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Journey to the West: The Podcast

by Richard Tseng

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Latest episodes

Chapter 41: Goodness Gracious, Great Boy of Fire!

June 26, 2020 · 1 hr 2 min

Invincible warrior with no respect for authority and a rebel attitude... sound familiar? This week the battle with the Red Boy continues and Monkey calls on an old friend from the Eastern depths. But will it be enough to douse the Samadhi…
Chapter 15: Monk's on a Horse!

November 29, 2019 · 48 min

This week, Xuanzang and Monkey King are forced to take a long walk, as a dragon eats the chosen monk's horse! And don't think the Monkey King's forgotten about that whole headache-inducing-hat trick that Guanyin pulled off in the last…
Chapter 14: Xuanzang and Wukong's First Fight

November 22, 2019 · 57 min

The Monkey King meets the king of monks in an encounter that's been a long time coming. And the Journey to the West is officially, finally, underway! Only, the two almost immediately get into a fight and Sun Wukong runs off to have tea…
Chapter 13: Some Monsters Invite Xuanzang for Dinner

November 15, 2019 · 51 min

This week the venerable Xuanzang, aka Tripitaka, begins his quest for the scriptures! And it goes... about as well as you'd expect from a few naive monks with no fighting or sorcery abilities. But just when all hope is lost, our old friend…
Chapter 12: Imperial Payback

November 8, 2019 · 45 min

In which the emperor's attempts to keep all the promises he made in the afterlife leads to the building of a grand temple and the commencement--once and for all--of the Journey to the West. If you were wondering what the hell was going on…

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Chapter 11: The Emperor Goes to Hell

November 1, 2019 · 55 min

It's like Dante's Inferno meets a Christmas Carol in this week's Journey to the West podcast. One of the greatest emperors who's ever lived confronts the ghosts of political intrigue's past when he's forced to stand trial for failing to…
Chapter 10: Dragon King's Lament

October 25, 2019 · 54 min

We go from commoners and lords to emperors and gods in this week's chapter of Journey to the West. Starting with an Ancient Chinese rap battle and ending with one of China's greatest emperors passing away into the great beyond. A dragon…
Episode 10: Journey to the West Research's Jim McClanahan

October 18, 2019 · 1 hr 27 min

We had a really great time sitting down with Jim McClanahan whose blog, Journey to the West Research is a wealth of information on all things Monkey King and his pals. Whether you're just starting the book with us or you've spent more time…
A Sadder Origin Than Batman and Moses Combined

October 11, 2019 · 1 hr 4 min

Guanyin's ready to meet the monk who will retrieve Buddha's scriptures, and so are we! If you thought Batman's origin was sad, just wait until you read Xuanzhang's. It's got echoes of Moses and Bruce Wayne, with plenty of tragedy and…
Episode 8: Guanyin's Quest

October 4, 2019 · 1 hr 0 min

What's Buddha going to do now that the monkey madness is over? Finish his magnum opus on how to get enlightened, that's what. And how does an ancient ascended all-knowing awakened one launch a book series before social media and Amazon? By…
Episode 7: Buddha's Wager

September 27, 2019 · 1 hr 2 min

With his forces finally defeated and the rebellious Sun Wukong himself brought to heel, one question remains: How do you punish an immortal when he's made himself impossible to kill? Everyone from the executioner to the fire department…
Chapter 6: Monkey King Meets the John Wick of the Great Beyond

September 20, 2019 · 45 min

After getting caught red-handed for stealing the Queen Mother's peaches, harassment and drinking on the job (but mainly for stealing those peaches), heaven's forces give the Monkey King a choice: surrender, or war? Naturally, newly-fired…

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About the show

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!