Wu Cheng'enCritiques

Dear all, meet Monkey (aka Monkey King aka Great Sage Equal to Heaven ;) ), one of the coolest superheroes in history. What he lacks in manners, social skills, anger management, and knowledge of court protocol, he makes up for in audacity, quick thinking, wit, and lots (lots!) of magic powers.

This was pure, irreverent fun – with delightful bits of wisdom, too. When Monkey acquires his special skill set, he gets some Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism as part of the bargain. You need those too, obviously!

“Nothing in this world is hard. It is only the mind that makes it so.”

“If you want to have a future, think of the future.”

The intrepid heroes who go on a quest to find holy Buddhist scrolls are: Monkey (see above), Tripitaka the monk (good at bursting into tears, getting kidnapped, and reciting sutras), Pigsy (a reformed monster, good at eating, fighting, and being a pain in the ass), Sandy (a reformed monster, good at fighting and being depressed and somewhat helpful), and a horse (who is really a dragon; sometimes it talks). The quest is a romp, without forgetting that it’s the journey that matters, not the destination. Oh, the exploits! The epic battles! The magic tricks! The monster-slaying! Adventure succeeds adventure, because there is a demon on every mountain; a monster in every cave; a stupid king who had been duped by demons in every city. There is always a job for Monkey & Co. Monkey usually saves the day – when he cannot, there are helpful deities, guardian spirits and the wonderfully friendly Bodhisattva Guanyin who come to the rescue. And so it goes… (I think that perhaps I shouldn’t have read it in one go – the fun adventures did get repetitive. Still fun, though.)

I loved how grounded this book is in the oral tradition it came from, as in “and then this happened! But then…! Do you want to find out what they did next? Read on!”

I was deliciously entertained throughout. Here is Sandy, explaining his predicament as a monster after being banished from Heaven (Sandy broke a cup – so the heavenly Jade Emperor probably needs those Buddhist scrolls too):

“Every seventh day, he sends a flying sword to pierce my torso over a hundred times, It wears a person out. That’s why I am a little highly strung.”

And here is some weird magic happening (don’t drink water from rivers you haven’t met before!):

“Calamity!” yelped Tripitaka, turning white, while Pigsy – sitting on the ground – bent over, trying to spread his legs. “But we’re men! How can we have children? We don’t have birth canals. Where’s the baby going to come out?”
“A ripe melon will find a way to drop,” said Monkey, grinning, “as the proverb goes. Maybe it’ll burst out of your armpit.”

I appreciate Julia Lovell’s translation very much. You can tell that it preserves the spirit of the original while dressing it up in modern English – without obscuring the source material. It was skilfully done. Also, I was very happy to find an abridged version of ca 400 pages. I’d love to read the 2000 pages of the unabridged translation, but my tbr has been hurling abuse at me every time I mentioned it. So, not now ;) For now, I’ll just go around recommending Journey to the West to everyone and anyone I think might be a good fit.

One of the interesting things I learned reading this novel was that in ancient times, the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin was revered not just in China, but as far west as Rome, where she was known as Deus Ex Machina. Seriously, though, one of the things you have to do without in reading this novel is any dramatic tension whatsoever. You know that Tripitaka and his disciples will get out of every scrape they find themselves in, and if all else seems hopeless, Monkey will just jump on a cloud and ask Kuan-yin for help. That's not actually such a huge criticism, as this novel can't really be compared against modern literature, which operates according to a totally different set of rules, but I did find it meant I could only enjoy this book in small doses.

However, what did frustrate me was the lack of actual Buddhism in this story. I'm not sure if it's the abridgement, the translation or the original text, but apart from the character names, there's not much here that reflects Buddhist practices or values, at least according to my (limited) understanding. I felt as if with just a few tweaks the story could have been changed to be about a Catholic monk travelling east to India to fetch sacred scriptures, or very easily, a Hindu priest travelling north. I had hoped to find Tripitaka struggling with his demons and each aspect of his personality, represented by his disciples, helping him to overcome them. That is certainly how the classic dubbed TV show Monkey Magic was structured. Instead, Tripitaka bursts into tears every time he encounters adversity and waits for Monkey to sort things out.

I was also very frustrated by the way the main achievement of each adventure is to restore some hereditary ruler to the throne or give a landholder back his land. I didn't expect them to be spreading the word of socialism, but I would have liked it if the four pilgrims had occasionally helped out a peasant or servant.

Despite all that, Monkey's antics are pretty funny at times and the history of this story, as a 16th century novel based on the adventures of a 7th century monk, made it an enjoyable and engaging read. The edition I read would have benefited from giving each speaker a separate line, but the writing was otherwise engaging and accessible while still having an air of authenticity in representing the age and provenance of the original text. I am somewhat tempted to read an unabridged version. Not tomorrow, but maybe some time in the future, and I'm definitely going to find a good account of Hsuan Tsang's original journey.

This audiobook jumped right in (no introduction about publisher, translator or narrator). Bits of the tale were a little confusing to me due to cultural and religious background (mine being 20th century Protestant America and the book being 16th century Buddhist China). However, once I adjusted to the style, the story fascinated me. Many of the chapters ended with something like "And if you don't know how Monkey (whatever), read the next chapter." And despite my plan to stop listening for the day, I would continue to the next chapter, and the next and the next...

Kenneth Williams does an excellent narration, though there were a few times when the British pronunciation of a word would throw me (exorcism for example).

FROM AMAZON: Considered one of China's great classical novels, Wu Ch'êng-ên's Journey to the West was translated by Arthur Waley in abridged form as Monkey in 1942 and has delighted English readers ever since. It is a riveting adventure story about a priest's quest to obtain holy Buddhist scriptures for the Tang emperor; joining him on this rollicking journey: Sandy, Pigsy, and the mischievous monkey king, Sun Wukong, whose flying cloud and magic cudgel are never far from his infamous deeds. Waley's accessible rendition of Wu Ch'êng-ên's novel has become a classic in its own right: Gods, demons, and disobedient monkey spirits all come alive in this entertaining work.

After ninety-seven chapters of hilarious supernatural high jinks and demon defeating battles the Tang Monk and his three supernatural disciples and supernatural mount enter the land of the Buddha in the West. There the world of illusions begins to slip away layer by layer. After entering the bottomless boat of the Divine Cloud-Transcending Ferry, they see the corpse of the Tang Monk floating downstream towards them. The ferryman cries out, “That’s you. Congratulations! Congratulations!”

Delivered from their mortal flesh and bone,
A primal spirit of mutual love has grown.
Their work done, they became Buddhas this day,
Free of their former six-six senses sway.

After enlightenment, and this glimpse of the Real, there is the task of returning from India to China and returning the authentic scriptures to the court of the Tang Emperor, so there are a few more adventurous challenges on the way home, but many welcome homes and thanks as well. But the great quest for the scriptures and truth is accomplished.

Rather intriguing and entertaining.

What a delight this translation is! After a thorough, well researched, and very readable sixty-two page introduction of the text, its origins and probable author, Yu delivers a lively translation of this classic in English prose and poetry. Filled with folklore and legends, with numerous (footnoted) references to Chinese and Western sources, it retells the story of the sixteen year journey the monk Xuanzang took from China through central Asia and into India in search of authentic Buddhist texts.

But it recasts it as a broadly comic fantasy with huge amounts of Taoism, alchemy, and Buddhist popular lore. The revered pilgrim, scholar, and translator Xuanzang (previously transliterated as Hsuan-tsang) is transformed into the somewhat befuddled, timorous, and whining character, Tripitka, the T’ang monk from the Land of the East. But then, he has a good bit to whine about. He’s accompanied by four supernatural disciples who steal the show, by rescuing him from a plethora of monsters, demons, and angry gods, that one or several of the disciples have enraged by their thefts, pranks, or bellicose behavior. It’s awfully hard to keep them in line.

First and foremost is the Monkey King, or as he introduces himself to the Ten Kings of the Underworld, when he barges into their realm to blot out his name from the book of the dead, and thus making himself immortal, “I am the Heaven-born sage Sun Wu-k’ung from the Water-Curtain Cave in the Flower-Fruit Mountain.” Having achieved great magical power through his study of Taoism he has bullied his way into heaven and demanded a position there. Put in charge of the heavenly stables, he enjoys himself until he discovers that the position has no status. He rebels and gives himself a new title: Great Sage Equal to Heaven. He goes on to wreak havoc in the heavenly realm, stealing peaches of immortality, upsetting a heavenly feast, and insulting the gods and dignitaries residing there. Nothing can stop him, until the gods plead with the Buddha to intervene and put this monkey in his place. When the Buddha does humble monkey, the self-titled Great Sage Equal to Heaven is sentenced to five centuries of penance trapped under a mountain with only iron pellets to eat for five centuries until he is freed and repentant enough to serve as the disciple of Tripitka.

Half a millennium later, on order from the great Buddha, the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin, arrives to announce Wu-k’ung’s reprieve, if he is ready to repent and reform. Monkey agrees and becomes known as Pilgrim, protector of Tripitka during his perilous journey west. And the perils appear right away. A dragon to be battled, a tiger to the defeated, and when Monkey is unable to prevail, the Bodhisattva intervenes. She turns the dragon into a horse to carry the monk. As they travel on seeking shelter and sustenance from those they meet on the way, they encounter Pa-chieh, the ungrateful and gluttonous son-in-law of one of their hosts. To repay their host’s hospitality, Monkey offers to straighten out this unwelcome relative. Alas, Pa-chieh, who looks like a huge fat boar complete with pig’s snout and huge ears is another supernatural being with superpowers and weapons equal to Monkey’s own. When battle fails to win him over, Monkey tries evangelism and converts Pa-chieh to Buddhism, becoming another disciple of Tripitka. As monkey, monk, dragon disguised as a horse, and now Brother Hog, their adventures lead them to an unpassable obstacle the huge and impassable Flowing Sand River, itself personified as a monster which the two supernatural disciples are unable to defeat. Again Kuan-yin intervenes. The monster is in fact another supernatural being, doing penance as a monster, and waiting for Tripitka to appear so he could be freed to become the next disciple, Wu-ching the monster gladly changes his identity to become Sha Monk, the disciple.

And so, the journey continues with the disciples alternating between their roles as enthusiastic apprentices, superheroes battling to defend their master, or immature ruffians increasing his trials and tribulations. In their battles with foes, which are given in soaring poetry, they come across resembling either anime heroes or the three stooges engaging in Pokémon duels. All in all, it’s over five hundred pages of fun.

Immortals, witches, demons, disciples, Gods, saints, sinners, fairies, tortoises, pigs, monkeys, horses, bears, mountains, lakes, rivers, pilgrims, holy books, scriptures, Buddhists, Taoists, Confucians, Buddhas, saviors, Emperors, Kings, Queens, spells, chants, transformers, shape shifters, magicians, generals, dragons, heaven, hell, judges, palaces, sages, spirits, caves, thieves, poison, gates, gardens, clouds, rain, drought, scholars, libraries, fights, massacres, death, hair, magic fans, monks, thunder, blind men, ancients, beheadings, murders, peaches, wizards, masters, fights, quarrels, wine, attacks, forgiveness, advisers, cannibalism, secrets, register of life and death, officials, lords, gatekeepers, bodyguards, spears, swords, priests, robes, etc, etc, etc.

That about sums it up. Mix it up, repeat, mix it up repeat. This ancient text reads like a modern movie based on comic book super heroes. They get into perilous situations where there's no hope only to be saved time and time again. The only constant is they survive. The most surprising piece of this is the repeated times when the demons threatened to eat the pilgrims with the aim of thereby achieving immortality. The pilgrims are supposed to be loosely bases on a real expedition crossing Asia seeking Sacred Scriptures. This tale has been repeated over and over and probably has morphed greatly. This is one book of four. My guess is the rest is more mix it up repeat and repeat. I'll pass. I also don't look forward to the next super hero movie. But if you like those you may want to see where this all "started".

For what I'd expect from a 500 year old novel, "Journey to the West" is impressively irreverent and inventive. A lot of this is probably thanks to Julia Lovell's translation, which does a remarkable job of bringing dialogue and characters to life in what could easily become a dreary parade of anonymous divinities and overwrought action sequences. It spends nearly a third of its pages on the origins of its protagonist Monkey, and a couple of chapters on the familial origins of the human monk who fills the role of the traditional (if amusingly whiny) hero, and then the rest on the titular journey -- itself a surprising structure. I would have foolishly assumed the story to be nearly the entire book, but not so.

The events themselves are very fairy tale-like, where a problem is presented and then (usually) quickly solved by Monkey's magical feats and trickery. When on occasion Monkey falls short, they simply have to complain to their Bodhisattva protector Guanyin, and she will unfailingly deux ex machina their way out of it. Thus, the book has very little in the way of actual stakes, and that I suspect remains its primary problem to most modern readers. But there is a lot of humour (primarily either cheeky Monkey dialogue or revelling in how bureaucratic the divine world is seen to be), some surprising turns on occasion, and even some characte development, so overall, it is a smaller issue than I would have assumed up front.

If you have an interest in this sort of thing -- by which I mean mythological novels from the 1500s -- you could do a lot worse than reading "Monkey King". Particularly, I imagine. in this particular translation.

"I first heard the story in the Japanese drama, Saiyuuki back in 2006, MONKEY MAJIK / Around The World theme song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afnj1...
The books is even better so far!"

Just loved the book, it's tone is perfect and Monkey is such a great character, while Pigsy supplies plenty of laughs. My favorite part of the book is the three Taoist deities, the trick that Tripitaka's three disciples play on them and how the competition between them turns out.

As your disciples we are like your sons. There's another saying that goes
A son does not have to shit silver or gold;
As long as he can do what's needed he'll be fine.

So this is not appreciably worse than the previous volumes but it doesn't really have any standout incidents. As such the repetitiveness got to me more than in the other parts so i deducted a star.

It does have a proper ending which is nice. It seems like it had more descriptive poetry than before but i may have imagined that.

Overall this is a pretty good box set. Its very much 4 or 5 seasons of a monster of the week show in book form. Glad to get through it.

What a mess, i somehow read volume 3 before 2 so i've had to change my reviews around. Vol.2 review here.

Edit:
"There's an old saying that there's nothing like liquor for ending a life," Monkey replied,"and another that there's nothing like liquor for solving any problem.
Or as Homer Simpson put it “alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.” i guess there really isn't anything original.

Still funny, still repetitive. Some attempts at variety and consistency here and there. The journey remains looonnnnnngggg and i will be very glad when i finish it but there's enough entertainment to be had if you can keep patient.

I somehow read volume 3 before 2 so i've had to change my reviews around.

Edit:
"Even if all that is granted," said Monkey, "he's been sleeping with the queen and the consorts in the harem. Surely this has sullied them and been an affront to morality."
"He has not sullied them at all," the Bodhisattva replied. "He's a gelded lion."
Hearing this Pig went up to the creature and had a feel. "This evil spirit's got a bad reputation he doesn't deserve," he chuckled, "like a teetotaler with a red nose."

I had a lot of different ebook versions on my reader and not sure which translations i read with previous volumes. This time i definitely started with the supposedly superior, or at least more scholarly Anthony C. Yu version but didn't like it that much so switched to the W.J.F.Jenner version which seems to read much smoother.
Some of that might just be because the names it uses at more similar to the 70's tv show i'm used to.

One odd thing in this volume the penultimate chapters seem a bit fragmented everything just resolves suddenly, i assume that isn't a translation issue though. Anyway 3 volumes down now even if i did read them in the wrong order. Still repetitive but still entertaining.

A monk and his 3 supernatural disciples set out on a journey westward to obtain buddhist scriptures. Actually that description is the story eventually... there's quite a bit of build up and background to get through first.
So there were a few surprises in this for me. Firstly while it might well be based on ancient legend this isn't some oral tale which has simply been written down but rather a proper literary piece from the 16th century.
Which is quite recent from china's point of view. I find it quite difficult to read fairytales so was quite glad this wasn't one.

Secondly i'm a big fan of the tv adaptation of this 'Monkey'. It was a 70's show made by japan rather than china* and then dubbed into english by people who often didn't even have a script, they would just make up the story based on what seemed to be happening on screen.
For all of these reasons i assumed that the book would bare little resemblance to the show, but i was wrong. All the crazy, funny ridiculousness of the show is totally in here :D .
The comedy and satire is Rabelais-esque at times.

About a 5th of the story is done in poetry. I don't know whether this rhymed in its original language but it doesn't now. It still has a certain rhythm about it though. I might have disliked the poetry except that it only occurs on specific occasions.
Its basically a descriptor. Whenever someone or something new turns up or when there's a fight sequence it switches to poetry and the poetry is usually more over the top than the prose.
Its like in certain movies or shows where they might switch to animation for fight sequences, or in certain kinds of musical where the songs are only used to replace fight or love scenes.

The story can get a bit repetitive both figuratively and literally. Literally in that every so often you get a little recap of events. One character will go off and do something, then comeback and tell people what they've just done.
I didn't mind this so much as it was never very long and did make me remember things a bit better.
The other repetitiveness is a little more annoying as several of the fight sequences follow a very similar pattern which can start to get old.
Oh, one other thing that some might find annoying is the buddhism. There are various pieces of buddhist philosophy in this which will make no sense to most people.
I don't even know if their real. Its like quantum theory, someone could be telling you a real but confusing piece of quantum theory or a fake bit, i simply don't have the necessary experience to tell the difference.

Anyway, i was constantly hearing the people from the tv show in my head (aswell as picturing the very pretty monk ;) ) so i feel like i may be more naturally inclined to like this over people who didn't see the show.
I look forward to reading the rest of the volumes but not right away, i think a break between each one is a good strategy.

*the male monk is played by a female actress on the show which caused me considerable confusion as a child :) .

This epic is the well-known throughout Korea, Japan, Vietnam and other east and southeast asian countries.

Wu Cheng’en’s sixteenth-century novel Journey to the West tells the story of the pilgrimage of Buddhist monk Xuanzang to the “Western Regions” of Central Asia and India in order to obtain Buddhist sūtras and return them to China between 626 and 645 CE. Xuanzang wrote his own account in 646, Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, which formed the outline of Wu’s novel. The novel is a humorous adventure that satires Chinese bureaucracy while also telling an allegory of enlightenment. Many in the Euro-American world know elements of the story from Arthur Waley’s 1942 abridged translation, Monkey: A Folk-Tale of China, while some elements of the story inspired Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball. Along with Luo Guanzhong’s fourteenth-century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Shi Nai’an’s fourteenth-century novel Water Margin, and Cao Xueqin’s eighteenth-century novel Dream of the Red Chamber, this novel is one of the Four Classic Novels of Chinese literature. This edition presents the complete novel in four volumes, translated by William John Francis Jenner, a noted sinologist who completed this translation while working for Foreign Languages Press between 1963-1965. It features Qing Dynasty illustrations to supplement the text.

Whilst the introduction makes it clear that this is a much-abridged version, this is a worthy attempt to bring one of the classics of Chinese literature to a wider audience. It's exactly the kind of book to have on your shelf to dip into now and again, and an essential background source for anyone interested in Chinese literature. I would say, however, that other than there being a journey for spiritual reasons, the comparison to Chaucer is a little misleading - I don't recall there being magical monkeys and demons in The Canterbury Tales!

A really useful background text for those with literary and scholarly interests in China.

Completed Volume I and II, if you don't know what happened, read the next installment.

Finished volume 2 today. I am half way through the book and not sure when I will get to the last two volumes. So far, this is a long tale of Monkey, Pig, and Friar (and horse) that accompany the master from the east to the west to get the scriptures and bring back. Lots of demons every step of the way. Monkey is impatient, Pig is course (and stupid and selfish) and Friar is impetuous. Master is also stupid and blind.

Written in the 1400s, China, these tales were old even then. They tell about Monkey, born of rock, and irrepressible. After being imprisoned by Buddha for his many high-spirited hi-jinks in Heaven, he is granted freedom on the condition he help a monk, Tripitaka, seek scriptures in India. These are the stories of their adventures.

So much fun to read! Some of the chapters were odd, but others were quite gripping. All of them had a fun sense of humor, especially the chapters where the journey begins and Tripitaka finds Monkey. One chapter proves that potty humor survives through the ages. Arthur Waley must have been a fine translator, because this book is delightful.½

I loved this! I think it is a great way to incorporate worldly books in a way that keeps kids interested and attentive. This book is beautifully illustrated, so engaging, and overall a great story. I think it also allows the kids to start talking about maybe different religions since it does tackle the idea of Buddhism and not everyone in the class will share that religion. Because of this I would probably save it for an older group of kids.

Monkey! I love this adaptation and translation. Most chapters end with a variation on "and if you want to know what happened next, well, you'll have to read the next chapter." And if you want to know the story that inspired [book: Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book], [book: The Laughing Sutra], Saiyuki, One Piece, Dragonball, and innumerable other adaptations both Eastern and Western, well, you'll have to read this book.

Great fun, and what a treat to finally read the whole thing (well, volume one of the whole thing, so far) rather than a condensed "best of."

Book begins a bit slowly, but soon hits its stride as Monkey wages war on the Gods themselves ... there's a slight dip in momentum once he's out of commission, but soon he's back and it's a series of mostly comedic action sequences, one after the other--a rollicking good time, and a good bedtime book as each sequence can be absorbed in small doses.

journey of a monkey that is steeped in metaphor; so damn readable

Journey to the west is from the 16th century.The series is about a monkey king born from stone.He fell into the path of Buddhism but soon used his fighting ability for the worse.After causing ciaos in heaven the Buddha imprisoned him. Guan yin said the scripture pilgrim will pass through and you become his disciple so soon Tripitaka the monk passed through and freed him.After gaining 2 more disciples the continued on the journey to the west to seek scriptures from the Buddha.but along the way they will face many demons and monsters.