No, this post is not about illegal or legal immigrants sneaking into the United States from China. This post is about China’s classic novel, “Journey to the West”, also known as “The Monkey King”.
There are four novels that are Chinese classics: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dream of Red Chamber, Journey to the West, and The Outlaws of the Marsh (some of these classics have been released with other titles), but there are 3 Chinese books titled “Journey to the West”. And the West they are talking about is west to India; not to Europe or North America and the U.S.
One Journey to the West is nonfiction about K’iu Ch’ang Ch’un, who traveled along the Silk Road and visited Genghis Khan in Persia between AD 1221 and 1224.
The second Journey to the West is another nonfiction account of Hsuan-Tsang (Xuanzang, AD 602 – 664), a Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled to India, mostly on foot, to bring back Buddhist scriptures.
The third Journey to the West is the fictional romance that introduces the Monkey King and his friend the Pig. This Journey to the West is a classic Chinese mythological novel. It was written during the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368 – 1644) and was based on traditional folktales. Consisting of 100 chapters, this fantasy relates the adventures of a Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) priest, Sanzang, and his three disciples, Monkey, Pig, and Friar Sand, as they travel west in search of Buddhist Sutras.
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China’s Holistic Historical Timeline
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[…] AD), “Romance of the Three Kingdom” (set during the end of the Han Dynasty, BC 206 – 220 AD), Journey to the West, and The Dream of the Red Chamber (China’s Romeo and Juliet set in the 18th century in the middle […]