Monkey King

Journey to the West 西游记( Xīyóu-jì) is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.

In the novel, Buddha instructs the Bodhisattva 观音 Guānyīn to search Táng China for someone to bring the Buddhist scripture to the East. The Guānyīn, gives this task to the monk Xuánzàng and his three disciples, who undertake an arduous journey to the West, involving 81 adventures.

The novel is an entertaining adventure story, conveying moral lessons and spiritual insights, and an extended spiritual allegory in which the group of pilgrims journeying towards India represents for the individual’s journey towards enlightenment. It is also a humorous satire of then Chinese society and Chinese bureaucracy.

Adapted from: https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Journey_to_the_West on 05/05/2020.