Traditional Chinese legend, retold in simple Mandarin
Journey to the West: The Monkey King
西游记：美猴王
Journey to the West: The Monkey King (西游记：美猴王, Xīyóujì: Měi Hóuwáng) is a story from Journey to the West, the Chinese classic by Wu Cheng'en, retold in simple Mandarin as an 8-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 1 (Beginner).
Retold from Wu Cheng'en's classic novel Journey to the West: a monkey born from a stone becomes a king, crosses the sea to find a teacher, and takes the Dragon King's greatest treasure.
Meet the voices
- Narrator · 旁白 — An old storyteller who has told the Monkey King's story by the fire more times than he can count.
- Sun Wukong · 孙悟空 — A monkey born from a stone: cheeky, brave, proud and funny, and afraid of only one thing, growing old.
- Old Monkey · 老猴 — The oldest monkey on Flower Fruit Mountain, who knows a little about everything and loves his young king like a grandson.
- Little Monkey · 小猴 — The smallest monkey on the mountain, who says out loud whatever all the other monkeys are thinking.
- Master Subodhi · 须菩提祖师 — An ancient master of the Way on a faraway mountain, who can see straight through his cleverest student.
- Fellow student · 师兄 — One of the master's older students, who is dying to see what the new monkey can do.
- Dragon King of the Eastern Sea · 东海龙王 — The proud old ruler of the Eastern Sea, whose underwater palace is full of treasures and who is not used to visitors like this one.
8 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: The Stone Monkey
石猴
High on Flower Fruit Mountain sits a very old stone. One morning it cracks open, and something jumps out with gold light in its eyes.
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Chapter 2: The Water Curtain Cave
水帘洞
The monkeys find a roaring waterfall, and the old monkey makes a promise: whoever goes through it and comes back will be their king.
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Chapter 3: I Don't Want to Grow Old
我不想老
Years of feasts and fun in the Water Curtain Cave. Then, in the middle of a party, the Monkey King begins to cry.
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Chapter 4: Finding a Teacher
找师父
The Monkey King sails into a world of people, clothes and towns. Somewhere out there lives an immortal. Can a monkey find him?
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Chapter 5: Seventy-Two Changes
七十二变
Wukong learns faster than anyone on the mountain. The other students have one request: show us.
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Chapter 6: One Somersault
一个筋斗云
Sent away by his master, Wukong must keep one promise forever. Then he leaps onto his cloud and heads for home.
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Chapter 7: The Dragon King's Treasure
龙王的宝贝
Wukong needs a weapon fit for a Monkey King. Deep under the Eastern Sea, the Dragon King has a whole palace full of them.
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Chapter 8: The Monkey King Comes Home
美猴王回家
Wukong brings home the strangest treasure the monkeys have ever seen, and Flower Fruit Mountain throws its biggest party yet.
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Key words in Journey to the West: The Monkey King
Behind the story
Journey to the West (西游记) is one of China's Four Great Classical Novels. Its oldest surviving edition was printed in 1592, and it is usually credited to Wu Cheng'en. It follows a monk on his long road to India, with a magic monkey as his bodyguard. This book retells its first three chapters: how that monkey came to be.
Sun Wukong (孙悟空), the Monkey King, is one of the best-loved heroes in Chinese culture: clever, cheeky and afraid of nothing. Chinese children meet him early, because the story of his birth is taught in primary school as 猴王出世, “The Monkey King Is Born.”
Did you know?
- His teacher gave him the surname 孙 because he looked like a 猢狲 (húsūn), an old word for monkey. Take the “animal” side off the character 狲 and 孙 is what's left.
- One somersault on his cloud carries him 十万八千里, 108,000 li. People still use the number for anything far off: an answer that is 差了十万八千里 is miles off the mark.
- Lianyungang, in Jiangsu province, has a real 花果山 that calls itself the Monkey King's home, complete with a 水帘洞 cave.