Public Welfare Cultural Education： An Introduction to A Series of Children’s Rhymes on The Journey to the West Series
The Journey to the West is considered by most scholars as one of the four masterpieces in Chinese literature in the fiction category. It was written by a remarkable novelist, Wu Cheng En, of the Ming Dynasty in China. The story mainly describes the epic pilgrimage of a sainted monk, Tang San Zang，who was escorted by his three disciples and followers, Sun Wu Kong，Zhu Ba Jie and Sha Seng, on a hazardous journey to Tianzhu (now India) in the west.
During their rocky journey, the Buddhist master and his disciples waded through thick and thin and gallantly overcame as many as eighty-one very difficult encounters with numerous bugbears and goblins, which were designed by the Deity as their tests before they could acquire the Buddhist Sutra. In the end, the holy monk and his followers were able to complete their mission and to cultivate the truth in their religious beliefs. This Chinese magnum opus contains unique and extensive philosophies, and is full of reflections of people’s life as well as cultural, social and artistic values. Ever since it was first published, the depth of varied versions has not been exhausted. It is a classic much studied and researched by scholars both inside and outside of China.
A collection of mobile applications, The Journey to the West Series, is produced to allow users to view the stories in caricature and to learn Mandarin in children’s rhymes. The purpose of our creation is to pique the young minds’ interest in the classic stories, their realization, appreciation and love of Chinese culture. An even more ambitious motive is to give children all over the world an opportunity to get in touch with Chinese culture and to enjoy some wondrous fantasies while they may start learning Mandarin. The whole collection has five volumes (5 sets), totaling twenty-five episodes. The “Introduction Volume” is the first set which can be down-loaded free of charge. Then follow the “First Set”, “Second Set”, “Third Set” and the “Grand Finale” (all of which are fee-charging downloads) .
Each episode has a “Taletelling” menu and a “Read-With-Me” menu; both are equipped with sound tracks. The “Taletelling” part takes the children and the readers to the story itself, and lets them immerse themselves in the fantastic journey that Tang, Sun, Zhu and Sha were going through. In the “Read-With-Me” part, kids or readers will read aloud with the pre-recorded voice, learning to speak out the sounds of Mandarin and further enjoying the pleasure of learning the Chinese language.
Chinese characters in each collection contain simplified and conventional versions, accompanied by Mandarin pronunciation. Besides, the text of the childrens rhyme is translated in English to facilitate international readers for easy learning first off and with enhanced efficiency to end.
This collection of children’s rhymes was financed, collaborated and produced by Pannian Public Welfare Cultural Activity Center in Hong Kong. It took much effort from a lot of dedicated people a good two years to bring it to fruition. During its planning, editing, production, publication and marketing stages, we had much-needed help from Ms. Li Yanhua, Ms. Li Xiaoyun, and Mr. Cao Lei, all of them are from China and to whom our thanks were due. We are also grateful for the assistance of Mr. Francis Hung, Mr. Pan Lam、Mr. Simon Wong and Mr. John Hung, all four of them are from Hong Kong, as well as Mr. Camillus Chan from the United States, who have given tremendous support to the successful compilation of the series. Last but not least, twenty percent (20%) of the net profit from the sale of The Journey to the West Series will be donated by Pannian Public Welfare Cultural Activity Center for charitable purposes.