Journey to the West

Author: Wu Cheng'en (Ming) / Yang Zhongxian adapted / Liu Anli illustrated
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: The Journey to the West is an outstanding mythological novel from ancient China. It stands tall among the peaks of artistic mountains and is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of the Ming Dynasty. It was praised by Lu Xun as "brilliant" and "masterpiece." The creation of The Journey to the West took centuries of effort. Countless anonymous artists and writers contributed their labor, and ultimately, it was compiled into the long mythological novel we see today by the Ming Dynasty writer Wu Cheng'en. The Journey to the West is based on the historical fact of Tang Xuanzang's journey to India during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, the monk Tang Xuanzang defied prohibitions and traveled alone from Chang'an to India to retrieve Buddhist scriptures, spending seventeen years and visiting over a hundred countries, overcoming countless hardships and obstacles. He finally returned with over 650 volumes of scriptures. This remarkable feat itself carried a strong legendary quality, and thus, it quickly spread among the people.