The Rise of the Monkey King

This book is a retelling, in easy-to-read Chinese, of the legendary story of how a little stone monkey was born, became king of his troop of monkeys, left his home to pursue enlightenment, received the name Sun Wukong (literally, "ape seeking the void") from his teacher, and returned home to defend his subjects from a ravenous monster.

Sun Wukong, the Handsome Monkey King, is one of the most famous characters in Chinese literature and culture. His legendary bravery, his foolish mistakes, his sharp-tongued commentary and his yearning for immortality and spiritual knowledge have inspired hundreds of books, television shows, graphic novels, video games and films.

This is the first 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.

The story is written, as much as possible, using the 600-word vocabulary of HSK3. It is presented in Traditional Chinese characters and pinyin, and includes an English version and glossary. A free audiobook is available on YouTube's Imagin8 Press channel and also on www.imagin8press.com.