What does Journey to the West and A Dream of Red Mansions talk about？
2 min readJourney to the West is also known as Record of a Journey to the West.It was written by Wu Cheng-en（about 1500-1582）and contains 100 chapters.The story is based on the actual pilgrimage about a Chinese monk of 7th century A.C.，Xuan Zang，to the source of Buddhism in India.The first part relates the adventures of Monkey King，who by virtue of his enlightenment has acquired magic powers，such as the ability to jump 108，000 li（a li is one third of a kilometer）in one bound and the capacity to summon aid when in a tight spot.As he plucks out one of his own hairs and spits it out，it immediately turns into an army of monkeys.By these and other means，Monkey King defeats all the forces Jade Emperor sends against him.However，he is finally curbed by Buddha，who gives him the task to accompanying Xuan Zang to fetch scriptures from India and bring them to China.Zhu Bajie and Sha Seng also join the journey to guard Xuan Zang.The description of numerous adventures on their journey occupies the remainder of the book.
In the last 500 years，this novel has had a profound influence on Chinese literature.Its romantic style，imaginative content and humorous expression have captured readers of past generations，and its stories have been adapted into dramas and cartoons that have won worldwide appreciation.
What does A Dream of Red Mansions talk about？
A Dream of Red Mansions contains 120 chapters in all.Most scholars believe that the first 80 chapters were written by Cao Xueqin（about 1715-1764）.This text first circulated under the title of Story of a Stone. The novel’s present title was the contribution of a later writer，Gao E who added a final 40 chapters along the lines of the original author’s intention.
The novel focuses on the tragic love stories of Jia Baoyu and his beautiful cousins Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai. It also depicts the gradual decline of the aristocratic Jia family.The author brings to life a host of young women，including young ladies and lowly maidservants.There is also an extensive cast of male and female characters from all levels of society both inside and outside the Jia family.In language，the novel lifts the vernacular of the traditional Chinese novel to its highest point，skillfully combining colloquial and vulgar speech with highly refined poetry and prose in the literary language.As amasterpiece of the world literature，it represents the peak of the development in the traditional Chinese realistic novel.
