Mythology Book

218

I’LL ROAM THE

CORNERS OF THE

OCEANS AND GO TO

THE EDGE OF THE SKY

THE ADVENTURES OF THE MONKEY KING

T

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 gave

him 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 the

IN BRIEF

THEME

The path to enlightenment

SOURCE

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 West

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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 216–17

ASIA

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 Sun

Xuanzang

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.” ■

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