Monkey (novel)

Woodblock print from Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en. Pigsy succumbs to earthly temptations by accepting food, while Xuanzang and Monkey look on

Monkey: A Folk-Tale of China, usually known as simply Monkey, is an abridged translation of the sixteenth century Chinese classic novel Journey to the West (Chinese: 西游记 Pinyin:xī yóu jì) by poet and novelist Wu Cheng'en, of the Ming dynasty. It was published by Arthur Waley in 1942.

Plot

At the outset of the novel, Buddha seeks a pilgrim who will travel West, to India. The hope is to retrieve sacred scriptures by which the Chinese people may be enlightened so that their behaviour may accord with the tenets of Buddhism. The young monk Tripitaka volunteers to undertake the pilgrimage. Along the way, he encounters and frees the Monkey King, and he and Monkey thereafter recruit Pigsy and Sandy. They liberate a captive princess and punish her abductor, who has also murdered her father. The father is resurrected and reinstalled as king. They meet several bodhisattvas and fight fierce monsters, before finally arriving at Buddha's palace, where Tripitaka dies and becomes a spirit. Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy are rewarded with immortality before they return to China with the scriptures.

Background

Despite being abridged, it was, for many years, by far the most accurate and complete translation of Journey to the West available in the English language. Due to this, it has been heavily cited by Western scholars of Chinese literature. Arthur Waley abridged the ancient folk tale, publishing it in this form 1942. The Waley translation has also been published as Adventures of the Monkey God; and Monkey: [A] Folk Novel of China and The Adventures of Monkey, and in a further abridged version for children, Dear Monkey. [1] Arthur Waley translated 30 out of the 100 chapters of Journey to the West.

The structure of Journey to the West may be roughly divided into three parts; firstly, the introduction including the origin of Monkey, Tripitaka, Pigsy, and Sandy; secondly, the actual journey to the west, which has an episodic nature; and lastly, the ending, telling what happens when the pilgrims reach their destination. Waley chose to translate the entirety of the introductory and ending chapters, as well as three episodes, each several chapters long, of the journey to the west.

See also

Novels portal

• Wu Cheng'en
• Journey to the West
• Monkey - 1970s TV series

References