JOURNEY To The WEST· Volume I: Before the Journey

Before the pilgrimage could begin, the stage had to be set.

This first volume (17 chapters) of Journey to the West tells the origin stories that make the epic pilgrimage possible:
• The Monkey King's rise and fall: from being born of stone, mastering Daoist magic, and obtaining the Golden Cudgel, to declaring himself "Great Sage the Equal of Heaven" and rebelling against the Celestial Court.
• The Heavenly response: Jade Emperor's armies, Taishan Laojun's alchemy, and Tathagata Buddha's intervention, which finally brought the Monkey King under control.
• The mission revealed: why the Buddhist scriptures had to be brought from the West, and how Guanyin Bodhisattva set the pilgrimage in motion.
• The chosen monk: Tang Sanzang's miraculous birth, his tragic childhood, his ordination as a monk, and his divine appointment as scripture-seeker.

This volume ends with Tang Sanzang's solemn departure from Chang'an, carrying the Emperor Taizong's decree and Heaven's mission-marking the true beginning of the journey.

Faithfully retold and translated into Chinese-English parallel text, this edition is both a fresh adventure for new readers and a bilingual treasure for language learners.

Volume I = 17 chapters. The rebellion, the mission, the monk-everything before the team assembles.