journey to the west volume 1

• Politics, Philosophy & Social Sciences
• Social Sciences
• Communication Studies

Your Amazon Prime 30-day FREE trial includes:

Unlimited Premium Delivery is available to Amazon Prime members. To join, select "Yes, I want a free trial with FREE Premium Delivery on this order." above the Add to Basket button and confirm your Amazon Prime free trial sign-up.

Important:  Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, you will be charged £95/year for Prime (annual) membership or £8.99/month for Prime (monthly) membership.

Buy new: .savingPriceOverride { color:#CC0C39!important; font-weight: 300!important; } .reinventMobileHeaderPrice { font-weight: 400; } #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPriceSavingsPercentageMargin, #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPricePriceToPayMargin { margin-right: 4px; } £24.79 £ 24 . 79 FREE delivery Friday, 3 May Dispatches from: Amazon Sold by: Amazon

Return this item for free.

Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. For a full refund with no deduction for return shipping, you can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition.

• Go to your orders and start the return
• Select the return method

Save with Used - Good .savingPriceOverride { color:#CC0C39!important; font-weight: 300!important; } .reinventMobileHeaderPrice { font-weight: 400; } #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPriceSavingsPercentageMargin, #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPricePriceToPayMargin { margin-right: 4px; } £19.90 £ 19 . 90 £2.80 delivery 3 - 7 May Dispatches from: smasterson451 Sold by: smasterson451

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet or computer – no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 1 Paperback – Illustrated, 21 Dec. 2012

Purchase options and add-ons.

Anthony C. Yu’s translation of The Journey to the West ,initially published in 1983, introduced English-speaking audiences to the classic Chinese novel in its entirety for the first time. Written in the sixteenth century, The Journey to the West tells the story of the fourteen-year pilgrimage of the monk Xuanzang, one of China’s most famous religious heroes, and his three supernatural disciples, in search of Buddhist scriptures. Throughout his journey, Xuanzang fights demons who wish to eat him, communes with spirits, and traverses a land riddled with a multitude of obstacles, both real and fantastical. An adventure rich with danger and excitement, this seminal work of the Chinese literary canonis by turns allegory, satire, and fantasy.

With over a hundred chapters written in both prose and poetry, The Journey to the West has always been a complicated and difficult text to render in English while preserving the lyricism of its language and the content of its plot. But Yu has successfully taken on the task, and in this new edition he has made his translations even more accurate and accessible. The explanatory notes are updated and augmented, and Yu has added new material to his introduction, based on his original research as well as on the newest literary criticism and scholarship on Chinese religious traditions. He has also modernized the transliterations included in each volume, using the now-standard Hanyu Pinyin romanization system. Perhaps most important, Yu has made changes to the translation itself in order to make it as precise as possible. One of the great works of Chinese literature, The Journey to the West is not only invaluable to scholars of Eastern religion and literature, but, in Yu’s elegant rendering, also a delight for any reader.

• ISBN-10 022681680X
• ISBN-13 978-0226816807
• Edition Revised
• Publisher University of Chicago Press
• Publication date 21 Dec. 2012
• Book 1 of 4 The Journey to the West Series
• Language English
• Dimensions 15.24 x 3.56 x 22.86 cm
• Print length 572 pages
• See all details

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Product description

About the author, product details.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0226971325
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Chicago Press; Revised edition (21 Dec. 2012)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 572 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 022681680X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0226816807
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 3.56 x 22.86 cm
• 614 in Satires
• 1,388 in Spiritual Literature & Fiction

About the author

Cheng'en wu.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings, help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyses reviews to verify trustworthiness.

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from United Kingdom

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• UK Modern Slavery Statement
• Sustainability
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell on Amazon Business
• Sell on Amazon Handmade
• Sell on Amazon Launchpad
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect and build your brand
• Associates Programme
• Fulfilment by Amazon
• Seller Fulfilled Prime
• Advertise Your Products
• Independently Publish with Us
• Host an Amazon Hub
• › See More Make Money with Us
• Instalments by Barclays
• Amazon Platinum Mastercard
• Amazon Classic Mastercard
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Payment Methods Help
• Shop with Points
• Top Up Your Account
• Top Up Your Account in Store
• COVID-19 and Amazon
• Track Packages or View Orders
• Delivery Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Amazon Mobile App
• Customer Service
• Accessibility
• Conditions of Use & Sale
• Privacy Notice
• Cookies Notice
• Interest-Based Ads Notice

The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 1

Translated and Edited by Anthony C. Yu

576 pages | 1 halftone, 3 line drawings | 6 x 9 | © 2012

Asian Studies: East Asia

Literature and Literary Criticism: Asian Languages

• Table of contents
• Author Events

Related Titles

Table of contents, a certain justice, the passion book.

Gendun Chopel

The Rise and Fall of Modern Japanese Literature

John Whittier Treat

For Dignity, Justice, and Revolution

Norma Field

Be the first to know

Get the latest updates on new releases, special offers, and media highlights when you subscribe to our email lists!

Sign up here for updates about the Press

Journey to the West: Volume I

85 pages • 2 hours read

The Journey to the West: Volume I

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-15

Chapters 16-20

Chapters 21-25

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

The Journey to the West: Volume I (1983) , translated and edited by Anthony C. Yu, contains the first 25 chapters of a 100-chapter hero’s epic , an allegory designed to impart knowledge on how to behave and what values to extol. Originally published in the late 16th century during the late Ming Dynasty, this epic is “loosely based on the famous pilgrimage of Xuanzang…the monk who went from China to India in quest of Buddhist scriptures” (1). Xuanzang lived from approximately 596 to the year 664. This journey was part of a movement of pilgrimages to the west for universal truth imparted by Buddha. There are two original components to the text, one attributed to the author Yang Zhihe, the other attributed to the compiler Zhu Dingchen.  

For an abridged translation of Wu Cheng'en's full work, please refer to the study guide for Monkey: A Folk Novel of China (1942), translated by Arthur Waley.

Get access to this full Study Guide and much more!

• 7,550+ In-Depth Study Guides
• 4,900+ Quick-Read Plot Summaries
• Downloadable PDFs

Plot Summary

Shortly after the formation of the universe, a monkey is born from an immortal stone, possessing the traits of both the Yin and Yang. He becomes a king of other monkeys , and then trains in the Way, a Daoist discipline which earns him the ability to travel great distances with ease and to transform himself. Unfortunately, he angers his master and is cast out, at which point his selfishness and greed take hold of him. He develops an inferiority complex that leads to his offending Heaven. To get him under control, the ruler of Heaven—the Jade Emperor—offers him a fake title and gifts. When the monkey offends Heaven again, he flees to Earth, where a Heavenly army pursues him. 

The SuperSummary difference

• 8x more resources than SparkNotes and CliffsNotes combined
• Study Guides you won ' t find anywhere else
• 100+ new titles every month

Wukong defies this army, until the Emperor’s nephew Erlang and the highest sage, Laozi, work together to trap him. The Jade Emperor sentences Wukong to death. Wukong is captured by the Buddha, Tathāgata , and imprisoned by five mountains on the promise that he can one day redeem himself. Guanyin and Hui’an leave to find the pilgrim that Tathāgata calls for to quest for knowledge, and Guanyin promises three monsters—and Wukong—opportunities for redemption. For Wukong, he will have to serve the pilgrim. The pilgrim, Xuanzang, grows up an orphan named and raised by a monk. He learns the Way, and when he’s 18, he finds out who his parents were and how they were wronged by bandits. He avenges his parents, and after his mother’s suicide, Xuanzang returns to the monastic lifestyle.

Emperor Tang Taizong is supposed to save the Dragon King from execution after the Dragon King ruins a fortune teller, but he fails because the executioner and judge, Wei, kills the Dragon King while dreaming. Taizong dies of sadness, and in the Underworld, promises to send food and hold a mass for the trapped souls so they can be reborn—he’s then sent back to the world of the living because he still has another 20 years to live. Taizong makes good on his promises.

At a mass sanctioned by Taizong and led by Xuanzang, Guanyin shows up and announces the quest to the west; Xuanzang volunteers. Xuanzang, also called Tripitaka, is helped along his journey and in return, saves a man’s father’s spirit. The man then agrees to guide him; when they are on a mountain, they hear Wukong cry out for his master. Tripitaka frees Wukong; they’re attacked, and Wukong kills the bandits attacking them. Tripitaka chides him, and Wukong flees. Guanyin helps Tripitaka control Wukong, who now goes by Pilgrim. Later, they gain control of the dragon that Guanyin promised redemption to when she turns it into a horse. Along their journey, Pilgrim is becoming a better soul, but he still has lessons to learn, such as how to curb his pride and vanity—a lesson he must learn when the abbot at the monastery of Guanyin tries to steal Tripitaka’s holy cassock because Pilgrim wanted to show it off.

Pilgrim and Guanyin work together to subdue a bear monster and regain the heavenly cassock for Tripitaka; Guanyin reminds Pilgrim to be good and not lazy. Despite this, Pilgrim continues to cause trouble for the remainder of Volume I of The Journey to the West , though as the entire epic contains 100 chapters, and Volume I is only the first 25, the monkey still has time to achieve redemption and enlightenment.

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now

Related Titles

By these authors

Monkey: A Folk Novel of China

Wu Cheng'en, Transl. Arthur Waley

Featured Collections

Chinese Studies

View Collection

Good & Evil

Order & Chaos

Pride & Shame

The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 1: Volume 1

About this ebook, ratings and reviews.

• Flag inappropriate

About the author

Rate this ebook, reading information, more by anthony c. yu.

Similar ebooks

• Literature & Fiction
• Genre Fiction

Enjoy Prime FREE for 30 days

Here's what Amazon Prime has to offer:

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet or computer – no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera, scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video, download Flash Player

Follow the author

The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 1 (Volume 1) Paperback – Illustrated, Dec 21 2012

Purchase options and add-ons.

Anthony C. Yu’s translation of The Journey to the West ,initially published in 1983, introduced English-speaking audiences to the classic Chinese novel in its entirety for the first time. Written in the sixteenth century, The Journey to the West tells the story of the fourteen-year pilgrimage of the monk Xuanzang, one of China’s most famous religious heroes, and his three supernatural disciples, in search of Buddhist scriptures. Throughout his journey, Xuanzang fights demons who wish to eat him, communes with spirits, and traverses a land riddled with a multitude of obstacles, both real and fantastical. An adventure rich with danger and excitement, this seminal work of the Chinese literary canonis by turns allegory, satire, and fantasy.

With over a hundred chapters written in both prose and poetry, The Journey to the West has always been a complicated and difficult text to render in English while preserving the lyricism of its language and the content of its plot. But Yu has successfully taken on the task, and in this new edition he has made his translations even more accurate and accessible. The explanatory notes are updated and augmented, and Yu has added new material to his introduction, based on his original research as well as on the newest literary criticism and scholarship on Chinese religious traditions. He has also modernized the transliterations included in each volume, using the now-standard Hanyu Pinyin romanization system. Perhaps most important, Yu has made changes to the translation itself in order to make it as precise as possible. One of the great works of Chinese literature, The Journey to the West is not only invaluable to scholars of Eastern religion and literature, but, in Yu’s elegant rendering, also a delight for any reader.

• Book 1 of 4 The Journey to the West Series
• Print length 576 pages
• Language English
• Publisher University of Chicago Press
• Publication date Dec 21 2012
• Dimensions 15.24 x 3.56 x 22.86 cm
• ISBN-10 022681680X
• ISBN-13 978-0226816807
• See all details

Frequently bought together

More items to explore

Product description

About the author.

Anthony C. Yu is the Carl Darling Buck Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Humanities and Professor, The Divinity School, Departments of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, English Language and Literature, Comparative Literature, and the Committee on Social Thought, The University of Chicago.

Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0226971325
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Chicago Press; Revised edition (Dec 21 2012)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 576 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 022681680X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0226816807
• Item weight ‏ : ‎ 879 g
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 3.56 x 22.86 cm
• #25,211 in Genre Fiction (Books)

About the author

Cheng'en wu.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from Canada

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..