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journey to the west library home novel summary studies why monkey seems weaker on the journey how long monkey was really imprisoned for monkey vs erlang who really is stronger why the buddha is the most powerful character tang xuanzang is tripitaka s wrong name research the significance of 72 the historical zhu bajie whom pigsy is based on parallels between wukong and wu song theories sandy is more powerful than monkey subodhi was tathagata all along about novel summary studies why monkey seems weaker on the journey how long monkey was really imprisoned for monkey vs erlang who really is stronger why the buddha is the most powerful character tang xuanzang is tripitaka s wrong name research the significance of 72 the historical zhu bajie whom pigsy is based on parallels between wukong and wu song theories sandy is more powerful than monkey subodhi was tathagata all along about paused for now not forever things are quiet here for now this blog is currently on a break but it s not gone for good in the meantime feel free to explore existing articles while you re here if you would like to be notified when new content returns you can subscribe with your email below indicates required field email keep me posted journey to the west library this blog site journey to the west library serves as a platform for exploration into the renowned 16th century chinese classic novel journey to the west xiyouji 西游记 lit records of the journey west this site will host a range of studies research lists theories along with other miscellaneous features on all things journey to the west more articles will be published with time so please check back for updates overview of journey to the west contents historical background authorship main characters novel outline the four parts part 1 monkey s story part 2 tang s story part 3 the journey part 4 journey s end notes src 1 the cover of anthony c yu s first volume of his famed revised english translation the journey to the west 2012 1 historical background src 2 classic tv adaptations of the four classic novels from top left clockwise three kingdoms red chamber water margin journey west journey to the west is one of the four great classic novels sida mingzhu 四大名著 1 of china and has been recognised as a masterpiece since its publication in 1592 during china s ming dynasty 1368 1644 明朝 the novel itself is loosely based on the historical pilgrimage of the monk xuanzang 玄奘 in the 7th century 627 645 to be exact on a similar quest to seek buddhist sutras in india src 3 a modern depiction of the monk xuanzang in a 2016 historical film stories of the iconic monkey king and his companionship with xuanzang have been a part of chinese folklore going all the way back to even the song dynasty 960 1279 宋朝 the oldest forms of primary evidence for this are from cave paintings in china s gansu province 甘肃 depicting a monkey pilgrim hou xingzhe 猴行者 with a monk master dating back to the 11th century src 4 6 stories of the monkey pilgrim were passed on through word of mouth these folk tales were already a part of chinese folk culture before it was converted and popularised into the 100 chapter novel that we know today introducing to us some of the most iconic figures in chinese culture these of course include our four protagonists with the story lead by the one and only monkey king the story of journey to the west became popular to all even in the western world with many translations throughout the past decades in not just english but a diversity of languages 2 references of this famous story have appeared in m any novel television movie comic and game adaptations with most of these simply having the iconic monkey king as a basis journey to the west is no doubt one of the greatest if not the greatest novels of all time 2 authorship src 7 a painted portrait of wu cheng en artist date unknown since fiction was not a prestigious genre in classic chinese literature the authorship of fiction novels were not carefully attributed and soon became unknowable the author of journey to the west is still in some sense uncertain especially with the fact that the novel was first published anonymously the novel has been popularly attributed to wu cheng en c 1500 1582 吴承恩 ever since a local newsletter article in 1625 from wu s hometown claims so it is interesting to note that the novel was published in 1592 while wu cheng en s death date is marked in 1582 that s 10 whole years before the novel was published by the shidetang 世德堂 publishing house the novel was indeed published anonymously at first most likely due to the fact that there were set rules during that time regarding what could or could not be written as literature during and before wu s time in the ming dynasty there has always been a trend in literary writing literature was supposed to written in classical chinese guwen 古文 a form of archaic chinese popularised during the spring and autumn period 771 476 bc chunqiu 春秋 classical chinese has also become to be known as literary chinese and is traditionally used in pieces of formal literature the opposite of literary chinese is vernacular chinese baihua wen 白话文 which is just the written form of informal spoken mandarin chinese wu cheng en allegedly went against the classical chinese trend of the time by writing his journey to the west in vernacular chinese and because this was against the cultural standards of literature the novel was published anonymously for nearly 300 years journey to the west had no credited author regardless of authorship wu has been popularly recognised as the author of journey to the west and his name wu cheng en has become inextricably linked with the novel src 8 a 2010 tv series telling the story of wu cheng en and his connection with journey to the west famed monkey actor liu xiao ling tong plays both sun wukong and wu cheng en src 9 a modern chinese edition of wu s timeless classic 3 main characters below is a short list of the major characters that appear in journey to the west they will not require further introduction when mentioned in articles note that since the novel is highly based on theology and folklore these main characters are all from either the buddhist or daoist pantheon src 10 chen xuanzang 陈玄奘 3 tang sanzang 唐三藏 tripitaka src 11 sun wukong 4 孙悟空 pilgrim sun sun xingzhe 孙行者 monkey src 12 zhu wuneng 猪悟能 zhu bajie eight rules 5 猪八戒 pigsy src 13 sha wujing 沙悟净 monk sha sha heshang 沙和尚 sandy 6 src 14 white dragon horse bai longma 白龙马 src 15 bodhisattva 7 guanyin 8 guanyin pusa 观音菩萨 src 16 the tathagata 9 buddha 10 rulai fo 如来佛 src 17 the great august jade emperor yuhuang dadi 玉皇大帝 src 18 supreme exalted 11 lord lao taishang laojun 太上老君 laozi 12 src 19 venus the gold star 13 taibai jinxing 太白金星 src 20 pagoda bearing devaraja 14 tuota tianwang 托塔天王 heavenly king li src 21 patriarch subodhi xuputi zushi 须菩提祖师 4 novel outline the four parts when talking about journey to the west the 100 chapter novel can be divided into 4 major parts each telling a different section of the novel these 4 parts do not refer to the four volumes that anthony c yu or w j f jenner have published their translations of journey to the west in nor do they refer to each set of 25 chapters of the novel s 100 a simple full summary of the whole novel can be found on this blog here novel summary 3 1 part 1 monkey s story chapters 1 7 7 chapters monkey s birth src 22 monkey searches and receives an education of divine abilities monkey s famed havoc in heaven src 23 monkey is imprisoned under the mountain by the buddha 4 2 part 2 the story of the tang s chapters 8 12 5 chapters tripitaka s parents tragic story tripitaka s birth src 24 and childhood tripitaka avenges his parents fate the dragon king of jing river s execution src 25 taizong s trip to the underworld src 26 guanyin searches for a scripture collector 4 3 the journey chapters 13 97 85 chapters tripitaka leaves chang an and begins his pilgrimage monkey pigsy and sandy are taken in as disciples to escort and protect tripitaka enduring the many tribulations set as obstacles on their journey to reach their goal 4 4 journey s end chapters 98 100 3 chapters arrival at spirit mountain scriptures are given by the buddha return to the tang empire src 30 attaining buddhahood sainthood src 31 notes 1 four great classic novels 四大名著 these are the four greatest works of chinese literature considered masterpieces by people for generations in order of publication date these four novels are water margin shuihu zhuan 水浒传 romance of the three kingdoms sanguo yanyi 三国演义 journey to the west and dream of the red chamber honglou meng 红楼梦 2 a range of foreign language translations of journey to the west can be found in pdf archived by jim r mcclanahan of the journey to the west research blog here pdfs of journey to the west translations 3 chen xuanzang 陈玄奘 for more info on why tripitaka s name may seem unconventional see a misconception tang xuanzang is tripitaka s wrong name 4 sun wukong 孙悟空 literal meaning chinese macaque awakened to vacuity emptiness 5 bajie 八戒 also translated as eight proscriptions eight rules yu 2012 literal meaning eight precepts the eight precepts i e forbidden acts of buddhism are killing stealing sexual misconduct lying drinking alcohol using cosmetics e g makeup using personal comforts e g a fine bed and eating outside of regulated hours 6 tripitaka monkey pigsy sandy these english names were originally created by arthur waley since they are so well known to english readers i have chosen to adopt them here throughout this website 7 bodhisattva बोधिसत्त्व 菩萨 literal meaning sanskrit one whose goal is awakening a bodhisattva is a status in the buddhist pantheon these deities are those who have successfully reached enlightenment but does not attain full buddhahood due to the delay of them remaining in compassion for the sufferings in the world 8 guanyin 观音 literal meaning chinese one who observes the voices of the suffering also known as goddess of mercy bodhisattva guanyin is the chinese counterpart of the sanskrit deity avalokiteshvara she is usually depicted as a female in chinese culture 9 tathagata තථාගත 如来 literal meaning pali one who has gone beyond tathagata is actually a rank rather than a name for a buddha tathagata is the highest status for a buddha and refers to one who has completely perfected all principles of buddhism it can also be used as a pronoun when a tathagata buddha refers to themselves in the context of journey to the west tathagata just refers to the buddha guatama or sakyamuni 10 buddha बुद्ध 佛 literal meaning sanskrit one who has awakened a buddha is the highest rank for an individual of the buddhist pantheon it is a title given to those who have found enlightenment and reached nirvana 11 supreme exalted 太上 supreme exalted is an honorific title used to address high ranking members of the daoist pantheon 12 laozi 老子 also translated as laotzu laozi is the venerable name of li er c 571 442 bc 李耳 the founder of the religion daoism 13 gold star 金星 also translated as metal star in chinese the five planets orbiting closest to the sun excluding earth are named after the five elements wuxing 五行 of water metal fire wood and earth respectively for the planets mercury venus mars jupiter and saturn though metal star would be the most accurate translation here for venus name i have chosen to use the more popularly known gold star as a direct translation rather than its daoist alchemic connection 14 devaraja देवराज 天王 literal meaning sanskrit god king also known as heavenly king