Methodology

The rules this site holds itself to — what we know, what we label, and what we never fake.

What counts as fact

• Plot facts come from the 100-chapter Ming Xiyouji. Chapter numbers follow the standard division.
• Historical facts (Xuanzang’s dates, the 1592 printing) come from documented records and are labeled as such.
• Traditional claims (the Wu Cheng’en attribution, “next year it comes to my house” as the novel’s most quoted line) are labeled traditional, not proven.

Uncertainty policy

Every page on this site labels its uncertainty:

• Documented — from a dated record (the 1592 edition, Xuanzang’s biography).
• Traditional — long-standing attribution without contemporary proof (Wu Cheng’en’s authorship).
• Scholarly consensus — what most specialists accept (Song/Yuan antecedents of the legend).
• Interpretation — readings of the text (the mind-monkey allegory), presented as readings, not facts.
• Unknown — stated plainly where evidence runs out.

Quotation honesty

• Anthony C. Yu’s translation is copyrighted; we never quote it.
• The sayings page carries this site’s own English renderings, each labeled “our rendering” or “paraphrase,” with chapter references.
• We never invent quotations. Anything presented as the novel’s words is either our labeled rendering of the Chinese or an explicitly marked paraphrase.

Image honesty

• All images are AI-generated dramatization art, labeled on every page: “AI-generated dramatization art — not a historical depiction.”
• No real people are depicted. The opera mask is a stylized mask, not a portrait of a performer.
• The Vizlings character sheet is a style reference only; it never appears on public pages.

What this site won’t do

• Assert the Wu Cheng’en authorship as settled (see the authors).
• Assert Hanuman-to-Wukong borrowing as proven (see monkey myths).
• Present the stream page as live when it is a mockup (see stream).
• Present paraphrase as quotation, or our renderings as anyone else’s translation.