译自吴承恩撰中国古典小说<西游记>第三、四、五回。李士伋插图。

FOREWORD

This booklet contains the third, fourth and fifth chapters of the novel Journey to the West. It describes the turmoil created by the Monkey King in the Jade Emperor,s court in Heaven. The film Havoc in Heaven, shown in several coun- tries, is based on these three chapters.

The novel itself deals with the Tang-dynasty monk Xuan Zang's journey to India in search of Buddhist scriptures from 629 to 645, which became the subject of many miraculous story- cycles in later dynasties. The I6th-century scholar Wu Cheng'en wrote the novel on the basis of these stories.

The Monkey King was introduced into this legend by earlier story-tellers to help Xuan Zang on his long and perilous journey by means of the former's magic powers. He is the central figure of the novel and for centuries has been loved by the Chinese people for his irreverent wit, shrewd- ness and resourcefulness. He despises and rebels against the authority of all deities, defies the Jade Emperor in Heaven, makes the Dragon King in the sea submit to his wishes, and penetrates the disguise of demons and monsters masquerading as human beings. In feudal China, when the common people had no means of over- throwing their despotic rulers, the all-conquering Monkey King was a popular hero whose exploits were also often shown on the stage.

A complete English translation of this novel is being made by W.J.F. Jenner of Leeds University in England. The first volume will be published by the Foreign Languages Press in I980, to be followed by two others.

Excerpts from this novel were formerly trans- lated by Arthur Waley under the title Monkey. It is hoped that this booklet with the full version of how Monkey played havoc in Heaven will entertain foreign readers as much as it has those in China and increase mutual friendship and understanding between China and all other countries in which it is read and in which this film is shown.