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There are several excellent books for people learning to read Chinese, and also some great books to read if you’re interested in learning more about the classic story Journey to the West. Here are our favorites:
BOOKS ABOUT JOURNEY TO THE WEST
A wonderful translation by Anthony C. Yu, this is the English version that we used as our primary reference while writing our Journey to the West series.With over a hundred chapters written in both prose and poetry, The Journey to the West has always been a complicated and difficult text to render in English while preserving the lyricism of its language and the content of its plot. But Yu has successfully taken on the task, and in this new edition he has made his translations even more accurate and accessible. The explanatory notes are updated and augmented, and Yu has added new material to his introduction, based on his original research as well as on the newest literary criticism and scholarship on Chinese religious traditions. He has also modernized the transliterations included in each volume, using the Pinyin romanization system. Perhaps most important, Yu has made changes to the translation itself in order to make it as precise as possible.
BOOKS FOR LEARNING TO READ CHINESE
Our favorite story book for people learning to read Chinese, except for ours of course! This short book is a retelling in simple language of one of the most popular Chinese folk tales, that of the star-crossed lovers known as the Herd Boy and the Weaving Maid. This book uses a limited vocabulary of just under 200 different characters.
“Anna Mei Banfa!” is a short, simple novel in Chinese characters and Pinyin that emphasizes and repeats the highest-frequency words and phrases of the language while telling a story. It tells the story of Anna, a high school freshman living in upstate New York, who is frustrated with her family and her problems.
Another easy reader by Terry Waltz. Everyone should have a bucket list, but when your particular bucket happens to be the trash can, getting through your to-dos and into the affections of the girl you like can be tough. Will Tom’s strategy and the items on his list be enough to overcome the fact that in tennis, love is zero?