Li and Hegel's new translation of Xiyoubu makes a great contribution to the field of Chinese studies not only for its masterful English translation of this seventeenth-century literary gem and its erudite introduction, but also for presenting the work with the various paratexts that accompanied its late Ming edition. Qiancheng Li's enlightening “Introduction” is followed by the (translated) preface, 16 illustrations, and a “Questions and Answers” essay that accompanied the main narrative in its 1641 edition. While Li and Hegel based their translation on the 1641 edition of The Further Adventures on the Journey to the West (hereafter Further Adventures), they also incorporated into Further Adventures two sets of commentaries from the 1641 and 1853 editions. By including these paratextual materials, Further Adventures intends to “reproduce as nearly as possible what readers encountered when they first read its Ming and Qing period imprints” (p. xxxv). This laudable decision renders Further Adventures a valuable resource for students and scholars of premodern Chinese literature, as it reflects publishing conventions and reading habits during the Ming and Qing dynasties, opening a window onto late imperial book culture. Further Adventures also provides a bibliography and a useful overview of relevant scholarship and translations (including that by Shuen-fu Lin and Larry James Schulz, The Tower of Myriad Mirrors: a Supplement to Journey to the West (Ann Arbor, 2000)).

The “Introduction” by Li and the “Afterthoughts and Reflections” by Hegel offer thought-provoking discussions on the novel and its place in the history of Chinese literature. Addressing the contested issue of the authorship of Further Adventures, both Li and Hegel support the theory that Dong Sizhang (1587–1628), and not his son Dong Tuo (Yue) (1620–1686), was the primary author of the novel. Li's “Introduction” offers a brief yet comprehensive overview of the textual history of Further Adventures and its parent novel, Journey to the West. Further Adventures takes the world of the late sixteenth-century hundred-chapters Journey to the West as template, drawing its characters, setting, and imagery from this famous masterpiece. As the paratexts of Further Adventures state, it should be read as if its plot takes place between chapters 61 and 62 of Journey to the West. In this sense, it can be regarded as an offshoot, or a sequel of sorts, to the Journey to the West, thus joining an ever-growing reservoir of derivatives. However, Further Adventures is also a standalone, sophisticated novel in its own right, whose relationship to its parent novel is anything but simple. As Li notes in the “Introduction”, Further Adventures challenges, expands, and reorients the Journey to the West. At the same time, the literary significance of Further Adventures far exceeds its ties to the parent novel, not only for its humour and philosophical depth, but also for its rich composition and numerous allusions. By bringing together a variety of literary forms and conventions, Further Adventures creates, as Li notes, “the appearance of a literary collage” (p. xxiv).

One of the great contributions of this new translation of Further Adventures is that it underscores the centrality of the issue of desire (qing) in the novel. At the core of this short novel is Sun Wukong's psychological journey, set in a dreamscape created by the Qing Fish, a Demon of Desire. This deviation from the plot of the Journey to the West allows the author(s) to narrow down on the question of desire while expanding and exploring new aspects of Sun Wukong's character, providing him with opportunities to experience the cycle of life and death, albeit in a dream. As both Li and Hegel highlight, the problem of desire not only dominates the novel's Buddhist allegorical reading, but it is also the novel's raison d’être. In this sense, Further Adventures joins a number of other late imperial works that explore notions of spiritual attainment and draw heavily on Buddhist themes and modes of representation, a subgroup which Li aptly terms “fictions of enlightenment” (Qiancheng Li, Fictions of Enlightenment: “Journey to the West,” “Tower of Myriad Mirrors,” and “Dream of the Red Chamber” (Honolulu, 2004)). In Further Adventures, Li and Hegel's erudite notes provide context and analysis that situate this work within the cultural landscape of late Ming, particularly in regards to the discourses of self-cultivation and the so-called “cult of qing”. Additionally, a very useful feature of this translation is that it clearly marks the numerous homophones for desire (qing) throughout the main text, signposting allegorical references that would have otherwise been lost in translation.

Further Adventures offers a delightful and illuminating experience for all readers – scholars, students, and the general public alike. It is a particularly useful resource for teaching premodern Chinese literature in undergraduate and graduate courses of all levels. The inclusion of the paratextual materials that accompanied the novel in its late-Ming edition is commendable and would hopefully inspire future translations of premodern Chinese works to follow its example.