The Young Monk - Jeff Pepper

In this book we tell the story of the monk Xuanzang's birth and early years. Our story begins with the Buddha's decision to bring his wisdom to China. Then we meet Xuanzang's father and mother and learn about their terrible ordeals around the time of his birth. Finally we jump ahead to when Xuanzang turns eighteen, learns of his true parentage, and avenges his parents.

This is the 4th book in the best-selling The Journey to the West series of stories for students learning to read Chinese. It is based on the epic 16th century novel of the same name by Wu Chen'en. That novel was inspired by an actual journey by the Buddhist monk Tangseng (formerly called Xuanzang), who traveled from Chang'an westward to India in 629 A.D. and returned seventeen years later with priceless knowledge and spiritual texts. Over the course of the book Tangseng and his companions face the 81 tribulations that Tangseng had to endure to attain Buddhahood.

The story is written, as much as possible, using the 600-word vocabulary of HSK3. It is presented in Traditional Chinese characters and pinyin, and includes an English version and glossary. A free audiobook is available on YouTube's Imagin8 Press channel and also on www.imagin8press.com.