It's the first issue of 2016 and in honor of the Year of the Fire Monkey, I'll be writing about the story of the Monkey King from the Chinese Classical Novel, Journey to the West.
The Story of the Monkey King
The Journey to the West, one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature, was originally written in the 16th century. It's the true story of the Buddhist monk, Xuan-Zang (602-664) from the Tang Dynasty, who traveled to India to recover the original scriptures of Buddha's teachings.
The Monkey King is one of the most popular and iconic characters of Chinese literature. The Journey to the West, contains strong influences of Chinese mythology, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.
This is a cartoon image of Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King.
Origins
Sun Wukong was a monkey born from a magical stone that stood on top of the mountain. The mountain absorbed the powers from the heavens and earth since the beginning of time. The stone was 36 feet, 5 inches high. It represented the degrees of the heavens. It was 24 feet in circumference which in embodied the divisions of the Solar calendar. The nine holes in the calendar represented the nine trigrams. The stone developed a magical womb that burst open to produce a stone egg about the size of a basketball. The Monkey King was born from this ball after a strong wind blew over it.
Powers
The Monkey King was very mischievous, wreaking havoc in Heaven. He fought with celestial warriors, generals and destroyed Heaven's forces. A Taoist teacher, who had named the Monkey King, taught him to be immortal and gave him magical powers. The Monkey King rode on clouds and possessed an immense amount of strength, as his staff weighed 17,550 pounds. The golden staff he carried could extend as long as needed and could also shrink to the size of a needle, which he would store in his ear. He had penetrating eyes that could see through any disguise worn by demons. He was fast, able to travel long distances (5,400 km) in one leap. He knew a variety of spells that could imprison gods and spells that gave him the ability to duplicate himself.
Captivity
The Monkey King did many things that upset the Jade Emperor and Kings of Hell, most notably stealing the elixir of life. Sun Wukong wiped his name out of the "Book of Life and Death," so his soul could not be collected to go to Hell. The Jade Emperor of Heaven and the Kings of Hell decided to report him to Buddha.
As punishment, Buddha imprisoned the Monkey King in the palm of his hand and transformed his hand into a mountain. The Buddha sealed him in the mountain using a paper talisman. The Monkey King would be imprisoned there for five centuries.
Five centuries later, Kwan Yin looked for disciples who could protect a pilgrim on a journey from the China to India. The Monkey King offered to be a disciple and protect the travelling monk Xuan-Zang.
Freedom & Reward
Freedom came at a price for the Monkey King. Kwan Yin placed a magical headband on the Monkey King that could never be removed and would cause immense pain when tightened. Thus, the monk was able to control the Monkey King through his prayers.
The Monkey King and Xuan Zang journeyed to India to retrieve the original Buddhist sutras and were later joined by Pigsy and Sandy, both offered to accompany the priest in order to atone for their previous crimes. All three acted as bodyguards to ensure the monk's safety. The monk was constantly under attack by demons and supernatural beings. These supernatural beings, bandits, and demons did not want him to bring the scriptures back.
When they returned to China, Sun Wukong was granted Buddhahood for his service and strength after a seventeen-year pilgrimage.
