Journey to West, Journey to Enjoyment
By shirly on 2016-04-11

Traditional Chinese literature, as a carrier of history and token of culture, always plays an importand role during the long development and evolution of China. Among it, many outstanding masterpieces of novels occurs, with four major Chinese classical novels being the most accepted and recognized, namely the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, A Dream in Red Mansions and Water Margin.  They are so wide-spreading that even a little child can tell the stories of them. And today, I will introduce the most ineresting one ----Journey to the West. You may be keen on fantastic novels, then this novel is a good choice because it tells stories of immortals and monsters.

The story is unfolded with the born of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong. He is breeded from a stone, which contains some immortal breath. With this, he has omnipotent power. Therefore, he calls himself the Handsome Monkey King and the Great Sage Equalling Heaven, which annoys the gods in the heaven, who finally ask the Buddha for help when the Monkey King creates a tremendous uproar on the heaven. The Monkey King is then suppressed under the Five Finger Mountain of the Buddha and later is saved by Xuanzang. And he finally becomes a follower of Xuanzang and escort him to obtain Buddhist Scriptures in India. During the trip, there are many demons and ghosts who want to capture Xuanzang and eat his meat for an immortal life or marry with him. Besides, during the trip, Xuanzang subdues another 3 followers ---- the Pig, Monk Sand and White Dragon Horse. They are all appointed by the Goddess of Mercy to escort Xuanzang to obtain Buddist Scriptures in India to make up for their sins. Everytime when Xuanzang is trapped by demons and ghosts, the Monkey King will always rescue him out of danger with his wisdom and power.

In this five-people team, contradiction is inevitable as each one has their own features and almost everyon has shortcomings. The Monkey King is keen on his own achievements and likes to be admired. He is so proud that he can not bear any blame or defame. He is decisive and brave so he never show any mercy to the one that is harmful. However, Xuanzang is typical monk who is softhearted. He stresses the main idea of Buddihsm ---- ahimsa. As a result, quarrels always occurs when their opinions clash. And with the fuel of the gluttonous and lazy Pig, usually the Monkey King is the one pissed off. There is a typical scene of this kind of situation in Three Strikes of Skeleton Demon. The Skeleton Demon appears three times as members of a family and every time she is seen through by the Monkey’s Golden Eys and striken by him. But in Xuanzang’s eyes, she is just an ordinary girl, a kind granny and an old man and the Monkey King kills the mortals. He is annoyed by the Monkey King’s such behavior and drives him off in the persuasion of the Pig.  But later, Xuanzang is captured by the demon. However, finally, with the persuasion of the Pig, the Monkey King agrees to help rescue Xuanzang.

The novel is full of interesting depictions and funny stories. The characteristics in the novel are all endowed with vivid features. They are doing brilliant thing, but they are not detached. They also have shortcomings like ordinary people and difficulties they can not handle, which makes the story real and readable. And with great Imagination, the novel is beyond other novels for its fantasy. As usually classic novels are all composed of themes of seriousness, the novel of a relaxing topis will undoubtedly stand out. It is the success of this novel.

For its wide-spreadness and acceptability, the novel has been translated to many different languages and adaptted into TV dramas or movies. In China, there are several different versions of TV dramas of this theme, among which some are underllined the hero the Monkey King, which is known to all for his braveness and brightness. In Japan, there is also a TV drama about Journey to West, and even in America, which has a totally different culture background from China, the novel is adaptted into a movie, from which the popularity of the novel is evident.

In conclusion, Journey to West, as one of the four major Chinese classic novels, is a must for Chinese culture glutton. While reading, a splendid world is unfolded in front of your eyes.