From Dragon Ball to Saiyuki, there’s no shortage of adaptations, retellings, and wholesale lifts of one of the world’s most popular tales. But most of the western world enjoying these retellings knows little of the original novel, and even less of the stories it itself combined and retold. Let’s look at the historical and cultural context for the original 16th century novel and the lore it collected into a single tale. We’ll discuss some key adaptations as well, with the knowledge to enjoy them more.