of chapter 61 and the beginning of chapter 62 of Journey to the West.[11]
The author, Dong Yue ( ), wrote the book because he wanted to create an opponent—in this case desire—
that Sun could not defeat with his great strength and martial skill.[12]

Notable English-language translations

Monkey: A Folk-Tale of China (1942), an abridged translation by Arthur Waley. For many years,
this was the most well-known translation available in English. The Waley translation has also
been published as Adventures of the Monkey God, Monkey to the West, Monkey: [A] Folk
Novel of China, and The Adventures of Monkey, and in a further abridged version for children,
Dear Monkey. Waley noted in his preface that the method adopted in earlier abridgements was
"to leave the original number of separate episodes, but drastically reduce them in length,
particularly by cutting out dialogue. I have for the most part adopted the opposite principle,
omitting many episodes, but translating those that are retained almost in full, leaving out,
however, most of the incidental passages in verse, which go very badly into English."[13] The
degree of abridgement, 30 out of the 100 chapters (which corresponds to roughly 1/6 of the
whole text), and excising most of the verse, has led to a recent critic awarding it the lesser
place, as a good retelling of the story.[14] On the other hand, it has been praised as "remarkably
faithful to the original spirit of the work."[15]

The literary scholar Andrew H. Plaks points out that Waley's abridgement reflected his
interpretation of the novel as a "folk-tale," that is, not a sophisticated piece of art. This
"brilliant translation... through its selection of episodes gave rise to the misleading impression
that that this is essentially a compendium of popular materials marked by folk wit and humor."
Waley followed Hu Shi's lead, as shown in Hu's introduction to the 1943 edition. Hu scorned
the allegorical interpretations of the novel as a spiritual as well as physical quest, declaring
that they were old-fashioned. He instead insisted that the stories were simply comic. Hu Shi
reacted against elaborately allegorical readings of the novel made popular in the Qing
dynasty, but does not account for the levels of meaning and the looser allegorical framework
which recent scholars in China and the West have shown.[16]

Journey to the West (1982–1984), a complete translation in four volumes by William John
Francis Jenner.[c] Readable translation without scholarly jargon.[17]
The Journey to the West (1977–1983), a complete translation in four volumes by Anthony C.
Yu, the first to translate the poems and songs which Yu argues are essential in understanding
the author's meanings.[d] Yu also supplied an extensive scholarly introduction and notes.[8][17]
In 2006, an abridged version of this translation was published by University of Chicago Press
under the title The Monkey and the Monk. In 2012, University of Chicago Press issued a
revised edition of Yu's translation in four volumes. In addition to correcting or amending the
translation and converting romanization to pinyin, the new edition updates and augments the
 annotations, and revises and expands the introduction in respect to new scholarship and
modes of interpretation.
Monkey King: Journey to the West. Translated by Julia Lovell. New York: Penguin. 2021.
ISBN 9780143107187. Julia Lovell's translation of selected chapters into lively contemporary
English, with an extensive Introduction by Lovell and a Preface by Gene Luen Yang.[18]

Media adaptations
Saiyūki ( ⻄遊記 ) also known by its English title Monkey and
commonly referred to by its title song, "Monkey Magic," is a
Japanese television series starring Masaaki Sakai, produced by
Nippon TV and International Television Films in association with
NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) and broadcast from 1978 to
1980 on Nippon TV. It was translated into English by the BBC.

In the 1980s, China Central Television (CCTV) produced and aired a

TV adaptation of Journey to the West under the same name as the Sun Wukong and other Mount
original work. A second season was produced in the late 1990s Huaguo monkeys as portrayed by
covering portions of the original work that the first season skipped Peking opera performers, from a
over. performance in Tianchan Theatre,
Shanghai, China on 19 December
In 1997, Brooklyn-based jazz composer Fred Ho premiered his jazz 2014.
opera Journey To The East, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music,
which he developed into what he described as a "serial fantasy action-
adventure music/theater epic,” Journey Beyond the West: The New Adventures of Monkey based upon Wu
Cheng’en's 16th-century novel. Ho's pop-culture infused take on the story of the Monkey King has been
performed to great acclaim.

It also made its way to the Mass Electronic Entertainment Media (Reimagined Video game adaptation) in
2009, titled Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, which was released in October 2010 for Microsoft Windows,
PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was developed by Ninja Theory and published by Bandai Namco
Entertainment. The main protagonist 'Monkey' is voice acted by Andy Serkis.

On 20 April 2017, Australia's ABC, TVNZ and Netflix announced production was underway in New
Zealand on a new live-action television series, The New Legends of Monkey, to premiere globally in 2018. The
series, which is based on Journey to the West, is made up of 10 half-hour episodes. While there has been
enthusiasm for the new series, it has also attracted some criticism for "whitewashing,"[19] since none of the
core cast are of Chinese descent, with two of the leads having Tongan ancestry[20] while only one, Chai
Hansen, is of half-Asian (his father is Thai) descent.[21]

More recently in 2017, Viki and Netflix hosted a South Korean show called A Korean Odyssey; a modern
comedy retelling that begins with the release of Sun Wukong/Son O-Gong and the reincarnation of Tang
Sanzang/Samjang

In August 2020, Game Science Studios announced a video game adaptation called Black Myth: Wukong.[22]

See also
Dragon Ball
Dream of the Red Chamber
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
 Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Starzinger
Water Margin
The God of High School

Notes
a. Here, these numbers are not assigned limits to Sun Wukong's power, but numbers often used
to denote infinity.
b. Pāramitā is the only son to make an appearance and to be called by name in the novel. These
sons did not originally appear in Journey to the West.
c. Published by Foreign Languages Press Beijing. (ISBN 0-8351-1003-6, ISBN 0-8351-1193-8,
ISBN 0-8351-1364-7); 1993 edition in four volumes: ISBN 978-7-119-01663-4; 2003 edition in
six volumes with original Chinese on left page, English translation on right page: ISBN 7-119-
03216-X
d. Published by University of Chicago Press: HC ISBN 0-226-97145-7, ISBN 0-226-97146-5,
ISBN 0-226-97147-3, ISBN 0-226-97148-1; PB ISBN 0-226-97150-3, ISBN 0-226-97151-1;
ISBN 0-226-97153-8; ISBN 0-226-97154-6.

References
1. Yu (2012), p. 18.
2. Kherdian, David (2005). Monkey: A Journey to the West. p. 7. "is probably the most popular
book in all of East Asia."
3. "Monkeying Around with the Nobel Prize: Wu Chen'en's "Journey to the West" " (https://larevie
wofbooks.org/article/monkeying-around-with-the-nobel-prize). Los Angeles Review of Books.
13 October 2013. "It is a cornerstone text of Eastern fiction: its stature in Asian literary culture
may be compared with that of The Canterbury Tales or Don Quixote in European letters."
4. Yu (2012), p. 17- 18.
5. Jenner 1984
6. Yu (2012), p. 10.
7. Hu Shih (1942). "Introduction". In Arthur Waley (ed.). Monkey. Translated by Arthur Waley. New
York: Grove Press. pp. 1–5.
8. Lattimore, David (6 March 1983). "The Complete 'Monkey' " (https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/
06/books/the-complete-monkey.html?pagewanted=all). The New York Times.
9. Shi 1999.
10. Dong, Yue; Wu, Chengẻn (2000). The Tower of Myriad Mirrors: A Supplement to Journey to the
West. Michigan classics in Chinese studies. Translated by Lin, Shuen-fu; Schulz, Larry James.
Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, The University of Michigan. ISBN 9780892641420.
11. Dong & Wu 2000, p. 5.
12. Dong & Wu 2000, p. 133.
13. Wu Ch'eng-en; Arthur Waley (1984) [1942]. Monkey
(https://archive.org/details/monkey00wuch). Translated by Arthur Waley. New York: Grove
Press. p. 7 (https://archive.org/details/monkey00wuch/page/7). ISBN 9780802130860.
14. Plaks, Andrew (1977). "Review: "The Journey to the West" by Anthony C. Yu". MLN. 92 (5):
1116–1118. doi:10.2307/2906900 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F2906900). JSTOR 2906900 (http
s://www.jstor.org/stable/2906900).
15. Ropp, Paul S. (1990). "The Distinctive Art of Chinese Fiction". Heritage of China:
Contemporary Perspectives on Chinese Civilization (https://archive.org/details/heritageofchina
00atio). Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 321 note 12. ISBN 9780520064409.
16. Plaks 1994, pp. 274–275.
17. Plaks 1994, p. 283.
18. Van Fleet, John Darwin (31 January 2021). "Monkey King (Review)" (https://asianreviewofbook
s.com/content/monkey-king-journey-to-the-west-by-wu-chengen-translated-by-julia-lovell/).
Asian Review of Books. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
19. Whitehead, Mat (20 April 2017). " 'Monkey Magic' Returns As Filming Begins On 'The Legend
of Monkey' In New Zealand" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/04/20/monkey-magic-retur
ns-as-filming-begins-on-the-legend-of-monke_a_22047201/). Huffington Post. Retrieved
20 April 2017.
20. Ma, Wenlei (26 January 2018). "The New Legends of Monkey writer responds to
'whitewashing' accusations" (http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/tv-shows/the-new-legen
ds-of-monkey-writer-responds-to-whitewashing-accusations/news-story/17574ca219894f4ed9
2d291c3f7364d9). news.com.au.
21. "Chai Romruen" (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5098626/). IMDb. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
22. "Gorgeous Action-RPG Black Myth: Wukong Revealed with Extended Gameplay Trailer - IGN"
(https://www.ign.com/articles/black-myth-wukong-announced-consoles-next-gen-pc-gameplay).

Further reading
Bhat, R. B.; Wu, C. (2014). Xuan Zhang's mission to the West with Monkey King. New Delhi:
Aditya Prakashan.
Shi Changyu ⽯昌 (1999). "Introduction". Journey to the West. Volume 1. Translated by
Jenner, William John Francis (Seventh ed.). Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. pp. 1–22.
"Translator's Afterword". Journey to the West. 4. Translated by Jenner, William John Francis
(Seventh ed.). Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. 1984. pp. 2341–2343.
Jenner, William John Francis (3 February 2016). "Journeys to the East, 'Journey to the West" (h
ttps://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/journeys-to-the-east-journey-to-the-west). Los Angeles
Review of Books.
Wasserstrom, Jeffrey. "Julia Lovell on the Monkey King's Travels Across Borders: A
Conversation" (https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/interviews/julia-lovell-monkey-kings-travels-acr
oss-borders-conversation/). Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
Yu, Anthony C. (2012). "Introduction". Journey to the West. Volume 1. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press. pp. 1–96.

Critical studies
Fu, James S. (1977). Mythic and Comic Aspects of the Quest. Singapore: Singapore University
Press.
Hsia, C.T. (1968). "The Journey to the West". The Classic Chinese Novel (https://archive.org/de
tails/classicchineseno00hsia). New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 115–164 (https://archi
ve.org/details/classicchineseno00hsia/page/115).
Kao, Karl S.Y. (October 1974). "An Archetypal Approach to Hsi-yu chi". Tamkang Review. 5 (2):
63–98.
Plaks, Andrew (1987). The Four Masterworks of the Ming Novel. Princeton: Princeton
University Press. pp. 183–276.
Plaks, Andrew (1994). "Journey to the West". In Miller, Barbara S. (ed.). Masterworks of Asian
Literature in Comparative Perspective. New York: M.E. Sharpe. pp. 272–284.
 Wang, Richard G.; Xu, Dongfeng (2016). "Three Decades' Reworking on the Monk, the
Monkey, and the Fiction of Allegory". The Journal of Religion. 96 (1): 102–121.
doi:10.1086/683988 (https://doi.org/10.1086%2F683988). S2CID 170097583 (https://api.seman
ticscholar.org/CorpusID:170097583).
Yu, Anthony C. (February 1983). "Two Literary Examples of Religious Pilgrimage: The
Commedia and the Journey to the West". History of Religions. 22 (3): 202–230.
doi:10.1086/462922 (https://doi.org/10.1086%2F462922). S2CID 161410156 (https://api.seman
ticscholar.org/CorpusID:161410156).

External links
Journey to the West (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23962) from the Gutenberg Project
(Traditional Chinese)
Journey to the West (http://xahlee.org/p/monkey_king/monkey_king.html) from Xahlee
(Simplified Chinese)
Story of Sun Wukong and the beginning of Journey to the West (http://www.china-on-site.com/p
ages/comic/1.php) with manhua
200 images of Journey to the West by Chen Huiguan, with a summary of each chapter (http://w
ww.innerjourneytothewest.com/english/en-resource.html)
Journey to the West ⻄遊記(https://chinesenotes.com/xiyouji.html) Chinese text with embedded
Chinese-English dictionary

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