Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2018 | Page 17

Journey to the West
Regents Primary School of Shenzhen, Wang, Xuanyue -10
A
fter reading “Journey to the West”, I was deeply moved. I was particularly impressed by the
unbelievable experiences of the Tang priest, and his three apprentices.
“Journey to the West”, written by ChengEn Wu, is one of the four greatest and most
famous classical Chinese novels.Through a way of unconstrained style, the book shows the four individuals
encounter various difficulties and obstacles, and finally overcome all of these. What's more, in front of them,
no matter what happens, they will never give up and make every effort to achieve their goals.
At the beginning of the book, there was a mountain named Hua Guo Shan. One fine day, a large rock
of this mountain exploded and a monkey jumped out. Once born, he had the confidence to be the king of
monkeys. Eventually, he made it. He found a comfortable place, which was so perfect for monkey that all
the monkeys let the rock monkey be their king. As far as I am concerned, I admire him. With a willing
heart, he will fight for his dream and never give up. Indeed, every student should have a goal, and go out of
their way to realise it.
From “Journey to the West”, I have a better understanding of tolerance. In chapter 12, one noon,
Xuanzang felt hungry and asked Wukong to find some food while the rest of them rested there. When
Wukong was absent, a girl walked to Xuanzang, saying, " my husband is working in the field. I am taking
lunch to him. Since you look very pleasant you can have some." A pig is a pig. Bajie reached for the
food. Wukong watched on from a cloud that the girl was actually a devil. He immediately jumped down
and killed her. Due to naivety, Xuanzang blamed Wukong. Wukong showed him the pot containing toads
and stones instead of food. However, Xuanzang was still in doubt!
After three times like that, Xuanzang drove Wukong out, nevertheless, when the rest of three
encountered further troubles, Wukong, regardless of the past, still lent a helping hand. By knowing this
story, I think that we student should also learn to forgive, which will broaden our horizon.
Moreover, the story Wukong borrowed a fan from Princess Iron Fan impresses me the most and
makes me feel intelligence is essential. In the story, it was already late Autumn but it got hotter and hotter as
they walked on. Puzzled, they decided to turn to the locals and found out the reason. An old man said,
"Thirty kilometers ahead there is a Flaming Mountain. Literally, it is covered with flames so it is hot all year
round here. To go to the West you must cross it. About 1500 meter to the southwest, there was a Ba Jiao
Dong, literally Plantain Cave, on Cui Yun Shan, literally Green Cloud Mountain. In the cave lived an
Iron-fan Goddess. She was in possession of a plantain fan with which one could put out the fire, bring wind
and rain."
In no time Wukong jumped onto a cloud and disappeared in the distance. However, she was Bull
Demon King's wife and also Red Boy's mother who had been taken away by Guanyin, the Goddess of
Peace. So Red Boy's parents hated Son Wokong because of this. So it was impossible for the Princess to
lend the fan to Wokong. Anyway, Wukong decided to try his luck. When reported that Wukong wanted to
use her fan she went red in the face and said, " Evil Monkey! How can he ask for a favor after what he has
done to my son? I will make him pay his price! " As she was talking she went out, sword in hand, and
waved at Wukong but the monkey managed to dodge away. Wukong then came up with many ideas, such
as stealing the fan, pretending to be Bull Demon King, and shrinking his body to go into her tummy. As a