… the definitive guide for your Journey to the West
Monkey Basics
About the Book: Journey to the West
Dec 7th
Title: Journey to the West 西游记
Author: Wu Cheng’en 吴承恩 (although originally published anonymously in the 1590′s)
Based on: The monk Xuan Zhang’s 玄奘 17 year journey to India during the Tang Dynasty (唐朝 618-907 AD) where he searched for the original Buddhist sutras as there was too much contradiction and discrepancies in the Chinese texts about Buddha.
After arriving in India, he continued to travel throughout the Indian subcontinent for 13 more years, visiting important Buddhist pilgrimage sites and studying at the ancient university at Nalanda. Xuanzang left India in 643 AD and arrived back in Chang’an in 646 AD to a warm reception by the Tang Emperor Taizong 唐太宗.
Chapters: 100- but it does not have to be read successively as many of the chapters are complete stories in and of themselves.
Trials & Tribulations of Monkey & Co.: 81
Note: Written during the Ming Dynasty (明朝 1368-1644), many scholars believe that Wu Cheng’en weaved together a fantastic tale of daring and adventure with famous historical figures as a way of safely criticising the religious, social, and political institutions of his time. So although this journey belongs to Xuan Zhang, the protagonist is most definitely not him, but the Monkey King.
The impetuous Sun Wukong defied the imposed conditions of his lower position (vis a vis the gods); won battles against the deities and simply could not be contained. And when he is given a useless post in heaven to appease him, he wreaks havoc in heaven. Couldn’t the Chinese people, trapped under the dubious and immoral authority during that era, do the same if they put their hearts and minds to it?
Becoming King
Nov 29th
Sun Wukong was not always King. He had to earn it by being brave enough to enter the great waterfall of Water Curtain Cave (水帘洞 Shuiliandong)
On the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, the magic monkey wandered alone for several days, till he came upon a band of monkeys that welcomed him. From then on he sported and frolicked with the others, and feasted with them on the island’s fruits and flowers.
One day, the monkeys were swimming and playing in a mountain lake. From atop a high cliff, a broad waterfall poured down.
“What’s behind the waterfall?” the magic monkey asked an old gibbon.
“We’ve often wondered,” the gibbon answered. “In fact, we’ve said that if any of us were brave enough to pass through the waterfall and find out, we’d make that monkey our king.”
“Your king?” said the magic monkey. “I wouldn’t mind that at all!”
He scampered onto the bank. Then bracing himself for a swim, the monkey closed his eyes, crouched, and leapt through the waterfall. But he landed with a thud! He opened his eyes to see a tiny island with pine trees and bamboo and rare flowers.
From the other side of the island stretched a bridge of gleaming iron, arching over to a cave in the cliff. Halfway across was a stone tablet carved in ancient characters:
“花果山福地、水帘洞洞天”
HEAVENLY CAVE OF THE WATER CURTAIN
This version of the story is by Aaron Shepard and is only an excerpt. Please read the rest at his website, and if you have a Kindle, you can get his book on the Monkey King for only US$0.01!
Who is the Handsome Monkey King?
Nov 21st
This is a wonderful sketch by Hao Wu of what looks like an ephemeral Monkey King
Sun Wukong (孫悟空) is the Monkey King, an extraordinarily cheeky monkey with such immense powers it will make you wonder how the entire Justice League put together can even compare.
Birthplace: a mythical stone formed from the primal forces of Chaos, located in Flower & Fruit Mountain (Huāguǒ-shān 花果山)
Parents: the rock! (But here’s a funnier version)
Kingdom: Mountains of Flower and Fruit
Lifting Power: 8,100 kg
Speech: Monkey, Human (acquired by learning/practice)
Speed: 54,000 kilometers in one somersault
Sight: Able to tell evil however it is disguised (火眼金睛)
Weapons: Varied (everything on his body has a use, from his hair to the feathers on his cap, the needle in his ear, his boots that can make him walk on clouds, etc.)
Spells: Many learned spells such as the body freezing spell
Why a “King”: After joining a clan of monkeys, he earned their respect by discovering the Shuǐlián-dòng (水帘洞) behind a large waterfall; the clan made it their new home. In gratitude, the other monkeys honored him as their king, and he gave himself the cheeky moniker Měi Hóuwáng (handsome monkey king).
And so the story begins …”The five have come together and their journey begun. They think they want the scriptures, but they seek the end of the way. Like us, the master has travelled life after life the treacherous muddy road of illusion.“
"The strange fact is that the world goes on against all reasonable odds. A hundred years, and even unimaginable evil is just called history."
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