The Legend of the Monkey King
… the definitive guide for your Journey to the West
Eagerly Awaiting Neil Gaiman’s Version
Dec 30th
Photograph by Murdo Macleod
The amazingly prolific and diverse writer is best known for his graphic novels: the Sandman series of comics. However, more recently his success has come in the form of books without pictures in the science fiction and fantasy genres. And while his earlier work has exclusively focused on adults, his latter work now includes those for children, although you cannot expect his stories not to have the dark side.
What I am particularly and eagerly awaiting for is his version of Journey to the West which is supposed to feature Sun Wukong – (the Monkey King) – and Xuanzang the historical seventh-century monk who went through treacherous roads, mountains, and valleys on his way to India to bring the Buddhist sacred texts back to China.
Gaiman says, “It will also partly be about me travelling through China and having peculiar things happen to me – the kinds of things you just can’t plan. “Like nearly buying a human elbow. It was being sold by a little old man with a tourist stand outside a temple. After failing to sell me any of the things on the table he rummaged underneath and brought out this bone wrapped in newspaper which turns out to be half a human arm, probably many hundreds of years old – things he’s found after the archeologists went away …”
Wow.
Can’t wait.
Cloud-Walking Boots
Dec 23rd
William Appledorn's very cool rendition of Sun Wukong the Monkey King
Sun Wukong is often depicted by various artists travelling at high speeds from lofty grounds. Although he can leap as far as 108000 li (54,000 kilometers) in a single bound, he actually prefers to travel on clouds where he can observe what is happening down below without being noticed. He does this by using his “cloud-walking boots” which he got from the Sea Dragons after he refused to leave the Sea Palace without being properly garbed.
Monkey King is Banished
Dec 20th
Drawings by Zhao Hongben and Qian Xiaodai from Monkey Subdues White-Skeleton Demon printed by Shanghai People’s Fine Arts Publishing House
In this scene, Sun Wukong (the Monkey King) is sent away by Tripitaka after he attacks the “white-skeleton demon” who has taken the form of an old, helpless woman looking for her daughter up in the mountains. Incidentally, that daughter was also the “white-skeleton demon” whom Sun Wukong had earlier killed with his Magical Cudgel, the same one he is wielding in this picture.
Unfortunately, Tripitaka believes in all his innocence that the woman was just a frail human being. Pigsy, also in shock says bad things about Sun Wukong to egg Tripitaka on but regrets it when Sun Wukong is sent away as Pigsy knows he is the strongest of them all. Sandy, less biased, but not a very persuasive or effective character, tries to stop Pigsy and Tripitaka from taking any action against Sun Wukong but to no avail. The consequences are dire as they will all later be captured after Sun Wukong goes home to the monkey’s lair in the Mountain of Flowers & Fruit.
NOTE: Most of Sun Wukong’s enemies actually have the power of transformation just as he does. So while he may have extraordinary powers, in the world of the Journey to the West, his only real strength over the others is his wit while his greatest weakness is his pride, especially in his belief that he is invincible.
"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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