Jeff Pepper

Our band of travelers arrives at Level Top Mountain and encounters their most powerful adversaries yet: Great King Golden Horn and his younger brother Great King Silver Horn. These two monsters, assisted by their elderly mother and hundreds of well-armed demons, attempt to capture and liquefy Sun Wukong, and eat the Tang monk and his other disciples. Led by Sun Wukong, the travelers desperately battle their foes through a combination of trickery, deception and magic, and barely survive the encounter.This is the 12th book in the best-selling Journey to the West series of stories for students learning to read Chinese. It is based on the events in Chapters 32 through 35 of the epic 16th century novel of the same name by Wu Chen'en. That novel was inspired by an actual journey by the Buddhist monk Tangseng, who traveled from Chang'an westward to India in 629 A.D. and returned seventeen years later with priceless knowledge and spiritual texts. Over the course of the book Tangseng and his companions face the 81 tribulations that Tangseng had to endure to attain Buddhahood.The first 12 books in the Journey to the West series have used a total of about 1200 different Chinese words, but only 684 are used in this book. All new words are defined on the page where they are first used. The book uses Traditional Chinese characters and includes pinyin, an English translation, and a full glossary. A free audiobook is available on YouTube's Imagin8 Press channel and on www.imagin8press.com.

Tangseng and his disciples have been traveling for two or three years. They arrive at a secluded mountain monastery which turns out to be the home of a powerful master named Zhenyuan and an ancient and magical ginseng tree. As usual, the travelers' search for a nice hot meal and a place to sleep quickly turns into a disaster. Although Zhenyuan has gone away for a few days, he has left his two youngest disciples in charge. They welcome the travelers, but soon there are misunderstandings, arguments, battles in the sky, and before long the travelers are facing a powerful and extremely angry adversary as well as mysterious magic fruits and a large frying pan full of hot oil.This is the 10th book in the best-selling Journey to the West series of stories for students learning to read Chinese. It is based on the events in Chapters 24 through 26 of the epic 16th century novel of the same name by Wu Chen'en. That novel was inspired by an actual journey by the Buddhist monk Tangseng, who traveled from Chang'an westward to India in 629 A.D. and returned seventeen years later with priceless knowledge and spiritual texts. Over the course of the book Tangseng and his companions face the 81 tribulations that Tangseng had to endure to attain Buddhahood.The first 10 books in the Journey to the West series have used a total of about 1200 different Chinese words, but only 629 are used in this book. All new words are defined on the page where they are first used. The book uses Traditional Chinese characters and includes pinyin, an English translation, and a full glossary. A free audiobook is available on YouTube's Imagin8 Press channel and on www.imagin8press.com.

While traveling the Silk Road, Tangseng and his three disciples encounter a young boy hanging upside down from a tree. They rescue him only to discover that he is really Red Boy, a powerful and malevolent demon and, it turns out, Sun Wukong's nephew. Ignoring this family relationship, the demon kidnaps Tangseng and plans to eat him. The three disciples battle the demon but soon discover that he can produce deadly fire and smoke which nearly kills Sun Wukong. The two remaining disciples struggle to save Sun Wukong and Tangseng, enlisting the aid of several supernatural beings including Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy. At the end, they learn Red Boy's true nature. This is the 14th book in the best-selling Journey to the West series of stories for students learning to read Chinese. It is based on the events in Chapters 40 through 43 of epic 16th century novel of the same name by Wu Chen'en. That novel was inspired by an actual journey by the Buddhist monk Tangseng, who traveled from Chang'an westward to India in 629 A.D. and returned seventeen years later with priceless knowledge and spiritual texts. Over the course of the book Tangseng and his companions face the 81 tribulations that Tangseng had to endure to attain Buddhahood.The first 14 books in the Journey to the West series have used a total of about 1500 different Chinese words, but only 762 are used in this book. All new words are defined on the page where they are first used. The book uses Traditional Chinese characters and includes pinyin, an English translation, and a full glossary. A free audiobook is available on YouTube's Imagin8 Press channel and on www.imagin8press.com.

The Buddhist monk Tangseng and his ragtag band of disciples come upon a strange pagoda in a mountain forest. Inside they discover the fearsome Yellow Robed Monster, living a quiet life with his wife and their two children. Unfortunately the monster has a bad habit of ambushing and eating travelers. The ancient and powerful monkey king Sun Wukong, the monk Tangseng and his other disciples find themselves drawn into a story of timeless love and complex lies, as they battle for survival against the monster and his allies.This is the 11th book in the best-selling Journey to the West series of stories for students learning to read Chinese. It is based on the events in Chapters 27 through 31 of the epic 16th century novel of the same name by Wu Chen'en. That novel was inspired by an actual journey by the Buddhist monk Tangseng, who traveled from Chang'an westward to India in 629 A.D. and returned seventeen years later with priceless knowledge and spiritual texts. Over the course of the book Tangseng and his companions face the 81 tribulations that Tangseng had to endure to attain Buddhahood.The first 11 books in the Journey to the West series have used a total of about 1200 different Chinese words, but only 680 are used in this book. All new words are defined on the page where they are first used. The book uses Traditional Chinese characters and includes pinyin, an English translation, and a full glossary. A free audiobook is available on YouTube's Imagin8 Press channel and on www.imagin8press.com.

Journey to the West is probably the most famous and best-loved novel in China and is considered one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature. The original Chinese novel written by Wu Chen'en in the 16th century s over a half million Chinese characters long and uses a vocabulary of over 4,000 different Chinese words, many of which are archaic and virtually unknown to modern readers. This book is not a literal translation of the original Journey to the West. Rather, it's a retelling of the story, in Simplified Chinese, for people who are learning the Chinese language but would not be able to read the story in its original form. It is a compilation of the entire series of 31 books written by Jeff Pepper and translated by Xiao Hui Wang.The books start off relatively easy and gradually increase in complexity. For example the first book, Rise of the Monkey King, covers the events in the first two chapters of the novel and uses a vocabulary of just 507 words. The second book, Trouble in Heaven, covers the next two chapters and uses only 431 words. Each chapter adds, on the average, about 30 new words, and so by the time you finish the final book, The Last Trial, you will have seen over two thousand different Chinese words. This is less than half of the vocabulary used in the original novel.Free audiobook versions of all 31 books presented here are available on YouTube on the Imagin8 Press channel. You can use these to listen to a native Chinese speaker tell the story while you follow along with the text.

This book contains the full text of the 28th and 29th stories in our 31-volume Journey to the West series for people learning to read Chinese. The stories told here are unchanged from the original books except for minor editing and reformatting.In The Dharma Destroying Kingdom, Tangseng and his three disciples enter a city whose king has vowed to kill 10,000 Buddhist monks and has already finished off 9,996. The travelers must avoid being killed and figure out how to show the king the error of his ways. Later, the Monkey King Sun Wukong battles demons who use the "Dividing the Petals of the Plum Flower" trick to kidnap Tangseng.In The Nine Headed Lion, the travelers find themselves in a kingdom where it hasn't rained for three years because the prefect has angered the King of Heaven. Sun Wukong brings rain and, of course, trouble. Later, the disciples' magic weapons are stolen by a nearby lion demon. When they go to retrieve them, they encounter an entire family of lion demons, including a nine-headed lion with vast powers.These three stories are written in Simplified Chinese and use a total of 1199 different Chinese words. Each page of Chinese has a facing page of pinyin. The book includes a full English translation and glossary. Free audio versions of the three stories are available for free on YouTube's Imagin8 Press channel and on our website, www.imagin8press.com.

The monk Tangseng and his three disciples are nearing the end of their epic journey. They approach Thunderclap Monastery in India, the home of Tathagata Buddha. But Tangseng's ordeals are not over yet. First, the travelers are mistaken for murderers and thieves and must talk their way out of jail with some help from Sun Wukong's body-changing magic. When they finally arrive at the home of the Buddha, Tangseng asks for the holy scriptures which he plans to bring back to China. But it turns out that he has only endured eighty trials, one fewer than the 81 that are required of him. And bringing back the Buddhist scriptures turns out to be much more difficult than the pilgrims expected.This is the 31st and final book in the best-selling Journey to the West series of stories for students learning to read Simplified Chinese. It is based on the epic 16th century novel of the same name by Wu Chen'en. That novel was inspired by an actual journey by the Buddhist monk Tangseng, who traveled from Chang'an (today's Xi'an) westward to India in 629 A.D. and returned seventeen years later with priceless knowledge and spiritual texts. Over the course of the book the four travelers face the 81 trials that Tangseng had to endure to attain Buddhahood.The entire Journey to the West story has been told using a total of about 2,000 different Chinese words, but only 1,112 are used in this book. We introduce 25 new words for the first time, and each one is defined on the page where it is first used. The book includes pinyin, an English translation, and a full glossary. A free audiobook is available at www.imagin8press.com, and on YouTube's Imagin8 Press channel.

This book contains the full text of the final two stories in our 31-volume Journey to the West series for people learning to read Chinese. The stories told here are unchanged from the original books except for minor editing and reformatting.In The Lazy Monk, the weary monk Tangseng and his three troublemaking disciples arrive at a city just in time for the annual Lantern Festival, when three Buddhas come down from the sky and gather up large quantities of special lamp oil. Unfortunately these are not true Buddhas but monsters. Later, the travelers come to a monastery where a strange girl is being held in a locked cell for her own protection. She claims to be the daughter of the King of India, but if so, who is the girl living in the king's palace? In The Final Trial, the monk Tangseng and his three disciples approach Thunderclap Monastery in India, the home of Tathagata Buddha. But Tangseng's ordeals are not over yet. First, the travelers are mistaken for murderers and thieves and must talk their way out of jail with some help from Sun Wukong's body-changing magic. And when the pilgrims finally arrive at the home of the Buddha, they discover that bringing back the Buddhist scriptures is much more difficult than they expected.These three stories are written in Simplified Chinese and use a total of 1344 different Chinese words. Each page of Chinese has a facing page of pinyin. The book includes a full English translation and glossary. Free audio versions of the three stories are available for free on YouTube's Imagin8 Press channel and on our website, www.imagin8press.com.

The weary monk Tangseng and his three troublemaking disciples have now been traveling for over fourteen years. They arrive at a city near the Indian border just in time for the annual Lantern Festival, when three Buddhas come down from the sky and gather up large quantities of special lamp oil. Unfortunately these are not true Buddhas but monsters. They grab Tangseng and spirit him away to their cave. The monkey king Sun Wukong must get help from four wood bird stars and a dragon king to rescue his master.Later, the travelers arrive at a monastery where a strange girl is being held in a locked cell for her own protection. She claims to be the daughter of the King of India, but if so, who is the girl living in the king's palace? The travelers investigate and learn the truth, but not before Tangseng is nearly forced to marry a beautiful demon.This is the 30th book in the best-selling The Journey to the West series of stories for students learning to read Simplified Chinese. It is based on the epic 16th century novel of the same name by Wu Chen'en. That novel was inspired by an actual journey by the Buddhist monk Tangseng, who traveled from Chang'an (today's Xi'an) westward to India in 629 A.D. and returned seventeen years later with priceless knowledge and spiritual texts. Over the course of the book the four travelers face the 81 trials that Tangseng had to endure to attain Buddhahood.The first 30 books in the Journey to the West series have used a total of about 2,000 different Chinese words, but only 1,065 are used in this book. We introduce 31 new words for the first time, and each one is defined on the page where it is first used. The book includes pinyin, an English translation, and a full glossary. A free audiobook is available on YouTube's Imagin8 Press channel and on www.imagin8press.com.

The Buddhist monk and his three disciples finally approach the western border of China. They find themselves in a kingdom where it hasn't rained for three years because the prefect has angered the King of Heaven. Sun Wukong brings rain and, of course, trouble. Continuing their journey, they meet a prince and his three sons. The sons want to learn how to use the disciples' magic weapons, but one night the magic weapons are stolen by a nearby lion demon. When the disciples go to retrieve them, they encounter an entire family of lion demons, including a nine-headed lion with vast powers.This is the 29th book in the best-selling The Journey to the West series of stories for students learning to read Simplified Chinese. It is based on the epic 16th century novel of the same name by Wu Chen'en. That novel was inspired by an actual journey by the Buddhist monk Tangseng, who traveled from Chang'an westward to India in 629 A.D. and returned seventeen years later with priceless knowledge and spiritual texts. Over the course of the book the four travelers face the 81 tribulations that Tangseng had to endure to attain Buddhahood.Books 1 through 29 in the Journey to the West series have used a total of about 2,000 different Chinese words, but only 919 words are used in this book. We introduce 23 new words for the first time in this book, and each one is defined on the page where it is first used. The book includes pinyin, an English translation, and a full glossary. A free audiobook is available on YouTube's Imagin8 Press channel and on www.imagin8press.com.

Ignoring a warning from the Bodhisattva Guanyin, Tangseng and his three disciples enter a city whose king has vowed to kill 10,000 Buddhist monks and has already finished off 9,996. The travelers must avoid being killed and figure out how to show the king the error of his ways. Later, the Monkey King Sun Wukong flies over a mountain and sees a large demon with 30 little demons, all blowing fog from their mouths. This leads to a great battle where the demons use the "Dividing the Petals of the Plum Flower" trick to confuse the disciples and kidnap Tangseng.This is the 28th book in the best-selling The Journey to the West series of stories for students learning to read Simplified Chinese. It is based on the epic 16th century novel of the same name by Wu Chen'en. That novel was inspired by an actual journey by the Buddhist monk Tangseng, who traveled from Chang'an westward to India in 629 A.D. and returned seventeen years later with priceless knowledge and spiritual texts. Over the course of the book the four travelers face the 81 tribulations that Tangseng had to endure to attain Buddhahood.Books 1 through 28 in the Journey to the West series have used a total of about 2,000 different Chinese words, but only 912 words are used in this book. We introduce 29 new words for the first time in this book, and each one is defined on the page where it is first used. The book includes pinyin, an English translation, and a full glossary. A free audiobook is available on YouTube's Imagin8 Press channel and on www.imagin8press.com.

Tangseng and his disciples arrive at the capital of Bhiksu Kingdom and learn that it's been renamed "Boytown" because over a thousand little boys have been locked in cages in front of their homes. When they learn what fate awaits these children, Sun Wukong arranges to get them safely out of the city. Then he and the others unravel a plot devised by two demons who, disguised as a Daoist master and his lovely daughter, have beguiled the king. They must defeat the demon, release the king from his spell, and save the children.This is the 26th book in the best-selling The Journey to the West series of stories for students learning to read Simplified Chinese. It is based on the epic 16th century novel of the same name by Wu Chen'en. That novel was inspired by an actual journey by the Buddhist monk Tangseng, who traveled from Chang'an westward to India in 629 A.D. and returned seventeen years later with priceless knowledge and spiritual texts. Over the course of the book the four travelers face the 81 tribulations that Tangseng had to endure to attain Buddhahood.All 26 books in the Journey to the West series have used a total of about 2000 different Chinese words, but only 839 words are used in this book. We introduce 16 words for the first time in this book, and each one is defined on the page where it is first used. The book includes pinyin, an English translation, and a full glossary. A free audiobook is available on YouTube's Imagin8 Press channel and on the Imagin8 Press website.

The Buddhist monk Tangseng sees a sign, "Small Thunderclap Monastery," and foolishly thinks they have reached their goal. His disciple Sun Wukong sees through the illusion, but the false Buddha in the monastery traps him between two gold cymbals and plans to kill his companions. The ensuing struggle involves a golden dragon, a turtle, a snake, twenty eight constellations, and a mysterious being from the highest heaven. Escaping that, the travelers find their path blocked by a giant snake and a huge pile of slimy and foul-smelling rotting fruit.This is the 22nd book in the best-selling The Journey to the West series of stories for students learning to read Chinese. It is based on the epic 16th century novel of the same name by Wu Chen'en. That novel was inspired by an actual journey by the Buddhist monk Tangseng, who traveled from Chang'an westward to India in 629 A.D. and returned seventeen years later with priceless knowledge and spiritual texts. Over the course of the book the four travelers face the 81 tribulations that Tangseng had to endure to attain Buddhahood.The first 22 books in the Journey to the West series have used a total of about 2000 different Chinese words, but only 821 are used in this book. All new words are defined on the page where they are first used. The book uses Simplified Chinese characters and includes pinyin, an English translation, and a full glossary. A free audiobook is available on YouTube's Imagin8 Press channel and on www.imagin8press.com.

An evil rainstorm of blood covers a city and defiles a beautiful Buddhist monastery. Three years later the monk Tangseng and his three disciples arrive at the city. They explore the monastery and discover two fish-demons drinking wine and gambling in the top floor of the monastery's pagoda. This leads to an epic underwater confrontation with their boss, a powerful dragon king. And later, Tangseng is trapped in a vast field of brambles by a group of poetry loving but extremely dangerous nature spirits.This is the 21st book in the best-selling The Journey to the West series of stories for students learning to read Chinese. It is based on the epic 16th century novel of the same name by Wu Chen'en. That novel was inspired by an actual journey by the Buddhist monk Tangseng, who traveled from Chang'an westward to India in 629 A.D. and returned seventeen years later with priceless knowledge and spiritual texts. Over the course of the book the four travelers face the 81 tribulations that Tangseng had to endure to attain Buddhahood.The first 21 books in the Journey to the West series have used a total of about 1800 different Chinese words, but only 897 are used in this book. All new words are defined on the page where they are first used. The book uses Simplified Chinese characters and includes pinyin, an English translation, and a full glossary. A free audiobook is available on YouTube's Imagin8 Press channel and on www.imagin8press.com.

This book contains the full text of the 19th, 20th and 21st stories in our Journey to the West series for people learning to read Chinese. The three stories told here are unchanged from our original versions except for minor editing and reformatting.In The Angry Monkey, the Buddhist monk Tangseng has harsh words for his eldest disciple, the monkey king Sun Wukong. This argument leads to a case of mistaken identity and an earthshaking battle across heaven and the underworld. In The Burning Mountain, the travelers' path is blocked by a huge blazing mountain. They learn that Sun Wukong himself caused the fire five centuries earlier, and the travelers must discover how to extinguish the blaze so they can continue their journey. And in The Rain of Blood, An evil rainstorm of blood covers a city and defiles a beautiful Buddhist monastery. Tangseng and his disciples find two fish-demons drinking wine and gambling in the top floor of the monastery's pagoda. This leads to an epic underwater confrontation with their boss, a powerful dragon king. The stories are written, as much as possible, using the 1200 word vocabulary of HSK4 plus several hundred additional words introduced in these books and earlier books in the series. They are presented in Simplified Chinese characters and pinyin, and include an English version and complete glossary. Free audio versions are available for free on YouTube's Imagin8 Press channel and on our website, www.imagin8press.com.