The Legend of the Monkey King
… the definitive guide for your Journey to the West
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?
Controversial Canadian Stamps of Sun Wukong
Dec 5th
This 2004 version of the Monkey King had some Canadians fuming mad. People wrote into the postal service claiming it was too big of a departure from traditional Chinese depictions of the monkey during its Lunar Year in the Chinese Calendar.
The response from the postal service was quite funny, but definitely not to those who were unhappy. Here’s an excerpt:
“You write that some Canadians of Chinese origin claim that this monkey bears no resemblance to the one on the lunar calendar. Yet 99 percent of the people consulted through this same poll acknowledged that the monkey depicted was in fact that from the famous legend of Sun Wu-k’ung, the Monkey King. Sun Wu-k’ung is the classic symbol of the monkey in the Chinese culture and its image has been featured countless times on stamps issued by Asian countries.
Finally, another measure of the favourable reception the Chinese community has given the stamp are definitely the sales figures at events surrounding the launch of the new stamp in Vancouver and Toronto. These sales of stamps and various products generated more than $35,000 in just a few hours.”
SO THERE! (hahahahh) For the record though, the monkey is wearing all the wrong clothes and his cudgel shouldn’t have that adornment either as it should be a simple pole with gold bands on both ends. Funny anyway.
You can read the full version here.
The Magical Cudgel (如意金箍棒)
Dec 4th
Light as a Feather, but only to Sun Wukong
The simple looking rod Sun Wukong is often depicted carrying is called a Rúyì Jīngū Bàng 如意金箍棒 and is the Monkey King’s most powerful weapon.
Origin: After being shown several weapons as potential gifts, Sun Wukong claimed they were “too light, far too light” despite being thousands of pounds and demanded to see more. Fearful of the Monkey King’s wrath since he was an “immortal” and had immense power, the Dragon King of the East Sea’s wife quickly pointed out to him an enormous bar (20 feet long and very thick) that was glowing ever since he arrived at the Sea Palace which they could not bring to him because it was so heavy no one could lift it.
Historical Function: once used by the former emperor Da Yu of the Xia Dynasty (2205-1767 BC) to measure the depth of the flood waters destroying ancient China. He said, “whoever controls the Yellow River controls China,” and proceeded to “tame” the river by dredging banks, creating artificial islands, and changing the course of the river.
Special Features: With a single strike he can kill powerful demons. By chanting “shrink, shrink, shrink” the Monkey King’s great iron pillar could shrink to needle size and be hidden in his ear. When he chants “grow, grow, grow” the needle can grow back to twenty feet long and be as thick as a peck of grain. He can control the actual size by the number of times he chants.
Weight: Tremendously heavy, weighing in at 13,500 jin or 7.5 metric tons only Monkey King can actually carry it
Appearance: The novel describes it as being made of “black iron” (烏鐵 wūtiě) with two gold bands (Chinese: 金箍 jīngū) at opposite ends but it has also been depicted in different colours: red, black, copper, silver or even fully gold.
Trivia:
(1) The translation by Anthony Yu simply calls the magic cudgel, “The Compliant Rod” since it changes size according to Sun Wukong’s wishes
(2) Rúyì 如意 means “as-one-wishes”
(3) There is actually a tàijíquán太极拳 move called “needle at the bottom of the sea” which is based on the historical function mentioned above.
"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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