The 80 Trials of Sanzang, the Holy Monk

Submitted by diaskeaus on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 04:02
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  1. The Golden Cicada's exile
  2. Being born and almost killed
  3. Abandonment in the river under a full moon
  4. Finding his mother and getting revenge
  5. The tigers he met after leaving the city
  6. Falling into the pit
  7. The Double Forked Peak
  8. The Double Boundary Mountain
  9. Exchanging horses at the ravine
  10. The fire at night
  11. The loss of the cassock
  12. Subduing Pig
  13. The obstacles created by the Yellow Wind Monster
  14. Asking the help of Lingji
  15. The hard crossing of the Flowing Sands River
  16. Winning over Friar Sand
  17. The appearance of the four holy ones
  18. In the Wuzhuang Temple
  19. The difficulty of reviving the manfruit
  20. The dismissal of the Mind-ape
  21. Getting lost in Black Pine Forest
  22. Delivering the letter to Elephantia
  23. To be turned into a tiger in the palace hall
  24. Meeting the monsters on Flat-top Mountain
  25. To hang in the Lotus Flower Cave
  26. The rescue of the king of Wuji
  27. The transformation by the demons
  28. The encounter with the monster of Mount Hao
  29. The holy monk being carried off by the wind
  30. The attack on the Mind-ape
  31. Inviting the holy one to subdue the fiend
  32. Sinking in the Black River
  33. The moving in Tarrycart
  34. The enormous wager
  35. Casting out the Taoists and promoting the Buddhists
  36. The great river met on the way
  37. Falling into the River of Heaven
  38. The appearance with the fish basket
  39. Feeding the monster on Mount Jindou
  40. All the gods of heaven being unable to subdue him
  41. Asking the Buddha about his origins
  42. To be poisoned by drinking the water
  43. Being kept in Womanland of Western Liang for the wedding
  44. The agonies of the Pipa Cave
  45. The Mind-ape's second dismissal
  46. Telling the macaques apart
  47. Being held up by the Fiery Mountains
  48. Obtaining the plantain-leaf fan
  49. Tying up the demon king
  50. Sweeping the pagoda in Jisai city
  51. The recovery of the treasures and the rescue of the monks
  52. Reciting poems in the Thorn Forest
  53. Trouble in the Lesser Thunder Monastery
  54. The capture of the heavenly gods
  55. Being stopped by the filthy Runny Persimmon Lane
  56. Healing in Purpuria
  57. Saving from debility
  58. Subduing fiends and rescuing the queen
  59. Delusion by the seven passions
  60. The wounding of the Many-eyed Monster
  61. Being held up by the Lion
  62. Dividing demons into three categories
  63. Meeting disaster in the city
  64. Asking the Buddha to subdue the demon
  65. The rescue of the boys in Bhiksuland
  66. Telling the true from the evil
  67. Saving the monster in the pine forest
  68. Lying sick in the monastic cell
  69. Capture in the Bottomless Cave
  70. Delays in Dharmadestructia
  71. Meeting the monster on Hidden Clouds Mountain
  72. Begging for rain in Fengxian
  73. The loss of the weapons
  74. The rake banquet
  75. Troubles on Bamboo Mountain
  76. Suffering in Dark Essence Cave
  77. Catching Rhinoceros
  78. Being required to marry in India
  79. Imprisonment in Brazentower
  80. Casting of the body at the Lingyun Crossing
Author Comments: 

Taken from chapter 99 of Journey to the West, by Wu Cheng'en.

This takes place over 36,000 (reputed) miles, and over 14 years. Which means (very) roughly, from each ordeal to the next was about 450 "miles," and each ordeal took about two months. Of course, travel time withstanding. This is, naturally, taking the book as a valid source of modern equivalent facts.

Being that the actual distance between Xi'an (Sanzang's starting location) and Mumbai (one of India's farthest western cities) is only 2,452 miles, either Sanzang and his troupe got lost about 14 times and ended up doing complete circles, or a mile today was not a mile yesterday.

But, they did have to cross the Himalayas...