Last week we did a storytelling lesson in one of my
English classes. I asked the students to tell me a well-known story from China, & they told me the story of the
Monkey King, a mischievous supernatural creature who wound up achieving
nirvana because he helped a monk on his journey to India to find the holy
sutras. It's the story behind the movie
Forbidden Kingdom, starring Jet Li & Jackie Chan.
I remember seeing the Monkey King story played out repeatedly on
Vietnamese TV, but I didn't know what it was at the time. Now that I know the name of the story (
Journey to the West), perhaps I can find the show online somewhere. Does anyone have suggestions on where to look?
Ohhh, this totally takes me back to college and my East Asian studies minor. It's kind of a cool legend that appears across several Asian cultures. I'd love to see a modern dramatic interpretation -- will follow with interest to see if you find one.
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