Traditional Chinese legend, retold in simple Mandarin
Journey to the West: Red Boy
西游记：红孩儿
Journey to the West: Red Boy (西游记：红孩儿, Xīyóujì: Hóng Hái'ér) is a story from Journey to the West, the Chinese classic by Wu Cheng'en, retold in simple Mandarin as a 5-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 2 (Elementary).
Retold from Wu Cheng'en's classic novel: a crying boy tied to a tree is a trap, and his fire is one that water only feeds. Can Wukong save his master from the Bull Demon King's son?
Meet the voices
- Narrator · 旁白 — An old storyteller who tells how the Monkey King met Red Boy.
- Sun Wukong · 孙悟空 — The Monkey King, Tang Seng's first disciple: his golden eyes see through any disguise, and he loves a clever trick.
- Tang Seng · 唐僧 — A gentle, soft-hearted monk on the long road west, who cannot bear to see anyone hurt.
- Zhu Bajie · 猪八戒 — The pig-faced second disciple: lazy, greedy, always hungry and always complaining.
- Sha Wujing · 沙悟净 — The quiet third disciple, steady and loyal, who says little and sees a lot.
- Mountain God · 山神 — A small nervous god who looks after the local mountains.
- The Crying Boy · 哭的孩子 — A small boy tied to a tree who begs for help, and is not what he seems.
- Red Boy · 红孩儿 — The Bull Demon King's proud young son, who rides fire wheels and burns with Samadhi fire.
- Wukong as the Bull Demon King · 假牛魔王 — Wukong in disguise, booming like a father but forgetting the one thing a real father knows.
- Guanyin · 观音 — The kind, calm goddess of mercy, who has a gentle plan for every problem.
- Shancai · 善财 — Red Boy after Guanyin gives him a new name: polite, ashamed of his old ways and eager to be kind.
- The Little Demon · 小妖 — One of Red Boy's helpers, who pretends to be a kind old woman with a basket of hot buns.
5 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: The Crying Boy
哭的孩子
On a lonely mountain, a boy is tied to a tree and crying for help. Wukong says it is a trap, but Master Tang Seng will not listen.
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Chapter 2: The Fire That Water Feeds
水火之战
Wukong learns who Red Boy is and tries the old-friends trick. Then Red Boy's terrible red fire shows him that water is no help at all.
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Chapter 3: The Wrong Father
假爸爸
Bajie goes off alone and is tricked by food. Wukong tries dressing as the Bull Demon King, but Red Boy has one question he cannot answer.
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Chapter 4: The Lotus Seat
莲花座
Wukong flies to the Southern Sea to beg Guanyin for help. She has a plan for Red Boy, and it begins with a very pretty lotus flower.
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Chapter 5: The New Helper
新朋友
Red Boy is stuck on the lotus and must choose what kind of child to be. Then the travelers hit a hot road that Wukong does not want to walk.
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Key words in Journey to the West: Red Boy
Behind the story
Journey to the West (西游记) was written by Wu Cheng'en in the 1500s. It follows the monk Tang Seng and his three disciples on the long road to bring holy books from India to China.
In this adventure, the pilgrims meet Red Boy (红孩儿), the young son of the Bull Demon King. Chinese children know him from books, cartoons and TV shows, and the story of the boy who cannot be beaten by water is one of the best loved in the novel.
Did you know?
- In the novel, Red Boy's fire is called Samadhi fire (三昧真火), and only Guanyin can stop him.
- Guanyin (观音) is one of the most loved figures in Chinese culture, known as a goddess of mercy who listens to those who suffer.
- After his defeat, Red Boy becomes Shancai (善财), a young helper who stands beside Guanyin in many temple statues and paintings.