Journey to the West, Volume 1 [Paperback]

Anthony C. Yu (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1980 | ISBN-10: 0226971503 | ISBN-13: 978-0226971506

First published in 1952, The Journey to the West, volume I, comprises the first twenty-five chapters of Anthony C. Yu's four-volume translation of Hsi-yu Chi, one of the most beloved classics of Chinese literature. The fantastic tale recounts the sixteen-year pilgrimage of the monk Hsüan-tsang (596-664), one of China's most illustrious religious heroes, who journeyed to India with four animal disciples in quest of Buddhist scriptures. For nearly a thousand years, his exploits were celebrated and embellished in various accounts, culminating in the hundred-chapter Journey to the West, which combines religious allegory with romance, fantasy, humor, and satire.

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (February 15, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226971503
• ISBN-13: 978-0226971506
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #270,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Chinese

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great ancient Chinese novel, April 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Journey to the West, Volume 1 (Paperback)

This is a really interesting novel. It seems that I can't write a review without telling the whole story along with it. This story is about the monk Tripitaka who is sent out to gather scriptures from the Buddha in the Thunderclap temple in India. It mostly starts out by telling about the Handsome Stone Monkey King (a.k.a. Sun Wu-Kong or Pilgrim) and how he had learned magic and caused havoc in the Heavens while nobody can stop him. Finally, the Buddha is forced to stop him himself and the monkey is caught. Then, Kuan-yin tells him that he will be saved by a monk journeying to the West who will help him make up for his misdeeds. He later meets Tripitaka and he is saved, but he will not listen so he is forced to wear a golden fillet on his head to control him. Then, after a while, they meet Chu Pa-cheh( the pig monk also referred to as Chu Wu-Neng and Idiot) and Sha-Monk(or Wu-Ching) and the White Dragon Horse who had also broken the laws of Heaven. Altogether, they are forced to face 81 calamities while journeying to India. It is really neat and filled with action, adventure and magic. There are 4 volumes total and just about anyone is capable of reading it( I'm 10 and I finished it in less than a month). This is a must read for everyone.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Integration of the self in old China, January 29, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Journey to the West, Volume 1 (Paperback)

This is a book written on lots of levels. It's a great adventure story for kids or for anyone else at first reading (although the old Arthur Waley abridgement is better for that kind of reading). On second (and third, and fourth...) readings it becomes clear that this is a story of the different parts of the self--the "five elements" in classical Chinese terms--that learn to integrate and find the self-discipline to reach the Buddha-realm. Each adventure is a challenge to master a different part of the self and its experience of life: the "six robbers" are the illusion that the six senses show us the truth, the White Bone Demon is fear of the idea of death, etc.. Monkey, the main character, is the limitless power of the mind, arrogant but tameable. Not just a great story, this is book of incredible depth and understanding. Yu's is the only translation that understands this.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the five Chinese popular classics, December 16, 1999

By 

James Beerbower (Hochheim, Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Journey to the West, Volume 1 (Paperback)

Journey to the West has the same status in Chinese popular literature as Dickens, the the Wizard of Oz and the Superman comics combined. Everyone knows it. The epsiodes are featured in countless theatre pieces, comic books, and cartoon shows. The story is of a Budhist monk who journeys to India (the 'West') to get the true scriptures. He is helped by four heroic animal discples: the Handsome Monkey King, the Marshal of the Heavenly Reeds (a Pig), Sha Monk (also a former Heavenly official and some sort of fish), and a Dragon horse. They are all criminals who have all transgressed the laws of Heaven and have been given a chance at redemption by the merciful Bodhissatva Kuan Yin.

This is the first of the four volumes. It was first published in 1592. It's an fascinating mixture of prose, poetry, comedy and monster filled adventures-- don't expect a realistic account of the historical monk ór historical India!