Book 79: "Monkey" by Wu Ch'eng-en (tr. Arthur Waley)

[kittiwake]

THE NATURE OF MONKEY IS IRREPRESSIBLE!
I bought this book because when I was in my early teens, the whole family used to enjoy watching the dubbed Japanese television series "Monkey" (and "The Water Margin" as well). The book starts before the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin sends Tripitaka on the long journey to India to bring Buddhist scrolls back to China, and chooses Monkey, Pigsy, Sandy and the horse that used to be a dragon to accompany him, telling the story of Monkey's eventful early life, and how governor's son Tripitaka came to be separated from his parents and grow up in a monastery.

Hsuang Tsang, aka Tripitaka, is a historical figure, who travelled to India in the 7th century A.D. to bring back Buddhist teachings to China. By the time Wu Ch'eng-en wrote his book in the 16th Century, many legends had grown up around Tripitaka's journey, and he turned them into a satire on Chinese bureaucracy as well as an adventurous tale full of supernatural dangers and demon-slaying.