Overview

Journey To The West is a novel about the mythical journey of the monk Sanzang, who travels from Chang'an, the Chinese capital during the Tang dynasty [618-907AD], to Buddha's Western Heaven in India, to receive the scriptures from the Buddha. He is given this task by the Bodhisattva Guan Yin, on instruction of the Buddha. Along the way, he gets help from a monkey called Sun Wukong and three other disciples Pig, Friar Sand and a horse. The story is a metaphor for the journey to enlightenment...It is based on the true story of a Buddhist monk Xuanzang (602 - 664 AD), who traveled alone to India, motivated by the poor quality of Chinese translations of Buddhist scripture at the time. Xuanzang left Chang'an in 629 AD and reached India in 630. He traveled throughout the Indian subcontinent for the next thirteen years, visiting important Buddhist pilgrimage sites and studying at the ancient university at Nalanda. Xuanzang left India in 643 and arrived back in Chang'an in 646. Gradually, stories about Xuanzang's quest for the scriptures started circulating among the people, and with the passage of time, they acquired a more and more mystical coloring. Viewing this, a Taoist Master, Liu Yiming, said simply, This is the most extraordinary Taoist book of all time. Journey To The West has been made into TV series, movies, and comic books and has been used in stage productions and operas. It has become a household name in China and also Japan. 478 pages

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