The title Saiyuki, according to the author Kazuya Minekura, means something like 'the most playful Journey to the West' (最も遊ぶ西遊記), reflecting her intent to create a fun, personal take on the classic Chinese novel.

Minekura had been conceiving the story since her high school years; her love of Journey to the West came from watching a 1978 Japanese TV drama adaptation, and watching Doraemon: Nobita's Parallel Journey to the West made her want to try her own parody, which sparked the manga's creation.

Saiyuki originally started as a self-published doujinshi under the circle STUDIO Backgammon before becoming a serialized manga in Monthly GFantasy from 1997.

While most characters follow the original Journey to the West fairly closely, Minekura deliberately swapped the surface personalities of Sha Wujing (Sha Gojyo) and Zhu Bajie (Cho Hakkai) compared to their classical counterparts.

Minekura has said she builds the overall image of her work around a favorite song or artist, and for Saiyuki the main inspiration was the Japanese rock band B'z, especially their song 'RUN'; several original episode and anime subtitles even share names with B'z songs.

According to the author's own guidebook 'Saiyuto', her editor once joked that it took her ten years to fill 14 volumes (covering the original Saiyuki plus 5 volumes of Reload), while the real Journey to the West pilgrimage in the novel only lasted 14 years, poking fun at how long the story was taking to conclude.

As of January 2021, the Saiyuki manga series had sold over 25 million copies in circulation worldwide, making it one of the best-selling manga franchises.

The 1999 OVA and subsequent 2007 OVA 'Saiyuki Reload -burial-' were separated by eight years, and among the cast only Akira Ishida (voice of Cho Hakkai) appeared in both productions.

The 2000 TV anime Gensomaden Saiyuki was originally planned to run for only two cours but was extended to four cours, totaling 50 episodes, and later won the 23rd Animage Anime Grand Prix award for best anime.