The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 3

The Journey to the West #3

by Wu Cheng'en, Anthony C. Yu (Translator)

Anthony C. Yu’s translation of The Journey to the West,initially published in 1983, introduced English-speaking audiences to the classic Chinese novel in its entirety for the first time. Written in the sixteenth century, The Journey to the West tells the story of the fourteen-year pilgrimage of the monk Xuanzang, one of China’s most famous religious heroes, and his three supernatural disciples, in search of Buddhist scriptures. Throughout his journey, Xuanzang fights demons who wish to eat him, communes with spirits, and traverses a land riddled with a multitude of obstacles, both real and fantastical. An adventure rich with danger and excitement, this seminal work of the Chinese literary canonis by turns allegory, satire, and fantasy.

With over a hundred chapters written in both prose and poetry, The Journey to the West has always been a complicated and difficult text to render in English while preserving the lyricism of its language and the content of its plot. But Yu has successfully taken on the task, and in this new edition he has made his translations even more accurate and accessible. The explanatory notes are updated and augmented, and Yu has added new material to his introduction, based on his original research as well as on the newest literary criticism and scholarship on Chinese religious traditions. He has also modernized the transliterations included in each volume, using the now-standard Hanyu Pinyin romanization system. Perhaps most important, Yu has made changes to the translation itself in order to make it as precise as possible. 

One of the great works of Chinese literature, The Journey to the West is not only invaluable to scholars of Eastern religion and literature, but, in Yu’s elegant rendering, also a delight for any reader.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Fantasy, China, Mythology, Chinese Literature, Literature

440 pages, Paperback

First published January 3, 1592

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Wu Cheng'en (simplified Chinese: 吴承恩; traditional Chinese: 吳承恩; pinyin: Wú Chéng'ēn, ca. 1505–1580 or 1500–1582, courtesy name Ruzhong (汝忠), pen name "Sheyang Hermit," was a Chinese novelist and poet of the Ming Dynasty, best known for being the probable author of one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, Journey to the West, also called Monkey.

Reviews

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s starting to feel like watching an episodic TV series and some plot formulas are definitely repeated a couple of times. This isn’t really a problem, as the individual plots of the stories are quite solid. The brave and powerful disciples have to fend off attacks on the monk from various monsters like in the previous stories, but also more down to earth human threats like bandits. And all the while two of them aren’t really getting along. Some stories can get a bit childish or even a bit graphically violent at times. The interesting characters are still awesome. Though they aren’t really developing or evolving much. The monkey king even makes the exact same mistake he made a while back, receiving exactly the same punishment afterwards. Though, considering this entire journey is their path to redemption and enlightenment, this surely will change at the end.

[Emily M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another delightful installment in this saga! I almost regret giving the first two volumes 5 stars, because there’s no way to indicate that I think this one levels up the fun even more. For one thing, it feels like there are more components to each adventure - each could be its own movie, almost. There’s also more variety. Yes, there are still a lot of demons trying to eat Tripitaka as an anti-aging tonic. But we also get three episodes where instead the threat is that someone wants to marry him (which he is VERY not into), or where the inciting incident is actually someone else’s problem. At one point this leads to Monkey claiming he can cure a king’s illness, much to the alarm of Tripitaka, who’s like: “Dude, I know you don’t have a medical license! WTF are you doing?” Also, Tripitaka and Monkey have a dramatic breakup over the murder of some bandits that eventually leads to Monkey fighting his own doppelganger.

Oh, and near the start the problem is that Tripitaka and Pigsy get pregnant. No, I am not making this up! The travelers, you see, had just crossed the border into the western kingdom of women, and the two men accidentally drank from the Mother and Child stream. Monkey is like: “This is hilarious…but we obviously need to fix this.” And an old lady tells him that he needs water from the Abortion Stream in the Child Destruction Cave of the Male-Undoing Mountain (not beating around the bush with these names!) – but that this old Daoist priest has been squatting there and charging people exorbitant rates to access it. So Monkey and Sandy have to go beat him up. Sigh. Can we borrow them for a bit?

There are in general more female characters in this volume, and both the good and bad are on par with their male counterparts. A fun example of this is the episode with the spider women. There is some great gross horror in this section, such as the spider ladies frying up brains to look like bean curd to try and trick Tripitaka into eating it, the noise the silk cords make coming in and out of their belly buttons (I guess slightly better than having them poop it out?), and the swarms of other arthropods that come to help them out. And they have an ally who can’t be overcome by Monkey, so he goes to seek out a sagely lady who manages to take it out with…an embroidery needle!

As usual, we end on a cliff hanger. Tripitaka has just broken down sobbing at Pigsy’s news that a big demon ate Monkey. However, Monkey is doing jumping jacks in said demon’s stomach, threatening to turn his liver into chop suey (which apparently is authentically made with organ meats), much to the demon’s alarm.

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this third volume of the Chinese epic novel, Journey to the West, chapters 51 through 75 describe the continuing trek of the Tang Monk and his three disciples, the Monkey King, Eight Rules, and the Sha Monk. It may seem like little more than a repetitious count of one encounter with demons and fiends after another. Yet it somehow holds your attention. I think it's because you see how the four monks come to display flaws and sins more than boring heroic superiority. The Tang Monk, for example, is always bringing the band into trouble because of his gullibility and self righteousness, always sure that he has the insight into the better qualities of the people he meets. Alas, he only falls into one trap after another. All of which requires his rescue primarily by the Monkey King, who himself continuously underestimates his enemies because of his pride and avarice. In fact, the Monkey King, who at the beginning in volume one of this novel managed to stand off the entire amassed armies of the Jade Emperor in Heaven, now on the journey cannot defeat any foe. He's forced to seek help, such a blow to his pride, in every fight with demons he undertakes. The other major character, Eight Rules, too, exhibits a tendency to fall into trouble. But in his case, it's because of his gluttony and greed. Almost a spare wheel is the Sha Monk, whose actions verge on the timid and unsure. What keeps the reader's focus is how these characters find redemption. They do it through their search for the Buddhist Way. No matter their failings and flaws, they earnestly seek to become better. And that is all anyone can do. Try their best and acknowledge their weaknesses.

[Tish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much more varied types of adventures and enemies in this chunk of the story, compared to Chapters 26 - 50.

Chapter 64, where Tripitaka composes poetry with the tree immortals, is translated so exquisitely.

[Timons Esaias · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting to be souring on The Journey to the West by the third volume, so it comes as a surprise to me that I was a bit more interested in this volume than in the previous one. True, there's an thoroughly repetitious cycle: they come to a tall mountain, they run into monster spirits, Tripitaka gets kidnapped, the disciples fight to a draw or loss, Pilgrim runs off somewhere for the help of deities or bodhisattvas, and then Tripitaka gets rescued. Rinse, repeat. For a monk who has lived ten virtuous lives gaining deep understanding, Tripitaka is a bit of a twit. TSTL.

And sure, though we've travelled literally scores of thousands of miles (the Earth was clearly bigger, back then), the culture and the language don't seem to have changed in the slightest. And yes, the threat of cannibalism is still the main theme.

But, the situations vary just enough to still be intriguing. The carelessness of Heaven is an interesting phenomenon: half the monster spirits seem to be the "steeds" of various gods and immortals who have escaped from their paddocks and stables and started eating people on Earth. It's not till somebody down there files a formal complaint that the folks in Heaven look around and say, hey, have you seen that steed anywhere????

That would explain so much.

[Wreade1872 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Dipa Raditya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like any other classics that I've read, the premise that being brought by this gigantic yet epic novel is how to repent your past sins. By keeping your life in the sequence of locomotion, the world has offered you many things to repent your past mistakes. The one you could choose by doing it hesitantly . The story of this epic journey told you about the essence of repentance. Some of us may tried it differently. Fixing our past mistakes may be burdensome. That's what I like to see from this story and they made it.

[Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best and most engrossing series I've ever read. Imaginative and fantastic.

[Sergio · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has become extremely repetitive and somewhat of a letdown, specially after the brilliance that is Three Kingdoms. The Tang monk gets kidnapped because he didn't listen to Sun Wukong, so he and the other monks go chase and hit monsters in the head for 3 chapters, and sometimes he needs help from heavenly beings who seem to be orchestrating the whole thing. Rinse, repeat.

That said, there was a series of chapters in which the monks became pregnant by accidentally drinking pregnancy river water and had to go visit the Abortion Stream in the Child Destruction Cave to fix that which was pretty cool to be fair. Great arc.

Onto Volume 4!

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Further adventures on the journey. Deeply episodic. Rescuing a queen, meeting up and having tea with what prove to be seven tree spirits, and more.

Deeply inconsistent on principles of not harming life.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three books down, one to go. This work blurred together even more than the last, and the interesting convolutions of religion and society were largely replaced by unnecessarily nasty and salacious portrayals of women. Past times and all that jazz, but history's only a linearity to the complacent, and I found my patience tested whenever ever male monster was a worthy target even in failure and every female monster was merely doomed to fail. Monkey's character development shifted from open conflict with Sanzang to repeated breakdowns when he couldn't rescue his master after various attempts, but much like the poetic descriptions of Sun Wukong's back story, anything gets tedious after five or ten or twenty iterations. I've come across at least one of the characters that appeared at the beginning of the first volume's introduction of illustrations, so I'm holding out for a winding down that will finally reach the Thunder Monastery after so many fake ones. After getting through practically 1400 pages of this, you can hardly blame me for rejoicing in the finish line.

I'm continually reminded of how much context I'm missing out on whenever the text deigns to grant me a series of footnotes, usually confined to the realm of explaining that a piece of poetry is untranslatable or has puns based off of references to medicines or boxing moves. The ideal is, two or three decades on when I'm far more settled, I'll be more free to shell out for the latest translation with an accompanying 500 pages or so of supplementary material, but it's still frustrating to fell compelled to give the text so much grief while fully aware that I don't have the full picture. Sill, as I mentioned earlier, I doubt any number of footnotes can make up for the cloying amounts of repetition and sexism in one too many sectors. The fact that Guanyin continues to be the second most powerful figure barring the Buddha admittedly somewhat makes up for this, and it's always entertaining to imagine her yelling at the chagrined companions of the holy monk as described in the text. However, now that the third volume is over, I'm looking forward to the character development, which even in the case of Sun Wukong has dreadfully stagnated, that will hopefully pick up the pace with the closing in towards the final goal. It may end up as drearily perfect as Dante's 'Paradisio" was, but it will have the helping hand of the ending being within reach.

One of the more interesting passages, the poetry about the girls who were actually spider demons, was an explicit example of the "Golden Lotus" phenomenon discussed in Cinderella's Sisters: A Revisionist History of Footbinding. Other than that and a quick and interesting look into various beliefs about medicinal herbs, I really don't remember much about this work other than endless fights and mountains and deus ex machinas., Not the best reception for this classic, but my finishing the series in the fall alongside a new career trajectory will at least provide an inspired closing on my undergrad career more official than the onerous payment of the semester's tuition. Reading cred will matter less where I'm headed, but I'll (hopefully) be enabling others to read instead, and that in some ways is more worthwhile in the long run.

[Robert Sheppard · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE JOURNEY TO THE WEST, THE CHINESE WIZARD OF OZ, THREE MUSKETEERS, DON QUIXOTE AND PILGRIM'S PROGRESS----FROM THE WORLD LITERATURE FORUM RECOMMENDED CLASSICS AND MASTERPIECES SERIES VIA GOODREADS—-ROBERT SHEPPARD, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

"The Journey to the West" (西遊記, Xi You Ji) is perhaps the most beloved book in China. It is once a great action, travel and adventure story, a mythic and phantasmagorical Odyssey and Quest, an epic of Buddhist pilgrimage and devotion, a comic classic, a tale of brotherhood and loyalty in the Musketeers tradition and a humanist allegory of the striving of disparate dimenbsions of the human condition, the organic-physical, the imaginative-intellectual, the quotidian-realistic and the aspirational-spiritual, towards human wholeness and unity. It is one of the four great classical novels of Chinese Literature, alongside the Dream of the Red Chamber, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Water Margin, and is beloved in popular culture across East Asia outside of China, being the object of films, television, cartoons, video games and graphic novels from Japan to India.

The Journey to the West, in broad outline, tells the story of the long,arduous and dangerous pilgrimage of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang, or Tripitaka of Tang Dynasty of China across the wastes and mountain barriers of Central Asia to obtain and translate the sacred scriptures of Buddhism (sutras) from India and bring them to enlighten the people of China and East Asia. This High Quest and Pilgrimage is joined by an extraordinary league of heroes, without whose aid the monk's mission would be doomed: The magical-mischievous Monkey-King Sun Wukong, the physically awesome and insatiable "Eight Precepts Pig" Zhu Bajie or Pigsy, the gritty and down-to-earth monk Sandy or Sha Wujing and the monk's faithful White Horse, Yujing, all recruited by Guanyin, the "Buddhist Virgin Mary" helping maternal spirit who overwatches them through their many trials and adventures. Together, this band of diverse heroes must overcome the perils of the arduous journey across the Himalayas, especially the demons, beasts and devils en route that wish to defeat their mission of bringing enlightenment to the peoples of China and the world. The most engaging and dominant of these questing heroes however, is the sly, mischievous and magically super-empowered Monkey-King Sun Wukong, who has become the immortal beloved central figure of the classic, such that many translations, such as Arthur Waley's early edition, was simply entitled: “Monkey."

From our Western experience, then, how can we get an initial handle on and approach The Journey to the West? One of the first notional points of contact is to compare its characters with the group dynamics of the band of journeying fellows of Yellow Brick Road: the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion alongside Dorothy in Frank Baum's fantasy classic "The Wizard of Oz." Both classics of fantasy are beloved by children across the world. In the Wizard of Oz the Tin Man lacks a heart, the Scarecrow lacks a brain and the Cowardly Lion lacks courage, while Dorothy, although endowed with each in an immature form must grow and mature in each direction. In the Journey to the West, in contrast, each character is overindowed in one dimension----The Monkey-King has immensely precocious powers of intelligence and cunning, yet lacks the discipline, spiritual wisdom and maturity to make his intelligence and pluck more than a nuisance; Pigsy has immense physical strength accompanied by gargantuan appetites, both culinary and sexual, yet lacks the intelligence, self-control and either human or spiritual inslight to turn his lust for life towards a love and service of life; Sandy is practical, down to earth and even tempered, yet lacks the inspiration of either intelligence and imagination, carnal appetite or spiritual aspiration to make his life meaningful; Xuanzang the Tang Monk, has spirituality and humanity, yet they, like Dorothy are powerless and helpless in their brave new world, unable to cope with challenge unless aided by outside powers.

The key point is that the four together, either as a group or as symbolic representatives of the internal "organs of human potential" of any human personality, may unite to constitute human wholeness and the capacity for transcendent growth and sustainability. We see other echoes of complementarity in other familiar works of our classical heritage: Don Quixote is a paragon of nobility and the spirituality of knightly aspiration, yet lacks any grasp of the real world or the perspective of reason that would make him more than a charicature of his aspirations; Sancho Panza, has the peasant's down-to-earth practicality and resourcefulness, yet lacks the aspirational nobility of soul and spirituality that would make his life meaningful. Together, however, they can aspire to whole human personality and potential.

In the Three Musketeers saga of Dumas, Porthos, like Pigsy and Rabelais' Gargantuan * Pantagruel, is endowed with gigantic physical strength and appetite for life, Athos has a keen sense of honor and glory, Aramis has a religious and spiritual calling and the young D'Artagnan, like Dorothy has innate courage, uprightness, pluck and intelligence, but only in an immature and weak state that must benefit from greater experience, insight and growth to be capable of dealing with the challenges,complexity and evils of the real world. It is again, only working together that they may in full complementarity grow to human wholeness and the human potential for stregnth in life and capacity for positive transcendence. We could even find the same dynamics in the comic trio, the Three Stooges, with the physical excesses of Curly Joe, the practical worldliness of Larry and the overly sadistically over-repressive Moe, who yet still exhibits some fortitude and leadership potential. Though mere buffoons, they show the power to complement each other to grow towards greater wholeness of spirit, a potential fusion of a charicatured outline of Freud's id, ego and superego, that ultimately evokes our deeper affection. Similarly in the Chinese traditional spiritual cosmology, neither the female nor the male principle in isolation, the Yin and the Yang, can attain the wholeness and sustainability in life but by creative and fruitful interfusion with the other.


In Volume I of this edition of the "Journey to the West" our story begins with an account of the origins and precocius life of that miraculous and beloved being, Sun Wukong, the Monkey-King. The Monkey-King is in effect half-human and half-simian, miraculously born from a stone nourished by the Five Elements, and like all homo sapiens chagrinned at the dilemma of his finding himself betwixt and between----too endowed with the intelligence and imaginative energies of the gods to be a mere animal, yet too flawed and immature in their development to take a fruitful place in the divine order of things. Sun Wukong thus quickly rises to become the King of the Monkeys by virtue of his innate abilities, yet leaves his kingdom behind to embark on a quest in search of enhanced powers and immortality. In doing so he studies with a Taoist Grand Master, or Patriarch who gives to him from his esoteric lore immense magical powers and abilities. Under the Taoist (Daoist) Sage he learns the Proteus-like shape-shifting power of "The 72 Transformations," the Secret of Immortality, invincible powers of combat through advanced Taoist Kung Fu and Martial Arts and the abiility of "Cloud-Hopping" which enables him in a single somersault to traverse one-hundred and eight thousand miles flying through the sky! He acquires a special weapon, an iron rod which is infinitely expandable and contractible, varying at his will from a chopstick carried behind his ear to an immense clubbing staff capable of subdoing giants and demons. He is the Great Sage's most adept student, finally attaining the status of Qitian Dasheng (齐天大圣)or "Great Sage Equal to Heaven." Yet for all these precocious powers, Sun Wukong remains an immature adolescent given to mischievous monkey-shines and without wisdom or enlightenment. Thus, the Taoist Patriarch, tired of his disorderly shenanigans, in the end banishes Wukong from the monestery telling he must seek his destiny elsewhere.

Sun Wukong then journeys to the Celestial Court of the Emperor of Heaven. But to his immense irritation he is only appointed as a menial in the heirarchy of heaven. Thereupon ensues one of the most famous episodes of the novel "Making Havoc in Heaven" in which Sun Wukong rebels, steals the Divine Nectar and Peaches of Heaven and sets himself at war with all of the divine forces of the Celestial Order who attempt but fail to apprehend and control him. But much to the Emperor of Heaven's chagrin, they are unable to control the Monkey-King's unprecedented magical powers and he remains at mischief. Here the Monkey-King joins in the Archetype of the Rebel Against the Gods, and the Trickster, in common with others of the Western heritage such as Prometheus and Milton's Satan. Like Prometheus he has misappropriated divine powers and prerogatives, such as invincibility and immortality. Prometheus, hero of Aeschulus'and Shelley's dramas "Prometheus Bound" and "Prometheus Unbound" is also a prodigy of intelligence and creative ability, a Titan who had aided Zeus in his own celestial Civil-War against Chronos and the old celestial order to become the King of the Greek gods, then audaciously misappropriated the power of fire and conferred it as a benefactor on man, also having had the hubris, emulating the God of Genesis, to create man from clay and endow life upon him, for which transgresions he was condemned to have his liver torn out daily by an eagle on a rock in Hades. Milton's Satan also rebelled against the divine order, but in his case by refusing to serve man, God's beloved creation, and enviously attempting to supplant Him in heaven. Sun Wukong also demands that he should replace the Emperor of Heaven as ruler of the heavenly order, resolving to war against him until he resigned. Nonetheless, the Monkey-King has none of Satan's propensity for pure Evil, but is rather compelled by his innocent adolescent pride and exuberance, egotism and native mischievousness.

His punishment thus, as a juvenile offender is commensurately less. Order is resatored when the Emperor of Heaven enlists an even higher authority and power in the Chinese pantheon, Buddha. Buddha intercedes in the celestial war by calling a parley with the Monkey-King, seeking to convince him or the error of his ways, proving to him the much higher merits of the Emperor to claim the Throne of Heaven. To resolve the impasse he proposes a wager to test Sun Wukong's powers. He extends his divine hand and bets the Monkey-King that with all his "Cloud-Hopping" magic he cannot even travel far enough to leave the palm of his hand, with the Throne of Heaven as the high stakes. Sun Wukong accepts the wager, confident he can travel to the ends of the Earth in a single somersault. He sets off flying through the sky until he comes to the end of the world where appear five pillars. To preserve the evidence of his feat he has the audacity to piss on the base of the central pillar and inscribe a graffiti: "The Great Sage Sun Wukong, Equal of Heaven, was here." Returning to Buddha he demands the throne. Buddha extends his hand and shows that the Monkey-King had never left its limits,showing how the graffiti was but inscribed on his middle finger and cursing the smell of the monkey-piss he had left between his fingers! Realizing his delusions of grandeur and his own smallness, Sun Wukong accepts defeat and departs. Later he is further punished for additional transgressions by having an iron band placed around his forehead and is sealed by Buddha beneath a great mountain for 500 years to contemplate his wrongdoing. It is at this point that Sun Wukong joins the Tang monk Xuanzang, as Guanyin, the "Buddhist Virgin Mary" in her mercy, arranges his release from confinement on condition that he do penance for his past errors by guiding and protecting Xuanzang on his mission to India to obtain the holy scriptures.

Each of the Pilgrim brothers also is recruited to perform the pilgrimage and quest an Act of Penance through guiding and protecting the Holy Monk Xuanzang on his holy mission to India. Pigsy, or Zhu Bajie, was formally the Commander of the Heavenly Naval Forces, but was banished to mortal life for his transgression in attempting to seduce the Moon Goddess, Chang'e. A reliable fighter, he is characterised by his insatiable appetites for food and sex, and is constantly looking for a way out of his duties, which causes significant conflict with Sun Wukong. Sandy, or Sha Wujing, was formerly a Celestial Court retainer, but was banished to mortal life for breaking a priceless crystal goblet of the Queen Mother of the West. He is a quiet but generally dependable character, who serves as the "straight man" foil to the comic relief of Sun and Zhu. The White Horse was formerly a Prince, who was sentenced to death for setting fire to his father's great pearl, but saved by the mercy of Guanyin.

The bulk of the novel is then the account of innumerable adventures of the pilgrim brothers, the Monkey-King, Pigsy, Sandy, Xuanzang and the White Horse on the high road to India. Each chapter or episode is generally a formulaic set-scene in which some shape-shifting demons, beasts or other opponents of the Pilgrims attempt to capture the Tang Monk. As devouring the Tang Monk can bring the demons immortality, they often seek to capture and eat him. His rescuer is generally the magically gifted Sun Wukong. The encounters are often grusome or action-packed with combat and Kung Fu, and many times humorous, as some demon-monster shape-shifts into the form of a beautiful seductress to entice the Tang Monk or Pigsy as part of their nefarious plot. It is generally the Monkey-King who sees through such disguises and adopts some hilarious counterstrategy. The episodes are always lively and entertaining, but as the novel progresses interest can flag as the formulaic situations repeat themselves. The repetition often comes from the original oral storytelling tradition of the saga, but also because Xuanzang must undergo the "81 Tribulations" which are requisite before one may attain Buddhahood.

At the end of the saga after fourteen years the Pilgrims successfully return to the Tang Court in China and establish a monestery for translating and publishing the holy sutras. Xuanzang and Sun Wukong attain Buddhahood, and Sandy becomes an Arhat, while the White Horse is delivered from his sentence. Pigsy, Zhu Bajie, because even his good deeds have always been tainted by his ulterior motives of greed and sexual desire, fails to attain the high state of his brothers, but is made an altar cleaner, priviliged to eat the leftover offerings at the temple.

The story of the Journey to the West is based on historical fact, albeit with considerable fantastic embellishment. In actual history the monk Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty (596-664 AD) did in fact journey to India to obtain sutras, the Buddhist holy scripture, to translate them into Chinese, publish and popularize them. The Chinese invention of printing was most probably an evolution from the previous Buddhist woodblock printing of India, associated with the spread of Buddhism in China, and the historical Xuanzang made a considerable contribution to the spread of literacy and printing in Chinese civilization. Like many other works such as the Faust tales and the Iliad and Odyssey, for centuries they were the subject of oral storytelers before being rendered in classical written form. It is thought that Wu Cheng'en the probable author of the classic novel in 1592, thus a contemporary of Shakespeare and Cervantes, adapted these rough oral tales passed on by professional storytellers into a consummately crafted novel. The star character, the Monkey-King, was based on the character Hanuman, the Monkey-King magician of the Indian classic, The Ramayana, of Valmiki, which probably circulated in the oral tales of itinerant storytellers into China, but which Wu Cheng'sn crafted into a magnificantly original creation. Although a Buddhist classic, the Journey to the West is largely free of religious didacticism and presents itself a a vivid and exciting narrative of adventure and fantasy.

The Journey to the West influenced the composition of my own latest work Spiritus Mundi, the contemporary and futurist epic of the modern world in several ways. First, in Book II, Spiritus Mundi, The Romance which is more mythically oriented, The Monkey-King appears as a character in aid of the Quest of the social activist heroes to save the world from WWIII by acquisition of the Sylmaril Crystal. Sun Wukong thus joins Goethe and the African God-Hero Ogun as counselors and aiders of the Quest on the journey through the Center of The Earth and their visit to the Temple of the Mothers on the Island of Omphalos where they may access the Cosmic Wormhole through Einsteinian Space-Time to visit the Council of the Immortals at the Black Hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Spiritus Mundi also shares the universal Archetype of the Quest with the Journey to the West, along with other works such as the Epic of Gilgmesh, The Divine Comedy of Dante, The Ramayana of Valmiki and the Aeneid of Vergil, as well as modern fantasy epics such as the Lord of the Rings by Tolkien. It thus addresses the powerful forces of the universal Collective Unconscious transcending and uniting all human cultures and civilizations as delineated by the famous spiritual psychologist C.G.Jung and other literary and cultural critics such as Joseph Campbell in his work "The Hero With a Thousand Faces."

In conclusion, I would highly recommend that you take a look at The Journey to the West by Wu Chengen, as it is a work absolutely central to Chinese culture and to that of Southeast Asia. No educated person can live in and undersand the modern world, especially with the rise of China and Asia, without having some basic familiarity with this foundational Classic of Chinese and Asian culture. I also invite you to explore its themes and characters shared in the modern contemporary and futurist epic Spiritus Mundi, by Robert Sheppard.


For a fuller discussion of the concept of World Literature you are invited to look into the extended discussion in the new book Spiritus Mundi, by Robert Sheppard, one of the principal themes of which is the emergence and evolution of World Literature:


For Discussions on World Literature and Literary Criticism in Spiritus Mundi: http://worldliteratureandliterarycrit...





Robert Sheppard


Editor-in-Chief
World Literature Forum
Author, Spiritus Mundi Novel
Author’s Blog: http://robertalexandersheppard.wordpr...
Spiritus Mundi on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...
Spiritus Mundi on Amazon, Book I: http://www.amazon.com/Spiritus-Mundi-...
Spiritus Mundi, Book II: The Romance http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CGM8BZG


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[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story started to drag a bit in the second volume, but picked up pace again in this one, as there was a little more variation in the encounters (a river which causes pregnancy when you drink from its waters being a highlight). Looking forward to reading the ultimate 25 chapters in volume 4.

[Sohail · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third volume of this book has more varity than vol.2, which is a big plus. The adventures are more complex, and funnier too.

[Katlyn Sons · Rating 5 out of 5]

The subtitle for this book should be the gang has to deal with the consequences of their own actions.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The monsters grow gradually more fearsome and more sociable as the journey edges west, and some of them are women soccer players who are also spider spirits. Kyriarchy: At work even in cheerfully goofy Buddhist adventures! What's most interesting is watching Monkey get closer and closer to the end of his rope, as his allies grow less reliable and their interventions less effective. I wonder if he'll have a true low point in v. 4 or if it's already happened without announcing itself.

[Junius Fulcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

See review of vol. 1

[Marcos Augusto · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review of the entire work is in volume 1, please check it out!

[Chloé · Rating 4 out of 5]

!Attention, cette critique évoque l’œuvre entière, ce qui inclue donc les tomes 1, 2 et 4!

J'avais déjà lu ce livre auparavant, mais j'ai découvert que la version que je possédais à l'époque était une traduction tronquée. N'ayant de toute façon que peu de souvenirs de cette histoire, j'ai donc décidé de la relire, choisissant cette fois une traduction plutôt acclamée, car complète et agrémentée de notes explicatives.

Journey to the West raconte de façon romancée et fantastique le voyage historique du moine Xuanzang en Inde afin de récupérer les textes sacrés du bouddhisme. Surnommé Tripitaka dans le livre, ce moine effectue sa route en compagnie de trois monstres, devenus ses disciples suite à leur conversion à la religion par la Bodhisattva Guanyin.
Le premier, appelé Sun Wukong, est un singe qui a développé des pouvoirs tellement incroyables qu'il est célèbre pour avoir causé de nombreux dégâts au Ciel. Le deuxième, appelé Zhu Wuneng, est un cochon très enclin à la gourmandise et la luxure. Le troisième, appelé Sha Wujing, est un démon des sables toujours prêt à aider ses frères au combat. On peut noter aussi la présence d'un dragon ayant pris l'apparence d'un cheval pour transporter Tripitaka.
Le chemin vers les sutras étant long, le groupe subit donc de nombreuses attaques de monstres, chaque péripétie étant bien entendu une épreuve destinée à juger leur valeur.

Journey to the West est une œuvre plutôt conséquente, mais qui demeure néanmoins captivante. En tant qu'Occidentale, le récit s'avère très dépaysant, présentant une autre culture ainsi qu'une autre époque. Pour cela, les notes ont été d'une très grande utilité, car le texte est truffé de références à la mythologie et au folklore chinois. De même, la narration est très souvent interrompue par des poèmes, ce qui donne un petit aspect chanson de geste au récit. Toutefois, ces vers nous sont souvent signalés comme étant écrits sur des airs classiques chinois. Des éléments qui confèrent une atmosphère très particulière et fascinante à ce livre.

Toutefois, là où Journey to the West s'illustre, c'est dans son humour. Autant certaines aventures se classent dans un style épique, tombant parfois même dans le dramatique pour mieux accrocher l'attention du lecteur, autant la majorité des aventures donnent dans le comique, qu'il soit burlesque ou absurde. Il est très amusant de constater que certains passages ne détonneraient pas dans un épisode de Looney Tunes, alors que le texte date du XVIe siècle. Il est par ailleurs inutile de cacher que le groupe que l'on suit est très disparate, ce qui donne lieu à des petites querelles, mais également à des situations qui auraient pu être évitées si le dialogue sensé avait été choisi au lieu de l'impulsivité. Résultat, on se retrouve souvent à rire aux éclats au cours d'un chapitre.

Ces deux points permettent grandement de parer le plus gros défaut du livre, à savoir la répétitivité. Journey to the West est composé de cent chapitres, et pour respecter un nombre parfait, le groupe doit subir quatre-vingt-une épreuves. De ce fait, il semblerait qu'il était difficile de redoubler d'originalité sur la nature des embûches. De nombreuses aventures ont donc un schéma classique : Tripitaka se fait enlever par des monstres, ses disciples parviennent à le sauver, mais si la difficulté est trop importante, alors Sun Wukong se rend auprès d'une divinité afin de lui demander son aide. Heureusement donc que le récit parvient à rester divertissant, car cette redondance peut en rebuter plus d'un.

Finalement, Journey to the West est un monument de la littérature chinoise qui vaut le coup d'être lu. Malgré sa répétitivité, l’œuvre parvient à rester engageante jusqu'à la fin, et c'est un plaisir de s'immerger dans ce pan de culture.
Concernant la traduction, je me suis tournée vers cette version anglaise d'Anthony C. Yu que je recommande sans hésiter. En revanche, pour toute personne désirant tenter l'expérience en français, je conseillerais la traduction d'André Lévy. Elle n'est disponible malheureusement qu'en Pléiade, mais après quelques recherches, il semblerait que ce soit la seule version française complète et fidèle au texte d'origine.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Because my master mistakenly drank water from the Child-and-Mother River, he is suffering from a swollen belly and unbearable pain. We asked the natives there and learned that the pregnancy thus formed has no cure. We are told, however, that there is an Abortion Stream in the Child Destruction Cave of the Male-Undoing Mountain, and its water can eliminate the conception."

The beauty of Journey to the West is that I can never predict what will happen in this zany, cartoonishly violent drama where a timid monk is escorted by his three overpowered stooges on the road to India.

"We brothers may not be very good at doing other things, but if you want something like catching fiends and binding monsters, seizing thieves and arresting fugitives, taming tigers and subduing dragons, kicking down Heaven and pulling up wells - including even stirring up seas and overturning rivers - we know a little of these. As for activities such as mounting the cloud and riding the fog, calling up rain and summoning wind, moving the stars and changing the dipper, poling the mountains to chase after the moon, they are simple matters, hardly worth mentioning." - Sha Wujing

Volume three covers chapters 51-75, continuing the episodes of demons/spirits/humans trying to eat and/or sleep with Tripitaka. If there isn't something to fight and the Monkey King isn't acting up, Tripitaka will usually insist that the local government sign their travel rescript in return for fixing the local problems. This leads to one of my favorite chapters, 69, where the Monkey King plays court physician and cures a king's three years of constipation with a concoction of two medicines, charcoal, the dragon-horse's urine, and a rain dragon's spit. The Monkey King does a lot of fighting, but his best moments are when he meets a martial equal like the Bull Demon King and has to put away the rod and play trickster. Sometimes he will seduce your wife.

Chapter 59 starts the famous Mountain of Flames story, which is tied to the Monkey King's past heavenly rampage and introduces Princess Iron Fan. We meet trees addicted to poetry, which reminded me a lot of Tolkien's ents. There is also a nation made up entirely of women. Regardless of what shenanigans the Monkey King stirs up, a bunch of demigods will show up to stick their oars in it. This leads to absurd moments where the Monkey King, Tripitaka, and the 28 Constellations are traipsing about into traps.

5/5: This was my favorite collection so far.

[ProfX · Rating 4 out of 5]

The continued adventures of Sun Wukong and the gang prove to be as wild and entertaining as could be hoped for. This volume introduces new and varied obstacles for our heroes to overcome and Wukong's increasingly ingenious solutions.

One of the most interesting aspects of the story in this volume was seeing the evolution of Wukong as a character. By far the most dynamic and three-dimensional character of the story, here he begins to show real growth and is slowly becoming a real Buddhist with inner calm and a desire to do good and avoid violence. When he first joined Tripitaka as his follower his first solution to any problem was to threaten violence or simply slaughter anyone who got in his way, and he would constantly bicker and argue with Tripitaka and act out of pride. By the end of Volume III we see him going through extra steps to avoid unnecessary violence and arguing less and less with Tripitaka, he even seems to be acting nicer towards Eight Rules. This change occurs gradually and in such a way that it feels organic and true to life.

The highlight of this volume for me was the Six Eared Macaque, the most thematically brilliant villain of the story so far. My only critique would be that this saga is over far too quickly. I would have loved to have seen the Macaque as an ongoing antagonist that appears now and again for the rest of the story and is only finally conquered for good upon reaching Thunderclap Mountain. I think it would have made the symbolism of Wukong's victory over the Macaque work even better (I don't think I'm spoiling anything because if you've made it to Volume III you understand the formula of Wukong encountering and conquering an enemy).

The story here starts to go through some real highs and lows. There are some chapters and villains that are memorable and engrossing, while others drag more (with overlong diversions into poetry, which just isn't my thing) than they seemed to in Volumes I & II. I guess when you've set out to make a book 100 chapters you have to have some filler.

Still the book continues to show it more than earns it reputation as a classic. The story of Sun Wukong deserves to be read for another 500 years.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

The supernatural monkey of the mind, Sun Wukong rushes forward leading the Tang Monk, Tripitaka, a timid, comic version of the historical Xuanzang on his journey from China to seek authentic Buddhist scriptures in the West. Alas, to get there they must travel over mountains filled with fiendish demons desirous of having the monk roasted or boiled for dinner. If they eat him they believe they will absorb the spiritual merit he’s earned in all his previous incarnations.

It’s up to Pilgrim Sun and the other supernatural disciples of the human monk, the porcine Eight Rules, and the frightfully visaged Sha Monk to repeatedly rescue Tripitaka from captivity mountain after mountain and illusory shrine after shrine. Since their adversaries often either outsmart or outnumber Tripitaka’s three guardians, outside help from the heavens and the depths of the ocean must be begged for reinforcements before the demons are defeated and their journey continue.

The spiritual struggle is portrayed with great comic effect with elaborate magical weapons, armies, armor, and elaborate costuming backed by poetically set scenery in this hundred chapter novel.

[Greg Kerestan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The paradox of the third volume of "Journey to the West" is that as the story gets more involved and action-packed, it also becomes more formulaic. The journey continues, as demons and monsters perpetually try to kidnap, eat or seduce Sanzang. Monkey and his brothers defeat them, usually with the aid of a new magical weapon from heaven or the aid of an immortal.

However this third volume contained a number of incidents I remembered (in altered form) from "Dragon Ball," so the appearance of the Ox King on Fire Mountain literally made me go "Yes! Finally!" in my head as I reached that point. Will the final installation shake things up? We shall see...

[Cesare Bartolini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Per quanto interessante, bisogna riconoscere che alla lunga il canovaccio di quest'opera risulta essere un po' ripetitivo. C'è il mostro, i protagonisti sono nei guai, Scimmiotto (nella maggior parte dei casi) o qualcuno degli altri risolve il problema, il mostro torna al suo posto e viene ucciso.

In ogni caso, continua ad essere affascinante nella prospettiva di una conoscenza di base dei culti e dei miti cinesi.

Aggiungo che a questo punto comincia ad essere difficile ricordare i nomi e le caratteristiche di tutti i personaggi incontrati nel corso della storia, anche se viene in soccorso un frequente (ma non onnipresente) sunto degli avvenimenti rilevanti.

[Karla Baldeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review on Spanish.
Ahora cada vez que me duela el estómago me preguntaré si no es un monito pendenciero que le gusta meterse a las entrañas a causar jarana.
Tripitaka es bastante popular con las damas, vaya, y no puede hacer nada porque pierde su santidad. Me ha causado tanta gracia la situación.
Y sigo con que Sha está ahí de adorno. Hasta el dragoncito blanco es más de ayuda que él.
Oh, y ahora espero cada que sale el príncipe Nata que es pequeñito pero cómo sabe pelear, eh. Soy fan.
Y alguien péguele en el hocico al puerco embustero ese, no hace más que meter en líos a todo el mundo.

[Shawn M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly less violent than the first two volumes, this one was funny and had a few running gags throughout. That part where Sanzang (Tripitaka) meets the poets was quite enjoyable as were Monkey's encounters with his brother Bull demon and wife, son, etc. At times poetic, it's message is deep below the sillyness. Reason this book stands the strengths of time. Can't wait to finish the saga with vol 4

[James Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three volumes down and one to go. This fabulous epic has become fairly repetitive but remains quite entertaining particularly in consideration of its ancient roots. I am looking forward to the last 25 chapters when presumably Monkey will succeed in getting Tripitaka to the Buddha to seek scripture.

[Frederick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long before "The Lord of the Rings" there was this saga; very entertaining and metaphorical for those of a Buddhist persuasion and anyone who can see the various aspects of human behaviour both positive and negative portrayed here and in a translation that reads easily and never gets boring. I can't wait to see what Volume 4 brings. Highly recommended.

[Leslie (updates on SG) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now I understand why vol. 1 focused so much on Pilgrim: he is pretty much the star of the series, constantly fighting fiends and saving the monk from his poor decisions. Idiot sometimes accompanies him, leaving the 3rd disciple to babysit the monk.

[Kaycie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part 3 seemed less tedious than part 2, introducing a few variants on the typical monster themes and some lady monsters! On the whole, though, no one seems capable of learning a lesson from one story to the next, which adds a level of frustration reading these all in one chunk.