Join us each week as we take listeners through one of China's most beloved novels. Meet Sun Wukong the Monkey King, his Buddhist master, Xuanzhang, the lustful monster Pigsy aka Zhu Bajie, and the reformed sand demon, Sha Wujing, and journey with them to India to acquire invaluable Buddhist scriptures.
This immortal tale has delighted billions of Asian children yet is relatively unknown here in the west. This podcast aims to change that!
Childhood friends Richard Tseng and James Young will read and review every single chapter of the Anthony C Yu translation of Wu Chen'en's epic book. Along the way, we'll bust myths (did the Sun Wukong really burst out of stone?) examine its impact (Which world-famous animes did this legend inspire?) and learn more about Asian culture and its myths overall (which Indian monkey god inspired our monkey king?)
So quit monkeying around Subscribe, and let's hit the silk road!
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Keep on going with Journey of the Monkey King! (01:16:06)
This week we take you behind the scenes of the Journey of the Monkey King Podcast. If you're not quite ready to go full enlightened after our last chapter, then listen to Caoimhe and Emjay give you th...
Chapter 100: You're a Buddha! And You're a Buddha! And... you're a janitor! (00:46:15)
This week marks the conclusion of our Journey to the West! Monkey King and friends become buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats. But Tathagata has a special surprise waiting for Wuneng the pig... Thank yo...
Chapter 99: Ordeal with it! (00:33:15)
Guanyin does some quick math and realizes that the pilgrims, including Monkey King and his master, are one ordeal short of the set needed to achieve enlightenment. So they get dumped on a turtle who r...
Chapter 98: How the West Was One (00:59:18)
The Monkey King has arrived! But first, Tripitaka must cast off his earthly body and cross the river that lies before Thunderclap Mountain, and then just before they get their scriptures, the libraria...
Chapter 97: Monkey Justice! with Monkey King researcher Jim McClanahan (01:33:41)
After the pilgrims' awkward parting last chapter, a group of bandits descend on their hosts' home and kill Squire Kou! Kou's wife blames Wukong and the gang in her grief and everyone gets arrested. No...
Scott Park Phillips Returns For Our 100th Episode! (01:30:36)
This week we are excited to welcome back one of our favorite guests, Scott Park Phillips. In addition to enlightening us on many more fascinating aspects of Journey to the West, Scott is also launchin...
Chapter 96: Monkey and Friends Understay Their Welcome (00:44:05)
When you're the last 4 monks to be fed by a philanthropist who's vowed to feed 10,000 monks, some partying is bound to ensue. But when everyone but pig Wuneng is tired of all the feasting and try to h...
Chapter 95: Silly Rabbit, Tripitaka's Not For Monstrous Deviates! (01:03:34)
Tripitaka's bride-to-be is unmasked as the Jade Hare, her divine owners come calling, and we get a heartfelt reunion between the royal family with the real princess. Plus, we discuss gender dynamics a...
Chapter 94: As the Wedding Day Looms, Tripitaka's Poetry Blooms! (00:40:45)
With the wedding of Tripitaka to the fiendish princess arranged, the feasting begins! Wuneng's having the time of his life with daily banquets, despite Wujing's disapproving jibes. Tripitaka's composi...
Chapter 93: Forced to Marry a Princess! Will Tripitaka's Journey End Here? (00:49:23)
This week Wukong the Monkey King and the gang hear about a princess who mysteriously turns up at the monastery they're staying in. Later, Tripitaka visits the capital where he's marked for marriage by...
Chapter 92: Who's harder to control, a runaway rhino or a pillaging army? (00:34:38)
The epic conclusion of Wukong's war with the sacrifice-demanding, oil-stealing, Buddha-impersonating rhino fiends. Dragon kings, divine forces, and all the brothers get in on the action. But after the...
The lantern festival with the three oily Buddhas. (00:57:20)
This week the crew attend an annual lantern festival that's so expensive that the townsfolk must starve to afford it. We wonder about what happens to old religious traditions and whether they ever rea...
Chapter 90: Did anybody lose a nine-headed lion? (00:51:12)
The exciting conclusion to Monkey and friends' fight with the lion kingdom! What started as a dispute over some stolen weapons has turned into an all-out war as the Yellow Lion gets his grandpappy, ni...
Chapter 89: Lions, and lions, and lions, oh my! (00:36:59)
Wukong, Eight Rules, and Sha Monk discover the stealer of their weapons is none other than the Yellow Lion spirit! Are there other kinds of lions? Apparently so! When the smoke clears, the thief escap...
Chapter 88: Wanna be my disciple? Here, hold my weapon! (01:07:59)
Wukong and the gang show their martial magic to three princely challengers who immediately ask to become their disciples. Crisis averted, right? But just because they didn't use violence, doesn't mean...
Chapter 87: This one's for all the bureaucracy-lovers out there! (00:56:40)
Having finally arrived in India, the pilgrims must make it rain, literally. After a fight with his wife, the local prefect knocked over some sacrificial offerings and fed them to his dogs. It hasn't r...
Chapter 86: Monkey King Sun Wukong, Head Inspector (00:51:54)
The evil Great King of South Mountain is prepping Tripitaka for dinner and he's got a plan to get rid of the elder's disciples: convince them that he's already eaten the Tang Monk! Can the Great King ...
Chapter 85: That time the Monkey King "helped" his brother by almost getting him killed. (00:59:14)
This week, we find out what happens when you shave the heads of everyone in a kingdom that's vowed to kill monks, Wukong decides to fight fair by tricking Wuneng into doing it for him, and Tripitaka m...
Chapter 84: The monkey, the pig, the monk, the sand monster, and the wardrobe (00:54:26)
Our pilgrims find themselves outside a kingdom that's vowed to kill 10,000 monks and just needs 4 more to complete the mission. Monkey steals some merchants' clothes and even convinces the innkeeper's...
Chapter 83: She tried to take my master's virginity, so Monkey is suing her father! (00:58:16)
The Fair Girl steals Tripitaka and tries to marry him, again! Monkey's had enough so he takes the Fair Dad, Devaraja Li, to court. The father's response? "I am NOT the father, now die!" Somebody's lyi...
Chapter 82: Falling down a sex rabbit hole, and there is no bottom. (00:38:01)
Tripitaka's getting married! Or, at least he would be if the Fair Girl had her way. This week's over-sexed fiend seeks to take the Tang Monk's virginity, and it's up to Monkey to, ah, explore her bott...
Chapter 81: Hands off my stinky root! (00:50:15)
What did Tripitaka think would happen when he brings a gorgeous demoness into a monastery? After six young monks are found "bone-dry", Monkey pulls a bait and switch. The fiend grabs hold of more than...
Chapter 80: When damsels become demons: save them anyway? (00:56:16)
Tripitaka's got a bad feeling about the dense pine forest they're stuck in. But when they find a beautiful maiden tied to a tree, it's Monkey who calls for caution. Will they save the damsel, even tho...
Chapter 79: Eat my heart out... but which one? (01:02:37)
When a befuddled king under the influence of an evil Daoist asks to devour your heart, who are the pilgrims to say no? Monkey's only got one question: which one? Two can play at the magical deception ...
Chapter 78: Child sacrifices, sex control, and shadowy demonic conspiracies... what's QAnon doing in my Monkey story? (00:50:40)
This week's chapter has all the elements of a cracking Monkey King caper, folks! A kingdom just like China but for this VERY WRONG THING they do, a heretical Daoist who may be a demon, monkey magic, a...
