Staff Legends 107
Daocheng explained that “the elegant term for Buddhist itinerancy is ‘flying
staff.’ This is because when the eminent monk Yinfeng traveled to Mt. Wutai,
his route passed through Huaixi Province (in the upper Huai river valley),
[where war raged]. He hurled his staff, rose into the air, and flew [above the
war zone].”^66 According to the Buddhist historian Zanning (919–1001), the
monk soared above the opposing armies to convince them to lay down their
arms. His aerial journey was therefore a fine example of Buddhist “expedi-
ent means” (Sanskrit: upâya; Chinese: fangbian), which were meant to incul-
cate the virtue of peace:
During the Yuanhe reign period (806–820) Yinfeng announced he
would journey to Mt. Wutai. His route passed through Huaixi Province,
which was then under the control of Wu Yuanji (fl. 815). Relying on the
strength of his army, the latter defied the emperor’s orders. Govern-
ment troops were sent to counter the rebel. The two sides engaged in
battle, but none could prevail over the other. “I will put an end to this
mutual slaughter,” Yinfeng said, whereupon he hurled his staff into the
air, soared upwards, and gracefully floated behind [his staff]. When he
flew above the opposing armies’ formations, and all the soldiers saw a
monk soaring to heaven, they instantly drew their weapons back into
their scabbards.^67Sun Wukong’s Ring Staff
The magic attributes of the ring staff are not necessarily relevant for the staff’s
choice as weapon. Monastic warriors were probably concerned with the effec-
tiveness of the unadorned fighting staff more than with the supernormal qual-
ities of its ring-ornate predecessor. However, ring staff legends did influence
the depiction of fighting staffs in novels and plays. The magic aura that en-
wraps Sun Wukong’s “As You Wish Staff,” Sha Monk’s “Demon-Felling Staff,”
and Yang Wulang’s “Dragon-Felling Staff ” derives from the divine powers that
the Buddhist tradition accorded the ring staff.
The clearest indication of a literary connection between the ring staff
and the fighting staff is provided by the evolution of Sun Wukong’s arma-
ment within the Journey to the West cycle. In the journey’s earliest extant ver-
sion, the monkey’s weapon is the ring staff. The Southern Song Master of the
Law, Tripitaka of the Great Tang, Procures the Scriptures describes it as a “golden
rings staff ” (jinhuan zhang) or “golden rings ring staff ” (jinhuan xizhang).^68
Only in later renditions did the rings disappear, giving way to the unadorned
and efficient fighting staff, referred to as gun or bang.^69 However, even as de-
picted in the cycle’s latest versions, Sun Wukong’s “As You Wish, Golden
Rings Clasped, Staff ” (Ruyi jingu bang) betrays its Buddhist ancestry, for it is
bound at each end by a golden ring.^70 It might not be too fanciful to see in