Journey to the West

The Monkey King's pilgrimage: Wu Cheng'en's Ming novel of the monk Xuanzang's road to India.

Specifications & Metrics

author

Attributed to Wu Cheng'en

type

Classical adventure novel

era

Ming China (published 1590s)

language

Classical Chinese

setting

Tang China and the Buddhist heavens and hells

parts

100 chapters

Relative Scale in Novels

Core Principles & Analysis

• It fictionalizes the real seventh-century pilgrimage of the monk Xuanzang.
• Sun Wukong, the Stone Monkey, is one of world literature's great tricksters.
• The 1590s printed edition is the first dated version of many.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Journey to the West