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Cheng'en Wu

Monkey: Folk Novel of China Paperback – January 12, 1994

by Wu Ch'êng-ên (Author), Arthur Waley (Translator), Hu Shih (Introduction)

4.5 814 ratings

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Probably the most popular book in the history of the Far East, this classic sixteenth century novel is a combination of picaresque novel and folk epic that mixes satire, allegory, and history into a rollicking adventure. It is the story of the roguish Monkey and his encounters with major and minor spirits, gods, demigods, demons, ogres, monsters, and fairies. This translation, by the distinguished scholar Arthur Waley, is the first accurate English version; it makes available to the Western reader a faithful reproduction of the spirit and meaning of the original.

Print length

320 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Evergreen Books by Grove Weidenfeld
Publication date

January 12, 1994
Dimensions

5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

0802130860
ISBN-13

978-0802130860
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From the Back Cover

Probably the most popular book in the history of the Far East, this classic combination of picaresque novel and folk epic mixes satire, allegory, and history into a rollicking tale. It is the story of the roguish Monkey and his encounters with major and minor spirits, gods, demigods, demons, ogres, monsters, and fairies.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Evergreen Books by Grove Weidenfeld; Reissue edition (January 12, 1994)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0802130860
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0802130860
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #168,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,172 in Folklore (Books)
- #4,952 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #10,592 in Literary Fiction (Books)

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4.5 814 ratings

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4.5 out of 5

814 global ratings

5 star		69%
4 star		16%
3 star		9%
2 star		3%
1 star		2%

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Litr8r

Everything old is new again

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 1, 2008

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Some people know the character Son Goku, from the Japanese cartoon series Dragon Ball Z. Others are familiar with Pokemon's Infernape. And still more know a similar character from a TV miniseries shown in the US in 2001 called The Lost Empire. Rumor has it that Jet Li will collaborate with Jackie Chan to portray a Sun Wukong-like character in the forthcoming movie The Forbidden Kingdom. What fans of these characters may not know, is that they are all based on China's infamous Sun Wukong--or The Monkey King.

The tale of the Sun Wukong is one of the four major Chinese literary classics. His 81-chapter story, called Journey to the West (Xi You Ji), was written by Wu Chen-En in the 1500s. Monkey's legend is based on the true story of a well-known monk, Xuan Zang (602-664), who traveled to Inida to bring the Sutra--the Buddhist holy book--to China to enlighten the people and improve their lives. In Journey to the West, however, reality gives way to a much more entertaining and fantastic version of the story.

Journey to the West is a hero's quest, elaborated with Monkey's supernatural powers, interlaced with Taoist and Buddhist practices and beliefs as well as common superstitions, embellished with fairy tales, monster stories, legends, and fables. Some of the chapters read like superhero comics, others like instructional Bible stories. Some parts of the story, as when Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy are hiding in a Temple and outwit the priests, are downright hilarious. The Sun Wukong legend can be read as a hero-journey-quest, a political and social satire of rebellion against a corrupt government, or as pure fancy. No wonder Journey to the West has endured for so long.

It's hard to believe that as popular as Journey to the West has remained over the centuries, its author would never have admitted to writing it. Wu Chen-En was a scholar and a statesman. During the 1500s (Ming Dynasty), it was considered unfit for educated and high ranking men to read any kind of comic or popular literature. Wu was influenced in writing this tale by the super-hero stories he read secretly while in school.

The entertaining escapades of Sun Wukong have remained popular through the ages, inspiring operas, cartoons, and now movies. The tale has even spawned a Sun Wukong festival, which features recreations of many of his adventures, and a statue of Monkey stands at a Buddhist temple in Sau Mau Ping in Hong Kong. Chairman Mao was also a fan, who mentioned Monkey as a role model in many of his speeches. He said people should emulate Monkey's fearlessness in thinking, doing work, striving for his objectives, and extricating China from poverty. Sun Wukong is well-known and well-liked in modern times among children in Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, and Korea. I think Wu Chen-En would secretly be very pleased!

17 people found this helpful

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Bernie Gourley

A Chinese Folklore superhero story featuring the Monkey-King

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 28, 2017

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If you’re familiar with any Chinese folklore, it’s probably this story. But you probably know it as “Journey to the West.” It’s not only been released in numerous editions as a novel, it’s also been adapted for film, stage play, and I’m sure there must be a video game of it out there.

If you’re thinking, “Chinese folklore? Sounds boring.” Think again. This is a superhero story. Monkey, also known as the Monkey-King and “Great Sage Equal to Heaven,” is an immortal who has all manner of supernatural powers. He can fly. He can make copies of himself. He can transform himself—either disguising himself as another being or appearing as an inanimate object. He has an iron truncheon that can be the size of a sewing needle or a mile long and which is indestructible. Wielding said staff, he can defeat armies or deities.

In fact, the flaw in this story isn’t a lack of adventure or thrill. On the contrary, it’s one adventure after the next. If anything, the flaw is “Superman Syndrome.” That’s what I call it when the hero is so ridiculously overpowered that even when he’s fighting gods, dragons, or whole armies there’s still no doubt about the outcome.

Of course, the Monkey does eventually meet his match in the form of the Buddha. The Buddha defeats Monkey not in combat, but in a bet. That event shifts the direction of the story. In the early chapters, Monkey is goes about heaven and earth arrogantly wreaking havoc. He’s not altogether detestable. He does have his redeeming traits, but he’s insufferably arrogant and mischievous. After he’s imprisoned following his run-in with the Buddha, a monk is assigned to go to India to bring back scriptures (hence, a “journey to the west”) to China. Monkey is assigned to be the monk’s guardian and along with two others that they pick up along the way (Pigsy and Sandy) the monk is escorted on his journey. The party faces one challenge after the next, and the trip is long and arduous. Some of the challenges require brute force but in many cases they are battles of wits. So while Monkey may be overpowered, he does experience personal growth over the course of the story.

The story is told over 30 chapters, each set up with a cliffhanger. I enjoyed this translation by Arthur Waley. It is end-noted, which is useful given the historic and cultural nuances that may not be clear to readers.

It should be noted that this is unambiguously a Buddhist tale. There is a bias against Taoists and other non-Buddhist religions evident throughout the story. It’s not just the fact that the Buddha easily defeats Monkey when no other deity or group of deities can, there’s a steady stream of anti-Taoist sentiment. So, Taoists and Chinese Folk Religion practitioners be warned, I guess.

I would recommend this book for fiction readers, particularly if you have an interest in the superhero genre or Chinese literature.

51 people found this helpful

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Kalankit Haseena

Competent translation

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 19, 2022

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The book has been edited and translated well, but I concur with other readers that to make the book palatable to non-Chinese readers, the adventure has been highlighted while the spiritual dimension has been neglected.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 3, 2023

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This wss a very good book with lots of adventure, philosophy,psychology and religion, and if you want to know why you will open the first chapter to find out.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 2, 2022

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Some mild translation issues, but overall it's great and I love Sun Wukong :). You probably won't be disappointed if you give it a read

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Liam J Madden

A Totally Bodacious Story and A Beautiful Book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 18, 2018

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Wow. As a massive fan of the original 'Monkey' TV show which aired in England in the 80's, I had always been interested in reading the even more original book by Wu Ch'en En. This is an excellent level book which you'd never guess is as old as around 500 years. Beautifully translated into English, but a level of English that is easily accessible to just about anyone. It's a beautiful read and very inspiring if you are travelling somewhere but also inspiring even if you're not. Sometimes the chapters are short and sometimes they're long but either way they are never boring. It's carefully written and beautifully thought out and I would recommend it to anyone seeking an inspiring read. It's also not too hard to get through. Took me about 3 days to finish it and I loved every moment.

16 people found this helpful

iSmith

Enjoyable, but abridged translation seems too short

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 26, 2020

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This is an enjoyable story, but so many things seem 'overviewed' in this abridged translation that it leaves me wishing to read the full translated version (which I know is available, but thought I'd try this version first). Whole periods of the story can pass in as little as a paragraph (or several years pass without mention), and there is no clear timeline.

Also, the Chinese translation in to English seems wrong in some parts - either by phonetical spelling oddities, or interpretation of meanings taken literally, instead of understanding a saying or pun. But overall, not bad.

I'd say this is a good general overview of a story, but if you want to indulge in to this story, it would be better to seek a full translation - which I plan to do, someday.

5 people found this helpful

Ms. E. Pearl

The Mischievous Monkey King

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 2, 2017

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Arthur Waley's translation of Wu Ch'eng-en's 'Monkey' is lively, humorous and captures wonderfully vibrant characterisations of a myriad host of characters, chief among them being the eponymous Sage. The storytelling is paced with perfect precision - each chapter feels just long enough, with a tantalising closing line leading into the next... It was unexpectedly delightful, and I found myself laughing from page one onward. For pop culture enthusiasts, the influences of this tale on Masashi Kishimoto's manga 'Naruto' are evident. I am now curious to read more of Arthur Waley's translations, particularly 'The Tale of Genji'.

8 people found this helpful

Arynth

One of the four classics of Chinese Literature

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 10, 2003

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I read this after having read the excellent San Guo Yan Yi (The Three Kingdoms/Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which I would highly recommend) and, having known a bit about Chinese culture, language and literature I went into it knowing what to expect and was delighted that it had surpassed my expectations.
Most often referred to as Xi You Ji or, Journey to the West, it is difficult to appreciate why the author chose to call it "Monkey". While the character of Monkey does occupy much of the first part of the book and remains the strongest and, I'm guessing, most people's favourite character throughout, he is still only part of the entourage of characters who face the Journey. Still, what's in a title?
This book is replete with humour, both obvious and subtle. It would help if you had a certain understanding of Chinese History and culture in your reading of this book to understand the many references contained within. However, even if you don't know a jot about anything to do with China, you will still find this book immensely enjoyable and full of quotable wisdoms.
It details first the story of the birth of monkey and his fate and then the birth of "Tripitaka" and then begins the Journey to the West. It might often appear a bit disjointed, leaping around topics. For example, you begin with the story of Monkey, and are then thrown into a (seemingly) completely unrelated topic. But the way Wu Cheng'An has worked all these plots into a coherent story is truly brilliant. Instead of finding it disjointed, I found the the jumps kept the book very exciting. While there are certain parts of the plot which I assume are composed according to the epic style of the time (for example, all the battles take place in rounds, or bouts, and seem to follow a standardised format of engage and retreat/chase), these don't detract anything from the novel to one who is used to epic literature (for example, the battles in the Iliad followed a pattern).
In following the path of Tripitaka, Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy you invariably pick your favourite for each has their own individual personalities and stock epithets. Pigsy is fat and glutenous and fights with a rake (!) and perhaps is one of the funniest charicatures in the book. Monkey is a mischief maker, both loveable and naughty with fabulous powers. Sandy... doesn't really do much. Tripitaka is hilarious simply because he is portrayed as the hero of this book but spends most of his time being rescued by his disciples! It truly is riotous.
Thus, even if you fail to understand the relationships of the San Jiao (Three teachings of Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism)or the nature of the bureaucracy (the way heaven mimics earth), you will still find this one of the funniest reads of your life.
Enjoy!
(The other three classics of Chinese literature are The Three Kingdoms, The Story of the Stone/Dream of the Red Chamber and The Outlaws of the Marsh and I highly recommend all of them)

91 people found this helpful

Nigel Danby

Come for the 70s TV nostalgia, stay for the story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 15, 2023

Verified Purchase

This book doesn't pretend to be a full translation of "Journey to the West," it just keeps the funny and exciting bits that keep the story moving. I'm not a scholar of the Chinese language or Chinese history by any means, but there's some serious satire going on here, with the bureaucracy and shennanigans of the Chinese court reflected in the Court of Heaven with its cast of gods, monsters and spirits. I also learned a lot (entirely by accident, the best kind of learning) about what different animals mean in Chinese culture. Well, pigs and monkeys anyway.

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