# Journey to the West 西遊記

100.0 s · 100 s cut · Narrator: Clara · Reader: Yun

Arthur Waley’s 1942 English translation of Journey to the West, a novel whose oldest surviving edition names no author, kept thirty of its hundred chapters and left out the meanings in its Chinese names, from the monkey’s surname to his stable title, and Julia Lovell’s translation of 2021 still uses Waley’s names.

| Time | Voice | Line | On screen |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 0:00.58 | Narrator | In 1942 a London publisher issued Monkey, Arthur Waley’s translation of Journey to the West. | A box closes round 西遊記 on the chapter 1 title column, and the print lowers to a third as the type lands. “Monkey,” “translated by Arthur Waley” and “London: George Allen & Unwin, 1942” are typed at the left, and “Journey to the West” is typed on the hairline to the box. |
| 0:08.12 | Narrator | He kept thirty of its hundred chapters. | The film cuts to the 1592 contents. Seventy columns fade to grey while the counter runs from 100 of 100 to 30 of 100, and the caption reads “Arthur Waley, Monkey, 1942.” |
| 0:12.12 | Narrator | Most scholars date the oldest surviving edition to 1592. It names no author. | The film cuts to the preface of the 1592 edition, and a box closes round the sentence 西遊一書不知其何人所為. The sentence is set in type as the scan lowers, and “no one knows who made this book” is typed beside it. |
| 0:21.64 | Narrator | In 1923 Hu Shih argued for Wu Cheng’en, from a gazetteer entry that gives only a title. | Hu Shih’s 1939 photograph stands at the left, and “胡適 Hu Shih” and his 1923 study 〈西遊記考證〉 are typed beside it. On “Wu” the film cuts to the 1626 gazetteer, where 吳承恩 is boxed beside “attributed to Wu Cheng’en” and a hairline runs to a second box round 西遊記 in the next column. |
| 0:30.14 | Narrator | A patriarch makes the monkey’s surname from the word for macaque, | The film cuts to the naming passage in chapter 1, and boxes close round the printed 猢 and 猻. Both characters are set in type over the print. |
| 0:34.95 | Reader | 猢猻 <br>*Subtitle:* macaque | The scan fades out as she reads, and 猢 and 猻 move to the middle of the frame as one word, with “macaque” typed under it. |
| 0:36.22 | Narrator | Without the animal radical, the second character leaves boy and infant, so his surname is | The animal radical lifts off both characters and turns grey, and 胡 is set aside with it. 孫 opens into 子 (boy) and 系 (infant), each labelled as its word is said, and closes again. |
| 0:43.45 | Reader | 孫 <br>*Subtitle:* Sun | “Sun” is typed under 孫 as she says it. |
| 0:44.44 | Narrator | Richard and Waley both drop this analysis. | The tags TIMOTHY RICHARD, 1913 and ARTHUR WALEY, 1942 rise under “Sun,” and on “drop” an empty grey rule draws under each tag. |
| 0:47.62 | Narrator | The three disciples’ religious names share one character. | Three 悟 stand in a column on blank paper. “disciples of the monk Tripitaka” is typed under them, and a box closes round the column on “share.” |
| 0:50.95 | Reader | 悟空、悟能、悟淨 | As she reads each name, its second character, 空, 能 or 淨, lands in grey beside the boxed 悟. |
| 0:54.18 | Narrator | Richard writes Seeker in all three, and Jenner writes Awakened. | Under RICHARD, 1913, “Seeker of Truth,” “Seeker after Strength” and “Seeker after Purity” are typed, and a box closes round the three “Seeker” entries. Jenner’s “Awakened to Emptiness,” “Awakened to Power” and “Awakened to Purity” follow under JENNER, FROM 1982, with a box round the three “Awakened” entries. |
| 0:58.44 | Narrator | Waley calls them Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy. | Under WALEY, 1942, “Monkey,” “Pigsy” and “Sandy” are typed on their words, with “glossed once as ‘Aware-of-Vacuity’” under “Monkey.” No box forms round Waley’s column. |
| 1:04.10 | Narrator | Heaven makes him | The chapter 4 woodcut of the court audience is shown with its own edges, under the credit “Woodcut, chapter 4.” |
| 1:05.10 | Reader | 弼馬溫 | The film cuts to the chapter 4 text, a box closes round the printed 弼馬溫 on her first syllable, and the title is set in type. |
| 1:06.16 | Narrator | a post in the imperial stables. | The typed title stands in its box on the chapter 4 text, and then the scan lowers to a third of its tone. |
| 1:09.60 | Narrator | The title is usually heard as ward off horse plague. | 弼馬溫 moves to a top row, and a copy below it changes two characters to become 避馬瘟, with the shared reading bì mǎ wēn between the rows. “ward off horse plague” is typed under 避馬瘟, and the rows then rearrange, with 弼馬溫 and bìmǎwēn at the top and 避馬瘟 in grey beneath. |
| 1:14.60 | Narrator | None of these English titles keeps the pun. | Four English titles are listed under 弼馬溫: Richard’s Stud Master, Waley’s Pi-ma-wên, Yu’s pi-ma-wen and Jenner’s Protector of the Horses. On “None” an empty grey rule draws after each title. |
| 1:19.10 | Narrator | The chapter titles call him the mind-monkey, and give Monkey and Pig alchemical names. | In the chapter 14 contents, 心猿 is boxed, set in type and moved into a row, with “mind-monkey” typed under it. The film cuts to the chapter 86 title, where 金公 and 木母 are boxed and moved into the two rows below. |
| 1:25.14 | Narrator | None of these names appears in Waley. | “Wood Mother, for Pig” and “Metal Lord, for Monkey” are typed under 木母 and 金公. Under WALEY, 1942, three empty grey rules draw beside the three names. |
| 1:28.18 | Narrator | Anthony Yu’s complete translation renders them all. | Under YU, 1977 TO 1983, “Mind Monkey,” “Wood Mother” and “Metal Squire” are typed beside the three names. |
| 1:34.12 | Narrator | Julia Lovell’s Monkey King of 2021 keeps Waley’s names. | Richard’s 1913 plates of the three pilgrims stand beside 唐三藏 in type, over Waley’s row of Monkey, Pigsy, Sandy and Tripitaka. Lovell’s identical row is set under Waley’s, and one box closes round both rows on “keeps.” |

Times are where each line starts in the final, read from the film's own audio.