About

I have always been fascinated by this Chinese classic, Journey to the West (西遊記), one of only four chosen from the vast annals of Chinese literature. (The other three classics are: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Outlaws of the Marsh, and A Dream of Red Mansions.) It was written by Wu Cheng’en (吳承恩) during the Ming Dynasty (明朝 1368–1644) and reads like an incredible fantasy novel like Lord of the Rings. Sadly though, as an epic tale, it is long, laborious, and full of detail that unless you take your time to study it, especially with others, much of the character’s depth is lost to the many antics and superpowers the gods and demons wield with wild abandon as Sun Wukong and friends travel to India to get the Buddhist scriptures.

It is my personal wish, therefore, to humbly help the uninitiated, or to those who want to know and understand more about the Monkey King (Sun Wukong) beyond the cartoonish hype, in this blog.  After all, with a name like that: “Sun” implies his origin as a monkey, and “Wukong” means aware of  emptiness, the book is obviously much more than just fun battles.

In fact, there are many gems of thought in this journey where “The way is simple, but simplicity is not stupidity. It needs awareness. A youth who leans carelessly over an abyss, even if he’s looking for water, is a fool. However, a mountain standing above the precipice stays calm; it is in its proper place.”

Links to the Artists

Most of the illustrations in the posts are not mine and are attributed accordingly and linked to the purchase page if there is one. However, if you are one of the artists/illustrators and would like your work removed, please just drop me a note and I’ll do it promptly.