visit us at www abdopublishing com Published by Magic Wagon a division of the ABDO Group PO Box 398166 Edina MN 55439 Copyright 2014 by Abdo Consulting Group Inc International copyrights reserved in all countries All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher Short Tales is a trademark and logo of Magic Wagon Printed in the United States of America North Mankato Minnesota 102013 012014 This book contains at least 10 recycled materials Adapted Text by Anita Yasuda Illustrations by Jok Edited by Stephanie Hedlund and Rochelle Baltzer Interior Layout by Renée LaViolette Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Yasuda Anita The Monkey King a Chinese monkey spirit myth adapted by Anita Yasuda illustrated by Jok pages cm Short tales Chinese myths ISBN 978 1 62402 032 2 1 Tales China Juvenile literature 2 Mythology Chinese Juvenile literature 3 Monkeys Folklore Juvenile literature I Jok Artist illustrator II Wu Cheng en approximately 1500 approximately 1582 Xi you ji III Title GR335 73754 2014 398 20951 01 dc23 2013025311
MYTHICAL CREATURES MONKEY KING A magical superhero DRAGON KING The king of Eastern Seas JADE EMPEROR Ruler of Heaven DEMON KING Enemy of the Monkeys Note The Chinese names in this book use the pinyin system to represent the Chinese language in English
INTRODUCTION The Monkey King is a mischievous character with special magical powers His many adventures have delighted readers for thousands of years The legend of the Monkey King was told in author Wu Cheng en's c 1500 1582 novel Xiyou Ji or Journey to the West While the novel was written in the sixteenth century the story is believed to be much older It is thought to date to the mid Tang dynasty 68 907 CE The novel is based on the journey of an actual Chinese monk named Tripitaka or Xuan Zang He traveled from China to India and back in search of Buddhist texts Buddhism is a religion that started in India more than 2 500 years ago This adaptation retells only the first few chapters from the novel It uses material from Arthur Waley's translation of Journey to the West called Monkey The Chinese Fairy Book edited by Dr R Wilhem and Anthony C Wu's translation of Journey to the West
On the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits stood a magical rock One day it broke open and out came a monkey What a fine day it is Monkey said bowing to the four corners of the world He heard the calls of the other monkeys and off he went
