The story of Mulan, the young girl who joins the army to save her family and her country, is at least 1500 years old. Over the centuries, it has inspired dozens of poems, plays, novels, songs, and more recently, graphic novels, TV shows and films. The details of the story vary, but the core is always the same: a young girl living with her family in a small Chinese village learns that the army requires each family to contribute one man to fight invaders...

This book is part of 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. The novel is loosely based on an actual journey by the Buddhist monk Tangseng (formerly called Xuanzang), who traveled from the Chinese city of Chang'an westward to India in 629 A.D. and returned 17-years later with priceless knowledge and spiritual texts. Over the course of...

The Buddhist monk and his three disciples finally approach the western border of China. They find themselves in a kingdom where it hasn't rained for three years because the prefect has angered the King of Heaven. Sun Wukong brings rain and, of course, trouble. Continuing their journey, they meet a prince and his three sons. The sons want to learn how to use the disciples' magic weapons, but one night the magic weapons are stolen by a nearby lion demon....

"The Young Monk" is the fourth book in the "Journey to the West" series of stories by Jeff Pepper and Xiao Hui Wang. Other titles include "Rise of the Monkey King", "Trouble in Heaven" and "The Immortal Peaches". This book is based on chapters 8 and 9 of Journey To The West, an epic novel written in the 16th Century by Wu Chen'en. Journey To The West is loosely based on an actual journey by the Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who traveled from the Chinese...

The Dao De Jing (also called the Tao Te Ching) was written more than 2,500-years ago and is considered one of the most important books in world literature. Coming in at only 5,000 Chinese characters, its timeless wisdom has inspired millions of people around the world and serves as one of the cornerstones of the Taoist religion. It has been translated into English many, many times, but this new work by the best-selling writing team of Jeff Pepper...

The travelers arrive at a tall mountain. An old man warns them that it's infested with thousands of man-eating demons but Sun Wukong ignores the warning. Soon they meet the three demon leaders: a blue-haired lion, an old yellow-tusked elephant, and a huge terrifying bird called Great Peng. The demons trap Sun Wukong in a magic jar but he escapes. Later the three disciples try but fail to defeat the three demons. Finally, with nowhere else to turn,...

The monk Tangseng and his three disciples are nearing the end of their epic journey. They approach Thunderclap Monastery in India, the home of Tathagata Buddha. But Tangseng's ordeals are not over yet. First, the travelers are mistaken for murderers and thieves and must talk their way out of jail with some help from Sun Wukong's body-changing magic. When they finally arrive at the home of the Buddha, Tangseng asks for the holy scriptures which he...

Our band of travelers arrives at Level Top Mountain and encounters their most powerful adversaries yet: Great King Golden Horn and his younger brother Great King Silver Horn. These two monsters, assisted by their elderly mother and hundreds of well-armed demons, attempt to capture and liquefy Sun Wukong, and eat the Tang monk and his other disciples. Led by Sun Wukong, the travelers desperately battle their foes through a combination of trickery,...