Journey to the West: The Podcast
Storytelling
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!
Location:
United States
Description:
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!
Language:
English
Website:
http://journeytothewestcast.com
Episodes
Keep on going with Journey of the Monkey King!
9/17/2021
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 the Chinese classic from a whole new angle.
Follow them on social at:
https://twitter.com/monkeykingpod
https://twitter.com/oakreef
https://twitter.com/taoiseachotrash
https://instagram.com/emjaystokes/
Duration:01:16:06
Chapter 100: You're a Buddha! And You're a Buddha! And... you're a janitor!
9/3/2021
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 you all for joining us on this trek, may you all know the root of happiness and be free of suffering!
Duration:00:46:15
Chapter 99: Ordeal with it!
8/27/2021
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 reminds Tripitaka of a promise he once made...
Duration:00:33:15
Chapter 98: How the West Was One
8/20/2021
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 librarians want a bribe. Could this journey get any harder? Find out this week!
Duration:00:59:18
Chapter 97: Monkey Justice! with Monkey King researcher Jim McClanahan
8/13/2021
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 demons and no fighting, yet this is the favorite chapter of JourneyToTheWestResearch.com Find out why this week!
Duration:01:33:41
Scott Park Phillips Returns For Our 100th Episode!
8/6/2021
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 launching a new course and newsletter. Sign up for fascinating insights at ScottParkPhillips.substack.com
Duration:01:30:36
Chapter 96: Monkey and Friends Understay Their Welcome
7/30/2021
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 hit the scripture trail, they offend their host's wife. Ruin a party or scrap the holy mission? Find out this week!
Duration:00:44:05
Chapter 95: Silly Rabbit, Tripitaka's Not For Monstrous Deviates!
7/23/2021
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 and catcalling during Monkey King's time. Don't miss it!
Duration:01:03:34
Chapter 94: As the Wedding Day Looms, Tripitaka's Poetry Blooms!
7/16/2021
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 composing poetry to deal with his anxiety. But all is not lost, for Monkey's got a plan. Find out what it is this week!
Duration:00:40:45
Chapter 93: Forced to Marry a Princess! Will Tripitaka's Journey End Here?
7/9/2021
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 her doppelganger. What's going on? Find out this week!
Duration:00:49:23
Chapter 92: Who's harder to control, a runaway rhino or a pillaging army?
7/2/2021
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 they've won, can the victors control their forces? Perhaps the most realistic portrayal of cosmic war yet, this week!
Duration:00:34:38
The lantern festival with the three oily Buddhas.
6/25/2021
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 really go away.
Duration:00:57:20
Chapter 90: Did anybody lose a nine-headed lion?
6/18/2021
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, nine-headed lion and self-proclaimed, "Nine-fold Numina Primal Sage" involved. Will Tripitaka survive being a POW? And where did this lion come from? Find out this week!
Duration:00:51:12
Chapter 89: Lions, and lions, and lions, oh my!
6/11/2021
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 escapes, and returns with more felines than the cast of Cats!
Duration:00:36:59
Chapter 88: Wanna be my disciple? Here, hold my weapon!
6/4/2021
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 they're free from bad karma. More this week!
Duration:01:07:59
Chapter 87: This one's for all the bureaucracy-lovers out there!
5/21/2021
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 rained ever since. Can Wukong navigate heaven's various departments and proper protocols or will everybody starve? Find out this week!
Duration:00:56:40
Chapter 86: Monkey King Sun Wukong, Head Inspector
5/14/2021
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 outwit the Monkey King? Find out this week!
Duration:00:51:54
Chapter 85: That time the Monkey King "helped" his brother by almost getting him killed.
5/7/2021
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 meets a fellow menu item in the demon's lair. Don't miss it!
Duration:00:59:14
Chapter 84: The monkey, the pig, the monk, the sand monster, and the wardrobe
4/30/2021
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 wife to let them sleep in their wardrobe. Just then, bandits! How much worse can the monks' luck get? Find out this week!
Duration:00:54:26
Chapter 83: She tried to take my master's virginity, so Monkey is suing her father!
4/23/2021
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 lying, but who? Find out this week!
Duration:00:58:16