Tang Monk Disciples Monkey King

Adventures Of Monkey King #3

by Debby Chen, Wenhai Ma (Illustrator)

In Tang Monk Disciples Monkey King, written by Debby Chen, Monkey King is given the opportunity to be freed from 500 years of imprisonment, if he travels to the West with Tang Monk to secure the sacred scriptures of Buddhism. Although his intentions are good, it doesn’t take long for Monkey King’s rebelliousness to surface. Tang Monk tries to teach the Monkey King to temper his wild ways and settle conflicts peacefully. In the end, the former adversaries join Tang Monk and Monkey King to travel on to further adventures. The Making of Monkey King and The Monkey King Wreaks Havoc in Heaven are the other books in this series.

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 12, 2015

Reviews

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

After 500 years of penance Monkey King is visited by the fairy Guanyin, whom he addresses as “Goddess of Mercy,” and, promising to be good from now on, begs to be set free. Moved by his plea, she presents his petition to the Great Buddha, who agrees on condition that Monkey King accompany Tang Monk as a bodyguard on his journey to the West to obtain sacred Buddhist scriptures. Monkey King saves the monk from a charging tiger and then from bandits, but impulsively returns to his old ways of behaving, again requiring intervention from the Buddha and Guanyin who entrust the monk with some restraints for the monkey. Monk and monkey travel on, along the way rescuing, reforming, and recruiting a new mount for the monk and two new disciples, Brother Boar and Friar Sand.