218
I’LL ROAM THE
CORNERS OF THE
OCEANS AND GO TO
THE EDGE OF THE SKY
THE ADVENTURES OF THE MONKEY KINGT
he classical Chinese story
of Sun Wukong begins
with the union of heaven
and Earth. From this union, a stone
egg was created which emerged
from the Mountain of Flowers and
Fruit. From the egg, a monkey was
born named Sun Wukong. At first,
Sun Wukong played with the other
animals who lived on the mountain.
Eventually he grew in ambition,
and, declaring himself the Monkey
King, became a demon. With his
new status, Sun Wukong became
an immensely powerful and skilled
fighter, able to transform into 72
different animals and objects and
leap halfway around the world in a
single jump. He armed himself with
a gold-banded staff, which could
magically change size according
to his needs.Immortal and imprisoned
Despite his status as the Monkey
King, when it came time for Sun
Wukong to die, he was dragged
to the Underworld. Instead of
submitting to his fate, however, he
erased his name from the Register
of Life and Death, making himself
immortal. Hearing of Sun Wukong’s
activities, the Jade Emperor, ruler of
heaven, summoned him and gavehim a position at court, hoping
it would end his exploits. Sun
Wukong expected a senior office,
but was given the lowly post of
superintendent of stables. When
he realized how unimportant his
position was, he flew into a rage.
He declared himself the Great Sage
and equal to the Jade Emperor.
At first, the Jade Emperor tried
to placate Sun Wukong by making
him the guardian of the Heavenly
Peach Orchard. The entente ended,
however, when Sun Wukong was
not invited to a banquet with the
other deities. He rebelled against
the Jade Emperor, stole and ate the
peaches of immortality from theIN BRIEF
THEME
The path to enlightenmentSOURCE
Journey to the West, Wu
Cheng’en, ca. 1500–82.SETTING
Ancient China and India.KEY FIGURES
Sun Wukong The
Monkey King.The Jade Emperor The
mythical ruler of heaven.The Buddha The founder
of Buddhism, who lived
and taught in India from
the 6th–4th century bce.Xuanzang A Buddhist monk.Guanyin The Buddhist
goddess of mercy.Zhu Bajie A half-pig, half-
man; Xuanzang’s disciple.Sha Wujing A river monster;
Xuanzang’s disciple.How dare they treat me [Sun
Wukong] with such contempt?
On the Mountain of Flowers
and Fruit I am a king.
Journey to the WestUS_218-219_Monkey_King.indd 218 30/11/17 4:56 pm
219
Xuanzang is aided by Zhu Bajie and
Sha Wujing, pictured here crossing
a river as they approach the Great
Buddha Temple, in Zhangye, in
the Gansu Province of China.See also: The war of the gods and Titans 32–33 ■ Pangu and the creation of the
world 214 –15 ■ Yi shoots the sun 216–17ASIA
garden, and defeated all of the
forces the Emperor sent to kill him.
With all other hopes lost, the Jade
Emperor appealed to the Buddha to
control Sun Wukong. The Buddha
seized him in his hand, which he
transformed into an enchanted
mountain—the rebellious Monkey
King was now trapped indefinitely.Dutiful disciples
Several centuries later, a Chinese
monk called Xuanzang made a
pilgrimage west to India to gather
more complete versions of Buddhist
texts than there were in China.
Xuanzang was helped by Guanyin,
the goddess of mercy, who arranged
for several disciples to protect him
in his journey, to atone for their past
misdeeds. The first was SunXuanzang
The figure of Xuanzang
in literature was based on
a historical figure. Born
ca. 602 ce, in Luoyang, central
China, he was ordained as a
novice monk at 13, and as a
full monk seven years later.
Buddhism had arrived in
China from India in the 3rd
century bce. Xuanzang’s
concern was that the texts
being used to study Buddhism
were often incomplete and
inaccurate. He decided to
journey to India himself to
study and to collect the texts.
Despite an imperial ban on
foreign travel at the time,
Xuanzang set out in 629 ce,
returning 17 years later
with hundreds of Buddhist
texts in Sanskrit.
At the request of Emperor
Taizong of the Tang dynasty,
Xuanzang also compiled an
account of his journey entitled
Great Tang Records on the
Western Regions. This work
would go on to inspire Wu
Cheng’en’s Journey to the
West, now viewed as one of
the most influential Chinese
novels of all time. Xuanzang
studied for the rest of his life
in Chang’an, now Xi’an, where
Indian Buddhist texts were
translated into Chinese.Wukong, who was freed from his
mountain prison. To keep him under
control, Guanyin placed a band
around his head that would tighten
if Xuanzang chanted a particular
mantra. The next disciple was Zhu
Bajie, a former immortal banished
from heaven for drunkenness and
reborn on earth as a pig monster.
Lastly was Sha Wujing, also a former
immortal, exiled from heaven for
smashing a crystal goblet—he was
now a grotesque river monster.
Xuanzang’s 17-year ordeal was
beset with hazards engineered by
the Buddha in order to cultivate his
spiritual growth. Finally, Xuanzang
returned the sacred writings to
China and was given Buddhahood.
Sun Wukong had proved a loyal
and effective bodyguard, protecting
Xuanzang from many demons.
As a reward, Sun Wukong was also
elevated to the status of Buddha
(“awakened one”), and was
subsequently awarded the title
of “Victorious Fighting Buddha.” ■US_218-219_Monkey_King.indd 219 05/12/17 3:00 pm