The Journey to the West Questions and Answers
The Journey to the West
How are Xuanzang, Monkey, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing changed by the journey to the west in The Journey to the West?
The measure of change the characters have undergone is evident in how well they have learned the lessons needed for their individual illuminations and thus by the status awarded each by the Buddha...
The Journey to the West
Why does the old turtle dump travelers from his back halfway across the river in The Journey to The West?
When Sanzang and his disciples are kindly carried across the River of Heaven to the West bank by the the Ancient Soft-Shelled Turtle, the Turtle asks that Sanzang ask Tathagata Buddha about his...
The Journey to the West
Why does Buddha not give Zhu Bajie the title of Buddha in The Journey to the West?
In the novel, Buddha does not give Zhu Bajie the title because he asserts that Bajie has not yet attained victory over his weaknesses. You guarded the holy monk on his journey, but your heart is...
The Journey to the West
Summarize the plot to Journey to the West.
The plot of Journey to the West concerns Tang Sanzang's quest to bring Buddhist scriptures from India to China. Early in the narrative, the Emperor Taizong sends the monk Tang Sanzang on a...
The Journey to the West
What happens at the Child-and-Mother River?
After crossing the river, Tripitaka and Pa-chieh feel thirsty. When they see how clear the water of the river is, they both drink some. Soon they both start to feel intense pain in their stomachs....
The Journey to the West
List all people and characters mentioned in the story. Which of them are real?
As one of the four great classics of Chinese literature, The Journey to the West has over 2000 pages chronicling the adventures of the Buddhist monk Tang Sanzan and his companions as they go on a...
The Journey to the West
Who is the hero or the protagonist in The Journey to the West: Monkey, Guanyin, Taizong, or Tripitaka? How can you...
Of the four main protagonists in The Journey to the West, only two might qualify as true “heroes” in the mythic sense. Tripitaka, or Xuanzang, is the monk who sets off to find the sutras in India...
The Journey to the West
Are truth and justice themes in The Journey to the West?
Truth and justice are very important themes in this book. In fact, one could make the argument that they are the central themes of the book. The titular journey can be seen as an archetypal quest...
The Journey to the West
In The Journey to the West, what are examples of the Monkey's shift in character as he is on his journey to reach...
At the beginning of The Journey to the West, the Monkey, Sun Wukong, is portrayed as a brilliant, arrogant, selfish trickster, a superlative fighter with magical powers. He is insulted and rebels...
The Journey to the West
What are examples of Monkey showing a positive shift in character development on his path to enlightenment in The...
In Wu Cheng'en's The Journey to the West, Monkey is a complex character who both makes progress and backtracks during his journey to enlightenment. He is filled with curiosity and mischief, and the...
The Journey to the West
What does the warrior god Orionis do?
Orionis is a star lord who lives in the Luminescent Palace in the heavens. In chapter 55 of the book, Tripitaka is taken by a female scorpion fiend to her place of residence, the Cave of the Lute...
The Journey to the West
What happens in chapters 20 and 21 of The Journey to the West?
In The Journey to the West, Chapter 20 begins with the Tang priest encountering trouble on the Yellow Wind Ridge. Sanzang has been traveling with his followers for half a day when they reach the...
The Journey to the West
What happens to the person who wears Bodhisattva Guanyin's cassock?
The brocade cassock is originally gifted to the Boddhisatva Guanyin by the Buddha. When the Buddha hands the cassock to Guanyin, he tells her that she must present the cassock and a nine-ringed...
The Journey to the West
What new title is Zhu Bajie given for his efforts on Xuanzang's journey to the west? Is his new position a punishment...
Zhu Bajie is given the title of Altar Cleanser. This sounds more important than it is, as it simply involves clearing up after Buddhist religious services. In conferring this role upon Zhu,...
The Journey to the West
Is the journey to the West a pointless journey?
Journey to the West is a Chinese novel published in the sixteenth century during the Ming dynasty. The novel is attributed to Wu Cheng’en and is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese...
The Journey to the West
The characters in The Journey to the West are on a quest. What types of quest stories do we see in Western literature?
Quest stories have always been a part of Western literature. They may not be quite as important as they once were, but they're still to be found all the same. A great example of a modern-day quest...
The Journey to the West
In Journey to the West, how many mountains did the Monkey King encounter before he met the Immortal?
Mountains play a crucial role in the Monkey King’s journey to immortality. The Monkey King’s quest for immortality begins on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. This is the mountain on which the...
The Journey to the West
What is Zhu Bajie's new title for his efforts in Xuanzang?
Zhu Bajie's new title is Altar Cleanser. He is given this title by the Tathagata. Accordingly, Zhu Bajie once served as Marshal Tien Peng, a water god in the River of Heaven. He was an illustrious...
The Journey to the West
Which of the characters mentioned in Journey to the West are based on historical figures, and which are purely...
Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en is a sixteenth-century Chinese “novel” that fictionalizes a pilgrimage made by Buddhist monk Xuanzang (or Tang Sanzang or Hsuan Tsang depending on the spelling in...
The Journey to the West
In The Journey to the West, what are examples of when Monkey begins to change his character after he is released from...
In The Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en, Monkey is finally released from his penance under the mountain after five hundred years, but sometimes, he doesn't seem to have changed all that much, at...
The Journey to the West
Why does Tathagata want someone to go to the East?
In The Journey to the West, Buddha, also known as Tathagata, notices a varying morality of characteristics in the Four Continents of the Universe. He sees the people of the Southern Continent as...
The Journey to the West
How did Xuan Zang overcome the trials of conquering the demon creatures in The Journey to the West?
The Journey to the West was written by Wu Chengen. It is largely a collection of stories about Chinese legends and folklore. In part of the book, Xuanzang goes on an expedition in search of the...
The Journey to the West
What did Yuan Chang want to take from India in The Journey to the West?
Yuan Chang (whose name can be transcribed from Chinese in several different ways, meaning that he is sometimes called Xuanzang or Hsuan-Tsang) was a seventh-century Chinese monk who made a long...