Tag 封神演義

Archive #24 – Chinese Gods: The Unseen World of Spirits and Demons (1997) by Keith Stevens

Jim R. McClanahan 1 Comment

The novels Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592) and Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen yanyi, 封神演義, c. 1620) are dramatized examples of the syncretic Buddho-Daoist pantheon of Chinese Folk Religion. The number of Buddhas, sages, gods, immortals, spirits, guardians (etc.) revered by people of Chinese descent is enormous, and new figures are being added to the list even to this day. Needless to say, laymen and researchers who visit temples and wish to correctly identify a particular deity need a resource with images, names, and listed attributes. Luckily there is one such source. Keith Stevens (1926-2015), a veteran of the British Army and Foreign and Commonwealth Office, traveled East and Southeast Asia for 40 years collecting information on the folk pantheon. He produced an invaluable monograph titled Chinese Gods: The Unseen World of Spirits and Demons (1997). The book is unfortunately out of print, and available copies are expensive to buy. So, I am pleased to host a PDF of this wonderful work on my site.

The scan was produced with an overhead document camera. The glossy pages made scanning somewhat difficult. I had to use a soft, indirect light source. Therefore, not all pages are crisp due to the low light levels.

My well-worn personal copy of Chinese Gods (larger version).

1. Dust Jacket Description

China is a land full of gods and goddesses, ranging from the Creators of the World to Worthies local to only one or two villages.

This book introduces the reader to the most important figures of Chinese folk history, and those of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.

Intensely pragmatic in their religion, Chinese people hold all gods in reverence, but it is only the ones who answer prayers with concrete results that are exceptionally praised. Many gods have particular specialities, for instance, there are different Wealth Gods for success in business and for gambling. There are also individual gods for each trade, from those for removal men in Hong Kong to students at Beijing University.

In addition, there are the City Gods and Kitchen Gods, the Earth Gods who protect a specific piece of land, and myriad spirits who protect wells, mountains or bridges, distribute rain or snow, control flooding or protect humanity from disease and epidemics.

Keith Stevens has spent a lifetime researching the subject, travelling extensively in China, Taiwan and throughout South-East Asia. He has gathered information from hundreds of temple keepers, god-carvers and religious specialists and collected details of images and their stories – providing glimpses into the sometimes little-known folk history of China. The author also provides pointers on how to identify images, together with invaluable background information including chronology of Chinese history, a map of the area covered, a glossary and detailed index with the names of deities in Chinese characters.

2. Book Link

Click to access chinese-gods-the-unseen-world-of-spirits-and-demons-compressed.pdf

Disclaimer:

This has been posted for educational purposes. No malicious copyright infringement is intended. If you like the digital version, please support the official release.

Citation:

Stevens, K. G. (1997). Chinese Gods: The Unseen World of Spirits and Demons. London: Collins & Brown.

The Monkey King’s Connection to Sex

Jim R. McClanahan Leave a comment

“Monkey of the Mind” (xinyuan, 心猿) is a title often associated with Sun Wukong. It is one half of the common phrase “Monkey of the Mind, Horse of the Will” (xinyuan yima, 心猿意馬), which refers to the disquieted mind and uncontrollable wants that plague humankind. But did you know that by the 16th century CE, when the standard Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592) was published, the phrase had become a popular euphemism for sexual desire?

Table of Contents

1. History of the Term

Allusions to the monkey of the mind appeared in Indian Buddhist sutras as far back as circa 30 BCE. The double metaphor of the monkey and horse appeared in religious and lay Chinese Buddhist writings by the sixth century CE (Dudbridge, 1970, pp. 168-169).

2. Its Connection to Sex

Dudbridge (1970) provides an example from the famous novel Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen Yanyi, 封神演義, c. 1620). A section of chapter 26 reads:

In the lamplight [Zhou Wang] saw Ximei two or three times part her red lips—a little dot of cherry—and breathe a lovely cloud of sweet air; she turned her liquid eyes—two pools of moving water—and gave him all kinds of wanton glances, till Zhou Wang could not suppress the Monkey of the Mind, and the Horse of the Will strained at the leash… (p. 175).

燈光下，見喜媚兩次三番啟朱唇，一點櫻桃，吐的是美孜孜一團和氣；轉秋波，雙灣活水，送的是嬌滴滴萬種風情，把個紂王弄得心猿難按，意馬馳韁 …

3. Monkey’s Staff = Phallus?

In addition, Liu (1994) suggests that the primate and his staff have a sexual dimension:

In the novel both Sun Wukong and his ‘Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod’ represent the human mind and desires, especially sexual desires, which must be under control, as indicated by the tightening fillet on Monkey King’s head and the two hoops on the magic weapon. Specifically, the rod is a symbol of the male sex organ… (pp. 142-143).

I’m not sure if I accept this argument given that Monkey doesn’t show any interest in sex even before attaining immortality. It is Zhu Bajie who suffers from sexual addiction in the novel. Nonetheless, I find Liu’s comparison hilarious, especially if you think about the growing of Monkey’s magic pole! Pardon me while I giggle like a teenage boy.

Sources:

Dudbridge, G. (1970). The Hsi-yu chi: A Study of Antecedents to the Sixteenth-Century Chinese Novel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Liu, X. (1994). The Odyssey of the Buddhist Mind: The Allegory of the Later Journey to the West. Lanham, Md: University Press of America.