Tag chinese immortal

How to Kill Sun Wukong

Jim R. McClanahan 8 Comments

Last updated: 01-07-2024

The Monkey King is famed for his multiple categories of immortality in Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592; “JTTW” hereafter). These are acquired through spiritual cultivation, redacting underworld ledgers, partaking in celestial foodstuffs, and (at the journey’s end) attaining Buddhahood. But “immortality” in Chinese vernacular literature doesn’t mean “invulnerable to harm.” Despite his great durability, during the journey, Wukong is a “bogus immortal” (yaoxian, 妖仙) who is still susceptible to injury and death because he hasn’t yet achieved Buddha-nature and broken free of the wheel of rebirth. [1] For instance, he briefly dies from thermal shock after being overwhelmed by Red Boy‘s (Honghai’er, 紅孩兒) true samadhi fire (sanmei zhenhuo, 三昧真火) in chapter 41:

His whole body covered by flame and smoke, the Great Sage found the intense heat unbearable and he dove straight into the mountain stream to try to put out the fire. Little did he anticipate that the shock of the cold water was so great that the heat caused by the fire was forced inward into his body and his three hun spirits left his vessel. Alas!

His breath caught in his chest, his tongue and throat grew cold;
His hun spirits fled, his po souls left, and his life was gone! (based on Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 231)

這大聖一身煙火，炮燥難禁，徑投於澗水內救火。怎知被冷水一逼，弄得火氣攻心，三魂出舍。可憐氣塞胸堂喉舌冷，魂飛魄散喪殘生。

Luckily, Zhu Bajie resuscitates him by performing a life-saving massage that forces qi from his cinnabar field and circulates it throughout his body (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 232). [2]

This episode was an accident. But what if someone wanted to kill Monkey for good? How would they do it? Killing him in a one-on-one match would be nearly impossible, for few characters surpass Wukong in strength or fighting ability. I think it’s best that we draw on methods from another famous god and demon novel, Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen yanyi, 封神演義, c. 1620; “Investiture” hereafter), a sort of prequel to JTTW. It centers on a great battle between the falling Shang (c. 1600-1046 BCE) and the rising Zhou (c. 1046–256 BCE) dynasties, both of which are aided by factions of powerful immortals. The story is famous for a number of weapons, traps, and rituals designed to kill divine cultivators.

In this article, I would like to describe ten magical array traps (zhen, 陣) and one magic ritual that could possibly kill the Monkey King. The latter is, in my opinion, the best option for ending his life (fig. 1). And the best part is that it can be done from a distance! That way a villain doesn’t have to worry about getting smashed into hamburger or ripped to shreds by an angry monkey immortal. In addition, I will detail this method’s potential for great fanfiction.

Before continuing, I must point out that none of the information from Investiture can be considered JTTW canon. While it contains a host of similar characters (Laozi, Buddha, Nezha, Muzha, Li Jing, Ao Guang, Erlang and his hound, etc.), the novel is a separate work that was published nearly 30 years after JTTW. Look at this piece as a fun “What if?”

Fig. 1 – Monkey’s headstone (larger version).

I. Possible Ways

Ch. 44 of Investiture mentions ten magical array traps that rely on primordial energies, destructive elements like wind, thunder, fire, sand, ice, and water, and spiritual attacks to terminate immortals:

  1. Heavenly Destruction (Tianjue zhen, 天絕陣) – This trap contains primordial energies (xiantian zhi qi, 先天之氣) and the mechanisms of chaos (hundun zhi ji, 混沌之機). It uses three magic pennants (fan, 旛), representing the respective energies of Heaven, Earth, and Man, to turn humans into dust and shatter the limbs of immortals with rolls of thunder.
  2. Earthly Fury (Dilie zhen, 地烈陣) – This trap uses a magic red pennant that kills intruders with rolls of thunder from above and fire below. It is also said to cut them off from reincarnation.
  3. Roaring Typhoon (Fenghou zhen, 風吼陣) – This trap uses wind, true samadhi fire, and countless swirling blades formed from primordial energies to kill intruders and render their bodies into a fragrant powder (jifen, 虀粉).
  4. Frigid Ice (Hanbing zhen, 寒冰陣) – This trap uses jagged, wolf fang-like ice mountains above, sword-like ice blocks below, and wind and thunder in the middle to grind intruders into a fragrant powder.
  5. Golden Light (Jinguang zhen, 金光陣) – This trap contains the essences of the sun and moon (riyue zhi jing, 日月之精) and the energies of heaven and earth (tiandi zhi qi, 天地之氣). It uses 21 treasure mirrors (baojing, 寶鏡) affixed to wooden polls to kill intruders with golden light that renders (melts?) their bodies into pus and blood.
  6. Bleeding Blood (Huaxue zhen, 化血陣) – This trap uses thunder and wind powered by primordial energies to blast black sand that kills intruders by rendering their bodies into a bloody mess.
  7. Vehement Flame (Lieyan zhen, 烈焰陣) – This trap uses true samadhi fire, fire from the sky (meteorites?), and fire from stone (lava?) to kill intruders by turning them into ash.
  8. Soul-Snatching (Luohun zhen, 落魂陣) – This trap contains the fierce energies of heaven and earth (tiandi liqi, 天地厲氣). It uses a white paper pennant stamped with a talisman seal (fuyin, 符印) to kill intruders by dispersing and eliminating their po and hun spirits.
  9. Red Water (Hongshui zhen, 紅水陣) – This trap controls the essences of the ninth and tenth heavenly stems (rengui zhi jing, 壬癸之精) (representing water), as well as contains the wonder of the Grand Monad (Tianyi zhi miao, 天乙之妙). It uses three bottle gourds resting on an eight trigrams platform (bagua tai, 八卦臺) to kill intruders by gushing forth an ocean of dangerous, red water, a single drop of which can render their bodies into a bloody mess.
  10. Red Sand (Hongsha zhen, 紅砂陣/紅沙陣) – This trap controls the energies of Heaven, Earth, and Man. It uses thunder and wind to blast three buckets of red, sword-like sand to kill intruders by rendering their bones into a fragrant powder (fig. 2) (cf. Gu, 2000, vol. 2, pp. 869-873).

I think that Sun Wukong would easily survive many of these traps due to the adamantine nature of his body. [3] But numbers three, seven, and eight might give him some problems. As mentioned in the introduction, his encounter with Red Boy in chapter 41 shows that he is weak against true samadhi fire (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 231). And of course, having his souls scattered and destroyed would certainly finish him off. Recall in JTTW chapter three how Monkey’s spirit (魂靈兒) is easily reaped by two underworld officers in his heavenly wine-induced slumber (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 139). This might point to a weakness against spiritual attacks (at least while drunk, anyway).

However, I think it would be hard to trick Wukong into going inside of these array traps. His “fiery eyes and gold Irises” (huoyan jinjing, 火眼金睛) would certainly notice the dark auras hovering above each one (Gu, 2000, vol. 2, p. 925 and 989, for example).

No, there’s only one sure fire way to kill our hero.

Fig. 2 – A Shang camp immortal working the Red Sand array trap (larger version). The woodblock print omits the three buckets. Image from The Newly Printed, Zhong Bojing Annotated, Investiture of the Gods (Xinke Zhong Bojing xiansheng piping Fengshen yanyi, 新刻鍾伯敬先生批評封神演義, c. 1620). See page 42 of this PDF.

II. The Best Way

Overcoming Monkey’s great power, durability, and speed would require an indirect approach, something that he wouldn’t even be aware of. A secret, spiritual assault from afar is, therefore, the only method that would work, in my opinion. Something like this is described in chapters 48 and 49 of Investiture. But I first need to give some background information as to why the rite is used in the first place.

Grand Preceptor Wen (Wen Taishi, 聞太師) recruits his old friend, the ancient immortal Zhao Gongming (趙公明), in chapter 46 after many of their divine comrades die in battle against Zhou allies (Gu, 2000, vol. 2, p. 935). Zhao is powerful in his own right, claiming to be able to flip Mount Sumeru (Xumi, 須彌) and reverse the course of the sun and moon (cf. Gu, 2000, vol. 2, pp. 945-947). But it’s his command of three holy treasures, namely the “Dragon-Binding Rope” (Fulong suo, 縛龍索), the “Sea-Fixing Mala Beads” (Dinghai zhu, 定海珠), and the “Golden-Scaled Dragon Scissors” (Jinjiao jian, 金蛟剪), [4] that make him a supremely dangerous opponent. The latter two treasures prove in chapter 47 to be especially difficult weapons for Zhou allies to counter.

Therefore, in chapter 48, the immortal Lu Ya (陸壓) devises a plan to secretly attack Zhao’s spirit from a distance. He enlists the help of Jiang Ziya (姜子牙), a Taoist disciple and commander of the Zhou forces, and instructs him how to perform a sympathetic magic ritual from the Book of Fixing the Seventh Posthumous Day Arrow (Ding touqi jianshu, 釘頭七箭書):

Lu Ya opened his flower basket and took out a book stamped with talisman seals and oral formulas. “Using these, you can set up camp and erect a platform on Mount Qi. Make a straw effigy and post a document with the three characters “Zhao Gongming” on its body. Place one lamp above its head and another beneath its feet. Then pray to it three times a day, burning the talismans and pacing the dipper. At noon on the twenty-first day, this poor Taoist (Lu Ya) will come and help you cut his life short.”

Before going to Mount Qi, Ziya secretly sent 3,000 troops, along with Nangong Kuo [南宮适] and Wu Ji [武吉] to find a suitable place to set up camp. After Ziya arrived at camp, Nangong built a platform, arranging it properly and making a straw effigy. He did everything strictly as instructed. Finally Ziya loosened his hair, took a sword, and paced the dipper, reciting charms, burning spells, and praying over and over again before the straw effigy (based on Gu, 2000, vol. 2, p. 967).

陸壓揭開花籃，取出一幅書，書寫明白，上有符印口訣，「……依此而用，可往岐山立一營；營內築一臺。紮一草人；人身上書『趙公明』三字，頭上一盞燈，足下一盞燈。自步罡斗，書符結印焚化，一日三次拜禮，至二十一日之時，貧道自來午時助你，公明自然絕也。」

子牙領命，前往岐山，暗出三千人馬，又令南宮适、武吉前去安置。子牙後隨軍至岐山，南宮适築起將臺，安排停當，紮一草人，依方製度。子牙披髮仗劍，腳步罡斗，書符結印…

[Three to five days later, Zhao Gongming feels frantic, with a strange burning in his heart.]

[…]

Now let’s speak of Ziya, who prayed until he had expelled the primal spirit [yuanshen, 元神] of Zhao Gongming. The primal spirit was of major importance to an immortal, enabling him to tour freely throughout the eight extremes (the universe). But now that Zhao Gongming had lost his primal spirit, he became drowsy and wanted to sleep all of the time (based on Gu, 2000, p. 973).

且說子牙拜掉了趙公明元神散而不歸，──但神仙以元神為主，遊八極，任逍遙，今一旦被子牙拜去，不覺昏沉，只是要睡。

[Sleeping is said to be uncharacteristic of immortals. This alerts Zhao Gongming’s comrades that he is being spiritually assaulted. After divining the effigy’s location, Wen sends Shang allies to steal it. They are initially successful, but the straw man is eventually recaptured by Zhou forces.]

[…]

[Lu Ya finally arrives as promised to finish the ritual.]

With a smile, Lu Ya opened his flower basket and took out a small mulberry bow and three short peach arrows, which he handed to Ziya. “At noon today, you must shoot the effigy with these arrows,” Lu Ya said. Ziya replied: “Order received!” The two waited in a tent until the astrological official came to report: “Noon time has arrived!” Ziya cleaned his hands, picked up the bow, and then nocked the first arrow. “Shoot his left eye first,” instructed Lu Ya. Ziya did as ordered. As the first arrow hit the left eye of the effigy, Zhao Gongming, lying in the Shang camp, roared in agony and closed his left eye. Grand Preceptor Wen held him in his arms, sobbing as the tears poured down his cheeks. Back at Mount Qi, the second arrow hit the right eye of the effigy, and the third penetrated its heart [fig. 3]. Zhao Gongming died in the Shang camp (based on Gu, 2000, vol. 2, pp. 985-987). [5]

陸壓笑吟吟揭開花籃，取出小小一張桑枝弓，三隻桃枝箭，遞與子牙，「今日午時初刻，用此箭射之。」子牙曰：「領命。」二人在帳中等至午時，不覺陰陽官來報：「午時牌！」子牙淨手，拈弓，搭箭。陸壓曰：「先中左目。」子牙依命，先中左目。──這西岐山發箭射草人，成湯營裏趙公明大叫一聲，把左眼閉了。聞太師心如刀割，一把抱住公明，淚流滿面，哭聲甚慘。──子牙在岐山，二箭射右目，三箭劈心一箭，三箭射了草人。──公明死于成湯營裏。

Like Ziya, a bad guy could perform the same ritual to secretly steal Monkey’s primal spirit, tether it to a straw effigy marked “Sun Wukong” (孫悟空), and finally kill our hero with three well-placed peach arrows to the eyes and chest.

Fig. 3 – Jiang Ziya aiming the ritual bow at the straw effigy (larger version). Zhao Gongming can be seen sleeping in the Shang camp below. Woodblock print from The Newly Printed, Zhong Bojing Annotated, Investiture of the Gods (Xinke Zhong Bojing xiansheng piping Fengshen yanyi, 新刻鍾伯敬先生批評封神演義, c. 1620). See page 42 of this PDF.

III. Story Potential

If anyone decided to write their own fanfiction using the method described above, I could see this being a great opportunity for Zhu Bajie (豬八戒) and/or Sha Wujing (沙悟淨) to shine. He/they could be the one(s) searching the cosmos for answers, and upon learning of the rite, desperately racing to find the straw effigy before the ritual is complete. All of this would of course take place while Monkey is sleeping.

I can definitely see Zhu and/or Sha seeking the aid of Guanyin (觀音), who could easily break the ritual. I imagine she would reveal that, “The Great Sage is destined to experience this tribulation…” (or something like that), but she would surely provide them with the location in the end.

Reasons for the villain performing the ritual could include:

  • Eliminating Wukong so that they can more easily catch and eat the Tang Monk, thus gaining immortality.
  • Absorbing Monkey’s primal spirit in order to gain his immortality and skills.

The latter is my favorite, but the former would work better for the story since the whole point of the ritual is to kill the target. And besides, Monkey’s disembodied spirit is powerful enough to kill the psychopomps sent to reap his soul, as well as bully the judges and officers of hell (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 139-141). Now, imagine what it could do to some random demon king and/or cultivator who tried to absorb it!

IV. Conclusion

Sun Wukong is famed for his multiple categories of immortality, but he is still susceptible to death and the wheel of rebirth since during the journey, he hasn’t yet achieved Buddha-nature. Killing him in one-on-one combat would be nearly impossible, though, given his great durability and power. However, using methods borrowed from Investiture of the Gods (c. 1620) might work. For instance, chapter 44 mentions ten magical array traps that rely on primordial energies, destructive elements like wind, thunder, fire, sand, ice, and water, and spiritual attacks to terminate immortals. Three of the traps, numbers three, seven, and eight, respectively use true samadhi fire or soul-scattering and destruction to kill divine cultivators. These might give Monkey problems as his soul is easily reaped in his heavenly wine-induced slumber in JTTW chapter three, suggesting that it may be weak against spiritual attacks (at least while drunk), and he is shown to be weak against Red Boy’s true samadhi fire in chapter 41. But I think it would be hard to trick him into entering the traps since his magic eyes would no doubt see the dark auras above them.

The best way to overcome his great power, durability, and speed requires an indirect approach, a secret, spiritual assault from afar. A ritual used in chapters 48 and 49 of Investiture does exactly that. In order to defeat the immortal Zhao Gongming and circumvent his powerful holy treasures, the immortal Lu Ya instructs Zhou army commander Jiang Ziya how to perform a rite from the Book of Fixing the Seventh Posthumous Day Arrow. This involves a bureaucratic ceremony (praying, talisman-burning, and dipper-walking) that slowly steals the immortal’s primal spirit over a 21 day period, tethers it to a straw effigy marked with Zhao’s name, and then kills him by shooting the icon with three peach arrows: two to the eyes and a third to the heart.

A villain wanting to kidnap and eat the Tang Monk for immortality could perform this ritual in order to get Monkey out of the way. This would make for a great story centered on Zhu Bajie and/or Sha Wujing. He/they could frantically search the universe for answers, before racing to find the straw effigy before the rite is complete.

Update: 12-28-23

I found two neat drawings portraying Jiang Ziya performing the rite (fig. 4 & 5).

Fig. 4 (top) – Jiang Ziya performing the procedural side of the ritual (larger version). Image found here. Fig. 5 (bottom) – Ziya fires the last arrow, killing Zhao Gongming (larger version). Image found here. They appear to be from the same anonymous lianhuanhua comic book.

Update: 12-29-23

A reader’s comment (below) has prompted me to add more context. Zhao Gongming’s disembodied spirit is not destroyed by the ritual. It is pulled towards the “Terrace of Creation” (Fengshen tai, 封神臺), a magic receptacle of souls, to await his apotheosis at the end of the novel. He is enfeoffed as the “Golden Dragon, Wish-Fulfilling and Righteously Unifying, Dragon-Tiger Mysterious Altar Perfected Lord” (Jinlong ruyi zhengyi longhu xuantan zhenjun, 金龍如意正一龍虎玄壇真君), a god of wealth (cf. Gu, 2000, vol. 4, pp. 2119-2121).

This then raises the question, “What would happen to Wukong’s soul if the ritual was successful? After the death of his body, it would naturally report to the underworld for processing. Remember, Monkey has yet to attain Buddha-Nature, so he is still subject to the wheel of rebirth. I can see him causing trouble down there like he had done in the past, but perhaps Kṣitigarbha (Ch: Dizang, 地藏) would calm his rage and convince him that reincarnation is the right choice. This would lead to a new adventure.

Or, considering that the journey to India would still be underway, and Tripitaka is constantly in danger, heaven might rush to find a new body for Wukong’s spirit to inhabit. This actually happens to a minor character in chapters 11 and 12 of JTTW. The soul of an official’s wife is forced into the body of a recently dead princess to live out the remainder of her allotted lifespan (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 268-269).

Another reader suggested a second method from Investiture to kill Monkey (see the comment below):

The Immortal-slaying Flying Knife, also a treasure of Lu Ya’s, might be a good second-contender here. It’s a strange weapon with head and eyes and wings, stored inside a gourd: when released, its eyes shoot out white light that “nails down” an enemy’s true form, and, upon recitation of “Turn around please, precious” (请宝贝转身), will spin and instantly decapitate the target.

Sure, there is the matter of getting it out and saying the magical words before you were reduced to a meat patty, but if the target is already immobilized——like Yuan Hong, FSYY’s own staff-wielding ape with 72 transformations——the Immortal-Slaying Flying Knife will be that final nail in the coffin.

I’ll look into this more and update the page at a later date.

Update: 01-07-24

Lu Ya’s ritual reminds me of a two-step process used in Chinese Folk Religion to activate a religious statue (shenxiang, 神像). Part one is the “entering-spirit” (rushen, 入神) ceremony, which invites a deity’s essence inside. Lin (2020) explains:

When the carving is complete, the carver chooses an auspicious day to hold the spirit-entering ritual. A cavity at the back of the image is carved out for this rite. The objects placed in this hole include incense ashes (xianghui) or talismans from the root temple, a live hornet, five precious materials (gold, silver, bronze, iron, and tin), five crops (rice, wheat, sesame, and different kinds of beans), and a bundle of five-color threads (red, yellow, blue, black, and white) [fig. 6 & 7] … The worshippers have to prepare fruit and flowers and burn incense to invite the deity to come.

When the auspicious moment arrives, the carver inserts the previously listed items into the cavity and plugs it with a piece of wood. The objects placed in the cavity are important clues regarding how people conceptualize deities. Local inhabitants explained to me that the ashes or talisman symbolizes the spirit of the deity, and the living hornet is to increase the deity’s power. Some people said the five forms of treasure represent the five organs of the deity, whereas others just said they are symbols of the deity’s grandeur. The five crops represent the harvest and the bunch of five-color threads is related to the five spirit-soldier camps (p. 38).

Lu Ya’s ritual essentially treats the straw effigy like an idol that will house a god’s essence. This might explain how the primal spirit of Zhao Gongming (and therefore Sun Wukong) is called to enter the icon.

Fig. 6 (top) – A collection of the talisman, grains, treasures, and colored-threads used in the entering-spirit ceremony (larger version). Fig. 7 (bottom) – A live wasp is retrieved to be added to the necessary ritual items (larger version). Images found here. 

Part two is the “eye-opening and dotting” (kaiguang dianyan, 開光點眼) ceremony, which brings the idol to life. Again, I refer to Lin (2020):

For this ceremony, the carver prepares flowers, fruit, a round mirror, a red brush pen, and a white cock. When the auspicious moment arrives, the mirror is taken outside where the light is sufficient to reflect it into the statue’s eyes. Next, the carver goes back to the altar and uses a knife to cut the cockscomb and smear the blood with the red brush pen. He then starts to chant and to dot the deity with the brush pen. There are many different kinds of chants … but their contents are not very different. The process of dotting usually begins at the center of the forehead and proceeds to the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, heart, navel, feet, toes, fingers, and back [fig. 8-10], as the following chant demonstrates:

First dot the sacred head, second dot the sacred hat,
Third dot the sacred body, then the true and righteous god will occupy the body.
Open the left eye to see heaven.
Open the right eye to see into the earth.
Open the left ear to listen to sounds from all directions.
Open the right ear to hear sounds from far away.
Open the divine nose, to smell fragrant scents.
Open the divine mouth, but not to eat house hold foods.
Open the left hand and the disciples will be prosperous year after year.
Open the right hand and the god will capture ghosts without being asked.
Open the sacred belly and great divine power will come forth.
Open the left foot to step upon the correct path.
Open the right foot to step into the divine carriage.
Open the back so that all people may be enlightened.

It can be inferred that in this ceremony, the carver at first draws the natural energy into the statue to enliven it. Then, he uses the blood of a white cock, symbolizing purity, to dot and connect the important parts of the body. This makes the statue like a living person with veins in which blood flows without obstruction (pp. 38-39).

Although Investiture doesn’t mention any of this, I think performing the eye-opening and dotting ceremony would be the final step in making the straw effigy a separate, living embodiment of the Monkey King. The ritual would open the eyes of Wukong’s spiritual double to the cosmos and fill his chest with divine energies in preparation for shooting said targets. This would explain why Zhao Gongming closes his eyes upon each arrow strike (refer back to section II).

Writers wanting to add a certain level of religious authenticity to the fictional Monkey King-killing ritual could have the villain place the talisman, grains, treasures, live wasp, and five colored-threads inside the straw effigy. And then he could chant while simultaneously reflecting sunlight on the face and dotting the eyes and body with a rooster blood-soaked brush. The only major difference between the fictional and religious ceremonies would be that the former’s first step, the entering-spirit ritual, lasts three weeks.

Fig. 8 (top L) – An entering-spirit and eye-opening and dotting kit commonly sold in Taiwan (larger version). Notice how the mirror is rectangular instead of circular. Image found here. Fig. 9 (top R) – A white temple rooster kept as a supply of pure blood (larger version). Don’t worry, nowadays they are only nicked on the comb with a knife. Image found here. Fig. 10 (bottom) – A ritual master uses a circular mirror to shine sunlight into an idol’s eyes while dotting the figure with a blood-soaked brush (larger version). Image found here.

Notes:

1) Monkey is called a “bogus immortal” by the Jade Emperor (ch. 4), the Buddha (ch. 7), and the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea in (ch. 14) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 147-148, p. 193, and p. 318). This alludes to the fact that he is not yet a true transcendent.

The idea that Wukong is still susceptible to death is based on the Buddho-Taoist philosophy of Southern Quanzhen School Patriarch Zhang Boduan (張伯端, mid to late-980s-1082), which heavily influenced JTTW. Zhang believed that one had to attain both the Taoist elixir and Buddha-Nature in order to be truly immortal. Only then could one rise above death and the endless rounds of rebirth to live forever (Shao, 1997, pp. 80-84). This is why JTTW starts with Monkey achieving immortality in chapter two and ends with him attaining Buddhahood in chapter 100, thereby fulfilling Zhang’s two-step process to true transcendence.

Zhang’s philosophy is reflected in his Writings on Understanding Reality (Wuzhen pian, 悟真篇, 1075). One poem reads:

The elixir is the most precious treasure of the physical body; when cultivated to perfection, the transmutations are endless. One can go on to investigate the true source in the realm of essence, and ascertain the ineffable function of the birthless. Without awaiting another body in the next life, one attains the spiritual capacities of a Buddha in the present; after the Naga Girl achieved this, who since then has been able to follow in her footsteps? (Zhang, Liu, & Cleary, 1987, p. 1481; cf. Shao, 1997, p. 83)

丹是色身至寶，煉成變化無窮。更能性上究真宗，决了無生妙用。不待他身後世，見前獲佛神通。自從龍女著斯功，爾後誰能繼踵。

2) It’s interesting to note that Pigsy suggests that Wukong dying isn’t a problem because his 72 changes give him 72 lives (qishi’er tiao xingming, 七十二條性命) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 232).

3) For instance, heaven fails to execute Monkey in chapter seven because of his adamantine hide:

They then slashed him with a scimitar, hewed him with an ax, stabbed him with a spear, and hacked him with a sword, but they could not hurt his body in any way. Next, the Star Spirit of the South Pole ordered the various deities of the Fire Department to burn him with fire, but that, too, had little effect. The gods of the Thunder Department were then ordered to strike him with thunderbolts, but not a single one of his hairs was destroyed (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 188).

… 刀砍斧剁，槍刺劍刳，莫想傷及其身。南斗星奮令火部眾神放火煨燒，亦不能燒著。又著雷部眾神以雷屑釘打，越發不能傷損一毫。

4) Apart from these treasures, Zhao Gongming fights with a hard whip (bian, 鞭), a sword-like metal club with stacked ridges and a pointed end. Gu (2000) incorrectly translates this as “staff” (vol. 2, p. 941).

5) Given the ritual’s association with the number seven (i.e. “Fixing the Seventh Posthumous Day Arrow”), and the fact that it takes 21 days to execute, it seems that one arrow is used for every week that the rite is performed. Remember that there are a total of three: two for the eyes and a third one for the heart.

6) These are the holes in the head: eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

Sources:

Gu, Z. (2000). Creation of the Gods (Vols. 1-4). Beijing: New World Press.

Lin, W. (2020). Materializing Magic Power: Chinese Popular Religion in Villages and Cities. Netherlands: Brill.

Shao, P. (1997). Monkey and Chinese Scriptural Tradition: A Rereading of the Novel Xiyouji (UMI No. 9818173) [Doctoral dissertation, Washington University]. Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database.

Wu, C., & Yu, A. C. (2012). The Journey to the West (Vols. 1-4) (Rev. ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.

Zhang, B., Liu, Y., & Cleary, T. (1987). Understanding Reality: A Taoist Alchemical Classic. Honululu Univ. of Hawaii Press.

The Monkey King’s Magic Staff: A Complete Guide

Jim R. McClanahan 3 Comments

I’ve written many articles on the origins of the Monkey King’s staff over the years. Therefore, I’ve decided to combine all of the information in one location for the benefit of people wishing to learn more about the weapon and its history. This will no doubt be interesting to fans of Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592; JTTW hereafter), as well as those of modern franchises like Dragon Ball and Lego Monkie Kid (fig. 1). Citations can be found in the articles linked below.

Fig. 1 – The Lego Monkie Kid character “MK” wielding the Monkey King’s magic staff (larger version). Copyright Lego.

1. The Literary Weapon

1.1. Staff Background

The staff first appears in chapter three of the original novel when the Monkey King goes to the underwater kingdom of Ao Guang (敖廣), the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, looking for a magic weapon to match his supernatural strength and martial skill. When all of the traditional weapons offered to him fail to meet his standards, the dragon queen suggests to her husband that they give Sun Wukong “that piece of rare magic iron” taking up space in their treasury. She claims the ancient shaft had started producing heavenly light days prior and proposes that the monkey is fated to own it. The weapon is said to be a “divine treasure iron” originally used to set the depths of the Heavenly River (Tianhe ding di de shenzhen tie, 天河定底的神珍鐵) by Yu the Great (Dayu, 大禹), a mythic Chinese emperor and demigod.

The staff is initially described as a pillar of black iron or bin steel more than 20 feet in height and as wide as a barrel. It is only when Monkey lifts it and suggests a smaller size would be more manageable that the staff complies with his wishes and shrinks. This is when Sun notices that the weapon is decorated with a golden ring on each end, as well as an inscription along the body reading: “The ‘As-You-Will’ Gold-Banded Cudgel. Weight: Thirteen Thousand Five Hundred Catties” (Ruyi jingu bang zhong yiwan sanqian wubai jin, 如意金箍棒重一萬三千五百斤). The inscription indicates that the staff is immensely heavy, weighing 17,560 lbs. (7,965 kg).

Apart from the above information, a poem in chapter 75 (see section 2.3 here) highlights another name, “Rod of Numinous Yang” (Lingyang bang, 靈陽棒). In addition, the poem describes the staff being covered in “tracks of planets and stars” (i.e. astronomical charts) and esoteric “dragon and phoenix scripts” (longwen yu fengzhuan, 龍紋與鳳篆).

The novel provides two contradictory origins for the staff. The chapter 75 poem notes that it “[w]as forged in the stove by Laozi himself.” Laozi is of course the high god of Daoism. Chapter 88 instead states that it was “forged at Creation’s dawn / By Yu the Great himself, the god-man of old.”

Contrary to popular images of the Monkey King holding a regular-sized staff, his literary counterpart wields a massive weapon in battle. It is said to be 20 feet long (likely an error for 12), [1] with the width of a bowl (erzhang changduan, wankou cuxi, 二丈長短，碗口粗細) (fig. 2). I did a cursory search of bowls during the Ming (when the standard edition of JTTW was published) and found that they have a radius of between 4 to 6 inches (10.16 to 15.25 cm).

Fig. 2 – An accurate depiction of the size of Monkey’s staff (larger version). Images found here. Artwork by @真·迪绝人.

1.2. Staff Powers

The staff is shown to have multiple powers.

  1. Size manipulation – This is the weapon’s most well-known ability, growing as big or as small as Monkey wishes.
  2. Controlling the oceans –  The aforementioned poem from chapter 88 writes: “The depths of all oceans, rivers, and lakes / Were fathomed and fixed by this very rod. / Having bored through mountains and conquered floods, / It stayed in East Ocean and ruled the seas…”
  3. Astral entanglement – Monkey’s soul is able to use the staff in Hell despite the physical weapon being with his body in the world of the living.
  4. Multiplication – He can multiply his staff in the hundreds of thousands.
  5. Lock-Picking – He can open any door just by pointing it at the lock.
  6. Transformation – He can change it into tools like a straight razor or a drill.
  7. Sentience – The weapon glows in anticipation of Monkey’s arrival (fig. 3), responds to his touch, and follows his commands, denoting a certain level of sentience.

Fig. 3 – Monkey pointing to the luminous iron pillar (larger version). From the Qing-Era Painted, Complete Edition Journey to the West (Qing caihui quanben Xiyouji, 清彩繪全本西遊記).

2. Origins

2.1. Literary Precursors

The staff found in the standard Ming edition of JTTW is actually based on two weapons from a 17-chapter storytelling prompt called The Story of How Tripitaka of the Great Tang Procured the Scriptures (Da Tang Sanzang qujing shihua, 大唐三藏取經詩話, c. late 13th-century). Sun Wukong’s precursor, an ageless immortal called the “Monkey Pilgrim” (Hou xingzhe, 猴行者), magically transports Tripitaka and his entourage to heaven. There, the supreme god, the Mahābrahmā Devarāja (Dafan tianwang, 大梵天王; i.e. Vaiśravana), gives the monk a cap of invisibility, a khakkhara (ringed monk’s staff) (fig. 4), and a begging bowl. Tripitaka and the Monkey Pilgrim take turns using these items throughout the journey. The staff is shown capable of shooting destructive beams of light, as well as transforming into magical creatures like an iron dragon or a giant, club-wielding Yaksha. Later, the Monkey Pilgrim also borrows an iron staff from heaven to fight a dragon.

The two staves from this tale were eventually combined by later storytellers. The rings from the first weapon were added to the ends of the second.

Fig. 4 – A beautiful, modern monk’s staff with six rings (larger version).

2.2. Influence from Religion

The Monkey Pilgrim’s magic ringed staff and begging bowl were directly influenced by the Buddhist Saint Mulian (目連; Sk: Maudgalyayana), a disciple of the historical Buddha. One particular 9th to 10th-century story notes that the Saint uses the staff to unlock the gates of hell in order to save his mother (fig. 5). This is where Sun Wukong’s weapon from JTTW gets the power to open locks.

Mulian saves his mother, scroll - small

Fig. 5 – A scroll or mural depicting Mulian rescuing his mother from the underworld (larger version). Originally found here.

The ringed and metal staves used by the Monkey Pilgrim are based on those historically carried by Buddhist monks in ancient China. The aforementioned ringed variety, called “tin staves” (xizhang, 錫杖) where used by religious monks and decorated with six to twelve metal rings (see fig. 4). These rings were designed to make a clanging noise to not only scare away animals on the road but also to alert possible donors to the monk’s presence.

Martial monks charged with protecting monasteries or deployed by the Chinese government against pirates wielded wooden or iron staves (fig. 6). The former were chosen for their diminished capacity for fatal injuries, while the latter were explicitly used for killing during times of war. Sun Wukong wielding the iron variety makes sense as he’s a martial monk charged with protecting Tripitaka from monsters and spirits.

Fig. 6 – A martial monk practicing a drunken staff-fighting form (larger version).

The term “As-you-will” (ruyi, 如意) from Monkey’s staff (mentioned above) is connected with a scepter used in ancient China as a symbol of religious debate and authority and, to a lesser extent, as a weapon. While it can be traced to a Hindo-Buddhist tradition in India, the scepter came to be associated with the highest gods of Daoism thanks to being decorated with a “numinous mushroom” (lingzhi, 靈芝), a real world fungi believed to bestow immortality. This mushroom scepter was at some point associated with the Buddhist Cintamani (Ruyi zhu, 如意珠), or “As-you-will jewel.” This was believed to grant any wish that one might desire. This explains why Monkey’s As-you-will staff grows or shrinks according to his commands. It’s interesting to note that some religious images of the scepter depict it with a syncretic mix of the Daoist mushroom and the Buddhist jewel (fig. 7).

Fig. 7 – An enhanced detail of the Celestial Worthy’s mushroom scepter with a flaming as-you-will jewel (larger version). See here for a fuller version of the deity.

2.3. Influence from Popular literature

The weapon’s portrayal in JTTW as an iron pillar kept in the dragon kingdom comes from old stories about the immortal Xu Xun (許遜), a historical Daoist master and minor government official from Jiangsu province. Popular tales describe him as a Chinese St. Patrick who traveled southern China ridding the land of flood dragons. One 17th-century version titled “An Iron Tree at Jingyang Palace Drives Away Evil” (Jingyang gong tieshu zhenyao, 旌陽宮鐵樹鎮妖) describes how he chained the flood dragon patriarch to an iron tree (tieshu, 鐵樹) and submerged it in a well, thus preventing the serpent’s children from leaving their subterranean aquatic realm and causing trouble. Pre-JTTW versions of this tale depict the tree as an actual iron pillar (fig. 8). Chinese Five Elements Theory dictates that metal produces water, and as its creator, holds dominion over it. Therefore, an iron pillar would be the perfect item to ward off creatures entrenched in the aquatic environment.

Fig. 8 – A Ming Dynasty woodblock print depicting the immortal Xu overseeing the creation of the iron pillar in a furnace (right) and it’s placement the well (left). Dated 1444-1445 (larger version).

As previously noted, the staff weighs 17,560 lbs. (7,965 kg). This is likely based on an episode from chapter 27 of the Chinese novel Water Margin (Shuihu zhuan, 水滸傳, c. 1400). It involves the bandit Wu Song lifting a heavy stone block said to weigh 300 to 500 catties (san wu bai jin, 三五百斤; 390-650 lbs./177-295 kg) (fig. 9). This scene and the one from JTTW where Monkey lifts the iron pillar are quite similar. Both involve a hero (Wu Song vs. Sun Wukong) asking someone (Shi En vs. Ao Guang) to show them a heavy object that cannot be moved (stone block vs. iron pillar). Both heroes then adjust their clothing before easily lifting the object with both hands. Most importantly, the Chinese characters for the weight of each object (三五百斤 vs. 一萬三千五百斤) are similar. The only difference is the addition of “10,000” (yiwan, 一萬) and “1,000” (qian, 千), respectively. And given the close historical and cultural ties between the two heroes, I believe the author-compiler of JTTW embellished the Water Margin episode to portray Sun as a hero like no other, a divine immortal that can lift weights far beyond even Wu Song himself.

Fig. 9 – Wu Song lifts the stone block (larger version). Image found here.

Note:

1) Irwen Wong of the Journey to the West Library blog has suggested that the length is likely an error for 12 feet (zhanger, 丈二) since the staff was already near 20 feet when Monkey first acquired it, and he later asked it to shrink to a more manageable size.

The Story of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King

Jim R. McClanahan 8 Comments

One of the most famous primate characters in world literature appears in the great Chinese classic Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592 CE). The story follows the adventures of Sun Wukong (孫悟空, a.k.a. “Monkey”) (fig. 1), an immortal rhesus macaque demon, who gains extraordinary power via spiritual cultivation and rebels against the primacy of heaven. Like Loki in Norse mythology and Lucifer in Judeo-Christian mythology, this trickster god falls from grace when a supreme deity, in this case the Buddha, banishes him to an earthly prison below. But unlike his western counterparts, the monkey repents, becoming a monk and agreeing to use his abilities to protect a Buddhist priest on his journey to collect sutras from India.

What follows is an overview of Monkey’s story. It will primarily focus on the first seven of the novel’s 100 chapters, but chapters eight through 100 will be briefly touched upon, along with lesser-known literary sequels to Journey to the West. I will also discuss the novel’s impact on pop culture and religion.

I. Story

In the beginning, the mystical energies of heaven and earth and the light of the sun and moon come together to impregnate a boulder high atop the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit (Huaguo shan, 花果山), an island that lies to the east of the easternmost continent in the Buddhist disc world system. The stone gestates for countless ages until the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE), when it hatches a stone egg that is eroded by the elements into a simian shape. The Stone Monkey (Shihou, 石猴) awakens and bows to the four cardinal directions as light bursts forth from his eyes. The light is so bright that it reaches heaven, alarming the Jade Emperor (Yuhuang dadi, 玉皇大帝) and his celestial retinue. The light soon subsides, however, once he ingests food for the first time.

The Stone Monkey happens upon other primates on the island and becomes their king when he proves himself in a test of bravery by blindly leaping through a waterfall, thereby discovering a long-forgotten immortal’s cave. He rules the mountain for over three centuries before the fear of death finally creeps in. One of his primate advisors suggests that the king finds a transcendent to teach him the secrets of eternal life, and so Monkey sets sail on a makeshift raft and explores the world for ten years. His quest eventually takes him to the western continent, where he is finally accepted as a student by the Buddho-Daoist sage Subodhi (Xuputi, 须菩提). He is given the religious name Sun Wukong, meaning “monkey awakened to emptiness” or “monkey who realizes sunyata.” The sage teaches him the 72 methods of earthly transformation, or endless ways of changing his shape and size; cloud somersaulting, or a type of flying that allows him to travel 108,000 li (33,554 mi / 54,000 km) in a single leap; all manner of magical spells to call forth gods and spirits, grow or shrink to any size, part fire and water, create impassable barriers, conjure wind storms, cast illusions, freeze people in place, make endless clones of himself, unlock any lock, bestow superhuman strength, bring the dead back to life, etc.; traditional medicine; armed and unarmed martial arts; and, most importantly, an internal breathing method that results in his immortality. He is later disowned by the sage for selfishly showing off his new found magical skills to his less accomplished classmates.

Sun eventually returns to his cave and faces a demon who had terrorized his people during his prolonged absence. After killing the monster, he realizes that he needs a weapon to match his celestial power, and so his advisor suggests that he go to the undersea palace of Ao Guang (敖廣), the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea. There, he tries out several weapons weighing thousands of pounds, but each one is too light. He finally settles on a massive nine-ton iron pillar that was originally used by Yu the Great (Dayu, 大禹) to set the depths of the fabled world flood, as well as to calm the seas. Named the “As-You-Will Gold-Banded Cudgel” (Ruyi jingu bang, 如意金箍棒), the iron responds to Sun’s touch and follows his command to shrink or grow to his whim, thus signifying that this weapon was fated to be his. In addition to the staff, Monkey bullies the Dragon King’s royal brothers into giving him a magical suit of armor.

Shortly after returning home to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, he shows off his new weapon by turning into a frightful cosmic giant and commanding the staff to grow, with the top touching the highest heaven and the bottom the lowest hell. This display of power prompts demon kings of the 72 caves to submit to his rule and host a drunken party in his honor. Soon after falling asleep, Sun is visited by two psychopomps who drag his soul to the Chinese underworld of Diyu (地獄). There, he learns that he was fated to die at the allotted age of 342 years old. But this enrages Monkey since his immortality freed him from the cycle of rebirth, and so he bullies the kings of hell in to bringing him the ledger containing his info. He promptly crosses out his name with ink, as well as the names of all monkeys on earth, thus making them immortal, too. He wakes up in the mortal world when his soul returns to his body.

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Fig. 1 – A modern depiction of Sun Wukong (by the author) (larger version).

Both the Eastern Dragon King and the Hell King Qinguang (秦廣王) submit memorials to heaven concerning Sun’s misconduct. But the court advisor, an embodiment of the planet Venus, convinces the Jade Emperor to give Sun the menial task of watching over the Heavenly Horses in order to avoid further conflict. Monkey accepts and steadfastly performs his duties, that is until he learns that he’s just a glorified stable boy. He immediately returns to his earthly home in rebellion to proclaim himself the “Great Sage Equaling Heaven” (Qitian dasheng, 齊天大聖). The celestial realm mobilizes an army of powerful demon hunters, including the Heavenly King Li Jing (Li Jing tianwang, 李靖天王) and his son, the child god Third Prince Nezha (Nezha santaizi, 哪吒三太子), but they all fall to Monkey’s magical and martial might. The embodiment of the planet Venus once again steps in to convince the Jade Emperor to acquiesce to Monkey’s demand for higher rank, thereby granting him the empty title of Great Sage Equaling Heaven and even promoting him to watch over the immortal peach groves.

Sun takes stock of the magical peaches that ripen every few thousand years, but he eventually succumbs to their heavenly aroma. He eats all but the youngest life-prolonging fruits, thus gaining another level of immortality. His theft is soon discovered, however, when fairy attendants of the Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu, 西王母) arrive to pick the choicest specimens for her long-awaited immortal peach banquet. Sun is alerted to there presence and, upon questioning, learns that he has not been invited. Naturally, Sun becomes enraged, freezing the maidens in place with fixing magic and then crashes the party before the hallowed guests arrive. He eats all of the celestial food and drinks all of the immortal wine, and then drunkenly stumbles into the laboratory of Laozi (老子), a high god of Daoism. There, he gobbles up the deity’s alchemically-derived elixir pills, thereby adding several more levels of immortality.

Sun returns home once again to await the coming storm of heavenly forces. Tired of the demon’s antics, the Jade Emperor calls up 72 heavenly generals, comprising the most powerful Buddhist and Daoist gods, and 100,000 celestial soldiers. In response, Monkey mobilizes his own army comprising the demon kings of the 72 caves and all manner of animal spirits, including his own monkey soldiers. But soon after the battle commences, the demon kings fall to heavenly troops, forcing Sun to take on three heads and six arms and multiply his iron cudgel to meet the onslaught. Once again, the heavenly army is no match for him. However, he soon loses his nerve when his monkey children are captured in great heavenly nets. He flees with Erlang (Erlang shen, 二郎神), a master of magic and the nephew of the Jade Emperor, taking chase. The two battle through countless animal transformations, each trying to one-up the other. Monkey is finally captured when Laozi drops a magical steel bracelet on his head, incapacitating him long enough for Erlang’s celestial hound to bite hold of his leg.

Sun is taken to heaven to be executed for his crimes, but fire, lightning, and edged weapons have no effect on his invincible body. Laozi then suggests that they put him inside of the deity’s alchemical furnace to reduce the demon to ashes. They check the furnace 49 days later expecting to see his rendered remains; however, Monkey jumps out unscathed, having found protection in the wind element (xun, 巽) of the eight trigrams. But intense smoke inside the furnace had greatly irritated his eyes, refining his pupils the color of gold and giving them the power to recognize the dark auras of demons in disguise. He overturns the furnace and begins to cause havoc in heaven with his iron cudgel. The Jade Emperor beseeches the Buddha (Rulai, 如来) in the Western Paradise to intervene.

The Tathagata appears and declares that he will make Sun the new ruler of heaven if the macaque can simply jump out of his palm. Monkey agrees to the wager, and with one tremendous leap, speeds towards the reaches of heaven. He lands before five great pillars, thinking them to be the edge of the cosmos. He tags one with his name and urinates at the base of another in order to prove that he had been there. Upon returning, Sun demands the throne; however, the Buddha reveals that the five pillars were actually his fingers, meaning that the Great Sage had never left. But before Monkey can do anything, the Tathagata overturns his hand, pushing it out the gates of heaven, and transforming it into the Five Elements Mountain (Wuxing shan, 五行山). There, Sun is imprisoned for his crimes against heaven.

Chapters thirteen to 100 tell how six hundred years later Sun is released during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to help escort the Buddhist monk Tripitaka (Sanzang, 三藏) (whose early story is told in chapters eight to twelve), a disciple of the Buddha in a previous life, on a quest to retrieve salvation-bestowing scriptures from India. The Bodhisattva Guanyin (觀音) gives the monk a golden headband (jingu, 金箍; a.k.a. jingu, 緊箍, lit: “tight fillet”) as a means to rein in Monkey’s unruly nature. It tightens around Sun’s head whenever a magic formula is recited, causing him great pain. In addition, Guanyin gives Monkey three magic hairs on the back of his neck that can transform into anything he desires to aid in his protection of the monk. Along the way, the two meet other monsters-turned-disciples—Zhu Bajie (猪八戒), the lecherous pig demon, Sha Wujing (沙悟净), the complacent water demon, and the White Dragon Horse (Bailongma, 白龍馬), a royal serpent transformed into an equine—who agree to aid in the monk’s defense. Monkey battles all sorts of ghosts, monsters, demons, and gods along the way. In the end, he is granted Buddhahood and given the title of the “Victorious Fighting Buddha” (Dou zhanzheng fo, 鬥戰勝佛) for protecting Tripitaka over the long journey.

A summary of all 100 chapters can be read on my friend’s blog (fig. 2).

https://journeytothewestlibrary.weebly.com/novel-summary

Fig. 2 – The summary header (larger version).

II. Sequels

There are a total of four unofficial sequels to the novel.

The first is called A Supplement to the Journey to the West (Xiyoubu, 西游补, 1640), which takes place between chapters 61 and 62 of the original. In the story, the Monkey King wanders from one adventure to the next, using a magic tower of mirrors and a Jade doorway to travel to different points in time. In the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BCE), he disguises himself as Consort Yu in order to locate a magic weapon needed for his quest to India. During the Song Dynasty (960–1279), he serves in place of King Yama as the judge of Hell. After returning to the Tang Dynasty, he finds that his master Tripitaka has taken a wife and become a general charged with wiping out the physical manifestation of desire (desire being a major theme running through the novelette). Monkey goes on to take part in a great war between all the kingdoms of the world, during which time he faces one of his own children in battle. In the end, he discovers an unforeseen danger that threatens Tripitaka’s life.

The second is the Later Journey to the West (Hou Xiyouji, 後西遊記, 17th-century). This novel focuses on the adventures of Monkey’s spiritual descendent Sun Luzhen (孫履真, “Monkey who Walks Reality”). I have a three-part article about it (first, second, and third). 

 

And the third and fourth are the Continuation of the Journey to the West (Xu Xiyouji, 續西遊記, 17th-century) and the New Journey to the West (Xin Xiyouji, 新西遊記, 19th-century), respectively. As of 2023, I have not written any articles on these sequels. 

III. Cultural Impact

Stories about Sun Wukong have enthralled people the world over for centuries. His adventures first became popular via oral folktale performances during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). These eventually coalesced into the earliest known version of the novel, The Story of How Tripitaka of the Great Tang Procures the Scriptures (Da Tang Sanzang qujing shihua, 大唐三藏取經詩話; The Story hereafter), published during the late-13th-century.

Since the anonymous publishing of the complete novel in the 16th-century, Monkey has appeared in numerous paintings, poems, books, operatic stage plays, video games, and films (both live action and animated).

He was sometimes “channeled,” along with other martial spirits, by citizen soldiers of the anti-foreign Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901). There is also a monkey-based martial art named in his honor.

It is interesting to note that there are people in southern China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam who worship him as a patron deity. Thus, Sun became so popular that he jumped from oral and published literature to take his place on the family altar.

Copies of The Story were discovered in Japan among a 17th-century catalog of books in the Kozanji Temple (高山寺, Ch: Gaoshan si). No copies are known to exist in China, which suggests this version came to the island many centuries ago. The complete Ming edition of the novel came to Japan in the late-18th-century, where it was translated in bits and pieces over the course of some seventy years. However, Monkey did not become immensely popular until the first complete translation of the novel was published in 1835. The last part was illustrated with woodblocks by Taito II (fl. 1810-1853), a noted student of famous artist Hokusai (1760-1849).

Other Japanese artists, such as Kubo Shunman (1757-1820) and Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) (fig. 3), produced beautiful full color woodblock prints of Sun.

Fig. 3 – (Left) Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, “Jade Rabbit – Sun Wukong”, October 10, 1889 (larger version). Fig 4. – (Right) Son Goku (孫悟空) from the Dragonball Franchise (larger version).

Like in China, Monkey has been adapted in all kinds of Japanese media. By far, his most famous adaptation is the manga and anime character Son Goku (孫悟空) (fig. 4) from the Dragon Ball (Jp:ドラゴンボール; Ch: Qi longzhu, 七龍珠) franchise (1984-present). Like Sun, Goku has a monkey tail, knows martial arts, fights with a magic staff, and rides on a cloud. His early adventures in Dragon Ball (manga: 1984-1995; anime: 1986-1989) see him traveling the world in search of seven wish-granting “dragon balls,” while also perfecting his fighting abilities and participating in a world martial arts tournament. Several of the supporting characters, such as Oolong (ウーロン), a lecherous anthropomorphic pig who can change his shape, a nod to Zhu Bajie, were directly influenced by the novel. Dragon Ball Z (manga: 1988-1995; anime: 1989-1996), a continuation of the comic book and animated TV show, follows Goku as an adult and reveals that he is actually a humanoid alien sent as a child to destroy Earth. He arrived in a spherical spaceship that recalls the stone egg from which Sun Wukong was formed. But instead of destroying the planet, he becomes its stalwart protector and faces extraterrestrial menaces from beyond the stars. Goku’s adventures have continued in the sequels Dragon Ball GT (1996-1997), Dragon Ball Super (2015-2018), and Super Dragon Ball Heroes (2018-present).