Anthony Yu, translator of the unabridged English version of the Wu Cheng'en 1592 Chinese classic, parallels this novel to The Wizard of Oz giving Westerners a starting point for understanding. Watch an introduction here.
Loosely based on history, The Journey to the West depicts the tale of the 7th century Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who traveled for 17 years from China to India and back in order to receive sacred Buddhist scriptures. His quest became folklore and was retold orally and in plays for over 900 years before Wu Cheng'en turned it into an epic quest, full of danger, magic, myth and a very special monkey. This magical immortal monkey and some companions help the Buddhist monk Xuanzang on his journey to the West, getting some help and some trouble from the Daoists, Buddhists, gods, spirits, and demons along the way. It is a 100 chapter adventure full of fun, and yet with its complex mixture of spiritualities, it has the conscious reader take a journey of his own and wrestle with his own monkey in the mind. Take the journey one day and get familiar with Chinese vernacular literature like The Journey to the West, as it entails Chinese folk religion, Chinese mythology, Daoism, Buddhism, and how they all mix together in the vast and great land of China.