Pilgrims to the West or Journey to West

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Pilgrims to the West written by Wu Chengen（1500-1582AD），a scholar-official，is one of the renowned classical Chinese novels about an allegorical rendition of the journey，mingled with Chinese fables，fairy tables，legends，superstitions，popular beliefs，monster stories as well as whatever the author could find in the Daoist and Buddhist religions.

It was based on a true story of a famous Chinese monk，Xuan Zang（602-664AD）.After years of trials and tribulations，he traveled on foot to what is today India，the birthplace of Buddhism，to seek for the Sutra，the Buddhist holy book.When he returned to China，or the Great Tang as was called that time，he started to translate the sutras into Chinese，thus making a great contribution to the development of Buddhism in China.

Monkey King（see Figure 68）is an indeed rebellious extraordinary being，born out of a rock，fertilized by the grace of Heaven.Being extremely smart and capable，he learned all the magic tricks and marshal arts from a master Daoist，being able to transform himself into seventy-two different images such as a tree，a bird，a beast of prey or a bug as small as a mosquito so as to sneak into an enemy’s belly to fight him inside or out.Using clouds as a vehicle he can travel 180，000 miles a single somersault and a huge iron bar called“Jin Gu Bang” that supposedly serves as ballast of the seas and can expand or shrink at its owner’s command as his favorite weapon in his later feats.

He claims to be the king in defiance of the only authorityover heaven，the seas，the earth and the subterranean world.

That act of high treason，coupled with complaints from the masters of the four seas and the hell，invites the relentless scourge of the Heavenly army.After many showdowns，the emperor had to offer the monkey an official title to appease him.Enraged he revolted，fighting all his way back earth to resume his own claim as a king after learning that the position he held was nothing but a stable keeper.Eventually，the heav-enly army subdued him，only after many a battle，with the help of all the god warriors.However，having a bronze head and iron shoulders，all methods of execution failed and the monkey dulled many a sword inflicted upon him.As a last resort，the emperor commanded that he be burned in the furnace where his Daoist minister Tai Shang Lao Jun（太上老君）refines his pills of immortality.Instead of killing him，the fire and smoke added to the monkey a pair of firing golden crystal eyes that can see through what people normally can not.He fought his way down again.

Figure 68 The Handsome Monkey King with”Jin Gu Bang”Finally，under Buddha’s help，the monkey was suppressed under a great mountain known as the Mount of Five Fingers and he could not move.Only five hundred years later，there came to his rescuer，the Tang Monk，Xuan Zang or Tang Seng ，whom we mentioned at the beginning of the story.

The Monkey King become the disciple of the monk and escort him with Buddha’s arrange to insure that he could makefor the West to get the sutras，along with two other disciples they later came across，（actually also arranged by the Buddha）.One is Piggy ，the humorous，lazy and greedy pig transgressed from a heavenly general for his crime of assaulting a fairy，and the other Sandy ，a used-to-be sea monster.There started the four’s stormy journey west which was packed with actions and adventures that brought into full play the puissance of the monks’disciples，the Monkey King in particular.

The story of Journey to the West is divided into three parts，Part One:An early history of the Monkey spirit；Part Two:Pseudo-historical account of Tripitaka’s family and life before his trip to fetch the sutras in the Western Heaven；Part Three:The main story，consisting of 81 dangers and calamities encountered by Tripitaka and his three animal spirit disciples-Monkey，Piggy，and Sandy.