The story of Xuanzang, the monk who went from China to India in quest of Buddhist scriptures
Anthony Yu's translation summary
Plot[]
There are 100 chapters in the original novel, roughly divided into the following arcs or parts. (Note some analyze the story in 3-4 main parts, Anthony Yu's translation has 4 volumes, etc.)
Huaguo arc (Chapters 1-x)[]
In the beginning, the Three Realms fought a war, and Nüwa sacrificed herself to save the Heavenly Palace. The demons were banished from heaven, and the Jade Emperor continued to rule the Heavens in peace.
A monkey is born from Nüwa's crystal and raised at Flowers and Fruit Mountain. Guanyin seeks to find this monkey, forseeing that it will have great powers. She sends the Buddhist monk Puti Zushi to find and train that monkey. Subhuti bestows the name Sun Wukong on the monkey.
Sun Wukong trains with Subhuti's fellow Daoists and gains great skill and power. Wukong travels to the Dragon Palace of the East Sea underwater to retrieve weapons for his fellow monkey spirits. There he obtains the Ruyi Jingu Bang from the ocean floor, which creates a huge vortex that unleashes several tsunamis in the world.
Guardian of the Southern Heavenly Gate, Erlang Shen is concerned with Wukong's growing power and sends Nezha the fire deity to tame that monkey.
Back at Huaguo, Wukong meets up with a vixen, but they are then attacked by Nezha. Wukong helps the vixen escape but is nearly captured himself, until the Bull Demon King defeats Nezha. The Bull Demon King urges Wukong to travel to the Heavenly Palace. The Demon King secretly hopes to use Wukong to stir havoc up there so that the Demon tribe can rise once more and return to Heaven.
Sun Wukong heads off to Heaven.
Havoc in Heaven's Palace (Chapters x-x)[]
Other links[]
- Translations
- Timeline
- Chapters
- Xuanzang's journey
- Videos, many youtube channels have made videos on Journey to the West