Novel
Journey to the West
西遊記
Wu Cheng'en · 1592
Synopsis
A monkey born from a stone egg acquires magical powers. The monk Xuanzang, under the Tang dynasty, sets off to the West to fetch Buddhist texts in India; three disciples punished by heaven escort and protect him: the monkey Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, the pig-man, and Sha Wujing. Over eighty-one adventures, they face demons and monsters on the road. The first seven chapters tell of the monkey's origins, the next five of the monk's mission, and the rest of the journey.
Context
The novel appeared anonymously in 1592, and its presumed author mentions it nowhere in his writings. A local monograph of 1625 associates Wu Cheng'en with a “Journal of a Journey to the West”, and Hu Shi and his students attributed the novel to him at the beginning of the twentieth century; the attribution remains uncertain, Wu remaining the most probable candidate. The book takes up a story that tales, a narrative poem and drama had already told, and Britannica notes in it a satire of bureaucracy. Arthur Waley made an abridged version of it in 1942, Anthony C. Yu a complete translation; André Lévy translated it into French in 1991.
Who it is for
One hundred chapters of episodic adventures; André Lévy's complete translation was published by Gallimard in two volumes.
Prizes and reception
Britannica also reads it as an allegory of perseverance, alongside its satire of society.
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