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Loading... Journey to the West (4-Volume Boxed Set) (edition 2003)by Cheng'en Wu, W.J.F. Jenner (Translator)
Work InformationJourney to the West (complete) by Wu Ch'eng-en
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Wu Cheng’en’s sixteenth-century novel Journey to the West tells the story of the pilgrimage of Buddhist monk Xuanzang to the “Western Regions” of Central Asia and India in order to obtain Buddhist sūtras and return them to China between 626 and 645 CE. Xuanzang wrote his own account in 646, Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, which formed the outline of Wu’s novel. The novel is a humorous adventure that satires Chinese bureaucracy while also telling an allegory of enlightenment. Many in the Euro-American world know elements of the story from Arthur Waley’s 1942 abridged translation, Monkey: A Folk-Tale of China, while some elements of the story inspired Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball. Along with Luo Guanzhong’s fourteenth-century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Shi Nai’an’s fourteenth-century novel Water Margin, and Cao Xueqin’s eighteenth-century novel Dream of the Red Chamber, this novel is one of the Four Classic Novels of Chinese literature. This edition presents the complete novel in four volumes, translated by William John Francis Jenner, a noted sinologist who completed this translation while working for Foreign Languages Press between 1963-1965. It features Qing Dynasty illustrations to supplement the text. no reviews | add a review
ContainsIs retold inThe Monkey King: A Superhero Tale of China, Retold from The Journey to the West (Ancient Fantasy) by Aaron Shepard Monkey King Wreaks Havoc in Heaven (Adventures of Monkey King Series, Volume 2) (Chinese Edition) by Debby Chen Has the adaptationThe Rise of the Monkey King: A Story in Simplified Chinese and Pinyin, 600 Word Vocabulary Level (Journey to the West) (Volume 1) (Chinese Edition) by Jeff Pepper Journey to the West Book (Chinese-English) (Chinese Traditional Culture Comic Series) (English and Chinese Edition) by Chih-Chung Tsai Journey to the West (Chinese Classical Literature Primer with Pinyin) Children edition 西游记 (拼音版) by Wu Cheng'en Chinese New Curriculum Series: Journey to the West ( America painted Annotation ) ( Youth Edition )(Chinese Edition) by Wu Cheng En Tsai Chih-chung the classic humor comic: Journey to the West - Buddhist sutras(Chinese Edition) by BEN SHE.YI MING Chinese Classical Literature: Journey to the West (kids painted version)(Chinese Edition) by Wu Cheng En Is abridged inInspiredHas as a commentary on the text
China's most popular traditional novel, Journey to the West is the thrilling story of the Monkey King and his epic quest, with his trusted companions, to redeem himself. No matter what obstacle was put before him, the clever, wily Monkey King always got what he wanted--unimaginable strength, eternal life, even his own position in the Celestial Realm with the gods. They face fantastic foes, demons and monsters during their amazing adventures traveling to the Western paradise. More than anything else, though, the Monkey King loved mischief and rule-breaking, and was sure he was the most powerful creature in the world. But after defeat and punishment for his tricks, the Monkey King found himself wanting some things he never expected: to be disciplined and good enough to help the monk Hsuan Zhang on his mission to bring Buddhist Scriptures—and enlightenment--to China. Readers of all ages will thrill to Timothy Richard's retelling of the Monkey King's exploits--whether in the Dragon King's underwater castle, the Halls of the Dead or the palace of Buddha himself—and find themselves captivated as the Monkey King joins Hsuan Zhang and their companions the Dragon Horse, the Monk Sand and the equally mischievous Pig on the dangerous trek West. Despite the tale's ancient origins, Journey to the West proves as fresh and engaging an adventure as anything written today. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)895Literature Literature of other languages Asian (east and south east) languagesLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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That about sums it up. Mix it up, repeat, mix it up repeat. This ancient text reads like a modern movie based on comic book super heroes. They get into perilous situations where there's no hope only to be saved time and time again. The only constant is they survive. The most surprising piece of this is the repeated times when the demons threatened to eat the pilgrims with the aim of thereby achieving immortality. The pilgrims are supposed to be loosely bases on a real expedition crossing Asia seeking Sacred Scriptures. This tale has been repeated over and over and probably has morphed greatly. This is one book of four. My guess is the rest is more mix it up repeat and repeat. I'll pass. I also don't look forward to the next super hero movie. But if you like those you may want to see where this all "started". ( )