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Journey to the West Research

@jttwresearch.bsky.social

330 followers 15 following 130 posts

Researching the historical, religious, and folklore influences of the great 16th-century Chinese classic Journey to the West journeytothewestresearch.wordpress.com

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · Nov 10

I have archived foreign language PDFs of Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592). It includes:

* English
* French
* German
* Hungarian
* Romanian
* Russian
* Spanish
* Thai
* Vietnamese

I will add more languages in the future. Enjoy.

journeytothewestresearch.com/2023/08/08/a...

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · 3d

Journey to the West gives 3 explanations for Sun Wukong's invulnerability:

- Ch. 7: Samadhi fire refined immortal foodstuff into a "Diamond body" (per Laozi)

- Ch. 34: Laozi's furnace refines a metallic body (Per Sun)

- Ch. 75: Born w/a head of bronze & iron, further refined by furnace (Per Sun)

Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · 12d

I recently came across a Chinese translation of a 1990 TMNT comic for sale on Facebook Marketplace in Taiwan. I may get it.

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · 20d

My new article provides a more natural reason for Sun Wukong to fight Heracles from Greco-Roman Myth.

journeytothewestresearch.com/2025/10/04/s...

Drawing by Dario Virga (Onibotokemaru on Instagram).

Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · 22d

I just figured out a way to insert Sun Wukong into Greek myth. The "Cercopes" (Gr: Κέρκωπες; lit: "tail men") were two bandit brothers that were transformed into monkeys by Zeus for their misdeeds. Another version says they were turned to stone. Why not both?

Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · 27d

(2/2) See my previous list of parallels between Sun Wukong and Heracles/Hercules here.

journeytothewestresearch.com/2024/12/01/p...

Parallels Between Sun Wukong and Hercules

Here is a list of parallels shared by Sun Wukong and Hercules. It originally appeared in Hercules vs Sun Wukong Death Battle Analysis, but I decided to split the information off into a new article …

journeytothewestresearch.com

Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · 27d

(1/2) I thought of another parallel between Sun Wukong & Heracles/Hercules: both figures have twins!

- Heracles' twin (half) brother is Iphicles.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iphicles

- Monkey's twin is the Six-Eared Macaque.

journeytothewestresearch.com/2020/11/04/o...

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · Aug 11

I have written a quick article about the origins of the JTTW episode where the white turtle-spirit dumps the pilgrims and the scriptures into the water.

journeytothewestresearch.com/2025/08/09/o...

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · Jul 27

I've archived a PDF of Dr. Moss Robert's four-volume Foreign Language Press translation of Three Kingdoms (Sanguo yanyi, 三國演義, 14-century).

I did this because per the Journey to the West Library blog the book influenced aspects of Journey to the West.

journeytothewestresearch.com/2025/07/27/a...

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · Jul 25

I was interested to learn that the animators had a surprising amount of freedom during the production.

Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · Jul 24

Here's a Master's thesis that describes the cultural and political context behind the creation of the animated film 'Havoc in Heaven' (1961/1964).

journeytothewestresearch.com/2025/07/24/a...

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · Jul 22

The scorpion-spirit from Journey to the West is one of my favorite baddies. A cursory search of CBETA shows that snakes, scorpions, and centipedes are commonly cited evils in Buddhist literature. This might explain her (ch. 55), the red python-spirit (ch. 67), and the centipede-spirit (ch. 73).

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Reposted by Journey to the West Research

Silly Rookie @sillyrookie.bsky.social · Dec 26

Heaven, 7am.

Jade Emperor: "I'm sorry, Sun Wukong did WHAT!?"

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · Jul 5

This is cute beyond words! Thank you.

It does look pretty nice.

Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · Jun 30

Here is my new article about Shi Pantuo, Xuanzang's historical (temporary) guide that likely influenced Sun Wukong.

journeytothewestresearch.com/2025/06/29/a...

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · Jun 21

Blood magic is one of Sun Wukong's most powerful skills. In ch. 25, he bites his tongue and spits blood to change trees into the JTTW pilgrims. These clones can even talk and answer questions. They are so perfect, in fact, that Monkey feels a shiver up his spine when his is hit with a magic whip.

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · Jun 13

I've previously posted that Sun Wukong's Buddha title, "Victorious Fighting Buddha" (鬥戰勝佛), is based on the historical Yuddhajaya Buddha (Sk: युद्धजय).

I just learned that Yuddhajaya has another name, "Vijita-saṃgrāma" (Ch: 勇健吉祥佛; Viet: Dũng Kiện Cát Tương Phật; lit: “Brave and Auspicious Buddha”)

Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · Jun 10

I bought this JTTW bag on Taiwan Facebook marketplace.

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · May 22

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · May 22

Two of the neatest things I learned from a book on Indo-European mythology is that someone can recognize a disguised god by two things:

1) They are exceptionally heavy for their size.

2) They walk with great ease, almost like they are skating or hovering just above the ground.

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · May 17

My article about the “four monkeys of havoc” (四猴混世, a.k.a. "four celestial primates") is one of my most popular pieces. It's received roughly 45K views in just 3 years. This is surprising since the group is only mentioned by name once in JTTW.

journeytothewestresearch.com/2022/02/20/a...

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · May 15

I've updated the images on my "Qitian Dasheng Monkey King Temples in Taiwan" article.

The links originally stopped working when my old uni gmail account was deleted in 2024.

journeytothewestresearch.com/2021/02/15/q...

Pic: Monkey spirit-generals from Shengfo Tang (聖佛堂) in Beigang, Yunlin.

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · May 12

A British friend of mine visited a Zhu Bajie temple in Yunan, China and got me two of these Talismans. They arrived in the mail today.

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · May 6

Zhu Bajie has two giant forms in Journey to the West.

In chapter 29, he grows 8 or 9-zhang (八九丈), which is 83.44 or 93.97 feet / 25.44 or 28.62 meters tall.

In chapter 67, his giant boar form is 1,000-chi (千尺), which is 1,025 feet / 312.42 meters tall.

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · May 4

Here's a new article analyzing the claim that Sun Wukong can gain the strength and magical abilities of an opponent by copying their appearance via the 72 Changes or hair clones. It's a misconception based on Monkey's battle with Nezha in JTTW chapter 4.

journeytothewestresearch.com/2025/05/04/c...

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Journey to the West Research @jttwresearch.bsky.social · May 2

Thank you