During the reign of Emperor Tai Zong （627-649） of the Tang Dynasty， at his request， esteemed Buddhist Monk Xuan Zang was sent to India， the birthplace of Buddhism， for scriptures. From Chang”an （present-day Xi”an）， the capital of the Tang Dynasty， the monk journeyed west. When he eventually fulfilled the mission and returned， seventeen years had passed. From that time forward， Buddhism spread across China. As this legendary trip was told and relold by later generations， many embellishments were zealously added. Wu Cheng”en， using popular versions of the story along with his own fictional details， created the intriguing classical novel Journey to the West. The Tang Priest， Monkey， Pig and Friar Sand characters from the book are popular images among Chinese people.
Note： Wu Cheng”en（1500-1582）， was a Ming Dynasty novelist

When Tang Priest and his three disciples come to Mount Pitfall there is a female mouse spirit there. As soon as she sees Tang Priest she falls in love with him. Since he is so handsome， she wants to marry him. The mouse spirit first changes herself into a pretty girl and then tied herself to a tree. Then she waits for the Tang Priest and his devotees to pass by. When they see her they save her. Then the evil mouse spirit asked then to take her with them by telling a fabricated story designed to win their sympathy. At night they stayed in a temple. The evil spirit took Tang Priest to her Bottomless Cave using an evil wind. When the three disciples couldn”t find their master they followed them to the Bottomless Cave. Mondey changed himself into an insect to go inside the cave. He saw that the evil spirit was urging his master to drink wine so he would get drunk and aGREe to marry her. Then Monkey changed himself into an eagle to turn the table upside down. The evil spirit trembled with fear. Then Monkey changed himself into a fly and flew into the ear of his master and said something. Tang Priest did what he said： He invited the evil spirit to take a walk with him in the garden. There he picked a big peach and offered it to her. She was very pleased and ate the fruit right away. After a moment， her stomach was in such pain that she couldn”t bear it. Just then， Monkey shouted in her stomach： “Let my master go， otherwise I”ll kill you.” It turned out that the peach was changed by Monkey. As soon as Tang Priest went out of the cave， Monkey. As soon as Tang Priest went out of the cave， Monkey jumped out from the stomach of the evil spirit. Monkey， Pig and Friar Sand had a fierce fight with the evil spirit and there wsa nobody to protect the Master. Tang Priest was again taken into the cave by the evil spirit. Monkey entered the cave and did not find his master but he saw the memorial tablets for Heavenly King Li and Nezha. Monkey went to the Jade Emperor with the tablets in his hands. The Jade Emperor ordered Heavenly King Li and Nezha to subdue the mouse spirit and get Tang Priest out of the cave. Then the master and three disciples went on their way to the West to find Buddhist scriptures.

Tang Priest and his three disciples traveled westward. One night， they arrived at the Tongtian River， which was 800kilometers wide with torrential waters. They had to put up for the night in a nearby village because they had no way to cross the river. They came to a house in which lived a man named Chen Cheng and his family. The whole family was crying. The group soon learned that in the Tongtian River there was a spirit who asked the village to send him a virgin girl and a virgin boy every year as a sacrifice. And this year was Chen Cheng‘s turn. Learning this， Monkey King consoled the Chens， and promised them that he and Pig would act as the boy and girl to wait for the spirit in the temple. At midnight， the spirit came to the temple to reach for the girl. Pig， the pretended girl， in a hurry swirled his rake at the spirit. The spirit fled into the river. The next morning， Tang Priest and his disciples woke up and found the 800-kilometer-wide river frozen. San Zang urged his disciples to cross the river over the ice. When they reached the middle of the river， the ice cracked and the river swallowed Tang Priest who was then captured by the spirit. The three disciples ran after the spirit who knew he was no match for them and did not come out. Monkey King had to seek help from Guanyin （a Bodhis-attva）。 It turned out that the spirit was a big goldfish in the South Sea lotus pond. The fish escaped from the Buddha to hurt people. So the Buddha was asked to retrieve the fish spirit. Later， the four were worrying about how to cross the river. Suddenly， there came an old turtle， who said， “Iused to live in the river. Now that you have chased away the spirit， I am back. Let me help you get across the river.” So the four jumped over the turtle’s back and the turtle took them to the other side of the river.

Red Boy， the Bull Demon King and Princess Iron Fans son， had cultivated his physical and mental capacities and pollessed magic abilities. With powerful magics he always had the idea of eating the meat of Sanzang， the Tang Priest （whose meat could make creatures live longer） to lengthen his life. One day while he was watching in the sky， he saw Sanzang and his disciples coming from afar. He knew that the disciples had excellent fighting skills， so he planned to capture Sanzang by making use of the priest”s kindness and muddled mind， rather than use force. At a spot just ahead of where Sanzang and his group were， Red Boy turned himself into a boy of seven and hung himself on the top of a tree with his hands and feet tied with a rope and cried for help. The Tang Priest heard the boy”s cries and asked Monkey to release him. Monkey， seeing that the boy was actually a demon in disguise， told his master not to bother. Sanzang got angry， and he asked Pig to bring the boy down from the tree； he ordered Monkey to carry he boy on his back. As they started to go ， Red Boy jumped into mid-air， leaving behind a false Red Boy for Monkey to carry. To kidnap Sanzang， Red Boy hurled a whirl of wind at him. Sanzang disappeared.
　　Monkey knew this was done by the demon and he asked Pig and Friar Sandto look after the luggage and he hurried to the Huofang Cave in the Withered Pine Valley to look for his master. A fierce battle ensued between Monkey and Red Boy. Knowing it is impossible to defeat Monkey， Red Boy Spurted three types of flames which were so powerful even the Dragon King could not put out. Monkey， knowing he could not win， jumped out of the sea of fire and went to the South Sea to ask the Goddess Guanyin for help. The goddess vanquished Red Boy and brought him to the South Sea. Monkey saved Sanzang and Sanzang and his disciples continued their journey to the West in search of Buddhist scriptures.

the Tang Priest and his three disciples， Monkey （Wukong）， Pig and Friar Sand， were heading towards the Western Heaven. Gradually they began to feel hotter and hotter in the warm air. It was very strange， because it was autumn. Later they learnt that the Fiery Mountains were just ahead of them. The mountains had a circumference of 800 li， on which not a blade of grass could grow. A young man selling cakes told them that it was not possible to cross the mountains without a special plantain fan which could only be borrowed from Princess Iron Fan. After having made arrangements for his master， Monkey left for the Plantain Cave to see Princess Iron Fan. The princess was the wife of the Bull Demon King and the Red Boy”s mother. Some time ago， Red Boy had tried to eat the Tang Priest and Monkey had subdued him. Hence Princess Iron Fan hated Monkey and refused to lend the fan to him. Instead she blew Monkey right out of sight with a single wave of her plantain fan. Bodhisattva Lingji heard about this and gave Monkey a Wind-Fixing Pill. Monkey came to borrow the magic fan for the second time. With the Wind-Fixing Pill in his mouth， Monkey could not be moved no matter how hard the princess waved the fan. The princess hurried back to the cave and had the doors closed tightly. However， Monkey turned himself into an insect and got into the princess‘ belly when she was drinking tea. The princess could not stand the pain， so that she aGREed to lend the fan to Monkey， but she actually gave him a false one. The third time Monkey came for the fan he decided to turn himself into the Bull Demon King. He got the fan. Upon hearing of this trickery， the Bull Demon King came hurriedly chasing after Monkey. They engaged in a fierce struggle. Soon Pig and Friar Sand came to Monkey”s help and forced the Bull Demon King to show his true colors. With the plantain fan， Monkey put out the fire. The master and his three disciples continued their journey to the West to fetch scriptures.