I hit a major roadblock while translating Chapter 2 of Journey to the West, and thought I would share my process with you. In the story, Wukong is receiving the secret to immortality at the bedside of his master, a Daoist sage. However, instead of giving Wukong specific instructions or an incantation a la HarryContinue reading “Translation Difficulties: The Secret of Immortality in Journey to the West”
Category Archives: Translation Notes
A note on retelling Journey to the West, and translations in general.
It feels like this should go without saying, but I am not a professional translator. Please don’t take my translations as authoritative in any way. I’m using translating these texts as a way to learn the language, and taking you along on this journey. The nuances of one language just cannot be fully represented inContinue reading “A note on retelling Journey to the West, and translations in general.”
Journey to the West – a beginning?
Journey to the West is my childhood. My first memory of it was probably this 1963 Chinese cartoon – 大闹天宫 – a movie adaptation of one of the first major episodes in Journey to the West1. Growing up, I read abridged children’s versions in Chinese manhua, watched the 1999 cartoon religiously2, studied a simplified versionContinue reading “Journey to the West – a beginning?”
Etymology Adventures 