| Title | : | The Journey to the West, Volume 1 (Journey to the West) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0226971503 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780226971506 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 544 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1592 |
The Journey to the West, Volume 1 (Journey to the West) Reviews
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The star rating system is really not appropriate for classic books of this sort, read for curiosity and education as much as pleasure, but have a somewhat random 4.
I was led back to this by revisiting, this month, an anime/manga version from the early 00s of the adventure, Saiyuki by Kazyua Minekura, which may not even be the most gonzo version ever, though I suspect it's up there. But that should get a review of its own. I also see by my Netflix that there is a new Chinese movie of The Journey by the same director who gifted us with the also deeply gonzo Kung Fu Hustle. Clearly, I will have to follow this up.
I had read, some years ago, the now-classic abridged translation by Arthur Waley titled Monkey, which gives the gist of the tale, but I was curious about what all had been left out. So rather than rereading to refresh my failing memory, I poked around Amazon and found this.
Good choice. Besides the instant large print available on my tablet, the footnotes system (and boy, does this need its footnotes and annotations) is brilliant: just click on the little blue number, and the footnote appears as a handy popup, departing at the next click. Some of the footnotes are also pretty amusing in their own right, particularly when the translator vents his despair at translating the Chinese puns and wordplay in the original. The translator's English prose is smooth and clever, and he does an elegant job on the many interspersed poems, as well. Well worth the academic-press e-price.
The translator starts with a 90-page intro written in high academic, parts of which I judge worth having plowed through. It includes most usefully a short bio of the real 7th Century Tang monk on whose decades-long trip to India to gather and bring back to China Buddhist scriptures so much folklore, religious and social allegory, wonder tales, and more have accreted over the ensuing centuries. Now I want to go find an expansion of that, because, really, it sounds like a spectacular adventure in its own right, without any need for supernatural helpers. For quicker orientation for those unfamiliar with much Chinese history or literature, Wikipedia can also help out.
One of the comparisons made in that long intro was with Edmund Spenser's The Fairie Queene, which I thought illuminating. Both were from about the same era, on opposite sides of the planet, both offered an adventure tale on a substrate of religious and other metaphor and allegory. I read the Spenser when I was 15, as a result of having read the parody of same in one of the De Camp & Pratt's The Incomplete Enchanter fantasies and tracking back. Spenser's allegory was a lot more accessible, partly because I knew more about the sources, partly because he was sort of thudding about it. I have much less idea what all the Journey writer is drawing on, because not my culture, though the footnotes help. But his storytelling does seem more fluid than the rather rigid Elizabethan writer.
Though one of the things that has glimmered up to me just from what I've read so far is what short shrift the usual thumbnail histories of China that the average American encounters gives to Daoism and Chinese mythology generally. Buddhism and Confucianism get way more page time. The Journey writer seems to be playing hard with all three. Chinese medieval alchemy and European medieval alchemy may be off-putting to modern sensibilities for much the same reasons: deliberately obscurantist, over-complicated, and wrong, so why spend the brain space? Unless one is an historian of ideas, whom I will cheerfully sacrifice in my place.
Anyway, as Chapter 25 of this 100-chapter four-volume edition ends on a cliffhanger, with our Monkey King hero about to be fried in oil by his justifiably irate Daoist host, I shall shortly plow on to Volume 2. (Also, word on the street is that there is an mpreg chapter, no, really, in Volume 3, which clearly cannot be missed.) I trust it will take me less time to get to India than our heroes ancient or modern.
Ta, L. -
I read the four-volume revised Kindle edition of this book, translated by Anthony C. Yu. The story is the fictive rendition of a journey made by a 7th century Buddhist monk, Xuanzang, during the Tang Dynasty. He undertook his famous, nearly two decade-long pilgrimage in order to study Buddhism and acquire original Sanskrit texts of the religion from India. When he returned to China, he translated many of the original texts to Chinese, thus leaving a decisive legacy on Chinese Buddhism. Some of the pilgrim's original scrolls are saved in a pagoda inside Xingijao Temple near today's Xian.
The story starts with the mystical events of a creature becoming the (Handsome) Monkey King. Through various twists and turns, he acquires great skills and a variety of supernatural power which he will continue to use throughout the book. Some mischievous acts in Heaven land him in trouble but upon the departure of Xuanzang - in the book also called the Tang Monk or Tripitaka after the Three Baskets of Buddhism that held the 3 original Buddhist scrolls - from the Emperor's palace, the Monkey King is given the opportunity to become the disciple and protector of the Monk. In the first phase of the long journey Tripitaka is granted two additional converted vicious monsters as his disciples: Eight Rules who has the appearance of a pig and Sha Monk who has the look of a water buffalo. To complete the mystical traveling company, a water monster is enforced to serve as the replacement of Tripitaka's deceased horse.
The bulk of the story is the description of the group's arduous traveling through impenetrable forests, burning mountains, and dangerous rushing rivers. They encounter countless demons, spirits, monsters, dragons, and fiends who invariably want to devour the guiltless Tripitaka. This enhanced interest in the Tang Monk as a culinary delight roots from his purity that is thought to guarantee extremely long life to the cannibalistic food connoisseurs. With his boundless ingenuity and smarts the Monkey King leads the three disciples to defend the Monk.
For the contemporary reader, the story has a few stumbling blocks, not the least of which is the length of almost 2400 pages. In the book one will find numerous repetitions where the four main heroes tend to recite some of their earlier adventures in various situations when they meet new characters. The reader is already fully aware of these events and they tend to slow down the flow of the story. One can skip these paragraphs however, without losing much from the narration.
For some readers another obstacle could be the numerous poems and songs throughout the book. In my rough estimation 15-20% of the text may well be poetry. The poems are enjoyable and usually provide finer details of, or clarifications to, the main story. As such, they are more functionally part of the book then in another classic pillar of ancient Chinese literature, the poetry in the Dreams of the Red Mansion. In that book the poems and songs are highly transcendent with the purpose of providing insight into the characters' inner selves. I skimmed through many, but not all poems. Others may decide to skip the poems altogether but those who decide to read them in even greater details, will experience an enhanced overall literary beauty of the book.
Of the four characters, the Monkey King is by far the best portrayed one and the main reason I gave not 3 but 4 stars to this book. He is an absolute riot; a perfect timeless embodiment of a bad guy turned good who has a curiously complex psyche with a mixture of self-adoration, self-assuredness, mischief, steadfast loyalty, courage, wisdom, practicality, and, on the top of everything, a great sense of humor. Typical of him is the name he has chosen to himself early in the story: The Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
Among all the fictive characters I have encountered in my readings, the Monkey King has become one of my all time favorites for his colorful and likeable temperament and for the exquisite perfection with which he has been portrayed.
Although the Tang Monk is formally the lead-hero of the story, he really pales in comparision to the Monkey King. He is the most benevolent, spiritually pure individual imaginable who is singularly driven by his unshakable convictions and principled Buddhist mind. Unfortunately, he is also gullible to the point of annoyance and this brings a copious amount of trouble to the poor Monkey King.
Eight Rules is a secondary character whose personality is also drawn with an expert pen. He is stupid, yet quite capable in many ways. His loyalty to the Monk never feels solidified, however he seems to function perfectly well under the critical tutelage of the Monkey King and the exculpation of the high-minded Tripitaka.
The character of the third disciple, Sha Monk, is far less complete than the previous three and doesn't deserve particular attention in this review.
Overall, the book in its full length is not an easy read. I recommend it mostly to those tickled by a potential glimpse into the spirituality of an ancient world, namely the Tang Dynasty, from the perspective of a much later, but still very old, time, namely the late Ming Dynasty. What a rare privilege to enjoy such a treasure!
An abridged English translation is also available for those curious readers with a more tepid interest.
Additional information: The book has served as inspiration for multiple movies, TV shows, stage plays, and comics. I saw one of these adaptations, Alakazam the Great. This Japanese cartoon film, although adorable in its own right, in no way should be considered a faithful presentation of the original story. I've also read the Ultimate Journey: Retracing the Path of an Ancient Buddhist Monk Who Crossed Asia in Search of Enlightenment, by Richard Bernstein. The book adds a unique, modern-time perspective to this ancient story. -
A monk and his 3 supernatural disciples set out on a journey westward to obtain buddhist scriptures. Actually that description is the story eventually... there's quite a bit of build up and background to get through first.
So there were a few surprises in this for me. Firstly while it might well be based on ancient legend this isn't some oral tale which has simply been written down but rather a proper literary piece from the 16th century.
Which is quite recent from china's point of view. I find it quite difficult to read fairytales so was quite glad this wasn't one.
Secondly i'm a big fan of the tv adaptation of this 'Monkey'. It was a 70's show made by japan rather than china* and then dubbed into english by people who often didn't even have a script, they would just make up the story based on what seemed to be happening on screen.
For all of these reasons i assumed that the book would bare little resemblance to the show, but i was wrong. All the crazy, funny ridiculousness of the show is totally in here :D .
The comedy and satire is Rabelais-esque at times.
About a 5th of the story is done in poetry. I don't know whether this rhymed in its original language but it doesn't now. It still has a certain rhythm about it though. I might have disliked the poetry except that it only occurs on specific occasions.
Its basically a descriptor. Whenever someone or something new turns up or when there's a fight sequence it switches to poetry and the poetry is usually more over the top than the prose.
Its like in certain movies or shows where they might switch to animation for fight sequences, or in certain kinds of musical where the songs are only used to replace fight or love scenes.
The story can get a bit repetitive both figuratively and literally. Literally in that every so often you get a little recap of events. One character will go off and do something, then comeback and tell people what they've just done.
I didn't mind this so much as it was never very long and did make me remember things a bit better.
The other repetitiveness is a little more annoying as several of the fight sequences follow a very similar pattern which can start to get old.
Oh, one other thing that some might find annoying is the buddhism. There are various pieces of buddhist philosophy in this which will make no sense to most people.
I don't even know if their real. Its like quantum theory, someone could be telling you a real but confusing piece of quantum theory or a fake bit, i simply don't have the necessary experience to tell the difference.
Anyway, i was constantly hearing the people from the tv show in my head (aswell as picturing the very pretty monk ;) ) so i feel like i may be more naturally inclined to like this over people who didn't see the show.
I look forward to reading the rest of the volumes but not right away, i think a break between each one is a good strategy.
*the male monk is played by a female actress on the show which caused me considerable confusion as a child :) . -
This translation is a comprehensive work covering 100 chapters of Journey to the West. Volume I consists of the first 25 chapters. It's a bit of a slow start, but once the journey itself begins and each chapter ends on a cliffhanger, you're drawn quickly to the next adventure. (In all, it also resembles a travel book, albeit one of mythical landscapes and legendary escapades.) What is going to be off putting for quite a few readers is the translator's Introduction, which covers almost 200 pages. The Intro contains much interesting and valuable information, especially for scholars in the area, but it most appropriately should be positioned as an Afterwards. Too much analysis and detailed citing of earlier works makes it largely valueless for someone with but a bare minimum of knowledge about Journey and its place in Chinese literature.
What couldn't be helped, is my trying to find equivalents in other myths and epics. The tale of the Monkey King and his search for immortality, for example, echoes Gilgamesh. Old Monkey's abilitly to transport himself over vast distances with but one step and riding across the sky on clouds sounds similar to Seven-League Boots and Arabian Nights. And, yes, the way in which villainous characters are drafted into Tripitaka's (Xuanzang) band and made into monks, wayward though they may be, reminds me of The Wizard of Oz. Outrageous you say? Oz includes "The Dainty China Country" in its tale, and, indeed, Oz could be China.
Up next. Volume 2. -
I really enjoy, as most do, Part One, the origin of Sun Wukong and his hell-raising days before he is finally subdued by Buddha. After that, I am often annoyed, as some are, by how weepy yet obstinate Xuanzang is (especially because he is supposed to be a highly cultivated monk), how underdeveloped the characters Sha Wujing and Yulong Santaiz are, how repetitive the 81 ordeals can be, and the author's repeated use of deus ex machina. Nevertheless, it is a fascinating and often hilarious adventure story of enlightenment. I only wish I could read the Chinese original -- I'm certain the poems would be more fluid and beautiful and the text would be full of wordplay. I would also be interested in reading an annotated version.
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Va čia tai pasakojimas. Dabar aišku iš kur Liu Cixin'as taip moka siužetą raityti. Tradicija.
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This first volume is pretty interesting and less formulaic than the subsequent volumes, which are the pilgrims' episodic adventures, rinsed and repeated. Here we start with Monkey's enlightenment, how he causes chaos in Heaven and is punished; the Tang Emperor makes a really trivial mistake that almost costs him his life and necessitates the commission of a pilgrimage to India to show his piety; Guanyin doing the legwork of gathering all the involved parties for Tripitaka's pilgrimage.
Tripitaka, Monkey and Pigsy's backstories are pretty vivid; it is kind of hilarious that Monkey is a total ruffian, much like the thugs in 水浒传 Outlaws of the Marsh, Pigsy is lazy, lecherous, and sinful, and Tripitaka is naggy and cowardly. Sandy and the horse... don't really need to be mentioned.
One annoying thing about this story is the fact that all the demons are really there just for the sake of being enemies and putting tribulations in Tripitaka's way. These deus ex machina interventions by gods and deities remove tension from the story since you never really fear for the characters too much. But if you know the story I'm sure you were prepared for that. This translation, with its very comprehensive introduction (though the academic jargon is at times unforgivably tortuous) is a decent one to pick up. -
Sorry in advance for a terrible review, I suck at writing them.
So The Journey to the West starts out with this stone monkey and his adventures on Flower-Fruit Mountain. After the first 7 or so chapters we move to a Buddhist monk and his 3 disciples (one of those being that monkey) going on (surprise!) a journey to the west. I found this book really fascinating and surprisingly easy to read. So far in this story they haven’t accomplished much and have mostly just been gathering disciples, fighting monsters, and stealing things (cough Sun Wu’Kung cough). Looking forward to reading volume 2. I just started watching the new Netflix adaptation called the New Legends of Monkey or something like that and honestly it’s really not great. -
Well, this is just one of four parts to this rather enormous Chinese work that I've been meaning to read for a long time now. The Journey to the West, at least this portion, is most notably about the origins of Sun Wukong, the mischievous monkey king of folklore. For the most part, even just this installation of the epic feels like it is split into two distinct subcategories, one being far supreme to the other.
The first thing I noticed was a return to that beautiful, distinct style of prose that marks most East Asian literature. However, as this is the first Chinese novel I've read, I notice subtle differences from Japanese counterparts. Scattered selections of descriptive verse embellish the entire work and make it that much more of a joy to read, even when there is not much happening. These passages usually pick out a small piece of action or focus closer on a description of color, texture, or general appearance. As a result, it seems as if Cheng'en is really trying to paint a clear visual picture in the reader's mind- he succeeds on all levels.
However, I must digress and go back to a point I briefly brought up- the first half of Journey is vastly superior to the second half. For the most part, this is because Sun Wukong is such a badass character with seemingly unlimited power and an insatiable taste for fisticuffs. He is portrayed as a reckless yet nearly unbeatable being, and he definitely goes to great lengths to prove this to anyone and everyone. So it's really all a good romp with Wukong for a while, until he actually gets himself into trouble and has to be assigned someone to babysit him, which is where things really slow down. Enter Xuanxang, the monk appointed to do the job and to spread a Buddhist message back East. Things definitely remain well-written, but I think that for the most part Wukong does it for me, and his diminished role actually sort of diminishes my enjoyment, but only marginally.
Overall this is a formidable work and I'm not sure if I'm going to dive straight into the next volume, but it looks like my university's library has got them all and they aren't exactly in high demand. So, sometime I'll come back to Journey but for now I am left with a good impression and a pleasurable read. -
This has to be one of the most boring books I have ever read. I mean, the beginning of the book, back when Sun Wukong was free to do whatever he pleased was pretty acceptable. But in the moment he is given the task of babysitting Sanzang is where the book starts to get irritating. I understand that the book is supposed to be epic and full of metaphors, but imagine the case when someone asks Wukong something and instead of reading the sentence "and Wukong explained everything that happened to him", he actually tells everything he had been through. I feel awfully frustrated with the speed of the story. I feel as if I'm stuck in a boring journey.
I am going to read the rest of the books, though. It's a matter of honor. -
3.5/5
It's been a while since I last made my way through an extended volume set. In terms of familiarity, this doesn't have the recognizable if conscious obfuscation of 'In Search of Lost Time', nor is it as esoteric despite its relative straightforwardness as
The Arabian Nights. Indeed, I compared the experience in a previous group read message to my reading of "The Canterbury Tales", which is both more contemporaneous with JttW than the previous two, and also has a more similar structure of a sequence of interlinked short stories/adventures conveyed through a set case of minimally fluctuating characters. There are vast differences, of course, what with JttW being far meatier in terms of theological expansion and intricate renderings of feasts and prayers and myriad poetic interjections, but while my edition doesn't have the plethora of footnotes I imagine others have, I was still able to follow the story well enough, aided by the focus that a great character as Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, provides. The first volume ends with a literal cliffhanger, and peeking ahead shows a continuum of page numbers, so it will be easier to bear in mind how far I've come when I'm tiredly pondering how far I have to go.
The first volume eases one into the journey, as there are a bevy of pictures introducing the main characters, some of who don't even appear in the first volume and will thus draw one back to the beginning during the successive physical stages of each volume. One thing that many popular conceptions of JttW, including the much watered down version I first encountered in the form of Dragon Ball Z, is how long the story takes to carefully set up the origins and motivations of each of the characters making this journey, a litany of rises and falls and conversions and perversions until each, for better or worse, is committed to the path described in around 1800 pages of text and images. What engaged me the most so far is the substructure one could glimpse every so often of the cultural conversations people of the work's time were having about religion, evil doing, afterlife retribution, values, scriptures, Confucianism vs Buddhism, Buddhism vs Taoism, all encompassed by a litany of folk tales with especial emphasis on the glories of material aesthetics, as well as explanations for certain weather phenomena. I won't say it was a breeze to get through, but it is certainly fascinating in parts, and in other parts even entertaining enough to veritably make the pages fly by. Considering these stories are read to children and transformed into cartoon shows, I was surprised how brutal the tales got with regards to sexual matters, but I suppose, like any surviving story, it is complete enough to both enculturate the young and maintain value for the old, and the certain flashes of insight that were blunt enough for even me, lacking all that I do of an inherent Chinese upbringing, to pick up justified that further. Not what I expected, in a good way.
I have three volumes, or roughly 1300 pages, left to go of this. I'm trying to pace myself, but I'm also wary of neglecting it in the manner that stretches 400 pages to a month or more. It's not the most entertaining thing in the world, but it's engaging in different ways than I had expected it to be, and plus, there's always the reading cred to consider. Reading it has also made me pay more attention to the other sets I have on hand, namely
The Story of the Stone,
Pilgrimage, the more flexible
The Diaries of Anaïs Nin, and a handful of duologies, imagining how much commitment I'd have to spend to seriously engage with each of them in a reasonable time frame. I'm not going to hurry, as JttW and the remaining thirty books in my combined 2018 reading challenges is enough to see me through the next few months, especially with my return to school on the horizon. Burnout is not in my plans for the future."My child," said the minister, "this was not a case of abandoning morality for the sake of material gain. You acted under duress, and did nothing to be ashamed of."
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I first started reading this book many years ago but didn't pick it up seriously until last week. I'm surprised at how many of the incidents I recognize in translated form from various comic books, movies and video games imported originally from Japan. For being a mostly unknown story in America, this novel (half folklore and half fiction) casts a wide shadow across Asia with its mix of Chinese, Japanese and Indian folk elements.
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one of the greatest stories which came from china
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Journey to the West is one of the great Classic Chinese Novels. It’s one of the great works of Chinese literature. It’s a fictionalized account of the legends around a Buddhist monk’s pilgrimage to India in order to obtain religious texts. And to say it is a popular story nowadays would honestly be an understatement. It’s probably one of the most influential and most retold stories in the world right now. So, I thought the original story might be worth taking a look at. And I’m glad I did. I’m looking at this mostly from an entertainment point of view but there are of course many other ways to look at this story.
The story starts with the birth of monkey, also known as Sun Wukong. His character is that of a skilled fighter, but also a trickster because of his childlike playfulness and his goofy impulsiveness. He’s a cheeky monkey and he’s easily the strongest and most fleshed out character in the entire story. His character has been very influential in for example some popular Japanese shonen manga. This is mostly thanks to the popularity of Dragon Ball, which was partly inspired by Journey to the West. He’s a very intelligent, inquisitive and independent strong character who’s not afraid to make his own decisions. He’s not always a likeable character though. He’s selfish, childish and very egotistical. But when he goes overboard, he frequently gets punished to counteract this and to basically teach him a lesson.
Monkey doesn’t take long to crown himself the monkey king. But he quickly finds himself worrying about the future. The monkey king then decides to leave the mountain he has called home for so long, in search of immortality. Long story short, the monkey king causes some trouble for the gods. The greatest divine battle ever ensues, the monkey king is defeated and is trapped and buried underneath a mountain.
A long time later, a monk known as Tang Sanzang or Tripitaka is tasked with retrieving original religious scriptures for China. During his pilgrimage, he will undoubtedly encounter many dangers and monsters. Since the monk is clueless and powerless, the heavenly powers look for some powerful disciples to aid and protect him on his journey. In return, the disciples will be forgiven for their sins once the journey is over. The first to accept this task is the monkey king, who is finally freed from his prison under the mountain.
The monk Tang Sanzang is the protagonist and he advances the plot. Much like Rincewind from Terry Pratchett Discworld series, his primary function is not to be interesting by himself but rather to meet interesting people. The monkey king being a prime example of the character that absolutely steals the show in this story. He isn’t the only interesting disciple the monk picks up along the way though. Zhu Bajie is half pig, half human. Much like the monkey king, he is a skilled fighter with a flawed personality. He frequently gets his friends in trouble thanks to his laziness and his insatiable appetite. And he is very jealous of the monkey king. A third disciple named Sha Wujing got turned into a monster and sent to the mortal world as punishment. He doesn’t really get fleshed out much but he’s a character with potential. He’s basically the quiet but dependable disciple. There’s also a dragon who gets turned into a horse, which completes the main cast.
The actual plot takes a while to really get going but even the backstory and the fleshing out of the monkey king is very interesting and certainly not uneventful. A pretty good start to an epic and historically fascinating adventure of a lifetime. -
By far, the most exciting translation of the classic tale, Journey to the West that I have read. The story unfolds in a beautiful, fluid manner through Mr. Yu's high linguistic skills. I've re-read this four volume set several times over as it speaks to me (and is crafted) on many levels.
The story is loosely based on the fourteen year pilgrimage of Ven. Hsaun T'sang, a Buddhist monastic/scripture pilgrim who traversed the Silk road from the Tang court in Chang-an, through the Kyber Pass into India, and who served as the real life model for Tripitaka (the Tang monk) in the novel. I cannot praise this book enough. -
This is the first volume of the revised version of Anthony Yu’s four-volume English-language translation, originally published in 1983, although the revised version is from 2012. The revised version corrects various issues and updates the romanisation system from the dreaded Wade–Giles to the more accurate and current pinyin. Yu’s introduction alone is nearly 100 pages long, and incredibly detailed; this translation is sans doute the definitive academic version, with extensive notes and annotations, as well as the inclusion of all the poetry and songs from the original.
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Something about a centuries old epic length historical Chinese novel with high literary clout predisposes me to anticipate it being a pretty stodgy and dry affair. To my huge surprise, this was not the case at all. This is one of the most exquisitely fun adventure stories I’ve ever read.
To begin with, parts of it are the heights of comedy. I revelled in the mockery of the puffed up and bureaucratically overloaded Court of Heaven, with its long pointless titles and snobbish formalities.They get absolutely trampled on by agent of chaos Sun Wukong, already a favourite character of mine, an impulsive train wreck who is somehow maddeningly endearing. There’s some hilarious imagery like the long queue of heavenly deities lined up to present formal complaints to the flustered Jade Emperor.
The dynamic of the group on the eponymous journey (to retrieve Buddhist scriptures from western lands) is just great, with Wukong teaming up with mild mannered monk Tripitaka, heart of the group, and several more demons in search of redemption. It’s such a great time seeing them face off episodically against monstrous threats, getting into silly predicaments, and steadily recruiting members (invariably not without a fight first) until we have the legendary 5-man band, in a way that inspired 1000 anime plots and group dynamics. -
Ze wstępu możemy się dowiedzieć, że „Małpi bunt” stanowi wybór ze średniowiecznej powieści chińskiej „Wędrówka na zachód”, autorstwa Wu Ch`eng-ena, znanego poety i prozaika epoki Ming. Jest to powieść zawierająca wątki fantastyczno-mitologiczne i podróżnicze. Tłem historycznym jest wędrówka buddyjskiego mnicha Hüan-tsanga po święte księgi do Indii, która stała się źródłem licznych ludowych opowieści, których zamiłowanym kolekcjonerem był Wu Ch`eng-en.
Głównym bohaterem powieści jest król małp, Sun Wu-k’ung – obrońca maluczkich, szlachetny buntownik, cieszący się dużą popularnością wśród ludu. Postać Sun Wu-k’unga jest bardzo znana w społeczeństwie chińskim, pojawiała się często nawet w klasycznym repertuarze opery pekińskiej.
Sama książka była dla mnie najłatwiejsza w odbiorze, w porównaniu do „Opowieści znad brzegów rzek” i „Dziejów Trzech Królestw”. Przygody Sun Wu-k’unga były nawet całkiem zabawne, szczególnie jego popisy na Brzoskwiniowej Uczcie :) -
Absolutely brilliant stuff. I love the parallels and convergences that this work has with Indian mythology/history. Wish I could read the original in Chinese.
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"The Journey to the West" is a lengthy 16th century novel, regarded as one of the four great classics of Chinese literature. The author of the book is uncertain, but is thought to be Wu Cheng'en. This volume contains the first twenty-five chapters of the hundred-chapter narrative, plus extensive notes and a ninety-six-page introduction by the translator, Anthony C. Yu. I found the introduction a difficult read, no doubt due to my prior ignorance about almost everything it covered. But the introduction was helpful, and I am glad I labored through it.
The book itself defied my expectations. It was neither dry, nor dense, nor inscrutable. To my surprise, it appears to have been intended to be fun, and, despite the intervening centuries, I often found it such. The narrative is a fantastical retelling of Xuanzang's pilgrimage to India to obtain Buddhist scriptures, a pilgrimage that took place roughly a thousand years before "The Journey to the West" was written. In the retelling, there are gods, monsters, dragons, trickery, humor, and a plethora of epic fights. There is also a remarkably large amount of poetry, serving both as description and commentary, and the poetry lightened the reading. Since this volume contains only the first quarter of the story, I will postpone further comments for now. -
This is the first volume of the unabridged version of The Journey to the West (a classic Chinese novel, that happens to be the inspiration for countless famous contemporary stories, films, and TV shows such as Dragon Ball).
It's a funny book in which its formidable and unruly heroes (more like anti-heroes) go on a quest for enlightenment. They fail every single test, commit all kinds of mischief, and wreak havoc wherever they go. In spite of this unacceptable behavior (that befits villans more than heroes), there's something likeable about them that makes reading this book a delight.
I have given it 3 stars, but it should be noted that this is a classic (and very old) book. It's unfair to judge it by contemporary standards and yet, it's also unfair to give it a rating that might mislead other readers. The 3 stars rating is based on the enjoyment and learning that I got out of it, not its historical and cultural merits (that deserve more). -
Once the pilgrims are on their way to India, the story is a great QUEST plot. I started on Andrew Yu's translation in paperback years ago, but it was the Kindle edition of the revised edition that enabled me to finish the first volume (25 chapters out of 100). A few extended adventures make for a splendid end to this volume. Now I have finally made headway, I look forward to the next three volumes.
Many readers will want to skip the scholarly introduction and detailed annotation. For me they were an education, though admittedly I skimmed through most of the notes. Full of fascinating Buddhist and Chinese lore! -
A God of Highschool című képregény keltette fel bennem az érdeklődést Szun Vu-kung iránt. Nem számítottam arra, hogy élvezni fogom a könyvet.
Annak ellenére, hogy lassan 500 éve íródott a könyv, teljesen érthető a történet és sokkal jobb, mint egyes mai írások.
Persze nem ez a valaha volt legjobb könyv, nincsenek benne olyan karakterfejlődések és nem is követi a bevezetés, bonyodalom, cselekmény kibontakozása, tetőpont és megoldás menetét, de ez számomra nem volt zavaró.
Szun Vu-kung cselekedeteivel bár nem nagyon értek egyet, szórakoztatónak találtam, Csu Vu-nenget viszont ki nem állhattam. Sa Vu-csingről nem sok véleményem volt. Hszüan-cang, amikor igazságtalanul büntette Szun Vu-kungot felidegesített, de a vége fele úgy vettem észre, hogy már megváltozott.
Néha elég ismétlődő, de engem nem zavarnak a hasonlók régebbi történetekben.
Összességében tetszett és minél hamarabb igyekszem majd elolvasni a következő részét. -
Perhaps my favorite book of all time. It has everything in it- myth, action, tall tales, poetry, spirituality, camaraderie, adventure. Havoc in Heaven with Sun Wukong, and his adventures with Tripitaka (Tang Sanzang), Pigsy (Zhu Bajie), and Sandy (Sha Wujing). This is the fullest and best of the translations available. There is nothing out there like it.
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No coincidences how I come across these amazing books 📖 🐒 new paradigm acquired
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This is my first of the classic novels in the Chinese canon. I was afraid at the beginning that I wouldn't understand the Buddhist and Taoist references, especially with that opening chapter! And even though most of the time I didn't, the novel was really fun to read. The internal conflicts in the pantheon of gods and halfgods reminded me a lot of ancient Greek fiction, but even by that comparison the Chinese transcendental creatures really made a hotchpotch out of it, with a mixture of Buddhist and Taoist gods living and partying together in heaven, water and earth spirits messing things up on earth, and misbehaved gods muddling through life on earth punished with reincarnation as supernatural dragons, pigs, tigers and other monsters. But don't worry: if things get really tough, there is always Guanyin or Buddha himself to sort things out.
On a side note, the text also made me understand better all the supernatural flying and magic in wuxia dramas. If you think, like I did, that those movies are way over the top, you should read this novel to numbify those feelings. It seems like the whole pilgimage is only a pious facade to justify the endless steam of epic fights and powerful mind skills.
I must say that by the end of the first volume the journey became a bit repetitive, with the pilgrims proceeding on their journey fighting one demon living in a mountain cave/hut after the other. I am not a great fan of adventure novels, so that may play a role. Luckily there was enough to enjoy with the varying perspectives at the start of the novel, from the unruly monkey to the buddhisatva to the lifestory of Xuanzhang and finally the start of his journey to the west. I really hope volume 2 and 3 will offer some variety too and won't be just a continuous stream of demons to fight and mountains to climb.
I haven't seen the original Mandarin text, but the English translation reads really well and feels fresh and lively. Despite or because of the translation, my favourite parts of the novel are the short and beautiful poems, especially the ones regarding nature and animals. In one of the more cunning moves of the monkey Pilgrim he changes into a mosquito, after which the author treats us to this beautiful testimonial poem:A pesky small shape with sharp sting
His tiny voice can hum like thunder!
Adept at piercing gauze nets and orchid rooms,
He likes the warm, sultry climate.
He fears incense and swatting fans,
But dearly loves bright lights and lamps.
Airy, agile, all too clever and fast,
He flies into the fiend's cave.
The academic introduction was also really good in explaining the context and content of the work. The internal alchemy part, however, still makes my stomach turn (pun but true). I'm glad I had decided to leave the introduction for the end! -
"Małpi bunt" to pierwsza z dwóch części skrótu "Wędrówki na Zachód", klasycznej chińskiej powieści drogi. Należy ją oceniać dwojako - i jako skrót, i ze względu na przedstawioną fabułę. W dużej mierze brakuje poetyckości oryginału (tłumacz raczej nie przekładał wierszy lub robił z nich prozę) a i czasem skróty są dziwnie robione. Np. mowa o paskudnie wyglądającym potworze, którego wygląd nie jest opisany, a potem nagle jest mowa o wieprzu.
W książce przeplatają się 3 filozofie: taoistyczna, konfucjańska i buddyjska, tak aby każdy z ówczesnych Chińczyków mógł znaleźć coś dla siebie. ;)
Czytając tą książkę, w której dużą rolę odgrywa buddyzm, muszę cały czas pamiętać o tym, że autor nie był buddystą tylko konfucjanistą. Bodhisattwa, która wręcza mnichowi buddyjskiemu rzeczy mające zniewolić ucznia i uczy go jak tego ucznia podporządkować sobie przy użyciu bólu nie trzyma się dla mnie kupy.
Zadziwiająca może być niebiańska biurokracja. Np. jeden z bohaterów w Niebie był strażnikiem zasłon niebiańskiego pałacu. Małpa zaś dostała pałac, dwa departamenty i urzędników nie mając żadnej funkcji do sprawowania. Kary wymierzane przez niebiańskiego cesarza są niewspółmierne do czynów. Za zbicie czarki można stracić życie lub w najlepszym wypadku zostać zesłanym na ziemię, zamienionym w potwora i regularnie być dotkliwie ranionym. Gorsze od więzienia.
Nie wiem czy to jest kwestia skrótu, ale punktowane są występki małpy (np. ośmielił się wykreślić imiona małp z rejestru śmierci), ale nie było nic o konsekwencjach wyciagniętych wobec jednego z podziemnych sędziów, który sfałszował datę śmierci chińskiego cesarza. Dodał temu "wzorowi cnót wszelakich" 20 lat życia. Zmienił 一 (1) na 三 (3). Aż dziwne, że w podziemiach nie zapisywali tego specjalnymi znakami mającymi właśnie uniemożliwić fałszowanie danych. Czyli 1 byłaby zapisana jako 壹. Pal licho to, urzędnik oszukał swoich przełożonych i nie wiadomo czy został za to ukarany, czy nie. Nie wiem z jakich powodów się o tym nie wspomina, ale to jedna z kolejnych rzeczy, które mi zgrzyta.
Przed przeczytaniem pierwszej części warto przeczytać wprowadzenie w pierwszej części jak i posłowie z drugiej części (Wędrówka na Zachód).
"Wędrówka na Zachód" jako 2-tomowa całość powinna być lekturą obowiązkową dla tych, którzy interesują się kulturą Chin (klasyka przerabiana na wszelkie możliwe sposoby) a także, dla tych którzy lubią mangę
Saiyuki, Volume 1 opartą na tej historii. -
This book is the English translation of "Journey to the West". If you are interested in Asian studies, you must read this novel. This book has been in my reading list for two years. I added when I took a course in the university, the class was Asian Society & Culture. It was a very interesting class and the professor mentioned this book as one of Asia Classic. Now I totally see why after reading Journey to the West.
Many modern Asian anime, comics, and stories are adaptations of this one or are based on it. I found this out from my former class & did some research. The main character is a mischievous monkey that is the Monkey King and later on named Sun Wukong, who becomes immortal by eating a peach of immortality from the garden of the gods. He studies Taoism and gains special powers. His punishment is to escort a monk from China to India in search of the Buddhist scriptures and spread their wisdom to the land of the East. On the way they encounter many different monsters, funny adventures, and two more companions: a pig, and a sea monster.
I admit that the book is pretty long, but it didn’t feel as long or lingered for me. Since the tale was so thrilling and mesmerizing that it made it hard for me to put it down. Luckily this translation includes an extensive explanation of certain Chinese terms along & with footnotes that help understand some of the terms. This novel is a must read for all. It is unforgettable journey that you follow along. I can’t wait to read the next volume to it. I give the book two thumbs up & 10 top stars. -
In an unprecedented event after 65+ years of reading I'm abandoning this book before I've even properly started it.
Why? The version I bought (paperback €30!) starts with 2 prefaces that conveyed no meaning or benefit to the reader and then 4 pages of a glossary of abbreviations (containing quite a few Chinese characters).
OK - I can just about ignore that - what's next? Oh an introduction.
I couldn't stay concentrating on the first page of the introduction. My mind wandered from what I was attempting to read. Too many obscure Chinese names which i couldn't keep track of. Never mind it's only the introduction. How long is it? Aaargh - 96 pages. Dipping in here and there and ignoring the frequent Chinese characters, it's unreadable.
Well, let's skip the 96 page introduction and start the story proper. How does it start?:
"The poem says
Ere Chaos's divide, with Heav'n and Earth a mess.....
....when Pan Gu broke the nebula apart....."
Utter, incomprehensible nonsense.
Sorry - this book is not aimed at people like me.
Dreadful, unreadable stuff
