Journey to the West

Journey to the West (traditional Chinese: 西遊記; simplified Chinese: 西游记; pinyin: Xīyóujì) is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the great Chinese novels, and has been described as arguably the most popular literary work in East Asia. It was widely known in English-speaking countries through the British scholar Arthur Waley's 1942 abridged translation Monkey.

The novel is a fictionalized and fantastic account of the pilgrimage of the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who went on a 19-year journey to India in the 7th century AD to seek out and collect Buddhist scriptures (sūtras). The novel retains the broad outline of Xuanzang's own account, Records of the Western Regions, but embellishes it with fantasy elements from folk tales and the author's invention. The beginning part of the story deals with the earlier exploits of Sun Wukong, a monkey born on Flower Fruit Mountain from a stone egg that forms from an ancient rock created by the coupling of Heaven and Earth, who learns the art of the Tao, 72 polymorphic transformations, combat, and secrets of immortality, and whose guile and force earns him the name Qitian Dasheng (齐天大圣; 齊天大聖; 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven'). Wukong was tasked by Bodhisattva Guanyin and the Buddha to become Tang Sanzang's first disciple, journeying with him to India and provides him with three other disciples who agree to help him in order to atone for their sins: Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing and White Dragon Horse. Riding the latter, Sanzang and his disciples journey to a mythical version of India and find enlightenment through the power and virtue of cooperation.

Journey to the West has strong roots in Chinese folk religion, Chinese mythology, Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoist and Buddhist folklore, and the pantheon of Taoist immortals and Buddhist bodhisattvas are still reflective of certain Chinese religious attitudes today, while being the inspiration of many modern manhwa, manhua, manga and anime series. It contains many religious references and spiritual concepts which often involve plays on Chinese names of characters and places, which are often lost in translation to other languages. It is a progenitor to the xianxia literary genre that combines martial arts with high fantasy. Enduringly popular, the novel is simultaneously a comic adventure, a satire of Chinese bureaucracy, a source of spiritual reflection, and a rich allegory.