Journey to the West
Journey to the West (Chinese: 西遊記; pinyin: Xīyóu Jì) is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the great Chinese novels, and has been described as arguably the most popular literary work in East Asia. It is widely known in English-speaking countries through Arthur Waley's 1942 abridged translation, Monkey. The novel is a fictionalized account of the pilgrimage of the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who journey…
Jump to content Main menu Main menu move to sidebar hide Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Special pages Search Search Appearance Donate Create account Log in Personal tools Donate Create account Log in Contents move to sidebar hide (Top) 1 History Toggle History subsection 1.1 Creation and authorship 1.2 Historical basis 2 Synopsis Toggle Synopsis subsection 2.1 First Part 2.2 Second Part 2.3 Third Part 2.4 Fourth part 3 Characters Toggle Characters subsection 3.1 Sun Wukong / Monkey King 3.2 Tang Sanzang / Tripitaka 3.3 Zhu Bajie / Pigsy 3.4 Sha Wujing / Sandy 4 Sequels 5 Notable English-language translations Toggle Notable English-language translations subsection 5.1 Abridged 5.2 Unabridged 6 Media adaptations 7 See also 8 Explanatory notes 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links Toggle the table of contents Journey to the West 71 languages Afrikaans العربية Asturianu Azərbaycanca Башҡортса Беларуская (тарашкевіца) Беларуская བོད་ཡིག Català 閩東語 / Mìng-dĕ̤ng-ngṳ̄ کوردی Čeština Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Esperanto Español Euskara فارسی Suomi Français Galego 客家語 / Hak-kâ-ngî עברית हिन्दी Hrvatski Magyar Հայերեն Bahasa Indonesia Italiano 日本語 ქართული 한국어 Latina ລາວ Lietuvių Latviešu Македонски Монгол Bahasa Melayu မြန်မာဘာသာ नेपाली नेपाल भाषा Nederlands Norsk nynorsk Norsk bokmål ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Polski پنجابی Português Română Русский Simple English Slovenčina Shqip Српски / srpski Svenska தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe ئۇيغۇرچە / Uyghurche Українська اردو Tiếng Việt Winaray 吴语 Vahcuengh 文言 閩南語 / Bân-lâm-gí 粵語 中文 Edit links Article Talk English Read Edit View history Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions Read Edit View history General What links here Related changes Upload file Permanent link Page information Cite this page Get shortened URL Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikidata item Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 2600:8806:9185:6c00:8945e011 ( talk ) at 08:19, 27 September 2024 (Info) . The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision . Revision as of 08:19, 27 September 2024 by 2600:8806:9185:6c00:8945e011 ( talk ) (Info) ( diff ) ← Previous revision | Latest revision ( diff ) | Newer revision → ( diff ) Classic Chinese novel For other uses, see Journey to the West (disambiguation) . Journey to the West Earliest known edition of the book, published by the Shidetang Hall of Jinling, from the 16th century Author Wu Cheng'en Original title 西遊記 Language Chinese Genre Gods and demons fiction , Chinese mythology , fantasy, adventure Set in Tang dynasty , 7th century AD Publication date c. 1592 (print) 1 Publication place Ming China Published in English 1942 (abridged) 1977–1983 (complete) Dewey Decimal 895.1346 Original text 西遊記 at Chinese Wikisource Chinese name Traditional Chinese 西遊記 Simplified Chinese 西游记 Literal meaning "Record of the Western Journey" Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xīyóu Jì Wade–Giles Hsi 1 -yu 2 Chi 4 IPA ɕí.jǒʊ tɕî Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Sāiyàuh gei Jyutping Sai1jau4 gei3 IPA sɐj˥ jɐw˩ kej˧ Southern Min Tâi-lô Se iû kì ( col. ) Sai iû kì ( lit. ) Burmese name Burmese အနောက်သို့ခရီးသွားခြင်း Vietnamese name Vietnamese Tây du kí Thai name Thai ไซอิ๋ว Korean name Hangul 서유기 Transcriptions Revised Romanization Seoyugi Mongolian name Mongolian Cyrillic Баруун этгээдэд зорчсон тэмдэглэл Japanese name Kanji 西遊記 Hiragana さいゆうき Transcriptions Romanization Saiyūki Journey to the West ( Chinese : 西遊記 ; pinyin : Xīyóu Jì ) is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en . It is regarded as one of the great Chinese novels , and has been described as arguably the most popular literary work in East Asia. 2 It is widely known in English-speaking countries through Arthur Waley 's 1942 abridged translation, Monkey . The novel is a fictionalized account of the pilgrimage of the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang , who journeyed to India in the 7th century AD to seek out and collect Buddhist scriptures ( sūtras ). 3 The novel retains the broad outline of Xuanzang's own account, Great Tang Records on the Western Regions , but embellishes it with fantasy elements from folk tales and the author's invention. In the story, the Buddha tasks the monk, called "Tang Sanzang" or "Tripitaka", with journeying to India and provides him with three protectors who agree to help him in order to atone for their sins: Sun Wukong (the "Monkey King"), Zhu Bajie , and Sha Wujing . Riding a White Dragon Horse , the monk and his three protectors journey to a mythical version of India and enlightenment through the power and virtue of cooperation. Journey to the West has strong roots in Chinese folk religion , Chinese mythology , Chinese Buddhism , Confucianism , Taoist and Buddhist folklore, and the pantheon of Taoist immortals and Buddhist bodhisattvas are still reflective of certain Chinese religious attitudes today, while being the inspiration of many modern manhwa , manhua , manga and anime series. Enduringly popular, 4 the novel is at once a comic adventure story, a humorous satire of Chinese bureaucracy, a source of spiritual insight, and an extended allegory . History Creation and authorship The four protagonists, from left to right: the Monkey King , Tang Sanzang (on the White Dragon Horse ), Zhu Bajie , and Sha Wujing , as depicted on the Long Corridor in the Summer Palace, Beijing The edition published by the Shidetang Hall of Jinling in 1592, considered the earliest printed version of the Journey to the West , features captioned cross-page illustrations depicting various scenes. 5 The modern 100-chapter form of Journey to the West dates from the 16th century. 6 Embellished stories based on Xuanzang's journey to India had circulated through oral storytelling for centuries. They appeared in book form as early as the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). 6 The Yongle Encyclopedia , completed in 1408, contains excerpts of a version of the story written in colloquial Chinese, and a Korean book from 1423 also includes a fragment of that story. 6 The earliest surviving edition of Journey to the West was published in Nanjing in 1592. Two earlier editions were published between 1522 and 1566, but no copies of them survived. 6 7 The authorship of Journey to the West is traditionally ascribed to Wu Cheng'en , but the question is complicated by the fact that much of the novel's material originated from folk tales. 8 9 Anthony C. Yu , writing in 2012, warned that "this vexing dispute over the novel's authorship, similar to that on the priority of its textual versions, see-sawed back and forth for nearly a century without resolution." 10 Hu Shih , literary scholar, former Chancellor of Peking University , and then Ambassador to the United States, wrote in 1942 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 to him early on, and kept records to that effect as early as 1625; thus, claimed Hu, Journey to the West was one of the earliest Chinese novels for which the authorship is officially documented. 11 More recent scholarship casts doubts on this attribution. Brown University Chinese literature scholar David Lattimore stated in 1983: "The Ambassador's confidence was 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." 12 Translator W. J. F. Jenner pointed 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." 8 One interpretive tradition views Journey to the West as the outcome of a writing game which was popular among Chinese literati. 13 : 157 The overall plot of Journey to the West was "already a part of Chinese folk and literary tradition in the form of "folk stories with informal language", a poetic novelette , and a six-part drama " play series, which was transcribed and written down, before the current version was written. 9 Fragments of an earlier text, Journey to the West as Storytelling , are recorded in other texts. 13 : 159 The narrative threads from this earlier text which survive are the wager between the Dragon King of the Jing River and fortune teller Yuan Shoucheng and the contest between the pilgrims and the three Taoist demons in Cart Slow Kingdom. 13 : 159 Regardless of the origins and authorship, Journey to the West has become the authoritative version of these folk stories, 8 and while the cumulative authorship of the text is acknowledged, Wu is generally accepted as the author of the 1592 printed version widely considered canonical. 13 : 158 Historical basis Main article: Xuanzang Porcelain pillow showing characters Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an Although Journey to the West is a work of fantasy, it is based on the actual journey of the Chinese monk Xuanzang (602–664), who traveled to India in the 7th century in order to seek out Buddhist scriptures and bring them back to China. Xuanzang was a monk at Jingtu Temple in the imperial capital Chang'an (present-day Xi'an ) during the late Sui dynasty and early Tang dynasty . He left Chang'an in 629, in defiance of Emperor Taizong of Tang 's ban on travel. Helped by sympathetic Buddhists, Xuanzang 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 India 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 Luster of Jade) monastery dedicated to translating the scriptures he had brought back. His translation and 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. Synopsis 18th-century Chinese illustration of a scene from Journey to the West An illustrated edition of the story The novel has 100 chapters that can be divided into four unequal parts. First Part 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 : 齐天大圣 ; traditional Chinese : 齊天大聖 ), 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. Second Part The second part (chapters 8–12) introduces Tang Sanzang through his early biography and the background to his great journey. Dismayed that " the land of the South (i.e. Tang China ) knows only greed, hedonism, promiscuity, and sins," the Buddha instructs the bodhisattva 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" ( 金蟬子 Jīn Chánzi ) and comes about being sent on this pilgrimage by Emperor Taizong , who previously escaped death with the help of an official in the Underworld . In the story, Tang Sanzang is considered an allegorical representation of the human heart. Third Part 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 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 the Monkey King (or just "Monkey"), whose given name loosely means "Monkey Awakened to Emptiness ( Śūnyatā )", trapped under a mountain by the Buddha for defying Heaven. He appears right away in chapter 13. The most intelligent, the most powerful, and the most 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. In the story, Sun Wukong is an allegorical representation of the human mind and thought and impulse , and is often nicknamed the " Monkey mind ". The second, appearing in chapter 19, is Zhu Wuneng / Zhu Bajie , literally "Pig Awakened to Ability" and "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 characterized 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. In the story, Zhu Bajie is an allegorical representation of base human nature (or the Id ). The third, appearing in chapter 22, is the river ogre Sha Wujing (literally "Sand Awakened to Purity"), also known 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. In the story, Sha Wujing is an allegorical representation of human obedience and conformity without thought. The fourth is Bai Long Ma (literally "White Dragon Horse"), 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. In the story, the White Dragon Horse is an allegorical representation of the human will. 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 characterized by a different magical monster or evil magician. There are impassibly 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. Fourth part 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 and Tang Sanzang both achieve Buddhahood , Sha Wujing becomes an arhat , Bai Long Ma is made a nāga and Zhu Bajie, whose good deeds have always been tempered by his greed, is promoted to an altar cleanser (i.e. eater of excess offerings at altars). Characters Further information: List of Journey to the West characters Sun Wukong / Monkey King Main article: Monkey King An illustration of Sun Wukong Sun Wukong ( 孫悟空 ) (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, měi hóuwáng)." After seeing a fellow monkey die because of old age, he decides to travel around the world to seek t