The four disciples have been expelled by the Daoist Celestial Court (i.e., Heaven) due to misbehaviors, but will beaccepted by the Bodhisattva Guanyin (AKA the Goddess of Mercy) into Buddhism on condition that they promise to assist Xuanzang’s pilgrimage. The fictionalized pilgrimage as depicted in the novel sees Xuanzang accompanied by four nonhuman disciples: Monkey, Pigsy, Sandy, and Dragon Horse. 596–664) to India and has been a popular subject for storytellers since the late Tang dynasty. A Glance at The Journey to the Westĭeveloped into its full length in the sixteenth century, the 100-chapter novel The Journey to the West (The Journey hereafter) is believed to have its historical basis in the epic pilgrimage of the monk Xuanzang (c. Then, we show how various elements and incarnations of the story can be used to facilitate discussions about some outstanding aspects of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Maoist China (1949–1976), and postreform Communist China. We first show how the story may be introduced in a way that sets students’ minds for embracing the immense complexity of humanity and Chinese culture.
In this article, we show how The Journey to the West and its multiple incarnations can be used to help students unpack the complexities of China as a subject and develop a critical awareness or appreciation for a culture different from their own. Because well-told stories help us make sense of the world, instructors can use this novel as a foundational element to facilitate students’ connections with and between the various elements of the course.
The novel has been reproduced for many types of audiences in many different media, including children’s books, puppet shows, operas, comics, TV series, and movies each version is different enough to allow instructors to discuss them in the context of important Chinese historical events and cultural elements. 1 It features a rousing adventure story, which can be read as historical fiction, political satire, and religious allegory. For this purpose, the sixteenth-century novel The Journey to the West, with its many incarnations, is ideal. One way to achieve this goal is to use a rich text with many applications to help students unpack the complexities of Chinese history, language, politics, economics, and thought. In US college students’ first course on China, the challenge for instructors is to pack the maximum amount of punch into the experience so that the course will inspire them to seek more opportunities to learn about China at and beyond the college level. A nineteenth-century illustration of the character Sun Wukong (Monkey King). It depicts the four protagonists, from left to right: Sun Wukong (Monkey King), Xuanzang (on the White Dragon Horse), Zhu Bajie (Pigsy), and Sha Wujing (Sandy).
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