The Five Treasures (五宝)

April 16, 2020

Our band of travelers arrives at Level Top Mountain and encounters their most powerful adversaries yet: Great King Golden Horn and his younger brother Great King Silver Horn. These two monsters, assisted by their elderly mother and hundreds of well-armed demons, attempt to capture and liquefy Sun Wukong, and eat the Tang monk and his other disciples. Led by Sun Wukong, the travelers desperately battle their foes through a combination of trickery, deception and magic,…

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The Monster’s Secret (妖怪的秘密)

The Buddhist monk Tangseng and his ragtag band of disciples come upon a strange pagoda in a mountain forest. Inside they discover the fearsome Yellow Robed Monster, living a quiet life with his wife and their two children. Unfortunately the monster has a bad habit of ambushing and eating travelers. The ancient and powerful monkey king Sun Wukong, the monk Tangseng and his other disciples find themselves drawn into a story of timeless love and…

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The Magic Ginseng Tree (神奇的人参树)

Tangseng and his disciples have been traveling for two or three years. They arrive at a secluded mountain monastery which turns out to be the home of a powerful master named Zhenyuan and an ancient and magical ginseng tree. As usual, the travelers’ search for a nice hot meal and a place to sleep quickly turns into a disaster. Although Zhenyuan has gone away for a few days, he has left his two youngest disciples…

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The Emperor in Hell (狱里的皇帝)

This story starts innocently enough, with two good friends chatting as they walk home after eating and drinking at a local inn.  One of the men, a fisherman, tells his friend about a fortune-teller who advises him on where to find fish.  This seemingly harmless conversation between two minor characters triggers a series of events that eventually cost the life of a supposedly immortal being, and cause the great Tang Emperor himself to be dragged…

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The Young Monk (小和尚)

In this book we tell the story of the monk Xuanzang’s birth and early years. Our story begins with the Buddha’s decision to bring his wisdom to China. Then we meet Xuanzang’s father and mother and learn about their terrible ordeals around the time of his birth. Finally we jump ahead to when Xuanzang turns eighteen, learns of his true parentage, and avenges his parents. This is the 4th book in the best-selling The Journey…

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The Immortal Peaches (仙桃)

Once again the Monkey King’s unlimited ambitions and uncontrolled appetites land him in deep trouble. He is given a job in heaven taking care of the Emperor’s Garden of Immortal Peaches, but he can’t stop himself from eating all the peaches. He impersonates a great Immortal and crashes a party in Heaven, stealing the guests’ food and drink and barely escaping to his loyal troop of monkeys back on Earth. And in the end, he…

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Trouble in Heaven (天宫里找麻烦)

Things begin to unravel for Sun Wukong as he sees the consequences of his outrageous actions. While trying to defend his troop of monkeys, he manages to offend the underwater Dragon King, the Dragon Kong’s mother, all ten Kings of the Underworld, and the great Jade Emperor himself. Finally, goaded by a couple of troublemaking demons, he goes too far, calling himself the Great Sage Equal to Heaven and setting events in motion that cause…

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The Journey Begins (西游开始)

The young monk Xuanzang sets out on his westward journey. His journey is difficult and filled with dangers. He runs into trouble immediately when he is captured and nearly killed by the Monster King and his ogres. He escapes with the help of a mysterious old man, only to be attacked on the road later by tigers, snakes and more monsters. Eventually he meets the Monkey King, Sun Wukong. Together they face bandits and wild…

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The Rise of the Monkey King (猴王的诞生)

This book is a retelling, in easy-to-read Chinese, of the legendary story of how a little stone monkey was born, became king of his troop of monkeys, left his home to pursue enlightenment, received the name Sun Wukong (literally, “ape seeking the void”) from his teacher, and returned home to defend his subjects from a ravenous monster. Sun Wukong, the Handsome Monkey King, is one of the most famous characters in Chinese literature and culture. …

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The Three Beautiful Daughters (三个漂亮的女儿)

The river-dwelling monster Sha Wujing was once the Curtain Raising Captain, but was banished from heaven by the Yellow Emperor for breaking an extremely valuable cup during a drunken visit to the Peach Festival. Later, the band of pilgrims arrive at a beautiful home seeking a simple vegetarian meal and a place to stay for the night. What they encounter instead is a lovely and wealthy widow and her three even more lovely daughters. This…

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