Journey to the West

Journey to the West (Chinese: 西遊記; pinyin: Xī Yóu Jì; Wade-Giles: Hsi Yu Chi) is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is considered one of the great classical Chinese novels and has been described as possibly the most popular literary work in East Asia. The translation by Enrique P. Gatón and Imelda Huang-Wang is the best known in Spanish.

The novel is a lengthy account of the legendary pilgrimage of the Tang dynasty Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who traveled to the "Western Regions" (Central Asia and India) to obtain sacred Buddhist texts (sūtras) and returned after many trials and much suffering. The monk is referred to in the novel as Tang Sanzang. The novel roughly preserves Xuanzang's own account (known as the Great Tang Records of the Western Regions), but adds elements from folktales and the author's invention: Gautama Buddha entrusts this task to the monk and provides him with three protectors who agree to help him as atonement for his sins. These disciples are the Monkey King, Zhu Bajie, and Bonzo Sha, along with a dragon prince who doubles as Tang Sanzang's steed, a white horse. The group of pilgrims journeys towards enlightenment through the power and virtue of cooperation.

Journey to the West has strong roots in Chinese folk religion, Chinese mythology, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhist theology, and the pantheon of Taoist immortals and Buddhist bodhisattvas continue to reflect some religious attitudes Chinese today. Having stood the test of time, the novel is at once a comic adventure story, a humorous satire of Chinese bureaucracy, a source of spiritual insight, and a sprawling allegory.

Synopsis

Journey to the West is a Chinese play about the monk Tang Sanzang where the protagonist befriends three immortals: a monkey named Sun Wukong, a water sprite named Bonzo Sha, and a pig named Zhu Bajie.. All together they travel to India to retrieve the sacred sutras and together they face difficulties along the way.

History

The novel has one hundred chapters that can be divided into four unequal parts. The first part, which includes chapters 1-7, is a self-contained introduction to the main story. It is entirely about the earlier exploits of Sun Wukong, a monkey born from a stone fueled by the Five Elements, who learns the art of Tao, 72 polymorphic transformations, combat and the secrets of immortality, and through cunning and strength makes a name for itself, Qitian Dasheng (Traditional Chinese, 齊天 大聖; in simplified Chinese, 齐天 大圣), meaning "Great Sage, Equal to Heaven" or "Great Sage, Look-alike of Heaven". His powers grow so that he matches the forces of all the Taoist deities of the East, and the prologue culminates in Wukong's confrontation with the sky, during a time when he obtained a position in the celestial bureaucracy. His increased pride leads him to defeat once Tathagata (Buddha) manages to trap him under a mountain, sealing him with a talisman for five hundred years.

Chinese Enlightenment of the CenturyXVIII from a scene Trip to the West

The second part (chapters 8-12) introduces the nominal main character, Tang Sanzang (Tripitaka or San-Tsang), through his early biography and the background of his great journey. Dismayed that "the land of the South knows only greed, hedonism, promiscuity, and sins," the Buddha instructs the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin) to search Tang dynasty China for someone to make a journey to collect the Buddhist sutras of "transcendence and goodwill persuasion" and take them east. Part of the story here also concerns Tang Sanzang's way of becoming a monk (as well as revealing his past life as a disciple of the Buddha called "the Golden Cicada" (金蟬子)) and comes from being sent on this pilgrimage by Emperor Taizong, who previously escaped death with the help of an underworld official.

The third and longest section of the work is made up of chapters 13-99, an episodic adventure story in which Tang Sanzang sets out to bring back the Buddhist scriptures from the Leiyin temple on Vulture Peak in the India, but encounters various evils and obstacles along the way. The section is located in the sparsely populated lands along the Silk Road between China and India, including Xinjiang, Turkestan and Afghanistan. The geography described in the book is, however, almost entirely fantasy; Tang Sanzang rarely strays from Chang'an, the Tang capital, and after crossing the border (somewhere in Gansu province), he finds himself in a desert of deep ravines and high mountains, inhabited by demons and spirits. animals, who regard it as a potential meal (as its meat was believed to grant immortality to whoever ate it), with the occasional hidden monastery or royal city-state amidst the harsh surroundings.

Episodes consist of adventures that last from one to four chapters and typically show Tang Sanzang being captured with his life on the line while his disciples try to find an ingenious (and often violent) way to free him. Although some of Tang Sanzang's predicaments are political and involve ordinary human beings, more often they consist of encounters with various demons, many of which turn out to be earthly manifestations of celestial beings (whose sins will be negated by the consumption of the flesh of Tang Sanzang) or animal-spirits with sufficient Taoist spiritual merit that assume semi-human forms.

Chapters 13-22 do not follow this precise structure, as they introduce Tang Sanzang's disciples, who, inspired or goaded by Guanyin, meet and agree to serve him along the way in order to atone their sins in their past lives.

• The first is the Monkey King, or Sun Wukong, whose first name freely means "He who has awakened to the void," trapped by Buddha for having challenged Heaven. He appears immediately in chapter 13. The most intelligent, powerful and violent of the disciples, is continually admonished by Tang Sanzang for his violence. Ultimately, it can only be controlled by a magic gold ring that Guanyin places around the head, which causes unbearable headaches when Tang Sanzang sings the mantra that makes him tight.
• The second, which appears in chapter 19, is Zhu Bajie, literally "eight pork precepts." Sometimes, his name is translated as simply "Cerdo" or "the idiot." It was formerly the Marshal of the celestial pavilion, a commander of the naval forces of the sky, and was banished to the realm of mortals for wanting to share experiences with the Chang E moon goddess. A reliable fighter is characterized by his insatiable appetite for food and sex, and is constantly looking for a way out of his functions, which causes significant conflict with the Monkey King.
• The third, which appears in chapter 22, is the river ogre Sha Wujing, also translated as "Bonzo Sha". Previously it was the General of Elevation of the Celeste curtain and was banished to the realm of mortals to let down (and to destroy) a glass cup of the xiwangmu. It is a quiet character, but generally reliable, that contrasts with the comic relief of Sun and Zhu.
• The fourth is Yulong, the third son of the Dragon King of the West Sea, who was sentenced to death for the fire of his father's great pearl. He was saved by Guanyin from the execution to stay and wait for his duty. It appears for the first time in chapter 15, but hardly has dialogues, since it appears mainly as a horse riding Tang Sanzang.

Chapter 22, where Bonzo Sha is introduced, also provides a geographical boundary, like the river that travelers cross and puts them on a new 'continent'. Chapters 23-86 take place in the desert, and consist of 24 episodes of variable length, each featuring a different magical monster or evil wizard. There are wide rivers, flaming mountains, a kingdom with an all-female population, a guard of seductive spider spirits, and many other fantastic settings. Throughout the journey, the brave four disciples have to fend off attacks against their master and teacher Tang Sanzang by various monsters and calamities.

It is strongly suggested that most of these calamities have been engineered by fate or the Buddha, for while the attacking monsters are powerful and numerous, there is no real harm done to the four travelers. Some of the monsters turn out to be runaway celestial beasts belonging to bodhisattvas or Taoist sages and deities. Towards the end of the book there is a scene in which the Buddha literally orders the fulfillment of the ultimate disaster, because Tang Sanzang is in one less of the 81 tribulations he needs to face before attaining Buddhahood (or Buddhahood).).

In chapter 87, Tang Sanzang finally reaches the borders of India, and chapters 87-99 feature magical adventures in a somewhat more mundane (though still exotic) setting. In the end, after a pilgrimage claimed to have taken fourteen years (the text actually only provides evidence for nine of those years, but presumably there was room to add additional episodes) they arrive at the half-royal, half-legendary destination of Griddharaj Parvat (the Mountain of the Vultures), where, in a simultaneously mystical and comic scene, Tang Sanzang receives the scriptures of the living Buddha.

Chapter 100, the last of all, quickly describes the journey back to the Tang Empire, and the aftermath in which each traveler receives a reward in the form of positions in the bureaucracy of the heavens. Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang attain Buddhahood, Bonzo Sha becomes an arhat, the dragon horse becomes a nāga, and Zhu Bajie, whose good deeds have always been tempered by his greed, is promoted to altar cleaner (ie, an eater of excess offerings on altars).

Literature

Some scholars have proposed that the book is a satire of the Chinese government at the time. Regarding the literary work, it is a work of the highest quality. It is one of the four classical Chinese novels. In Journey to the West the religious and mythological background of Chinese culture and its system of values is very present.

One of his supernatural disciples, the Monkey King, has become one of the most beloved characters in Chinese literature. In China Journey to the West is as famous as Don Quixote is in Spain. The Monkey King became a disciple of the monk when he was stranded on Wuxing Mountain (五行山), which is a punishment given to him for making a scandal in the paradise palace (天宮).

Part of this popularity comes from the fact that the story is made up of several levels. It is an adventure novel, it has a great spiritual content, and it is a metaphor in which a group of pilgrims, on their journey to India, also advance on their personal journey towards enlightenment.

Accommodations

The novel has been adapted several times for the world of film and television in the form of cartoons, films and series, inside and outside China.

• The Manhwa (Korean Manga) The God Of High School is starred by Jin Mori, who turns out to be the same Sun Wukong (also called Jaecheodaenseong) several centuries after what happened on the West Trip, although in this case the end is different, as Sun Wukong is betrayed by Buddha and his companions are killed, after this a fight between Thatagata (Buda) and Sun Wukong is unleashed in which he is the winner of Sun Wukong.
• In Japan, it has also inspired works like Gokū no Daibōken (from Osamu Tezuka and Gisaburō Sugii), and later Dragon Ball (from Akira Toriyama, where the main character Son Goku is inspired by Sun Wukong, the Monkey King).
• Saiyuki (from Kazuya Minekura).
• In Naruto, revealing on the sleeve 568 that the Bijuu of 4 Colas is proclaimed "The beautiful king of the Suiren caves, the Sabio King of the Monkeys, Son Goku" being the form of his Seal (chain between two mountains) a reference to the mountains where Sun Wukong was sealed by Buddha. In the same way, Enma Enkōō, the invocation of the Third Hokage, is called "Monkey King" and possesses the ability to become a cane (sun Wukong's favorite weapon) in addition to possessing the legendary costume of the character made with tiger skin.
• Chapter 50 Beelzebub, making a parody to this novel in which Son Goku is Bebeel, etc.
• The video game Enslaved: Odyssey to the west adapts history to a post-apocalyptic future.
• The movie The forbidden kingdom It's an adaptation.
• In the 129 chapter of Inuyasha, where characters appear who claim to be descendants of the protagonists of the West Travel.
• Reference is also made to the cover of chapter 224 Shaman KingThe team of Len appears disguised as the three disciples.
• Year 2001: The Monkey KingAlso called The Lost Empire, is a 2-hour mini-series for television, starring Thomas Gibson.
• The year 2013, Stephen Chow will release his latest film: Journey to the westinspired also in the story of the Monkey King.
• The comic "Monkey King, Adventures from China", written by Wei Dong Chen and published in English by JR* COMICS. It contains 20 volumes.
• In the anime Asobotto senki goku where reference is made to the story and the main character is also called Goku.
• In the series Monkey (TV series) and Saiyūki (1978–1980), a live-action Japanese television series.
• In the online game "League of Legends", appears a champion named Wukong, the king of monkeys.
• In the adaptation to Monkey Theatre: Journey to the west, directed by Chen Shi-zheng with Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett (Creators of the Gorillaz Band)
• In the online game Smite, it refers to a character called Sun Wukong, The monkey king.
• In Sakura Wars (sakura teisen) is represented the work Travel to the west, both in the sleeve and in the anime.
• In the sleeve of Urusei Yatsura, the work of Rumiko Takahashi, in chapter 57 the students interpret most of this work, the most remarkable is the interpretation of Ataru Moroboshi (the protagonist of Urusei Yatsura) this interpretation of Sun Wukong, the monkey king.
• In the video game dota 2 one of the playable heroes is "Monkey King" directly based on Sun Wukong.
• In the online video game for mobile devices Arena of Valor, the player can choose to play with a character called Wukong, the monkey king. This is based on Sun Wukong.
• Nintendo's video game Yūyūki developed for the Famicom Disk System, in 1989, is
• a parody as a visual novel inspired by West Travel.
• The A Korean Odyssey series (the original name hwayugi) has as its main character Son Oh Gong the monkey king, great celestial sage, who must protect the temporal incarnation of the Samjang monk, accompanied by King Demon, who is working to ascend again to the heavens; and the pig, who in the world of the series is a known star of the k-pop.
• In the RWBY series of Rooster Teeth, one of the characters is a faun called Sun Wukong which carries a cane (with other modalities) as a weapon and has as a semblance making golden copies of himself. This is based on Sun Wukong.
• The Blizzard Entertainment Overwatch video game created for its first lunar year event 4 aspects for 4 different heroes based on different characters in the story. These aspects were Wukong, Sanzang, Wujing and Bajie.
• The animated Lego Monkie Kid series that is developed in today's China has Sun Wukong as the master of the protagonist and make many references to the book in general.
• In the High School DxD series showing the Bikou character who is the descendant of Son Goku and also having a small participation in the fourth delivery of the anime having the presence of Sun Wukong himself.
• In the arcade game China Gate (Sai Yu Gou Ma Roku), appear Gocoo, Hakai and the man-bird Gojou, whose mission is to rescue a lost book by defeating enemies who inhabit various temples during their journey. Also appears a monk on horseback as a fourth member of the expedition, but only the first three are playable. The game could be played simultaneously by two players.

Editions

Currently there are only two editions in Spanish of the complete novel. The first direct translation into Spanish was published in 1992 in various volumes, which in 2004 the Spanish publisher Siruela compiled into a single volume. In 2010, the Chinese Classics Library of China Foreign Language Editions published his Pilgrimage to the West.