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 …showed first 75 words of 950 total…

…showed last 75 words of 950 total…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”.