Year of the Fire Monkey: Journey to the West and beyond

2016 is the Year of the Monkey - the Fire Monkey, to be more precise. In two of Asia's biggest cultures, the monkey is a much loved creature of mythical proportions. In Hinduism, the embodiment takes the form of Lord Hanuman from the Indian epic, Ramayana. In predominantly Buddhist and Taoist China, the most powerful personification of the monkey is the charismatic Monkey King, Sun Wukong from the Ming Dynasty saga, Journey to the West.

Sun Wukong is endeared for his human-like cheekiness, loathed for his unsophisticated manners and unpredictability and revered for his undying loyalty to his master Xuanzang, the famous Tang Dynasty monk who went on a pilgrimage to India in AD 629 and returned with volumes of Buddhist scriptures. Xuanzang was schooled in Mahayana Buddhism but decided to visit India and study Buddhism at its source. He spent fifteen years in India visiting holy sites, studying Buddhism in its major and esoteric forms. Interestingly, he also spent five years studying at Nalanda University, the ancient Buddhist university that was recently revived after centuries of neglect.

During his time in India, Xuanzang amassed a vast collection of relics and texts. When he finally returned to China in 644, Xuanzang spent the rest of his life translating the scriptures and writing an autobiographical account of his travels through the ancient Silk Road, which derived its name from the lucrative trade in Chinese silk. Trade on the Silk Road was an important factor in the development of the civilizations of China, India, the Middle East and parts of Africa. Countries located along the Silk Road established political, economic and cultural relations.