Cookie Consent by Privacy Policies website the year of monkey Archives - Notizen über China Jiangying Purucker-Zhang - Chinesisch-Lehrerin in München - Niwota.de / Über mich

The Year of Monkey and the “Journey to the west”

From today starts Chinese agriculture year: the year of the Monkey. So the monkey topic is very hot in China and the whole world, as well as the story: Journey to the west.

“Journey to the west” is a book written by Wu, Cheng’en in Ming dynasty in 16th century. It is one of the four classical Chinese literatures.

In the story, a Buddhist monk Tang Xuanzang in Tang dynasty traveled to the western region (India) in order to obtain sacred texts (sūtras). But the journey was difficult and with much suffering. So the Buddha provided him with four protectors: Sun Wukong (a monkey), Zhu Wuneng (a pig), Sha Wujin (a water buffalo) and a white horse.

This book has been adopted into TV series for many times. The version from 1986 is the most popular one. These series have influenced a whole generation. Nearly on every summer holidays, when the children stay at home escaping from the hotness, the series have brought them so much fun. The actor of the Monkey, Liuxiaolingtong, and his family are specialized on playing monkeys for four generations. Let’s have a look at the actor today, is he still as fit as in the series? Here is his new year’s performance.