吴承恩 Boeken

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 Hs�an-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.

Journey to the West is one of the Greatest Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Originally published in the 1590s during the Ming Dynasty, by Wu Cheng'en. The novel is a mythical story of the legends around a Chinese Buddhist monk's quest to India to obtain Buddhist religious text. The monk and has four animal protectors- disciples — namely the Monkey King, Pigsy the Pig, a River Demon and a Dragon prince who acts as the monk's horse. These four characters have agreed to help the monk as an atonement for past sins. Part of the novel's enduring popularity comes from the fact that it works on multiple levels: it is an adventure story, a dispenser of spiritual insight, and an extended allegory in which the group of pilgrims journeying toward India stands for the individual journeying toward enlightenment.