Around noon, the emperor ordered a concubine to bring a chessboard and invited his minister to a game of chess.1 Wei Zheng agreed, and they began to play. Move by move they set up their opening positions. It was as described in the Lanke Classics: Caution and discipline are the way of chess. The valuableContinue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 10.4”
Tag Archives: Journey to the West
Journey to the West – Chapter 10.3
The next day, official summons were sent to the Count of Wind, the Duke of Thunder, the Cloud Youths, and Madam Lightning, who came to the ninth layer of Heaven above Chang’an. The clouds were spread between 9-11am, the thunder began at 1pm, the rain fell between 2 and 4pm, and it only rained 3Continue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 10.3”
Journey to the West – Chapter 10.2
Trading poems and lyrics back and forth, the fisherman and the woodcutter came to the fork in the road and bowed their farewells. The fisherman said, “Brother Li! Safe travels home. Watch out for tigers in those mountains. If you run into some such danger, I will miss you on this road tomorrow.” The woodcutterContinue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 10.2”
Journey to the West – Chapter 10.1
For now let’s not speak of Guangrui or Xuanzang. Outside of the city of Chang’an, on the shores of the Jing River, there was a fisherman1 and a woodcutter.2 One day, inside the city of Chang’an, after the woodcutter had sold his firewood and the fisherman sold his carp, they ate together in a tavern.Continue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 10.1”
New Podcast and Instagram
Hi 🙂 We started a podcast. It’s on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. We’re telling the story of Journey to the West and then discussing what surprises us or what we connect with based on our Chinese American and Taiwanese American experiences. I’m still feeling it out and there are a lot of improvements that canContinue reading “New Podcast and Instagram”
Journey to the West – Chapter 9.2
Now Lady Yin loathed that villainous Liu so much that she could eat his flesh and and use his skin for a bed, but she was pregnant, so she cooperated with him reluctantly. Before she knew it, they had arrived in Jiangzhou, where the officials and judges threw the new governor a banquet in welcome.Continue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 9.2”
Miles and the Spider-Society as Wukong and the Heavenly army
In case you missed it, the Chinese Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse riffs off the battle between Wukong, the Colossal Spirit, and Nezha from Chapter 4. We have Miles as Wukong, Peter B. Parker as the Immortal of Colossal Spirit, Spider-Woman Jessica Drew as Nezha, and Gwen Stacy, Miguel O’Hara, Pavitr Prabhakar, and Hobie Brown asContinue reading “Miles and the Spider-Society as Wukong and the Heavenly army”
Journey to the West – Chapter 9.1
We’re turning to the city of Chang’an in Shanxi Province, the capital city for many generations of emperors. Through the Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties, the flowers bloomed like brocade and waters flowed around the city. It really was a beautiful sight. It was the Tang Dynasty,1 and the Emperor Taizong had been on theContinue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 9.1”
Journey to the West – Chapter 8.1
We have completed the prologue Havoc in Heaven and the narration style will change for the next five chapters. Let me tell you about the lord Buddha, who left Heaven and returned to Thunderclap Monastery on Soul Mountain, where he was welcomed with flying banners and rare flowers, precious treasures and bejeweled canopies by theContinue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 8.1”
Leaving Havoc in Heaven and entering the Lull
We have officially completed the prologue Havoc in Heaven1 and are now entering what I’m calling The Lull, a five-chapter long series of events that sets up the actual “journey” in Journey to the West. The reason I’m calling it The Lull is because, let’s be honest, we just want to see monkey shenanigans, andContinue reading “Leaving Havoc in Heaven and entering the Lull”
Etymology Adventures 