Synopsis
"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 become a spirit. Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy are rewarded with immortality before they return to China with the scriptures." (Wikipedia)
Notes
Originally published during the 1590's. The first printed publications made no mention of an author. Nowadays, it is usually attributed to Wu Cheng'en. See the Wikipedia entry for Journey to the West for additional details on dating and authorship.
Arthur Waley's preface to his 1942 translation includes details about earlier partial translations into English. Specifically:
- Extracts from abridgments of the book were given in Herbert Giles' ''History of Chinese Literature'' (1901);
- Similar extracts were given in Timothy Richard's ''A Mission to Heaven'' (1913);