The Laughing Sutra

The Laughing Sutra by Mark Salzman is a story about Hsun-ching's journey to America so he may find an old Buddhist scripture and bring it back to his adopted father in China. Hsun-ching is accompanied by Colonel Sun, an immortal who spent his early life as a soldier, he was essential in assisting Hsun-ching on his journey to America and retrieving the sutra. Although The Laughing Sutra portrays Hsun-ching as the hero because he brought …

…stay in America, if he had even been able to reach it alive on his own. Colonel Sun was undoubtedly the hero of the novel because he kept Hsun-ching alive and out of harms way, was ready and willing to sacrifice his own life in order to save Hsun-ching’s, and was a key element to success for Wei-ching to achieve his enlightenment. They will never forget their experiences with the real life “monkey king”.