Almost 1400 years ago, a brave young monk made a multi-year journey from China across the southwestern mountains to India. His trip was celebrated in a novel called Journey to the West, written about 500 years ago.

In the novel version of the tale, the young monk, whose name is Xuanzang, is accompanied by magical companions, including the Monkey King, a friar and a talking pig. The odd group of friends battle strange monsters and suffer hardships, before learning that overcoming difficulties is necessary for the monk to find true spiritual fulfillment.

But the true story on which the novel is based is also remarkable. The real life Xuanzang travelled for years and found a magical community of learning in India called Nalanda – which historians believe might be the first campus university in human history.

So Journey to the West is really two collections of tales – one from the novelist’s imagination, and one from history. And it also launched a fascinating literary character. In real life, the monk learned about an Indian god called Hanuman. In the novel, we meet the Monkey King, a creature with magical powers who is mischievous but ultimately on the side of good.