After Monkey outlasted the axes, sticks, swords, and lances of the gods, he boldly announced his plan to depose the Jade Emperor, the ruler of heaven. The gods and goddesses gasped at his audacity and whispered among themselves in shocked tones. Read the rest of this entry »

On the Mountain of Fruit and Flowers, a magic rock gave birth to a stone egg. From this stone egg emerged a monkey whose first act was to jump up and bow to the four directions. His eyes flashed like lightning, and his teeth glinted like the stars at night. Read the rest of this entry »

Once there was a very kind woman named Cheng who lived in Shandong province in northwestern China. Loved and respected by everyone, she longed desperately for a child. Night and day, she prayed for a son. However, her husband scolded her for wanting another mouth to feed. Once he had been a nobleman, but he had lost all his money. Afterward, all his old friends avoided him and he became deeply ashamed of his poverty. Luckily, Cheng was willing to marry him. Read the rest of this entry »

Because he loved his wife very much, the Grand Archer Yi reluctantly set out on a journey to the Kunlun Mountains where the peaches of long life were grown by Hsi Wang Mu, the Queen Mother of the Western Paradise. The Archer was unsure of the road, and even less sure of how much strength he had left. When he lived in heaven, Yi had always ridden in the empress’s chariot or straddled the tails of sky dragons to reach the Western Paradise, but now that he lived on earth, he had to walk. He crossed burning deserts, forded cold streams, and trekked over high mountains for thousands of miles. Read the rest of this entry »

China was once thought to be surrounded by four seas. To the east was a vast ocean. Beyond the ocean, magnificent plants bloomed on an island paradise. The most glorious specimen of all the plant life was the Fusang tree, whose wondrous branches stretched up toward the heavens and out across the island for hundreds of miles. Scattered among its masses of dark green foliage, fragrant hibiscus flowers burst into flaming shades of magenta, crimson, and violet. Read the rest of this entry »