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The Journey to the West, Books 7, 8 and 9: Three Classic Stories in Simplified Chinese and Pinyin, 1200 Word Vocabulary Level
This book contains the full text of the 7th, 8th and 9th stories in our Journey to the West series for people learning to read Chinese. The three stories told here – The Monster of Black Wind Mountain, The Hungry Pig, and The Three Beautiful Daughters – are unchanged from our original versions except for minor editing and reformatting. All three stories are also available on Amazon as individual books.
In The Monster of Black Wind Mountain, we tell the story of the first few months of the journey itself. Tangseng is accompanied by his disciple, the short-tempered Monkey King Sun Wukong. They first encounter a mysterious river-dwelling dragon, then run into serious trouble while staying in the temple of a 270 year old abbot. Their troubles deepen when they meet the abbot’s friend, a terrifying black bear monster.
The next story, The Hungry Pig, ,we meet the pig-man Zhu Bajie, who becomes Tangseng’s second disciple. In his previous life, Zhu was the Marshal of the Heavenly Reeds, responsible for the Jade Emperor’s entire navy and 80,000 sailors. But unable to control his appetites, he got drunk at a festival and attempted to seduce the Goddess of the Moon. The Jade Emperor banished him to earth, but as he plunged from heaven to earth he ended up in the womb of a sow and was reborn as a man-eating pig monster.
In the final story, The Three Beautiful Daughters, we meet another new disciple: the river-dwelling monster Sha Wujing (literally, “Sand Aware of Purity” or “Sand Seeking Purity”) who was once the Curtain Raising Captain but was banished from heaven by the Yellow Emperor for breaking an extremely valuable cup during a drunken visit to the Peach Festival. Later, the band of pilgrims arrive at a beautiful home seeking a simple vegetarian meal and a place to stay for the night. What they encounter instead is a lovely and wealthy widow and her three even more lovely daughters. This meeting is, of course, much more than it appears to be, and it turns into a test of commitment and virtue for all of the pilgrims, especially for Zhu Bajie, the lazy and lustful pig-man. Zhu’s life is a constant battle against his appetites and desires, and in this book he faces his biggest battle yet.
In The Monster of Black Wind Mountain, we tell the story of the first few months of the journey itself. Tangseng is accompanied by his disciple, the short-tempered Monkey King Sun Wukong. They first encounter a mysterious river-dwelling dragon, then run into serious trouble while staying in the temple of a 270 year old abbot. Their troubles deepen when they meet the abbot’s friend, a terrifying black bear monster.
The next story, The Hungry Pig, ,we meet the pig-man Zhu Bajie, who becomes Tangseng’s second disciple. In his previous life, Zhu was the Marshal of the Heavenly Reeds, responsible for the Jade Emperor’s entire navy and 80,000 sailors. But unable to control his appetites, he got drunk at a festival and attempted to seduce the Goddess of the Moon. The Jade Emperor banished him to earth, but as he plunged from heaven to earth he ended up in the womb of a sow and was reborn as a man-eating pig monster.
In the final story, The Three Beautiful Daughters, we meet another new disciple: the river-dwelling monster Sha Wujing (literally, “Sand Aware of Purity” or “Sand Seeking Purity”) who was once the Curtain Raising Captain but was banished from heaven by the Yellow Emperor for breaking an extremely valuable cup during a drunken visit to the Peach Festival. Later, the band of pilgrims arrive at a beautiful home seeking a simple vegetarian meal and a place to stay for the night. What they encounter instead is a lovely and wealthy widow and her three even more lovely daughters. This meeting is, of course, much more than it appears to be, and it turns into a test of commitment and virtue for all of the pilgrims, especially for Zhu Bajie, the lazy and lustful pig-man. Zhu’s life is a constant battle against his appetites and desires, and in this book he faces his biggest battle yet.
493 pages, Paperback
Published July 15, 2020
5 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Pepper
40 books11 followersI'm a writer and publisher living in Verona Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh. My company, Imagin8 Press, has published over 100 fiction and nonfiction books for people learning to read Chinese. Our best sellers are an innovative English translation of the Dao De Jing and a 31-volume retelling, in easy Chinese, of the classic novel Journey to the West.
I’m also a lifelong science fiction fan, and started writing sci-fi seriously in 2024. I am delighted that my short story, “Spaceship of Fools,” was accepted by Bewildering Stories. My first full-length sci-fi novel, “Ascent to the Sun,” was published in April 2025.
Before embarking on my current career, I was in the software business. I founded and led three successful companies: ServiceWare, which began in my basement and went public on the NASDAQ; Touchtown, which was acquire by Uniguest; and Tunescribers. I have a degree in computer science from Carnegie-Mellon University, where I taught an undergraduate course in computer programming.
When not sitting in front of a glowing screen, you can probably find me playing competitive pickleball.
I’m also a lifelong science fiction fan, and started writing sci-fi seriously in 2024. I am delighted that my short story, “Spaceship of Fools,” was accepted by Bewildering Stories. My first full-length sci-fi novel, “Ascent to the Sun,” was published in April 2025.
Before embarking on my current career, I was in the software business. I founded and led three successful companies: ServiceWare, which began in my basement and went public on the NASDAQ; Touchtown, which was acquire by Uniguest; and Tunescribers. I have a degree in computer science from Carnegie-Mellon University, where I taught an undergraduate course in computer programming.
When not sitting in front of a glowing screen, you can probably find me playing competitive pickleball.
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