Date of recording:
March 27, 2023
About the Speaker
Andrew Plaks, Professor Emeritus of East Asian Studies and Comparative Literature, Princeton University.
Slides for Classroom Use
Journey to the West: An Introduction to the Chinese Novel – Presentation PDF [17 MB]
Teaching Guide
Outline & Key Points for Teachers
Background Reading and Classroom Material
Invitation to World Literature: Journey to the West Unit [Annenberg]
Video presentation featuring major translators, playwrights, artists, and actors, along with a transcript, timeline, map, key points and discussion questions, and excerpts from the text. For teachers grades 9 through college.
Interview with Dr. Anthony C. Yu [Asia Society]
Video of Dr. Yu, translator of the Journey to the West, Dr. Yu discusses reading the book as a child and later translating language as well as cultures.
Masterworks of Asian Literature in Comparative Perspective: A Guide for Teaching [M. E. Sharpe]
Collection of 46 essays by specialists in Asian literature, edited by Barbara Stoler Miller. 1994
The Journey to the West: A Platform for Learning about China Past and Present [Education about Asia]
Article with graphics, available online and as PDF download.
The Travel Records of Chinese Pilgrims Faxian, Xuanzang, and Yijing: Sources for Cross-Cultural Encounters Between Ancient China and Ancient India [Education about Asia]
Article with graphics, available online and as PDF download.
Novel Adventures: Using The Journey to the West to Teach Tang China History and Culture [Education about Asia]
Article with graphics, available online and as PDF download.
Using “Monkey” to Teach Religions of China [Education about Asia]
Article with graphics, available online and as PDF download.
Asia by Era Resources – China: 600-1000, Journey to the West (The Tale of the Monkey) [AFE]
Asia by Era Resources – China: 600-1000, Sui, Tang, Liao [AFE]
Includes more resources on The Silk Road.
Asia by Era Resources – China: 600-1000, The Spread of Buddhism along the Silk Road [AFE]
Includes curriculum materials.
Journey to the West: A Play [Northwestern University Press]
By Mary Zimmerman. 2004
Books
The Monkey and the Monk: An Abridgment of The Journey to the West [University of Chicago Press]
Translated and edited by Anthony C. Yu, an abridgment of Yu’s classic 4-volume translation of the work. 2006
Xuanzang: A Buddhist Pilgrim on the Silk Road
Related Videos
Old Novels/New Games: Early Modern Forms of Chinese Algorithmic Play in Outlaws of the Marsh
Romance of the Three Kingdoms: An Introduction
The Three Silk Roads
Silk Road: What it Wasn’t, What it Was, and What it Still Is
The Tang Dynasty China
The Yijing
Asian Topics – Legacy Series (See “Tang Dynasty Poetry” set)
This recording was made possible in part by an award from
the James P. Geiss and Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation.
