The Final Room

Lore & Background

The novel is a fictionalized account of the pilgrimage of the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who went on a 19-year journey to India in the 7th century AD to seek Buddhist scriptures. It retains the broad outline of Xuanzang's own account, Records of the Western Regions, but embellishes it with fantasy elements from folk tales and the author's invention. The story begins with the earlier exploits of Sun Wukong, a monkey born on Flower Fruit Mountain from a stone egg, who learns Tao, 72 polymorphic transformations, combat, and secrets of immortality. Wukong is tasked by Bodhisattva Guanyin and the Buddha to become Tang Sanzang's first disciple, journeying with him to India along with three other disciples: Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and the White Dragon Horse.

Reader's Guide

The novel has 100 chapters divided into four unequal parts. The first part (chapters 1–7) deals entirely with the earlier exploits of Sun Wukong, including his rebellion against Heaven and his imprisonment under a mountain for 500 years. The rest of the novel follows the pilgrimage to a mythical version of India, where the travelers find enlightenment through the power and virtue of cooperation.

Did You Know?

• The earliest surviving edition of Journey to the West was published in 1592 in Nanjing.
• The novel is a progenitor to the xianxia literary genre that combines martial arts with high fantasy.
• Arthur Waley's 1942 abridged translation is titled Monkey.