Journey to the West (W.J.F. Jenner Translation)
Published in four volumes in 1982 by the Foreign Languages Press, this fluid and accessible translation stands as another authoritative complete edition for the English-speaking world.
The four-volume translation of Journey to the West by W.J.F. Jenner, published by the Beijing Foreign Languages Press between 1982 and 1984, is one of only two complete English translations currently available. This version is renowned for its readability; the translator deliberately avoided excessive academic annotations, striving instead to ensure that the general English reader could enjoy the narrative of the original work with ease. Jenner was a distinguished British Sinologist with significant achievements in the translation of classical Chinese literature. Unlike Yu Guofan's translation, which emphasizes academic precision, Jenner's version is favored by many readers for its fluid prose and strong storytelling. For a long time, it has circulated overseas as a representative publication promoted by the Foreign Languages Press to introduce classical Chinese literature.