Adapted & Illustrated
by Chang Boon Kiat
It’s the abridged version of Journey to the West,
which is about the holy monk Xuanzang’s pilgrimage with his disciples Sun
Wukong, Pigsy, Sandy, and White Horse to the holy realm of the Western Paradise
to fetch Sutras, and the trials and tribulations of the journey they faced
during the course of they journey.
Since most of the people actually know the story due
to the TV series about it, I’ll talk about the founts of the writer’s
inspiration which I found them quite interesting. According to the book, Wu
Cheng’ en was a very talented and learned person, but never achieved high rank.
Due to the fact that the candidates had to bribe the proctors and the examiners
in order to pass the imperial examinations. Sun Wukong’s wrecking havoc in
celestial court, or challenge of the authority were believed to express Wu
Cheng’en’s own wish for social justince, and embodied the desire of
contemporary people to escape the oppression of the corrupt Ming government.”
In addition to that the story is actually based on the true
story of Xuanzang, a Tang Dynasty monk. Some of the elements in the novel are
also believed to be inspired by something in real world, for example, in
realistic, there’re actually two “Mountains of Flowers and Fruit” in China. Wu
Cheng’ en might also get the inspiration of Flaming Mountain from a red, hot mountain
in northern Turpan, Xinjiang.
The similar thing can also be found in Harry Potter. J.K.
Rowling’s good friend Sean Harris who would drive her into countryside, when
Rowling was feeling down about her mother who suffered from multiple sclerosis
was the inspiration of Ron Weasley. Sean’s car was actually the inspiration of
the turquoise flying car rescuing Harry Potter in the beginning of Harry Potter
and the Chamber of Secrets. Severus Snape was also inspired by her teacher John
Nettleship who was very strict. There’re many other examples as well.
Based on this, and some of the novels I know, I believe
very often fictional events and characters are the results of embellished incidents
and people in author’s life, or other thing.
Of course, this abridged version is not as good as the
complete version, for various reasons, like it’s not long enough to show how
much they’ve grown, how big the trials and tribulations are, and etc. However,
I do think it’s really a great work for children or perhaps young teen readers.
Themes can also be emphasized if it was read in a classroom by a teacher.
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