Hi Guys, I just saw the movie Lost Kingdom lastnight,and it spoke of the book Journey to the west.Can anyone tell me where I can find this book? Thanks
It’s translated various different ways. The translation I read was a scaled down version (the original is pretty big). It’s called “Monkey” and this particular edition was translated by Arthur Waley, who is highly regarded in my experience.
Hope that helps.
Stuart
Journey to the West
Greetings,
Actually I have just finished reading an excerpt
of Monkey(from Record of A Journey to the West) by Wu Ch’eng-en, and translated by Arthur Waley. It has also been tranlated as, The Adventures of
Monkey. A great story that goes back many centur-
ies. You might also want to check out his Romance
of the Three Kingdoms and The Story of the Water
Margin. All of these are quite easily obtainable
either at the libraries, bookstores, or on the Net.
I hope this was somewhat helpful 
This was also made into a series by NTV (Japan)?
Monkey King
On Sci Fi channnel. I just happened to be up late last night and caught this movie, anyone else see it??
a 2-year-old ttt!
I’m cannibalizing this thread for Monkey King/Journey to the West posts. There’s been a lot of Monkey bizness lately.
Here are some other Monkey King related threads:
Monkey King - IMAX-3D featuring Donnie Yen
[URL=“http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42599”]
Supplemant to the Journey to the West
And here is my reason for posting all of this:
23rd July, 2010
China’s ‘hairy man’ to have surgery to play Monkey King
China’s hairiest man is set to have cosmetic surgery in order to play The Monkey King in a TV remake of Journey To The West.
32-year-old Yu Zhenhuan has hair that covers 96 per cent of his body, due to a rare hormone imbalance.
Having previously starred in a number of movies and flirting with a singing career, Zhenhuan attempted to land the lead role of The Monkey King in a television adaptation of Journey to the West.
Unfortunately, the director decided that he wasn’t attractive enough, prompting Zhenhuan’s decision to undergo surgery.
‘I thought I was the best candidate, as I look like a monkey and my nickname is monkey man,’ he stated.
'I read through the book and found professional hair dressers to make me into a real monkey man. But I failed the audition because I am not good looking enough.
‘I am going to have surgery to get rid of the hair and facial plastic surgery to make myself look more like a pretty monkey, and make the director regret his decision,’ he told the China Youth Times.
ttt 4 2011
I’m ttt-ing this to add Journey to the West - Neil Gaimon style.
Note that I don’t think we’ve ever had threads on Stephan Chow’s A Chinese Odyssey or Russell Wong’s Lost Empire. I’d start them myself but I’ve never seen either all the way through…
ttt 4 2013
I forgot to add this new one from last July: Stephan Chow’s Journey to the West. Over New Year’s, I treated myself to A Chinese Odyssey and will review it later on that thread.
[QUOTE=GeneChing;1204562]I forgot to add this new one from last July: Stephan Chow’s Journey to the West. Over New Year’s, I treated myself to A Chinese Odyssey and will review it later on that thread.[/QUOTE]
I’ve had both films on VCD and DVD for years. I have to say that I like his rendition of Monkey better than the least few TV show versions that have come out. He captures and the ferocity, as well as the humor, spot on. It sucks that he is only playing a minor role in the remake.
the Mountain of Fruit and Flowers
Read Visiting the Home of the Monkey King by Gregory Brundage.
[QUOTE=GeneChing;1211270]Read Visiting the Home of the Monkey King by Gregory Brundage.[/QUOTE]
That is a pretty cool article. As someone who has read the novel numerous times and studied its influences, I would love to visit that place (even if it’s a tourist attraction).
Does anyone have a link to some videos of someone using a Monkey style in their sparring. I am a huge fan of forms but I haven’t seen too many sparring videos featuring a monkey style.
Ok, this deserves its own thread now
Moved two posts off this thread to stand on their own: Monkey: Journey to the West from the creators of Gorillaz
**** how the hell did i miss this? think i need to snatch up a ticket.
Another dated article…
…I’m getting lost in Variety this morning… :o
3-D series to hit smallscreen in China
MAY 29, 2009 | 01:59PM PT
Ancient tale ‘Wu Cheng’ gets high-tech treatment
Clifford Coonan
@cliffordcoonan
BEIJING A Chinese shingle is taking the country’s 3-D craze to the smallscreen with 45-episode costume drama “Wu Cheng-en and the Journey to the West,” touted as one of the first 3-D TV series in the world.
The 100 million yuan ($15 million) skein, produced by China Film and Television Prod. in association with Meiya Chuntian Intl. Film and TV Culture, Beijing Yong Tong Beijing Cultural Development and Zhong Shi Xie Film and Television Prod., has been five years in the making and still has 18 months of post-production to complete.
Some $7.5 million of the budget was devoted to the 3-D effects, and each 45-minute episode will contain around 10 minutes of 3-D.
The series is based on a story that dates back to the 1590s and ascribed to the scholar Wu Cheng-en, which follows a Chinese Buddhist monk’s quest to India to obtain a religious text. The monk has four animal protectors — the Monkey King, a pig, a river demon and a dragon prince — who agree to help him as an atonement for past sins.
The 1986 TV version of “Journey to the West” is one of the best-known and beloved TV shows in Chinese history.
The new skein imagines Wu’s attempts to write the story while following the legend itself.
The project reunites the stars of the original skein — Liu Xiao Ling Tong, Chi Chongrui and Ma Ma Dehua. Liu will reprise his role as the Monkey King and also play Wu. Yan Huaili, the fourth member of the original cast, died in April and will be replaced by Liu Dagang.
“This drama is about … Wu Cheng-en writing ‘The Journey to the West,’ ” China Film and Television producer Wu Qiuyun told the Beijing News. “But if the main storyline was only Wu Cheng-en, that may affect the audience ratings. So we put the same actors in ‘The Journey to the West’ together, and re-filmed some parts of it, and then made those into 3-D.”
She adds, “We are still negotiating with (state pubcaster) CCTV about broadcasting the show. But we’ll probably air it on a local TV station.”
The drama began shooting in Hengdian studios two years ago, but the producers did not reveal back then it would contain 3-D scenes, due to concerns that the technology would not work.
They have created special glasses for watching the skein and will distribute them through large-scale marketing events.
However, tt will be interesting to see if, at 45 episodes, the skein falls foul of a new ruling by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television aimed at limiting the number of episodes in a TV series to 30.
China’s first 3-D toon, “The Carnival of the Animals,” was released this year. It was produced by pubcaster China Central Television’s animation unit and includes the voices of CCTV Children’s Channel hosts Ju Ping, Dong Hao and Liu Chunyan.
Sorry…what?
A Weibo user who adamantly claims to be a descendant of the Monkey King, a character from from Wu Chen-en’s epic Journey to the West tales, has attracted intrigue and criticism from netizens across the country. The woman has even offered what she says is an ‘ancestral stone’ and ‘monkey wool’ as evidence to prove her theory, and on January 6 paid a visit to Fudan University’s anthropology research labs in Shanghai to expose her identity through DNA testing.
The Weibo user, Mom’s Concubine, comes from Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, a place highly recognized as being the Monkey King’s hometown. Reports say that the woman had at first never believed that she could be an offspring of the Monkey King, who, according to legend, was born from stone. But the way her elders had always talked about it led to her curiosity. Now, she wants to prove her identity through scientific method.
Upon testing, Fudan University professors have so far said that the so-called “monkey wool” may not be true monkey wool, and stones she brought aren’t able to confirm whether she is Monkey King’s descendant or not. Still, she said she won’t give up and is set on proving her ancestry.
In relevant timing, the latest trailer for the film adaptation of The Monkey King was released to the public this month and the film is due to come out later this year. Directed by Soi Cheang, the movie stars Donnie Yen as the Monkey King along with Chow Yun Fat and Aaron Kwok and is based on the same material as Steven Chow’s previous Journey to the West installments.
Chow’s Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons was China’s biggest movie in 2013, according to figures, raking in over one-billion yuan ($160 million) in just 16 days.
By Isabel Quan
Exactly how will DNA testing prove or disprove her claim?
As someone who is studying anthropology in college and is a big fan of Xiyouji, I find this story both interesting and crazy at the same time. It’s interesting that Monkey is such a famous character that people believe he is real (there is a cult dedicated to him after all). But I find it crazy that people are now claiming they are related to him. The only thing DNA will prove is that she is distantly related to monkeys. I predict that she will claim this is evidence.
New stage production
This may have to have it’s own thread someday…we’ll see how it develops.
Spectacular Monkey King stage production journeys to Macao
Global Times | 2014-3-11 19:18:01
By Global Times
The world class team behind Monkey King. Photo: Courtesy of Sands China
Sands China Ltd and Beijing Hua Yan Group held a launch ceremony at the Beijing Grand National Theater, announcing a spectacular stage production, Monkey King - a mythical theater show that will premier in Macao.
It is expected to have its first ever performance at the new theater of Sands Cotai Central at Cotai Strip Resorts Macao in 2015.
Monkey King was created based on the Chinese classic literary work Journey to the West, combining modern stage design and performance with multimedia technology to build a novel and magical work of performance art.
Planned, invested in and produced by Beijing Hua Yan Group, Monkey King will be performed regularly at the new theater of Sands Cotai Central at Cotai Strip Resorts Macao.
“Sands China is delighted to be working with Hua Yan to bring this exciting new stage production to Macao,” said Edward Tracy, Sands China Ltd president and CEO, during the press conference.
"With this show, Sands China is glad to continue providing an avenue of cultural exchange that allows international audiences to better understand Chinese art and culture.
And of course, this show further enhances the integrated resort experience for families with children, while diversifying the entertainment landscape in Macao - and this is an important part of Macao being a world center of tourism and leisure."
Founded by highly regarded Chinese experts and scholars, cultural industry leader Beijing Hua Yan Group is a comprehensive enterprise holding the leadership position in China in the investment in and production of large-scale theatrical shows.
Hua Yan Group and its creative team, comprised of members such as Grammy Award-winning composer Tan Dun and renowned film director Li Qiankuan, have produced, operated and invested in various well-known and successful works, including Impression Liu Sanjie and Zen Shaolin Grand Ceremony, large-scale live shows directed by Zhang Yimou, and also large-scale musical epics like Jinggangshan - Hua Yan Red Classics Series I and Taihangshan - Hua Yan Red Classics Series II.
“We are very honoured to have our project chosen by Sands China Ltd,” said Xu Feng, Beijing Hua Yan Group chairman.
“The production team are the leaders in their own professions in modern China. We have reason to believe that in the near future, Monkey King at Sands Cotai Central will not only become a cultural landmark of Macao, but also a brand new classic art piece from the Orient in the global commercial performance market.”
Journey to the West 2015
Here’s a crazy new anime/cyberpunk take on Monkey, coming in 2015 (I’ll split this off into it’s own thread when we know more about it).
cute
‘Journey to the West’ characters storm through streets to pick up trash, make world better
It’s been a while since a Journey to the West character has been spotted around town doing ordinary things among citizens (and making children cry), but four men dressed as characters from the classic Chinese novel-turned-box office franchise were seen parading through the streets last Saturday advocating environmental protection. Whatever’ gets the masses attention, we suppose.
These four guys were actually environmental volunteers. They sweat it out under costumes so as to promote a cleaner environment. During their parade, the masked vigilantes marched through the streets with a stage prop white horse while stabbing at pieces of trash and ridding of them in bins with their “weapons” (plastic tongs). They wanted to live up to the everyone has the responsibility to protect the environment idea.
We hope it catches on.
[Images Via The Sun]
By Jennifer Hui
Nice mascots for an important campaign. I particularly like the white horse trash bin.