The Journey to the West: Volume I

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-5

Reading Check

1. What is the other name for the Great Benevolent Sage of Heaven?

2. What does Wukong steal to strengthen his monkey army?

3. What garden does Wukong supervise during his second job in heaven?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is the difference between yin and yang?

2. How does Wukong persuade Patriarch to teach him secret lessons that the other students do not have access to?

3. How does Wukong gain immortality for himself and the other monkeys?

4. How do Wukong’s feelings about his first job in heaven change?

Paired Resources

The Hidden Meanings of Yin and Yang

• This 4-minute TED-Ed video explains the interrelated nature of yin and yang.
• This resource relates to the themes of Good Versus Evil and the Power of Redemption, The Juxtaposition of Pride and Humility, and The Need for Order and Law Amidst Chaos.
• Among other things, The Journey to the West is a story about good and evil, pride and humility, and order and chaos. Without a strong understanding of the Taoist principles of yin and yang, how might a reader misunderstand the text’s view of these themes? How does a strong understanding of yin and yang contribute to your understanding of Sun Wukong’s character? How does it help you understand other characters’ reactions to Sun Wukong?

“Using Monkey to Teach the Religions of China”

• This article offers insights for teachers about the religious allegories in The Journey to the West. (Teacher-appropriate; not student-facing, because it contains plot spoilers)
• This resource relates to the themes of Good Versus Evil and the Power of Redemption, The Juxtaposition of Pride and Humility, and The Need for Order and Law Amidst Chaos.

Chapters 6-10

Reading Check

1. Who leads the group that captures the monkey army?

2. What does Wukong mistake Tathāgata’s fingers for?

3. What does Chen E save from the fisherman?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How do Wukong’s eyes end up permanently red?

2. When Guanyin passes by the mountains where Wukong is imprisoned and he asks her to free him, what does Guanyin reply?

3. How does a warning from Guanyin change the fate of Wenjiao’s baby?

4. What proposition does the Dragon King make to the fortune teller?

Paired Resources

“Giant ‘Buddha’s Palm’ Appears in Inner Mongolia,” and “‘Buddha’s Hand’ Supports 99-Meter Bridge in E China’s Fujian”

• The first resource is a brief article from The Nation; it includes pictures of an earthwork in Inner Mongolia that is designed to look like Buddha’s palm.
• The second resource is a brief article from China Daily, which has pictures of a huge Buddha’s hand that supports a bridge in Fujian Province, China.
• These resources relate to the themes of The Juxtaposition of Pride and Humility and The Need for Order and Law Amidst Chaos.
• After reading about Wukong’s attempt to escape Buddha’s palm in The Journey to the West, what do you think the symbolic value of the Buddha’s palm might be? In the story, the Buddha’s palm is an omnipresent support to everything in the universe—what, exactly, is Buddha supporting? What messages about pride and humility does this story convey? What are these works of art attempting to convey about the Buddha’s palm? Are these messages similar to or different from the message conveyed by The Journey to the West?

Chaptes 11-15

Reading Check

1. What new name does Taizong give Xuanzang before he undertakes his journey?

2. Who rescues Tripitaka from the tiger?

3. How long is Wukong imprisoned in the mountain?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What two promises does Taizong make to beings he meets in the Underworld?

2. How is Tripitaka rescued by the Planet Venus?

3. How does Guanyin reunite Tripitaka and Wukong?

4. How does Guanyin provide Tripitaka and Wukong with a horse?

Paired Resource

“14 Journeys to the Underworld in Greek and Roman Mythology”

• This article from The Collector describes the Greco-Roman conception of the Underworld and briefly recaps myths where humans journey there and back.
• This resource relates to the themes of Good Versus Evil and the Power of Redemption and The Need for Order and Law Amidst Chaos.
• How do the ancient Chinese and Greco-Roman ideas of the Underworld compare? How are their stories of humans journeying there and back both similar and different? When you compare these differing visions of the Underworld, what ancient Chinese values related to good and evil, redemption, and law and order emerge?

Chapters 16-20

Reading Check

1. What does Pilgrim insist that Tripitaka show off to the monks at Guanyin’s monastery?

2. Whose daughter is kidnapped by a pig monster and forced to act as the monster’s wife?

3. Who tells the pig monster that he will become one of Tripitaka’s disciples?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How do the events at the monastery prove that Pilgrim is not as wise as he thinks he is?

2. How does the defeat of the bear monster demonstrate Guanyin’s redemptive power?

3. What does Tripitaka learn from the hermit at Pagoda Mountain?

4. Why does the tiger wind’s master decide against eating Tripitaka?

Paired Resource

“The Heart Sutra”

• This Medium essay discusses the meaning of the Heart Sutra and the difficulties of translating that meaning clearly into English.
• How does this essay help you understand the meaning and importance of the Heart Sutra? Why is learning this sutra an important thematic moment for Tripitaka’s character? How do you interpret the hermit’s claim that this sutra will help protect Tripitaka? How does the sutra become a standard against which the reader can evaluate Tripitaka’s and his disciples’ progress?

Chapters 21-25

Reading Check

1. What does Pilgrim use his plucked-out hairs to create when he is fighting the wind demon?

2. What role does the widow at the farm in Chapter 23 think that Tripitaka and his disciples should play in her and her daughters’ lives?

3. What kind of tree do the travelers encounter on Long Life Mountain?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What instructions does Guanyin give Hui’an after Pilgrim asks her for help with the monster in the Flowing-Sand River?

2. At the end of Chapter 23, what is revealed about the widow and her daughters’ identities and intentions?

3. How does Tripitaka react to being offered some of the fruits that grow on Long Life Mountain?

4. In the incident at Long Life Mountain, how does Pilgrim show that he is willing to accept responsibility for his own actions after the Zhenyuan Immortal threatens Tripitaka?

Recommended Next Reads 

The Journey to the West, Volume 2 by Wu Cheng’en, Transl. Anthony C. Yu

• This volume is the second of four in the series of Yu’s highly regarded translations of Wu’s classic novel.
• Shared themes include Good Versus Evil and the Power of Redemption, The Juxtaposition of Pride and Humility, and The Need for Order and Law Amidst Chaos.    
• Shared topics include Chinese folklore and history, the Monkey King, Xuanzang, Guanyin, the hero’s journey, adventure, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.   

Monkey King: Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en, Transl. Julia Lovell

• Lovell’s abridged version of Wu’s classic tale is an engaging, funny, and modern translation of Xuanzang’s and Sun Wukong’s journey.
• Shared themes include Good Versus Evil and the Power of Redemption, The Juxtaposition of Pride and Humility, and The Need for Order and Law Amidst Chaos.
• Shared topics include Chinese folklore and history, the Monkey King, Xuanzang, Guanyin, the hero’s journey, adventure, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.   

Monkey: A Folk Novel of China by Wu Cheng’en, Transl. Arthur Waley

• Waley’s abridged translation of The Journey to the West highlights the story’s adventure while still conveying much of the original’s philosophy.
• Shared themes include Good Versus Evil and the Power of Redemption, The Juxtaposition of Pride and Humility, and The Need for Order and Law Amidst Chaos.
• Shared topics include Chinese folklore and history, the Monkey King, Xuanzang, Guanyin, the hero’s journey, adventure, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.  
• Monkey: A Folk Novel of China on SuperSummary