Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 1-2 | Page 366

New Journeys to the West
Kowloon Tong School ( Primary Section ), Ko , Ka Lam - 10

J ourney to the West happened in the seventh century , it is a story about Tang San Zang ' s ( Xuan Zang ) journey to the west – India and the difficulties he and his companions face during the journey . It divided into different chapters of stories with lots of humor from the characters : Monkey King Wu Kong , a pig demon Zhu Ba Jie and the river demon Sha Wu Jing .

Buddha Sakyamuni who was expelled from the heaven for broken the Buddha ’ s rules , he was sent to the human world and forced to spend ten lifetimes practicing religious self-cultivation in order to compensate for his offense .
In his tenth lifetime during the Tang Dynasty , he revives as a monk named Xuan Zang . The Tang emperor requested him travels to the west and bring real Buddhist scriptures back to China .
However Xuan Zang is not comfortable with such risky travel on his own so the goddess Guanyin arranges a team to protect him during the journey : Monkey King Wu Kong and the other followers , a pig demon Zhu Ba Jie and the river demon Sha Wu Jing . All of them had been expelled to the human world for sins in the heavens . Out of mercy , Guanyin gives them one more chance to return to their home with the condition that they need to convert to Buddhism and protect the monk Tang on his journey .
On the journey they encountered one trial after another , it includes force , deception , evil spirits , temptation on wealth or beauty . At the end , the team is able to accomplish the task and they return to China with sacred scriptures , and all return to their rightful places in the heavens .
The story starts with Sun Wu Kong ' s origins . Sun born from a rock on the summit of Flower Fruit Mountain and goes on to become the king of the monkeys . His strength grows , but he angers several gods and is only granted a minor position in Heaven as the Keeper of Horses . He returns to the Flower Fruit Mountain and declares himself “ Great Sage Equal to Heaven ”. Since no one is able to defeat him , he becomes the guardian of the heavenly peach garden . Eating a peach allows him to live forever and Sun Wukong is greedy and eats all of the peaches . At the end , the Buddha disciplines Sun Wukong prisoned in the mountain for 500 years . He is released by Tang San Zang and agrees to be his follower during the journey . However , Sun Wukong is difficult to control , and eventually has a metal ring placed around his head by the Guanyin . By chanting , Tang San Zang is able to tighten the ring whenever he punishes Sun Wukong , causes him terrible headaches .
Tan San Zang comes from a trouble family . His father is killed and his mother taken away by thieves . He is abandoned by his mother when he was born ; he was rescued and brought up by the abbot of a monastery . Eventually , he becomes a monk and manages to save his mother . The Emperor of Great Tang asked him to hold a religious ceremony called ' Shui Lu Da Hui '. The Goddess Guanyin and her follower disguise themselves as monks and tell him to go to the Western Heaven to fetch the holy scriptures . Thus Tang San Zang starts on his journey to the Western Heavens .
Then , Tang San Zang rescues Sun Wu Kong from the mountain . They meet Zhu Ba Jie and Sha Wu Jing later who become San Zang ' s disciples . Throughout the journey , Tan San Zang is regularly attacked and kidnapped by demons and evil beings as they want to gain immortality by eating his flesh . The team faces many difficulties during the journey ; they fight against the demons and go through all the adventures on the way .
Finally they reach the Western Heavens and bring back the scriptures to China . Having accomplished his mission , Tang San Zang and his three disciples are taken back to Paradise . At the end , Tang San Zang and his disciples are able to become Buddha .
Perhaps we are not sure the accuracy and reality of the story , but this spiritual journey does teach us a valuable lesson to be kind , ethical and moral . Hope you understand the context and the story about Journey to the West .