Sayings
The novel's most famous lines — rendered into English by this site, labeled as our own, with chapter references. For the authoritative translation, see Anthony C. Yu (copyrighted); see sources.
1. The world from chaos
“Before chaos divided, heaven and earth were a confusion, vast and vague, unseen by any. Since Pangu broke the primal murk, the clear and the muddy have been distinguished ever since.”
Our rendering of the novel’s famous opening poem (chapter 1). The book begins with cosmology before it begins with monkeys.
2. The emperor’s throne is a revolving seat
“The emperor’s throne goes round by turns — next year it comes to my house!”
Our rendering of Wukong’s boast (chapter 7): 「皇帝輪流做，明年到我家」. The single most quoted line in the novel, and the thesis of the rebellion.
3. Great Sage, Equal of Heaven
“He raised his banner and took the title: Great Sage, Equal of Heaven.”
Paraphrase of the novel’s account (chapters 4–5). Qitian Dasheng (齊天大聖) — four characters that declared war on the cosmos’s org chart.
4. The stone monkey’s first bow
“The stone egg broke with a crash, and out came a stone monkey, complete in every limb, who bowed to the four quarters.”
Our rendering of the birth scene (chapter 1). His first act is courtesy; his second is mischief.
5. On learning the way
“I have come from afar to seek the master; I ask only to learn the way past death.”
Paraphrase of Wukong’s plea to the Patriarch Subodhi (chapter 2). Everything he does for the next hundred chapters follows from this sentence: he is afraid of dying.
6. The wager
“If you can leap clear of my palm, the Jade Emperor will yield you his throne. If you cannot, return below and behave.”
Our rendering of the Buddha’s terms (chapter 7). The bet Wukong couldn’t win, because the palm was the world.
7. Five hundred years
“He pressed his palm down, and Five Elements Mountain fell upon the monkey. ‘When the scripture-seeker comes,’ the Buddha said, ‘your day will arrive.’”
Paraphrase (chapter 7). The novel’s longest punishment begins with a promise.
8. The headband
“The golden fillet closed around his skull, and at the first words of the spell it tightened until the Great Sage howled.”
Paraphrase of Guanyin’s gift to Sanzang (chapter 14). Power meets its limit: a headache.
9. Seeing through disguise
“The demon may change her face three times, but my fiery eyes know her every time.”
Paraphrase of the White Bone Demon episode (chapter 27). Wukong sees the truth; the master punishes him for it.
10. The true self
“Two monkeys stood before the Buddha, and none in heaven or hell could say which was true. The Buddha smiled: he knew.”
Paraphrase of the Six-Eared Macaque episode (chapters 57–58). The tribulation of identity.
11. The scriptures, dunked
“They had crossed every mountain and river, and at the last river the scriptures fell in the water. They spread the pages on a rock to dry.”
Paraphrase of the finale (chapter 100). Perfection’s last joke: enlightenment, slightly damp.
12. Victorious Fighting Buddha
“The Buddha removed the headband and named him Victorious Fighting Buddha. The rebel had fought all the way through — and that was the point.”
Paraphrase of the promotions (chapter 100). Not the obedient Buddha. The fighting one.
Source notes
- All renderings and paraphrases are original to this site, based on the Chinese text of the 100-chapter edition.
- For authoritative English: Anthony C. Yu’s The Journey to the West (4 vols., rev. 2012, copyrighted); the classic abridgment is Arthur Waley’s Monkey (1942). See sources.