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Journey to the West — A1 cover

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Journey to the West

西游记

A monkey king escorts a monk to enlightenment

Wu Cheng'en · 16th century · mythology, fantasy, adventure

A mischievous, supremely powerful Monkey King is bound to protect a gentle monk traveling west to fetch sacred scriptures. With a pig-spirit and a river-monk at their side, the pilgrims battle demons, temptations, and their own flaws across eighty-one trials.

Available levels
A15,342A25,115B15,049B27,020B2+6,071C14,999

Peek inside — compare all six levels

Karaoke audio ✓ Illustrations ✓
These are the real reader controls — Pinyin and English toggle live, and pressing on a passage plays the audio with karaoke highlighting, exactly like the reader. Every word in the book is tappable — try the + word chips below each passage: that’s exactly how words go into your spaced-repetition drill while you read.

The opening · where the story begins — the A1 version:

hěnjiǔhěnjiǔqiánzàizhōngguóyǒushàngdemíngjiàotángsēngtángsēngshìhěnhǎohěnhǎoderénhěnshànliánghěnyǒnggǎnměitiāndōujīngshūměitiāndōubāngzhùbiérénzhùzàimiàomiàohěnānjìngdàochùshì绿deshùhóngdehuāměitiānzǎoshàngtàiyángchūláideshíhòutángsēngjiùchuángleliǎnhuànhǎofuránhòukāishǐjīngshū

Words you’d collect from this passage:

Journey to the West — illustration 1 every chapter is illustrated
Journey to the West — illustration 2

Midway through · the plot thickens — the A1 version:

tànlekǒushuōhǎobahǎobajiùshìlezhǐyàoyǒufànchījiùxíng hòuláimenzǒudàoletiáohěnhěndebiānshuǐhěnshēnshuǐliúhěnmiànshàngyǒubáidelànghuāzhùzherénjiùshìshāshàngshāshànggāogāodezhuàngzhuàngdezishàngdàizhechuànlóuzuòdexiàngliànkànláiyǒudiǎndànshìshíshìhěnhǎohěnhǎoderén

Words you’d collect from this passage:

Journey to the West — illustration 3
Journey to the West — illustration 4

Near the end · no spoilers — just the language — the A1 version:

shuōmenzhǎoshīxiōngbazhǐyǒushīxiōngcáinéngjiùshīfushāshàngdiǎndiǎntóushuōduìmenhuāguǒshānzhǎoshīxiōngkuàizǒuba zhūjièfēidàohuāguǒshānzhǎodàolesūnkōngshēnghǎnhóuhóuhǎoleshīfubèiyāoguàizhuāzǒulekuàijiùshīsūnkōngtīngshuōshīfubèizhuāleshàngcóngshítoushàngtiàolelái

Words you’d collect from this passage:

Journey to the West — illustration 5
Journey to the West — illustration 6
Tap a + word chip to see how collecting vocabulary works.Same engine as the full course · 6h → 30d intervals

Which level should you read?

Every version tells the full story — A1 uses only the ~1,500 most common words, C1 reads close to the original. Pick the level where you know almost every word: reading should feel like reading, not deciphering.

关于这本书 · About this book

这本书是根据中国明朝作家吴承恩的古典名著《西游记》改写的简单中文版。《西游记》是中国四大名著之一,讲的是唐僧和他的三个徒弟去西方取经的故事。 Insperium Chinese 分级读物有两个目标。第一个,也是最重要的,是学习中文——用适合你水平的语言,让你的阅读一步一步进步,不让你太累。第二个目标是慢慢带你认识中国和世界的经典名著,这样你从 A1 一步一步学到 C1 的时候,也认识了每个有文化的读者都知道的重要故事。 这些书的每一个设计,都是为了让这段旅程尽可能轻松、有趣——读书就应该是读书的感觉,而不是「学习」的感觉。所以每一章都有精美的插画;所以每本书都有两个部分:Part A 在每个汉字上面都标了拼音,在你还在学习的时候陪着你;Part B 只有汉字,等你准备好了,再读一遍。 原版的小说很长。《三国演义》本来有一百多章,《红楼梦》有三十多个主要人物。我们在长度和语言难度上都做了很多简化,所以你现在就能读到这些故事。等你的中文更好的时候,原版的书还在那里等着你。 怎么使用这本书: 这本书有两个版本的故事。第一个版本(Part A)在每个汉字上面都有拼音。第二个版本(Part B)没有拼音——当你准备好了,可以试试不看拼音阅读。 在阅读之前,先看看「人物关系」和「重要词汇」这两页。这本书有插画,帮助你进入故事的世界。读完以后,你可以做后面的阅读理解题来检查你的理解。

This book is a simplified Chinese version of the classic novel Journey to the West by Ming Dynasty author Wu Cheng'en. One of China's Four Great Classical Novels, it tells the story of the monk Tang Sanzang and his three disciples travelling west to retrieve Buddhist scriptures. Insperium Chinese graded readers have two goals. The first and most important is language comprehension — Chinese at the right level to grow your reading step by step, without exhausting you. The second is a gradual introduction to the great classics of China and the wider world, so that as you climb from A1 to C1 you also meet the stories every educated reader knows. Everything about these books is built to make that journey as pleasant and entertaining as possible — reading should feel like reading, never like studying. That is why every chapter is fully illustrated, and why each book has two sides: Part A tells the story with pinyin above every character to carry you while you are still learning, and Part B tells it again in characters only, ready for the moment you are. The originals are large — Romance of the Three Kingdoms alone runs more than a hundred chapters, and Dream of the Red Chamber has over thirty principal characters. We have simplified them deeply, in both length and language level, so the story is reachable now. When your Chinese is ready, the originals will still be waiting. How to use this book: This book contains two versions of the story. The first version (Part A) has pinyin above every character. The second version (Part B) has no pinyin — try reading without it when you feel ready. Before you start, check the "Character Map" and "Key Vocabulary" pages. The book is illustrated throughout to help you sink into the world of the story. After reading, try the comprehension questions to check your understanding.

Key characters

Tang Sanzang

táng sēng

唐僧

Tang Sanzang

Main character

A kind-hearted Buddhist monk who vows to walk one hundred and eight thousand li to India to bring back holy scriptures, relying on three extraordinary disciples to protect him from the demons who crave his flesh.

Monkey King

sūn wù kōng

孙悟空

Monkey King

Main character

Born from a magic stone and crowned king of the monkeys, this mischievous immortal once raged across heaven itself — now, pinned for five hundred years and freed by a humble monk, he swings his golden staff to protect his master from every demon on the road west.

Pigsy

zhū bā jiè

猪八戒

Pigsy

Main character

A former heavenly marshal banished to earth as a pig after one night of misbehaviour, Pigsy loves eating and sleeping above all else — yet his nine-toothed rake and surprising strength make him a loyal, if lazy, companion on the long road west.

Sandy

shā hé shang

沙和尚

Sandy

Main character

A once-mighty heavenly general exiled for breaking a single jade cup, Sandy is the quiet backbone of the pilgrimage — asking little, complaining never, and shouldering the heaviest burdens of the journey without a word.

Key vocabulary

This is what stands between you and reading this book comfortably. You won’t drill all of it — mark the words you already know and they leave the queue for good, so every minute of study goes to the words that actually block your reading.

中文PinyinEnglishHSKYour list
jade6
神仙shénxiānsupernatural being; immortal; fairy6
guìkneel6
火焰huǒyànflame6
将军jiāngjūnGeneral6
恭敬gōngjìngdutiful; respectful6
Knock6
huǎngshake6
人间rénjiānHuman world6
口气kǒuqìtone6
This is how you curate a book course — drill it, mark it known, or ignore it.+ 423 more words — every one drillable in the app

Try the course — this is the actual drill

The course has one goal: get you reading this book at this level as fast as possible. Every word is learned in real context — sentences straight from the story, not word lists — and a proven spaced-repetition system brings each one back right before you’d forget it. Your time goes only to the words you don’t know yet. Here are the book’s first five — flip, grade yourself, and feel how it works.

Journey to the West · A1

New items

jiù
保护bǎohù
神仙shénxiān
危险wēixiǎn
善良shànliáng

Session stats

Remembered0
Forgot0
Success Rate0%
ProgressLEARNED 0/5

5 cards remaining

← Forgot | Space flip | → Remember

Lesson progress

LEARNED 0/5

Details

Word

jiù

save

appears 13× · first ~10% into the story

Round 1 of 4

Word examples

jiù jiù wǒ

Save me!

jiù jiù wǒ

Save me!

师父

qù jiù shī fù

Let's go save Master!

Flip through the book

This is a real sample of the book edition — cover, characters, key vocabulary and the opening pages with pinyin. Turn the pages and see exactly what you’re getting.

Interactive edition — available now

The Insperium edition is the one that teaches you: pinyin and karaoke audio, every word tappable, the full vocabulary course, and all six levels in one purchase.

Get the interactive edition

What’s inside the book edition

  • Part A — the full story with pinyin above every character
  • Part B — the same story in characters only, for when you’re ready
  • Original illustrations in every chapter
  • Key vocabulary up front + the complete word list at the back
  • Sentence patterns & grammar notes with try-it-yourself lines
  • Comprehension questions to check your understanding

Paperback & e-book editions

Prefer paper or your e-reader? Print and store editions are on the way.

Read it freely

Every level comes with pinyin and karaoke audio that highlights as you read — so you can follow along even when the grammar is new.

Master the level, not just the book

The book’s vocabulary is a full spaced-repetition course. It drills only the words you don’t know yet, in sentences from the story, and reviews each one right before you’d forget — the fastest route to reading this level comfortably, here and in every book after it.

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