Talk:Journey to the West/Archive 3

Link Problem?
I believe this link, Complete novel in English adapted and edited from the Foreign Languages Press The URL it directed to was http://www.blackmask.com/Detailed/Classics/China/The_Journey_to_The_West--Wu_Cheng-en_18328.html I would like to know whether the web site is offline, temporarily down, wrong, or just not working with my browser (Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.1). I also tried opening it in an Internet Explorer (version 7.0.5730.11). Neither worked. Astrangequark 02:09, 21 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Feel free to remove links that are not working. Thanks for checking.  bibliomaniac 1  5  02:27, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

Chinese is Wrong
Simplified Chinese: 沙悟淨; Traditional Chinese: 沙無淨

and

Simplified Chinese: 玉龙三太子; Traditional Chinese: 魚龍三太子

It's more likly 沙悟淨 is alternatively known as 沙無淨 and 玉龙三太子 alternatively known as 魚龍三太子. The way it's presented in the wiki implies 玉 translates to 魚 etc when in fact they do not. It would be better if it's presented as

Simplified Chinese: 沙悟淨; Traditional Chinese: 沙悟淨

and

Simplified Chinese: 玉龙三太子; Traditional Chinese: 玉龍三太子

06:08 Jan 24, 2007 EST


 * Sorry, I made those mistakes while entering them. I'm much more familiar with simplified than traditional, so that's why.  bibliomaniac 1  5  00:52, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Author
This wiki is not complete without an author section. I found a page written by Liew Xiang Xiang state the author clearly. --Sltan 14:58, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

best english translation?
This is a novel that I've been interested in reading for a while, and I was wondering which is the better translation between Jenner, and I believe Yu is his name? Is it a good story? With pretty good characters? Also, I heard that there is a lot of poetry in the story as well. Does it tie into the main story?

Cttt —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.44.52.129 (talk) 20:34, 21 March 2007 (UTC).

I recommend the Beijing People's Literature Publishing House version by WJF Jenner, its available as a three-book edition and is based on the 1592 version of the chinese classic. It is available from the Foreign Langauge Press Beijing, copies of which are readily available on Amazon Twobells (talk) 09:00, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Some Minor Translation Problems and titles of Characters at End
I have the official Jenner translation. There are a few errors in here. In the book, the translation says that Sun Wukong means "Monkey Awakened to Emptiness". The weapon is also designated as the "Gold-Banded As You Will Cudgel". As for the four travelers, Wukong is named the "Victorious Fighting Buddha". Sanzang has been restored to his former post as the Golden Cicada. Pig is made Altar-Cleanser. As for Friar Sand, I don't remember.

--Sigmund1989 11:01, 16 April 2007 (UTC)


 * There is no "official" translation. Jenner is not some sort of ultimate authority on English translation of the original text. Bertport 00:51, 17 April 2007 (UTC)


 * My apologies. I haven't had the time to read all of the different versions. I have the version released by Beijing Press, so the translations above are the ones I have in that version. Sigmund1989 12:08, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Buffalo Demon king inspiration
When I rewatched the movie in recent years, I found out one interesting thing: The buffalo demon king character, the greatest opponent of Sun Wukong, seems to get the inspiration not from normal buffaloes, but rather, a rare, giant wild ox called the gaur. I figure this out in the episode when the demon shows his true form, a giant black ox that superficially looks like a water buffalo, but highly resemble the gaur, both in appearance and size:

It's an interesting point, and I also happen to know that the gaur does inhabit the forests in Southern [Yunnan] province, near the border of VietNam and Laos. So it might be true, the filmakers' inspiration for the character. I think this might be added to the article, in the trivia section.

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 124.149.119.42 (talk) 23:35, 9 May 2007 (UTC).

A Notable English Adaptation?
I've long suspected that L. Frank Baum's "Wizard of Oz" is merely an adaptation of "Journey to the West", in which the role played by Dorothy is a rough approximation of the role played by Monkey. I've never felt motivated to examine additional correlations between the remaining characters (Lion, Scarecrow and Tin-Woodsman versus Pigsy, Sandy and Tripitaka) simply because the adaptation seems so loose. In general, however, the central character in both stories is set upon a journey and acquires addtional companions who share in his or her rather fantastic adventures, ultimately returning home.

Perhaps someone else would care to examine the connection between Journey to The West and Wizard of Oz in greater detail. For myself, my childhood enjoyment of Baum's adaptation ended when I read his ed-op piece calling for "extermination" of Native American peoples. (You'll find it clearly stated here at Wikipedia. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum#American_Indian_Genocide). Personally, I wouldn't care to give Baum any further recognition, even for what seems clealy a case of plagarism. However, since the topic here is "Journey to The West", the connection probaly merits some mention. 66.15.117.20 05:25, 11 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Seems kind of unlikely - wasn't the first Journey to the West translation Waley's excerpts? The timing seems off. The metallic allegory interpretations make much more sense to me than as a retelling of Journey to the West. --Gwern (contribs) 16:25 11 May 2007 (GMT)

I too, for some time, have had my suspicions on the link between Journey to the West and the Wizard of OZ. But to me the Tin Man is the more likely candidate for Monkey, both were frozen under a spell until the one they were to protect on the journey (Dorothy/Tripitaka) comes and realeses them. Pigsy then corresponds to Scarecrow (physical desires/no-brain), Sandy to the Cowardly Lion (mental processes/no courage) and the Horse to Toto. Each of the characters has a physical journey as well as a spiritual one and each represents a distinct part of a person's personality.

You are right that no known English translation exists before Arthur Whaley, but Baum lived in New York and could have discussed it with someone from China who had read it and who may have provided him with a short synopsis. This however is mere conjecture, but it points to something worthy of investigation. I don't think that certain distasteful views of Baum are a reason not to study this further. Athosfolk 10:25, 3 August 2007 (UTC)