Did you know Sun Wukong was named after a historical Tang Dynasty monk? Originally a Chinese diplomat of Tuoba origin, Che Fengchao (車奉朝, 731-812) was part of a royal mission sent to Kashmir in 751. Che was too sick to return with them in 753, so he stayed in country and was eventually ordained as a Buddhist monk with the religious name Fajie (法界), or “Dharma Realm”. He lived abroad for several decades before returning to China in 790. There, he presented Emperor Dezong with various translated Sutras and a Buddha relic in the form of a tooth. The emperor was so pleased that he renamed the monk Wukong (悟空), or “Awakened to Emptiness” (Wang, 2006, p. 66).
A modern depiction of Che Fengchao, the monk known as Wukong.
It’s interesting to note that the name Sun Wukong does not appear in The Story of Tang Tripitaka Procuring the Scriptures, the 13th-century precursor of JTTW. Instead, the novelette refers to him simply as the “Monkey Pilgrim” (hou xingzhe, 猴行者) (Wivell, 1994, p. 1182). Therefore, the name Sun Wukong was most likely chosen by the compiler/author of the version we know and love today.
See also: Monkey’s Surname and its Connection to Daoist Doctrine
Sources:
Wivell, C.S. (1994). The story of how the monk Tripitaka of the great country of T’ang brought back the Sūtras. In Mair, Victor H. The Columbia anthology of traditional Chinese literature (pp 1181-1207). New York: Columbia University Press.
Wang, Z. (2006). Dust in the wind: Retracing dharma master Xuanzang’s western pilgrimage. Taipei: Rhythms Monthly.
This is really cool! So from my understanding, Fengchao was the inspiration for the name of Wukong in the final novel but the “Sun” monkey from “The Story of Tang Tripitaka Procuring the Scriptures” has no inherent connection to him?
That is correct. He is simply called the “Monkey Pilgrim” (猴行者) in the 13th-century version of the story.