With the recent release of “Black Myth: Wukong,” Canadian writer and translator Dylan Levi King reflects on the popularization of a Chinese literature classic
When it arrived on gaming platforms at the end of last month, Black Myth: Wukong became, in addition to a runaway commercial success, a vehicle to transmit to millions around the world one of the jewels of Chinese folklore and literature: Journey to the West (《西游记》), Wu Cheng’en’s (吴承恩) 16th-century novel of pilgrimage woven out of collective legend and individual imagination.
Even though he drafts an extensive array of fantastic creatures, gods, and demigods, Wu Cheng’en had a retelling of the real-life adventures of Xuanzang (玄奘) as the core of his narrative. In search of Buddhist scriptures, the Tang dynasty (618 – 907) monk took a clandestine voyage down the Silk Road to as far as the Kanchipuram in what is now the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and eventually returned to the Tang capital Chang’an to translate the sutras he secured.
Treacherous journeys of thousands of miles are no longer required to spread culture. But meaningful exchanges and mutual learning seem more difficult than ever to accomplish.
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