Journey to the West in the context of Sūtra

The Western Regions or Xiyu (Hsi-yü; Chinese: 西域) was a historical name specified in Ancient Chinese chronicles between the 3rd century BC to the 8th century AD that referred to the regions west of the Yumen Pass, most often the Tarim Basin in present-day southern Xinjiang (also known as Altishahr) and Central Asia (specifically the easternmost portion around the Ferghana Valley), though it was sometimes used more generally to refer to other regions to the west of China as well, such as Parthia (which technically belonged to West Asia) and Tianzhu (as in the novel Journey to the West, which refers to the Indian subcontinent in South Asia).

Because of their strategic location astride the Silk Road, the Western Regions have been historically significant to China since at least the 3rd century BC.

Classic Chinese Novels (traditional Chinese: 古典小說; simplified Chinese: 古典小说; pinyin: gǔdiǎn xiǎoshuō) are the best-known works of literary fiction across pre-modern Chinese literature. The group usually includes the following works: Ming dynasty novels Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West, and The Plum in the Golden Vase; and Qing dynasty novels Dream of the Red Chamber and The Scholars.

These works are among the world's longest and oldest novels. They represented a new complexity in structure and sophistication in language that helped to establish the novel as a respected form among later popular audiences and erudite critics. The Chinese historian and literary theorist C. T. Hsia wrote in 1968 that these six works "remain the most beloved novels among the Chinese."

Huai'an, formerly Huaiyin, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province in Eastern China. As of 2020, the built-up area (metro) of its 3 central urban districts had 2,544,767 inhabitants and the prefecture-level city as a whole had 4,556,230 inhabitants, down from 4.8 million in 2010.

Long an important regional center, Huai'an lies on and is named for the Huai River, the historical boundary between Northern and Southern Chinese culture. Once much closer to the East China Sea, it now lies in the middle of Jianghuai, the vast alluvial plain created by silt from the Huai and from the Yellow River, which flowed nearby for centuries prior to the massive floods in the mid-19th century which returned it to its old course north of Shandong. Huai'an is known as the birthplace of Han Xin, a famed general who helped found the Han dynasty and overwhelm Xiang Yu in Chu-han contention; Wu Cheng'en (1500–1582), the Ming author of Journey to the West; and Zhou Enlai (1898–1976), a prominent and early Chinese Communist leader who served as premier of the PRC from 1949 until his death in 1976.

Wu Cheng'en (traditional Chinese: 吳承恩; simplified Chinese: 吴承恩; pinyin: Wú Chéng'ēn; Wade–Giles: Wu Ch‘êng-ên; Jyutping: Ng Sing Jan, c. 1500–1582 or 1505–1580), courtesy name Ruzhong (汝忠), was a Chinese novelist, poet, and politician during the Ming dynasty. He is considered by many to be the author of Journey to the West, one of the Classic Chinese Novels.

Monkey: A Folk-Tale of China, more often known as simply Monkey, is an abridged translation published in 1942 by Arthur Waley of the sixteenth-century Chinese novel Journey to the West conventionally attributed to Wu Cheng'en of the Ming dynasty. Waley's remains one of the most-read English-language versions of the novel. The British poet Edith Sitwell characterized Monkey as "a masterpiece of right sound", one that was "absence of shadow, like the clearance and directness of Monkey's mind." The translation won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1942.

Sun Wukong (Chinese: 孫悟空, Mandarin pronunciation: [swə́n ûkʰʊ́ŋ]), also known as the Monkey King, is a literary and religious figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West. In the novel, Sun Wukong is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices. After rebelling against heaven, he is imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha. Five hundred years later, he accompanies the monk Tang Sanzang riding on the White Dragon Horse and two other disciples, Zhu Bajie and Sha Heshang, on a journey to obtain Buddhist sutras, known as the West or Western Paradise, where Buddha and his followers dwell.

Sun Wukong possesses many abilities. He has supernatural strength and is able to support the weight of two heavy mountains on his shoulders while running "with the speed of a meteor". He is extremely fast, able to travel 108,000 li (54,000 km, 34,000 mi) in one somersault. He has vast memorization skills and can remember every monkey ever born. As king of the monkeys, it is his duty to keep track of and protect every monkey. Sun Wukong acquires the 72 Earthly Transformations, which allow him to access 72 unique powers, including the ability to transform into animals and objects. He is a skilled fighter, capable of defeating the best warriors of heaven. His hair has magical properties, capable of making copies of himself or transforming into various weapons, animals and other things. He has partial weather manipulation skills, can freeze people in place, and can become invisible.

Mount Huaguo (traditional Chinese: 花果山; pinyin: Huāguǒ Shān; Wade–Giles: Huakuo Shan; Japanese: Kakazan; Vietnamese: Hoa Quả Sơn), or Flowers and Fruit Mountain, is a major area featured in the novel Journey to the West (16th century). A number of real-world locations have been connected with the Mount Huaguo, although the eponymous mountain in Lianyungang, Jiangsu is most commonly identified as its source of inspiration.

According to folklore, when Guanyin Bodhisattva passed through Flower Fruit Mountain, she meditated on a large rock. Imbued with divine essence, the stone miraculously gave birth to Sun Wukong. In a folktale, the mother goddess Nüwa sacrificed herself, transforming into thousands of colorful crystals to repair the sky. One of these crystals fell onto Flower and Fruit Mountain, where it absorbed the essence of the sun and moon, eventually giving birth to a stone monkey.

Tang Sanzang is a fictional Chinese Buddhist monk and pilgrim who is a central character in the 16th-century novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en, he is based on the real Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang. His birth surname name was Chen (陳), but having been found in a river as a baby--he was abandoned after birth--he was given the name Jiāng Liú (江流; this 'milk name' literally meaning "River Float", a nod to the fact that he was found in a river). When he first became a monk, his Dharma name is Xuánzàng (玄奘; literally meaning "Great Mystery"). Later, upon swearing brotherhood with the Tang Emperor, he gains the new surname, Tang (唐), and for the pilgrimage, he is called by the new given-name/epithet, Sānzàng (三藏, lit. The "Three Baskets"; referring to the Tripiṭaka), but is also widely known by his courtesy name Tang Seng (唐僧, lit. the "Tang Monk").

The title Sānzàng refers to his mission to seek the Sanzangjing, or the "Three Collections of (Buddhist Great vehicle) Scriptures". In some English translations of Journey to the West, the title is rendered as Tripitaka which is the original Sanskrit term for the Sanzangjing. His name Tang Sanzang reflects his status as an oath brother of Emperor Taizong of the Tang dynasty.