The story of Xuanzang’s arduous search for Buddhist scriptures spread by word of mouth across China long before it was recorded in writing. The first publication of
Xiyouji by Wu Cheng’en in 1592 marked the culmination of the written form of the
story in Chinese. Painstaking efforts were made as translators spent years and even decades to translate this classical Chinese novel into various languages. Robert E.
Hegel explains in his writing that translating a literary monument into another language is no less than a monumental task. Especially one of the size and linguistic complexity as Xiyouji, which is further complicated by the distance between the language use and culture of a Ming dynasty author and modern English readers (Hegel, p.341). Several English translations have been published since early 20th century, and as a result, the story of Xuanzang’s amazing journey from China to India is further made accessible to a wider international readership.
Two abridged translations of Xiyouji are available, one by Welsh missionary Timothy Richard (1913), and the other by British translator Arthur Waley (1942). Two full-length English translations of 100 chapters of Xiyouji were completed by literary scholar Anthony C. Yu (1977) and English sinologist W.J.F. Jenner (1982). In addition, an adaptation retelling the story was written by Armenian-American writer David
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Kherdian (1992). Details and examples from these five English versions of Xiyouji have been used for the discussions in the previous chapters of this paper.
One of the goals of this research is, through the discussions provided in chapters 2, 3, and 4, to reach a more comprehensive understanding of all the five English versions of Xiyouji. According to Juliet Corbin in her book Basics for
qualitative research, quality in qualitative research is something that we recognize
when we see it; however, explaining what it is or how to achieve it is much more difficult (Corbin, p.297). Thus, the author of this research believes that a ratings system should be put in place to illustrate the results derived from the comparisons, analyses, and discussions conducted in the previous chapters. Instead of using the famous criteria of fidelity 信, accuracy 達, and elegance 雅 set by Yan Fu 嚴復 (1854-1921), the aim of this research is more focused on such qualities as freedom, originality, and functionality of the five English versions of the story.
“Freedom” marks how free a translator’s strategy is when translating Xiyouji into English. It is a matter of course that the freer a translation is, which means the higher rating it receives like ★★★★☆ or ★★★★★, the less accurate and faithful the target text becomes in relation to its source text. An example of this is Arthur Waley’s translation of the second ci on page 77 of this paper, where he chose to greatly truncate and freely translate the remainder. In contrast, the lower
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freedom rating a translation is given, the closer and more precise the target text stays to the source text. In other words, the flip side of “freedom” discussed here can be said to be Yan Fu’s “faithfulness.”
The main reason why “freedom” is chosen over “faithfulness” is based on the belief that, according to the Skopos theory, the source text may have to be modified or even changed in a translation depending on the knowledge, expectations, values, and norms of the target readers. As another goal of this research is to discuss the various strategies and techniques chosen by the translators and adaptor,
“faithfulness” is not used as a criterion lest the focus should fall on accuracy and precision of the target texts alone.
“Originality” denotes how innovative a translation is as compared to other existing versions. A specific translation that receives a low originality rating, such as
★☆☆☆☆ or ★★☆☆☆, reflects the fact that more references are adapted from other versions. An example of this can be found on page 41 where Anthony C.
Yu directly adopts Arthur Waley’s translation of the fortune teller’s revelation in verse. On the other hand, a translation that is awarded a high originality rating is highly innovative and incorporates few adaptations from other versions.
“Functionality” indicates how successful a specific English version is in transferring the story of Xiyouji to English readers. The strategies adopted by the
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translators and adaptor are taken into account. Additionally, the popularity of a specific version also affects its functionality rating. A version that has a small or limited readership is given a low functionality rating while a version that helps to spread the story far and wide is awarded a high functionality rating. Before ratings for each translator and adaptor are provided, their translations and adaptation of another paragraph from chapter 14 of Xiyouji will be used for reference.
A hunter named Liu escorts Xuanzang to pass a mountain range, and after they arrive on top of the Mountain of Five Elements 五行山 where Sun Wukong is imprisoned, Xuanzang meets his first disciple-to-be for the first time, frees him and takes him as his disciple and travel companion. The passage, quite unlike the verses and poems used for the discussions in chapters 3 and 4, includes an extended conversation between the humans and the monkey as well as monkey’s account of what caused him to receive such punishment. The five different versions of
translations and adaptation of this passage reflect their consistent strategies and are included below along with their ratings.
劉太保誠然膽大，走上前來，與他拔去了鬢邊草，頷下莎，問道：「你有
甚麼說話？」那猴道：「我沒話說，教那個師父上來，我問他一問。」三
藏道：「你問我甚麼？」那猴道：「你可是東土大王差往西天取經去的麼？」
三藏道：「我正是，你問怎麼？」那猴道：「我是五百年前大鬧天宮的齊天
大聖，只因犯了誑上之罪，被佛祖壓於此處。前者有個觀音菩薩，領佛旨 意，上東土尋取經人。我教他救我一救，他勸我再莫行兇，歸依佛法，盡 慇懃保護取經人，往西方拜佛，功成後自有好處。故此晝夜提心，晨昏弔
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膽，只等師父來救我脫身。我願保你取經，與你做個徒弟。」三藏聞言，
滿心歡喜道：「你雖有此善心，又蒙菩薩教誨，願入沙門，只是我又沒斧
鑿，如何救得你出？」那猴道：「不用斧鑿，你但肯救我，我自出來也。」
三藏道：「我自救你，你怎得出來？」那猴道：「這山頂上有我佛如來的金
字壓帖，你只上山去將帖兒揭起，我就出來了。」《西遊記》第十四回頁二
Timothy Richard’s translation of this paragraph is as follows.
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Timothy Richard’s Translation
Xuanzang let him out of the prison under the mountain, and the Monkey King followed the pilgrim as his disciple, and was given a new name. (Richard, p.108)
Nearly 400 Chinese characters are translated by Richard into only 26 English words, which is quite quintessential Timothy Richard’s style. In that, he translated whatever he found interesting and skipped whatever he deemed unimportant to the story. Perhaps the name of his translation “A Mission to Heaven” and the dedication he included in the front of it can shed some light on his unique perspective.
Richard dedicated his translation to his Christian brothers and sisters who were
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endeavoring to establish the Kingdom of God. Richard saw and used his translation as a tool to reflect his religious beliefs as he inserted such terms as God, saints, angels, cherubim and seraphim. He also tried to use his translation to establish a connection between Buddhism and Nestorianism. Richard was probably not the first missionary who hijacked other cultures and religions, but he was certainly the first translator to hijack the story of Xiyouji. Daniel Kane concludes in his introduction to
Journey to the West originally translated by Timothy Richard and republished by
Tuttle in 2008, “One can scarcely believe this is the same book that Arthur Waley called Monkey.”
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Ratings for Timothy Richard’s Translation
Freedom ★★★★★
Originality ★★★★★
Functionality
★☆☆☆☆
Richard’s translation wins the highest ratings of 5-stars for both freedom and originality as the translator exerted great freedom in choosing the sections of the story to translate and his translation strategies and techniques. Being the first to translate the many chapters of the story of Xiyouji, Richard had virtually no references available and had to start his translation from scratch. However, its functionality receives a low rating of 1-star because the translation has had a very
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limited target audience and readership. Even so, Richard’s translation of Xiyouji is worth reading and a great subject for research. Kane believes that it might well be the work for which Richard is most remembered so many decades after his death (Kane, p.xxiv).
Arthur Waley’s Translation
The hunter stepped boldly up, and removing grasses from Monkey’s hair and brushing away the grit from under his chin, ‘What have you got to say for yourself?’ he asked. ‘To you, nothing,’ said Monkey. ‘But I have something to ask of that priest. Tell him to come here.’ ‘What do you want to ask me?’ said Tripitaka. ‘Were you sent by the Emperor of T’ang to look for Scriptures in India?’
asked Monkey. ‘I was,’ said Tripitaka. ‘And what of that?’ ‘I am the Great Sage Equal of Heaven,’ said Monkey. ‘Five hundred years ago I made trouble in the Halls of Heaven, and Buddha clamped me down in this place. Not long ago the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin, whom Buddha had ordered to look around for someone to fetch Scriptures from India, came here and promised me that if I would amend my ways and faithfully protect the pilgrim on his way, I was to be released, and afterwards would find salvation. Ever since then I have been waiting impatiently night and day for you to come and let me out. I will protect you while you are going to get Scriptures and follow you as your disciple.’ Tripitaka was delighted.
‘The only trouble is,’ he said, ‘that I have no axe or chisel, so how am I to get you out?’ ‘There is no need for axe and chisel,’ said Monkey. ‘You have to only want me to be out, and I shall be out.’ ‘How can that be?’ asked Tripitaka. ‘On the top of the mountain,’ said Monkey, ‘is a seal stamped with golden letters by Buddha himself. Take it away, and I shall be out.’ (Waley, p.126-127)
The layout of Arthur Waley’s translation is similar to that of the original text, although Waley did not translate word for word, the target text is quite close to the original. Much like the rest of Waley’s Monkey, the translation reads rather smooth and the wording is consistently elegant.
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Ratings for Arthur Waley’s Translation
Freedom ★★☆☆☆
Originality ★★★★☆
Functionality ★★★★★
Waley’s translation stays close to the source text but at the same time, with only 30 chapters included in Monkey, Waley exercised a certain degree of freedom in selecting which chapters to translate and which ones to discard. Having only a few preceding abridgements to refer to and for a lack of any sign of referring to Richard’s unique version, Waley had to start his translation of Xiyouji from the initial stage, which warrants a high originality rating.
As Andrew H. Plaks explains, the appearance of Arthur Waley's Monkey in 1943 marked an event of great importance in world literature, in that it brought to the attention of the English-speaking world one of the finest documents of the human spirit ever set down on paper (Plaks, p.1116). Although Plaks also explains that he is not the most satisfied with Waley’s selection of chapters, the quality of his
translation is highly commendable. And for introducing the story of Xiyouji to an extensive audience for well over seven decades, Waley’s translation deserves the highest functionality rating.
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Anthony C. Yu’s Translation
Undeniably a courageous person, that Guardian Liu went up to the creature and pulled away some of the grass at his temples and some of the moss beneath his chin. He asked, “What do you have to say?” “Nothing to you,” said the monkey,
“but ask that master to come up here. I have a question for him.” “What’s your question?” asked Tripitaka. “Are you someone sent by the great king of the Land of the East to go seek scriptures in the Western Heaven?” asked he Monkey. “I am,”
said Tripitaka. “Why do you ask?” “I am the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven,” said the monkey, “who greatly disturbed the Heavenly Palace five hundred years ago.
Because of my sin of rebellion and disobedience, I was imprisoned here by the Buddha. Some time ago, a certain Bodhisattva Kuan-yin had received the decree of Buddha to go to the Land of the East in quest of a scripture pilgrim. I asked her to give me some help, and she persuaded me not to engage again in violence. I was told to believe in the Law of Buddha, and faithfully to protect the scripture pilgrim on his way to worship Buddha in the West, for there will be a goodly reward reserved for me when such merit is achieved. I have therefore been maintaining my vigilance night and day, waiting for the Master to come rescue me. I’m willing to protect you in your quest of scriptures and become your disciple. When Tripitaka heard these words, he was filled with delight and said, “Though you have this good intention, because of the Bodhisattva’s instruction, of entering our Buddhist fold, I have neither ax nor drill. How can I free you?” “No need for ax or drill,” said the monkey. “If you are willing to rescue me, I’ll be able to get out.”
Tripitaka said, “I’m willing, but how can you get out?” “On top of this mountain,”
said the monkey, “there is a tag stamped with the golden letters of our Buddha Tathagata. Go up there and lift up the tag. Then I’ll come out.” (Yu, vol.1, p.298-299)
As mentioned previously, Yu’s translation stays extremely close to the source text, oftentimes a word for word and wordy translation, and for being a complete translation means that Yu did not have the liberty to omit any chapters or even any
paragraph in the story, thus, 0-star for his “freedom.”
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Ratings for Anthony C. Yu’s Translation
Freedom ☆☆☆☆☆
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Originality ★★☆☆☆
Functionality ★★★★☆
Before and during translating Xiyouji, Yu conducted an extensive research of all previously translated abridgements which became references for his translation.
Arthur Waley’s Monkey in particular was taken as Yu’s “point of reference” and adaptations of Waley’s translation can be seen in many parts of Yu’s the Journey to
the West, thus, a low originality rating. That said, Yu’s grand work in four volumes
has been held in high esteem by many scholars, though not much so by the general readers, and it has been a useful reference for studying Xiyouji.
W.J.F. Jenner’s Translation
High warden Liu showed great courage in going up to him, pulling away the grass that was growing beside his temples and the sedge under his chin, and asking,
“What have you got to say?” “I’ve got nothing to say, the monkey replied. “You just tell that monk to come over here while I ask him a question.” “What question do you want to ask me?” said Sanzang. “Are you the fellow sent to the Western Heaven by the Emperor of the East to fetch the scriptures?” asked the monkey.
“Yes, I am,” Sanzang replied. “Why do you ask?” “I am the Great Sage Equaling Heaven who wrecked the Heavenly Palace five hundred years ago. The Lord Buddha put me under this mountain for my criminal insubordination. Some time ago the Bodhisattva Guanyin went to the East on Buddha’s orders to find someone who could fetch the scriptures. When I asked her to save me she told me that I was to give up evil-doing, return to the Buddha’s Law, and do all I could to protect the traveler when he went to the Western Paradise to worship Buddha and fetch the scriptures; she said that there’ll be something in it for me when that’s done. Ever since then I’ve been waiting day and night with eager anticipation for you to come and save me, Master. I swear to protect you on your way to fetch the scriptures and to be your disciple.” Sanzang, delighted to hear this, said, “Although you now have these splendid intentions and wish to become a monk thanks to the teaching
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of the Bodhisattva, I’ve no axe or chisel, so how am I to get you out?” “There’s no need for axes or chisels. As long as you’re willing to save me, I can get myself out,”
the monkey replied. “I’m willing to save you,” Sanzang said, “but how are you going to get out?” On the top of this mountain there is a detention order by the Tathagata Buddha written in letters of gold. If you climb the mountain and tear it off, I’ll be straight out.” (Jenner, vol.I, p.469)
Though both are full-length translations, the main difference between Yu’s and Jenner’s versions is that the former contains copious scholarly notes, while the latter has none. In addition to that, Jenner also opted for a slightly more liberal approach for his translation than Yu did.
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Ratings for W.J.F. Jenner’s Translation
Freedom ★☆☆☆☆
Originality ★★★★☆
Functionality ★★☆☆☆
Jenner’s version gets a high originality rating, although Jenner had read Waley’s
Monkey as a boy, in the process of translating Xiyouji Jenner deliberately refrained
from reading it again so as not to be influenced by Waley strategies. However, being a long story of thousands of pages and having no notes to refer to, Jenner’s Journey
to the West is unfortunately not a popular reading material among scholars or the
general readers alike, hence, a low functionality rating.David Kherdian’s Adaptation
The hunter approached the iron box and removed the grass from Monkey’s
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hair and brushed the moss from his chin. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
he asked.
“Nothing to you,” Monkey said. “Tell that priest to come over here. I have a question to ask him.”
“What is your question?” said Tripitaka.
“Were you sent by the Emperor of T’ang to collect scriptures from India?
“Yes,” Tripitaka replied, “but what is that to you?”
Monkey replied, “I am the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven. Five hundred years ago I made a great ruckus in the Halls of Heaven. To atone for my sins the Buddha sealed me in this mountain. Not long ago the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin, who was commanded by the Buddha to find a pilgrim to bring some scriptures from India, came by this mountain and promised me that if I would straighten myself out and protect the pilgrim, I could be released from this stronghold and through my merits achieve salvation. I have been waiting night and day for you to arrive and
Monkey replied, “I am the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven. Five hundred years ago I made a great ruckus in the Halls of Heaven. To atone for my sins the Buddha sealed me in this mountain. Not long ago the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin, who was commanded by the Buddha to find a pilgrim to bring some scriptures from India, came by this mountain and promised me that if I would straighten myself out and protect the pilgrim, I could be released from this stronghold and through my merits achieve salvation. I have been waiting night and day for you to arrive and