Xi You Ji - or Journey to the West, is the story which Dragonball is based upon, of a monk by the name of Tang Seng. During the 7th century (629 - 646 AD exactly) he was sent from China to India by his brother the emperor to get a collection of buddhist bibles. He faced many dangers along the way but finally reached India, returned and the 'Jing' or Gold (the bibles were priceless) and they currently reside in the giant Pagoda in Central Xi An, which is now open to tourists.

Journey to the West isn't the true story but it is based on one of Tang Seng going from China to India from 629AD to 646AD, adding many mythical areas to the story and it has become one of the most loved stories in Chinese history. As I am Chinese, I grew up with this, watching it on TV, having my mother tell me the stories, and reading everything about it.

The main characters in Journey to the West are Tang Seng; "Sun Wu Kong"(translated into Son Goku for Dragonball) or "Wu Kong" for short; "Zhu Ba Jie" (mildly translates into Pig Monk); and "Sha Seng"(Sand Monk).

Brief Sypnosis

The main story is told in 4 different chapters or sections. The first being the introduction of Wu Kong, who is born from a large stone-egg thing on the seaside. He is irrepressable and became one of the 'rejects' of the monkey gangs. They came across a hugh waterfall and everyone was scared to go through, everyone except for Wu Kong. Wu Kong makes it across and becomes the new Monkey King. Wu Kong believed that he needed more skills and he visits the monk "Immortal" and is taught martial arts, "qi" (or Ki in Japanese, pronounced "Chi") and is taught discipline. Wu Kong and his followers were always afraid of dying so he works up a lot of trouble in the mortal world, enough trouble that the Kind of the Dead, Yan Wang (translated into the Death King, and Lord Emma in DBZ), comes and imprisons him in hell. Taking the opportunity he escapes from the chains and erased the name of every monkey from his register book. When he is visiting the Dragon King of the Western Seas, he spots the fabled "Jing Gu Bang" or the "Golden Pole" (translated), which forged the universe eons ago. The Dragon King believes that Wu Kong wouldn't be able to lift it so he tells him if he could lift it he could keep it. Wu Kong effortlessly picks it up and leaves with his new weapon. The Yan Wang and the Western Dragon King complains the Emperor of the Heavens and sends his best fighters down to teach him a lesson. Thanks to his fighting skills, he is given a place in Heaven to quieten him down a little. Wu Kong is a very cocky and fun loving monkey and he soon gets a number of friends who live above the clouds or heaven. One day he angers the gods by stealing a fruit from the Heaven Emperor's Peach Tree, which gives eternal life to anyone who eats it. First Wu Kong is punished by being thrown in a furnace for years but he wouldn't die. Wu Kong escapes and tries to get back to him Monkey Kingdom but he is caught by Buddha's hand. Wu Kong is punished by being trapped underneath a mountain for more than 500 years. Tang Seng is introduced and his quest is given. He is told that he must find his protector and companion, who will help him in his journey. He frees Wu Kong and the Guan Ying Pu Sa (Goddess of Mercy) places a golden crown is placed on his head. If he does not do what tang Seng tells him or he does a very bad deed he will experience amazing pain. Tang Seng is very anti-violence as he is a monk and he soon disowns Wu Kong because of his fighting and killing. Wu Kong returns to Tang Seng and apologises for everything and promises that he will refrain from committing violence. When they are resting at a river, a dragon by the name of Xiao Bai Long (Small White Dragon) appears and eats Tang Seng's horse. The female buddha appears and turns the Dragon into a good person and a white horse so Tang Seng could continue.

The second chapter shows the beginning of their journey, and it introduces the other 2 characters. Zhu Ba Jie (or Ba Jie for short) used to be a General in Heaven. He has a major weakness for beautiful women and he makes the mistake of flirting with the Moon Princess and he is punished and he thrown into the mortal world and re-incarnated as a fat Pig Monk. The trio find Ba Jie and he joins their posse and is given a crown as well. A few days later he meet an evil Monk who guards a large river. After fighting him he joins them as Sha Seng and is given a crown as well, and the story continues...

The third chapter is the longest. It tells about all of the dangers that face their way. They face many as all the demons of the world know of Tang Seng and know that since he is the chosen holy one, anyone who would eat his flesh would become immortal. They face 81 dangers over the course of around 15 years. When they could not defeat their enemies, Wu Kong and the others seeked the help of Wu Kong's many friends among the heavens. His main form of tranportation was a cloud that followed him where ever he went. They fight a lot of demons and evil humans and escape a lot of danger and

The fourth and last chapter is simply about them reaching their destination and trying to get the bibles. They are first given fake copies, which were simply blank. Buddha transforms himself into a giant eagle and attacks them, sending the books flying and they discover they were fake. They return to his monastary and is told that it was all a test and Buddha wanted to see their reactions. They get the real copies, and they are all able to attain enlightenment and become Buddhas. Once Wu Kong becomes a Buddha, he asks his master if he would remove his crown, and Tang replies that if Wu Kong was really enlightened it would go away by itself. Wu Kong reaches up to touch his crown and finds it is gone. The story ends with the group flying into the heavens.

Character Biographies - A biography and photo on the characters in Story.

Demons and Dangers - A list, photo and description of some of the creatures they face in their journey who want to kill their master.

Weapons - The weapons of the legends!

Xi You Ji Name	Dragonball Z Version
Sun Wu Kong	Son Goku
Tang Seng (Tang Monk)	Krillin (I believe)
Zhu Ba Jie (Pig Monk)	Oolong
Sha Seng (Sand Monk)	Yamcha
Yan Wang (King of Death)	Lord Enma
Nui Mo Wang (Evil Bull King)	Gyu-Mao, Ox-King
Jing Gu Bang (Super Golden Pole)	Nyoi-Bo
Er Lang	Tienshinhan
Yu Huang Da Di (Jade Emperor of Heaven)	Kami