Last updated: 11-20-2021
Fig. 1 – A birdseye view of Senzu beans (larger version). Original image found here.
One reoccurring plot device in the world famous Dragon Ball (Jp: Doragon Bōru,ドラゴンボール; Ch: Qilongzhu, 七龍珠) franchise (1984-present) is the Lima bean-like Senzu (仙豆; Ch: xian dou; lit: “sage or immortal bean”) (fig. 1). As explained by Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula, the Senzu is a green, crunchy bean used to magically and instantly heal life-threatening flesh wounds and broken bones, to rejuvenate warriors who have overexerted themselves during intense, prolonged training or battle (video 1), and to sate hunger for up to ten days. Its only limitations are the inability to heal viral sicknesses, missing body parts, and preexisting scars. Much like the immortal peaches of the Queen Mother of the West, which only mature every few thousand years, the beans only mature in small numbers, possibly taking hundreds of years for their caretaker, the long-lived sage cat Korin, to harvest a few hundred specimens. The beans become a rarity once a dimwitted character eats them by the handful (Padula, 2015).
Video 1 – The hero Son Goku is healed by a Senzu.
Derek traces the bean to elixirs created by practitioners of Daoist external alchemy. For example, he writes:
The sennin [仙人; Ch: xianren] collect rare ingredients and prized metals such as gold, mercury, mushrooms, and precious stones such as jade. Then they place them into a crucible, stoke the fire, and melt them into a concoction. Each particular ingredient possesses various amounts of yīn and yáng energy, and by mixing the ingredients together in just the right fashion the hermit can concoct a potion or pill that will balance the yīn and yáng in their own bodies. Their hope is that the pill will increase their life span, eliminate illness and injuries, or confer immortality (Padula, 2015).
He makes a keen connection between the Senzu and immortal peaches. After all, both are heavenly agricultural goods with magico-medical properties.
Over time, legends formed around such practices and made their way into popular culture. For example, the Daoist Patriarch Laozi’s “pills of immortality” and “peaches of immortality” (Chinese: xiāntáo, 仙桃), from Journey to the West that Sun Wukong (the character Son Goku is inspired by) so voraciously devours. Sun Wukong becomes immortal not once, not twice, but thrice, by also practicing Internal Alchemy and transforming his body. Since Xiyouji is the inspiration for Dragon Ball, it’s no surprise that we find a simplified form of them here that Son Goku eats. Senzu do not confer instant immortality in Dragon Ball, but they do provide the other benefits. They’re a simplified representation of ancient and supernormal concepts (Padula, 2015).
While Derek alludes to Laozi’s elixir pills above, I think he might have missed an important element from the novel, one that appears to be the ultimate source for Senzu. After raiding the heavenly peach banquet and getting drunk on immortal wine in chapter five, Sun Wukong stumbles into Laozi’s laboratory and eats all of the god’s elixir pills:
Searching around, our Great Sage went all the way to the alchemical room. He found no one but saw fire burning in an oven beside the hearth, and around the oven were five gourds in which finished elixir was stored. “This thing is the greatest treasure of immortals,” said the Great Sage happily. “Since old Monkey has understood the Way and comprehended the mystery of the Internal’s identity with the External, I have also wanted to produce some golden elixir [jin dan, 金丹] on my own to benefit people. While I have been too busy at other times even to think about going home to enjoy myself, good fortune has met me at the door today and presented me with this! As long as Laozi is not around, I’ll take a few tablets and try the taste of something new.” He poured out the contents of all the gourds and ate them like fried beans [chao dou, 炒豆] (emphasis added) [fig. 2].
In a moment, the effect of the elixir had dispelled that of the wine, and he again thought to himself, “Bad! Bad! I have brought on myself calamity greater than Heaven! If the Jade Emperor has knowledge of this, it’ll be difficult to preserve my life! Go! Go! Go! I’ll go back to the Region Below to be a king.” He ran out of the Tushita Palace and, avoiding the former way, left by the West Heaven Gate, making himself invisible by the magic of body concealment (Wu & Yu, 2012, p. 166).
一時間，丹滿酒醒。又自己揣度道：「不好，不好！這場禍比天還大，若驚動玉帝，性命難存。走，走，走，不如下界為王去也。」他就跑出兜率宮，不行舊路，從西天門，使個隱身法逃去。
So we have immortality-bestowing alchemical pills described as beans, which can instantly cure the effects of alcohol, a mild poison. As noted above, Son Goku is based on Sun Wukong. Additionally, many other characters and episodes of the manga/anime were pulled directly from Journey to the West. So it’s not a stretch to think that Akira Toriyama, the creator, embellished the ability of these bean-like pills to create the Senzu.
Fig. 2 – “The Great Sage Steals the Elixir”, from Newly Engraved, Illustrated, Large-Character Official Edition of the Journey to the West (Xinke chuxiang guanban dazi Xiyouji, 新刻出像官板大字西遊記, 1592) (larger version).
Update: 11-20-21
I’ve written an article briefly listing the influences of Journey to the West on Dragon Ball.
Dragon Ball and Journey to the West
Sources:
Padula, D. (2015). Dragon Ball Culture (Vol. 5). (n.p.): Derek Padula.
Wu, C., & Yu, A. C. (2012). The Journey to the West (Vol. 1). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.