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The Monkey King looks toward
his next adventure
The legends of the Monkey King are a blend of folklore, allegory, religion, history and satire. As collected in the 100 chapters of Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century, they can be read as one long, eventful fairytale. As the seminal Chinese intellectual (and Cornell grad of 1914) wrote, “Freed from all kinds of allegorical interpretations by Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucianist commentators, Monkey is simply a book of good humor, profound nonsense, good-natured satire and delightful entertainment. It has delighted millions of Chinese children and adults for over three hundred years.”

The Adventure of the Monkey King: A Beijing Opera will be performed throughout the North East in the Fall of 2004. Find out where you can see it.

These tall tales are a perfect springboard for teaching children about Chinese culture. In this online curriculum you will find a gateway to various academic topics including geography, art, music, language arts, history, religion, cultural studies and natural sciences. For each module, background information for teachers is provided, as well as sample lesson plans and hands-on classroom activities. Teachers can choose the areas that they want to focus on according to their teaching plans and interests. The curriculum offers lesson plans directed at grade 3 and grade 6. Click on the links below to access your grade level and topic of interest.