Journey to the West: Another Wukong's Story (2025) 另一个悟空的西游记
Author: Miao Zixi
Publisher: Qiyu Island | Guangxi Normal University Press
Format: Paperback
Date: October 2025
Pages: 416
ISBN: 9787559886538
Language: Chinese
Adaptation: Meta
Summary:
The real-life "Wukong": A forty-year journey to the West that reveals a true story of pilgrimage—one far more moving than the myth. The book includes a beautifully hand-drawn map, inviting you to experience this forgotten, magnificent epic firsthand. In 751 AD, a young military officer named Che Fengchao set out for the West, bound for the Kingdom of Jibin, south of the snowy mountains. Little did he know that this mission would turn into a forty-year odyssey: witnessing the ebb and flow of Tang military campaigns, taking monastic vows in a South Asian Buddhist land, and traversing the Tibetan blockade with sacred scriptures in hand. When he finally returned as the elderly monk Wukong, no old friends remained in Chang'an. The Protectorates of Anxi and Beiting had been obliterated in bloody warfare, and the gentle sound of camel bells in the Western Regions had been replaced by the thunder of iron hooves—a true history of pilgrimage, and a chronicle of the Tang Dynasty's decline. ◎ Editor's Recommendation
◇ From Tang military officer to the eminent monk Wukong: A journey to the West more awe-inspiring than the myth
This is a true story long buried by the dust of history. During the Tianbao era of the Tang Dynasty, the young officer Che Fengchao was dispatched to the Western Regions, only to find his destiny transformed as he took monastic vows. He crossed deadly deserts, witnessed the shifting fortunes of the Tang army, studied for decades in South Asia, and—against all odds—returned to Chang'an with Buddhist relics and scriptures. When the mythical halo fades, the actual history proves far more stirring than the legend.
◇ From the golden age of Chang'an to the flames of war in the West: Witnessing the glory and sorrow of the Tang Empire
From the high spirits of the Tianbao golden age to the changed world of the Zhenyuan era, Wukong spent forty years measuring the Tang Dynasty's transition from prosperity to decline. He watched as Tang territories in the West fell one by one under the iron hooves of the Tibetan Empire and experienced the complex, turbulent relationship between the Tang and the Uyghurs. When this sixty-year-old monk stood on the streets of Chang'an, the gleaming Buddha's tooth in his hand radiated not only the light of faith but also the final glory and melancholy of an empire.
◇ A "documentary on paper" based on rare historical records, recounting a forgotten legend of the Silk Road
Author Miao Zixi weaves a rich historical narrative by combining historical documents with insights gained from field research. The book deciphers records of travelers' lodges found in the Turpan manuscripts and reconstructs scenes of sutra translation at the monasteries of Beiting. It allows readers to experience moments lost to the passage of time: the life-or-death trek of caravans across snow-capped peaks, the desperate last stand of the Tang army in Beiting, and Wukong’s ultimate vigil atop Mount Cuo'e.
◇ A hand-illustrated map capturing Wukong’s entire westward journey—forty years of wandering distilled into a single, classical-style map
A specially commissioned illustrator has meticulously crafted a map that presents a panoramic view of Wukong’s westward route, marking key cities and historical sites—from the towering edifices of Chang'an and the yellow sands and desert poplars of the Western Regions to the majestic Buddhist temples of Tianzhu. It offers a comprehensive glimpse into this magnificent epic spanning four decades.
