mengshagong

Journey to the West – Chapter 5.3

Look at them all, their hands going slack, their heads drooping, their eyes closing. One by one they all fell asleep. The Great Sage took his choice of delicacies and tidbits went into the hallway. He settled down next to the urns of wine and ate and drank himself silly. After a while he was full and very drunk.

Two Chinese Americans walk into a bar

I started another project, and this one is one that will last a lifetime. We had a baby! And we are trying to raise him English/Chinese bilingual. Everything I’ve read about raising bilingual children recommends one of two strategies: One Parent One Language, or Minority Language at Home. The problem is that my husband andContinue reading “Two Chinese Americans walk into a bar”

Journey to the West – Chapter 5.2

One morning, the Queen Mother of the West threw open the Treasure Pavilion to host a banquet for the Immortal Peach Festival at the Turquoise Pool. The red, white, blue, black, purple, yellow, and green-gowned maidens, each bearing her basket atop her head,1 were sent to the Immortal Peach Orchard to pick peaches for theContinue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 5.2”

Journey to the West – Chapter 5.1

Short posts are better than no posts! No matter what else he may be, the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven was a monkey.1 He didn’t know what officials’ ranks meant and he didn’t care about salary. He only cared that his title had changed. In the Great Sage Residence, immortals of the two offices attendedContinue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 5.1”

Journey to the West – Chapter 4.4

Assured of the Great Sage’s victory, the monkey army was withdrawing from the battlefield when Prince Nezha appeared in front of Shuilian Cave. The army was shocked to see such a fierce child on his cloud, the bones of his skull not even fully closed, the hair on his head still soft and not evenContinue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 4.4”

JttW Headcanon: Lotus Lantern

The 1964 and 1998 Journey to the West cartoons weren’t my only experience with animated versions of these beloved characters. Other places they appeared include The Legend of Nezha series, a “prequel” telling of Nezha and Lord Li’s story before they ended up in Heaven trying to capture Sun Wukong, and Lotus Lantern, a “sequel”Continue reading “JttW Headcanon: Lotus Lantern”

Lotus Lantern Script: Part 2

Little monkey almost falls over the waterfall CHENXIANG: Little monkey! Tudi finds Sun Wukong in the desert TUDI: Great Sage! Great Sage! Where in the world are you hiding? WUKONG: Hehehehe! TUDI: Ow! That hurt, you monkey! WUKONG: Old man, what are you yelling about? TUDI: Jeez, Great Sage. I’ve struggled so much looking forContinue reading “Lotus Lantern Script: Part 2”

Lotus Lantern Script: Part 1

Intro NARRATOR: This is an ancient folktale. Heaven’s Madam Sansheng fell in love with a mortal scholar named Liu Yanchang. She ignored her older brother Erlang‘s opposition and decided to go to the human world to search for the Xingfu (happiness and good fortune) of human life. This is where the story begins. A smallContinue reading “Lotus Lantern Script: Part 1”

Journey to the West – Chapter 4.3

Early the next morning, when the Emperor’s court opened, the first to present themselves at the imperial courtyard were Marshal Zhang leading the Imperial Stablemaster and Deputy Stablemaster. “Long live your majesty.1 The new Horses’ Fortune, having objections to the low rank of his position, returned to the Lower Realms yesterday.” As they were speaking,Continue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 4.3”

JttW Literal Translation: The Imperial Stables

Don’t you love it when your reference text has a footnote calling the text “exceedingly difficult to translate”? I was depending on you, Prof. Yu! The poem that describes the heavenly horses depends heavily on both real and fake famous horses throughout Chinese history, and, for my translation, I threw most of it out. IContinue reading “JttW Literal Translation: The Imperial Stables”