The Newly Annotated Journey to the West (Xinshuo Xiyouji, 新說西遊記, 1749) by Zhang Shushen (張書紳) is one of three popular editions of JTTW that circulated during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and overshadowed the original. [1] It contains a running commentary dispersed throughout the pilgrims’ many adventures. Anthony C. Yu (Wu & Yu, 2012) describes Zhang’s work as having a Confucian bias:
In his unabridged hundred-chapter Xinshuo Xiyouji (The Journey to the West, Newly Interpreted) of 1749, Zhang Shushen declared in the section entitled “Xiyouji zongpi 西游記總批 (Overall Comments on The Journey to the West)” that “the book Xiyou has been designated by the ancients as a book meant to illuminate the Dao [a pointed dig at the 1662 edition titled Xiyou zhengdao shu, with the Daoist-leaning preface attributed to Yu Ji … ], by which it originally means the Dao of the sages, the worthies, and the Confucians (儒 Ru). To consider it an illumination of the Dao of immortals and Buddhism would be a mistake, indeed.” From a point of view clearly unsympathetic to the popular movement of Three-Religions-Joining-As-One (sanjiao heyi 三教合一, a possibly millennium-old notion … ), Zhang defended the story of the quest for Buddhist scriptures as an allegory of the classic Confucian doctrines on the illustration of virtue (mingde 明德) and the rectification of the mind (zhengxin 正心), ignoring the repeated and complex elaborations of zhengxin in Chan Buddhism also for at least a thousand years prior to his time (vol. 1, pp. 51-52).
I’ve decided to archive a scanned copy of this work for posterity.
A digital version of the text (interspersed with other commentaries) can be found here.
I’ve previously archived illustrated versions of JTTW, including the original 1592 edition, (images from) Li Zhuowu’s late-16th-century critique, and a circa 1835 Japanese translation. Here, I’d like to add another, the Newly Annotated Journey to the West With Illustrations (Xinshuo Xiyouji tuxiang, 新說西遊記圖像, 1888). The original text and commentary are the same, but this edition features a preface by Wang Tao (王韜), as well as over 100 woodblock prints.
The prints in the archived book below are admittedly a little fuzzy. This webpage has somewhat clearer versions.
From time to time I like to post a fun blog not directly related to (though sometimes informed by) my research. Regular articles will resume after this entry.
I first set out to see if firearms play any part in Chinese folk religion. I found a few examples from Taiwan. The first is “Lord Red Flag” (Hongqi gong, 紅旗公; a.k.a. “Marshal of Sacred Righteousness,” Shengyi yuanshuai, 聖義元帥), a relatively recent martial god. He and his marshals are depicted holding rifles.
Three more involve Prince Nezha. The first of two (from the same temple) is a traditional statue adorned with an M4 assault rifle and other modern weaponry.
Here’s a closeup of the rifle. Also, take note of the holstered revolver (i.e. the black pouch) on his waist.
The profile view shows clips on his belt (again, in black pouches), as well as a grenade on top of an ammo case at his feet.
The second is a three-headed and eight-armed Nezha with an anti-tank rocket launcher, a rocket round, and a grenade at his feet.
A third statue (my personal favorite) portrays the prince with an MP 40 submachine gun and modern military gear. The carving on the water is amazing. I first learned of it here.
I learned here and here that cannons are sometimes worshiped in East and Southeast Asia as fertility gods. (See the 09-29-24 update below for more info about cannons.)
I also learned that ritual guns sometimes appear in Chinese folk temples of Vietnam.
If present, the guns number among ritual weapons that are commonly found in martial god temples of Chinese folk religion. (But I’ve never personally seen a gun among said armaments in Taiwanese temples.) This Vietnamese article briefly mentions that the weapons are based on the eighteen arms of Chinese martial arts. And it’s interesting to note that a “hand canon” (chong, 銃) does appear among the eighteen arms listed in the Water Margin (Shuihu zhuan, 水滸傳, c. 1400):
Shi Jin daily sought Drill Instructor Wang’s tutelage in the eighteen (weapons of) martial arts. He taught him from the very beginning. Which eighteen martial arts?
Lance, hammer, bow, crossbow, hand cannon, whip, metal tablet, long sword, chain, truncheon, fu-axe, yue-axe, ge-halberd, ji-halberd, shield, staff and spear, and toothless rake. [1]
You can see that they were attached to bladed polearms, which could be used offensively or defensively between reloading.
There were even five-barreled and shielded firearms called “Rapid-Thunder Hand Cannons” (Xunlei chong, 迅雷銃). So cool!
Here’s a Chinese video demonstrating the one and three-barreled versions:
3. Story Idea
This brings me back to Journey to the West. How could firearms be inserted into a religious allegory? Well, for starters, a 950 CE wall mural in Dunhuang shows one of Mara‘s demons attacking the awakening Buddha with a “fire lance” (huoqiang, 火槍; upper right), a precursor of hand cannons. (The fellow below him holds a grenade.) This is a clear example of a centuries-old association between firearms and spiritual warfare.
Given that the novel projects Ming-era concepts backwards to the Tang Dynasty, having gods wield such weapons hundreds of years before they were even invented wouldn’t be out of place in the JTTW universe. A writer could just say that the weapons were created in the realm above and eventually trickled down to mankind. Admittedly, I like the real history better because it shows the ingenuity of our predecessors, but the story requires a little tinkering.
Writers wanting to expand on the idea of firearms in heaven could take Ming gunners, their uniforms, and their strategies as models to work from. This page features a lovely figurine of such soldiers, including lots of juicy historical info. And the fact that the historical troops were part of the “Divine Machine Battalion” (Shenji ying, 神機營), which specialized in firearms, really solidifies their connection to the heavenly realm.
How could demons get ahold of celestial guns? Well, referring back to chapter 51, a buffalo-spirit uses the “diamond cutter” (jingang zhuo, 金鋼琢), an uber powerful, bracelet-like treasure-weapon also created by Laozi, to twice suck away all of the aforementioned fire weapons (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, pp. 9 and 23). Devil craftsmen would then have time to analyze the heavenly technology, which would allow them to eventually make their own (inferior?) copies.
Recall that the Great Peng demon is said in chapter 74 to have taken over a human kingdom by eating all of the inhabitants some 500 years ago, and the former population was replaced by spirits (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 360). Firearms would definitely make a human-to-monster kingdom transition for less powerful demon kings a lot easier.
Another possibility is that a fiend could simply sneak into heaven to steal some. This may seem like an impossible task, but JTTW chapter 63 mentions something similar happening. The dragon-spirit “Princess All Saints” (Wansheng gongzhu, 萬聖宮(公)主) is said to have “[snuck] into heaven and stole[n] from before the Hall of Divine Mists the nine-leaf divine agaric planted by the Lady Queen Mother of the West” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 192). So, if someone can secretly infiltrate the realm above and steal divine vegetation, they could certainly steal heavenly armaments.
Perhaps the simplest way that demons could attain celestial firearms is by ambushing heavenly troops and commandeering their equipment.
I could see Red Boy (Honghai’er, 紅孩兒) using his powerful Samadhi flame to forge his own hand cannons, at least with the help of devil craftsmen. His association with fire only makes it natural that his own troops would carry firearms.
The only thing I can’t think of is how heavenly hand cannons would differ from their real world counterparts. Would they just use gunpowder and metal shot, or would it be more magical in nature, like shooting meteors? I’m open to suggestions from readers.
4. Updates
Update: 09-29-2024
The film Enoken no Songoku: Zenpen (エノケンの孫悟空 前編; a.k.a. “Enoken’s Songoku,” 1940) features the Monkey King mowing down demons with his staff-turned-machine gun.
There are at least two toys depicting the Great Sage with a gun. The first I learned about via a Facebook group post. I love how his sniper rifle is modeled on his magic staff. You can see the original packaging here.
And here is a Black Myth: Wukong-inspired figure with a powerful-looking rifle/shot gun combo. I saw it here.
Regarding cannons, I learned that a giant Western cannon was worshiped by court officials during the Ming. The History of the Ming (Mingshi, 明史, 1739) explains:
At this time, a ship arriving from the Great Western Ocean [i.e. the West] brought an enormous cannon, which got the name of the “Red Barbarian” [Hongyi, 紅夷]. It measured over two-zhang [20.86 ft/6.358 m] long, and weighed as much as 3,000 catties [3,902.18 lbs/1,770 kg]. It could demolish any stone city-walls, and its earthquake-like roar could be heard for several dozen li around. During the Tianqi [天啟] reign, the name of “Great General” [Da jiangjun, 大將軍] was given to it, and officials were sent to offer libations [si, 祀] to it (based on Needham, 1986, p. 392).
Needham (1986) suggests the cannon’s worship is connected to folk beliefs: “In Taoist folk-religion any device or machine of almost miraculous potency was something which should receive veneration” (p. 392 n. b).
Update: 10-05-24
I forgot to mention the “Gatling Gun Bodhisattva” (Jia-te-lin pusa, 加特林菩薩) from Chinese social media and Japanese manga. The following clip expounds the Heart Sutra of the Honored Gatling Gun Bodhisattva (Namo Jia-te-lin pusa Xinjing, 南無加特林菩薩心經).
Update: 11-23-24
Reader Danna Zhang left a wonderful comment about how Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen yanyi, 封神演義, c. 1620 CE), a sort of prequel to Journey to the West, also includes gunpowder weaponry:
Late comment, but FSYY also puts Ming dynasty gunpowder weapons into the 11th BCE Shang dynasty setting. Apart from the numerous mentions of “cannons go boom”, In Chapter 56, they broke Deng Jiugong’s ambush-disguised-as-wedding by hiding a cannon in the gift casket and using it to make a surprise attack, and in Chapter 88, Jiang Ziya suggests to King Wu that they need the “Sky-blasting Cannon” (轰天大炮) to breach the walls of Mianchi City.
At this point, I think the bronze age gunpowder weapon isn’t a bug, it'[s] a feature.
The Great Ming Military blog, a friend of this blog, has posted an article titled “The Great General Cannon of the Ming Dynasty.” Again, imagine such weapons were born of heaven and used to fight monsters and spirits.
Note:
1) The narration is based on my translation, while the weapons list is based on that from Lorge (2012). See page 147.
Source:
Lorge, P. A. (2012). Chinese Martial Arts: From Antiquity to the Twenty-First Century. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Needham, J. (1986). Science and Civilization in China. Volume 5: Chemistry and Chemical Technology; part 7, Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic. Assisted by Ho Ping-yü et al. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Wu, C., & Yu, A. C. (2012). The Journey to the West (Vols. 1-4) (Rev. ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.
One of the most famous episodes from Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592) happens in chapter six when heaven sends Erlang to confront Sun Wukong during his rebellion. After a prolonged, indecisive battle between the two immortals in their respective humanoid and cosmic giant forms, Monkey loses heart when his children are captured, causing him to flee. He tries to hide in the guise of a sparrow but is soon spotted by Erlang. This leads to an epic battle of magical transformations (video 1):
… Erlang at once discovered that the Great Sage had changed into a small sparrow perched on a tree. He changed out of his magic form and took off his pellet bow. With a shake of his body, he changed into a sparrow hawk with outstretched wings, ready to attack its prey. When the Great Sage saw this, he darted up with a flutter of his wings; changing himself into a cormorant, he headed straight for the open sky. When Erlang saw this, he quickly shook his feathers and changed into a huge ocean crane, which could penetrate the clouds to strike with its bill. The Great Sage therefore lowered his direction, changed into a small fish, and dove into a stream with a splash. Erlang rushed to the edge of the water but could see no trace of him. He thought to himself, “This simian must have gone into the water and changed himself into a fish, a shrimp, or the like. I’ll change again to catch him.” He duly changed into a fish hawk and skimmed downstream over the waves. After a while, the fish into which the Great Sage had changed was swimming along with the current. Suddenly he saw a bird that looked like a green kite though its feathers were not entirely green, like an egret though it had small feathers, and like an old crane though its feet were not red. “That must be the transformed Erlang waiting for me,” he thought to himself. He swiftly turned around and swam away after releasing a few bubbles. When Erlang saw this, he said, “The fish that released the bubbles looks like a carp though its tail is not red, like a perch though there are no patterns on its scales, like a snake fish though there are no stars on its head, like a bream though its gills have no bristles. Why does it move away the moment it sees me? It must be the transformed monkey himself!” He swooped toward the fish and snapped at it with his beak. The Great Sage shot out of the water and changed at once into a water snake; he swam toward shore and wriggled into the grass along the bank. When Erlang saw that he had snapped in vain and that a snake had darted away in the water with a splash, he knew that the Great Sage had changed again. Turning around quickly, he changed into a scarlet-topped gray crane, which extended its heel like sharp iron pincers to devour the snake. With a bounce, the snake changed again into a spotted bustard standing by itself rather stupidly amid the water pepper along the bank. When Erlang saw that the monkey had changed into such a vulgar creature—for the spotted bustard is the basest and most promiscuous of birds, mating indiscriminately with phoenixes, hawks, or crows-he refused to approach him. Changing back into his true form, he went and stretched his bow to the fullest. With one pellet he sent the bird hurtling (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 182-183).
Video 1 – A light-hearted, animated version of the battle between Erlang and Sun Wukong. From the 1960s classic Havoc in Heaven.
My friend Irwen Wong over at the Journey to the West Library blog has analyzed this fight, showing that Erlang’s changes are always a stronger response to the Monkey King’s transformations.
[…] 1.3. Round 3
Type: Transformation
Monkey turns himself into a sparrow and flees by flying away. Erlang notices this transformation and turns himself into a sparrow hawk to attack. Result: Erlang wins.
1.4. Round 4
Type: Transformation
When Monkey now changes into a cormorant to be able to fly higher, out of Erlang’s hawk’s reach. Erlang was aware of this and transforms into an ocean crane to give chase. Result: Erlang wins.
1.5. Round 5
Type: Transformation & intellect
Monkey was afraid of Erlang’s powerful transformations and turns himself into a small fish to hide in a stream. Erlang changes into a fish hawk and scans the stream for Monkey’s trace. He cleverly identifies the fish that was Monkey and attempts to catch it. Result: Erlang wins.
1.6. Round 6
Type: Transformation
Monkey immediately darts out of the water when he sees Erlang and changes into a water snake. Erlang transforms into a grey crane to catch the water snake. Result: Erlang wins.
1.7. Round 7
Type: Transformation & intellect
Monkey sees that Erlang had turned into a crane to chase him, so he wittily transformed into a spotted bustard to oppose Erlang’s crane. Result: Monkey wins – Erlang as a crane did not dare approach the bustard.
1.8. Round 8
Type: Transformation & combat
When Monkey changed into a bustard, Erlang was afraid to approach it. Instead, Erlang reverted to his original form and took out his pellet bow. With the bow, he aimed at Monkey’s bustard and succeeded with a strong direct hit. Result: Erlang wins.
[…]
This magical battle is actually related to an ancient mythic motif involving two warring supernatural beings.
I. Antecedents of the motif
Ioannis M. Konstantakos’ (2016) paper “The Magical Transformation Contest in the Ancient Storytelling Tradition” explains that the motif can be traced to the Near East of the late-3rd millennium BCE. However, the oldest variants instead depict the combatants transforming objects and not their physical bodies in battle. But the outcome is still the same: one competitor produces stronger responses to the other’s initial attack. For example, the Sumerian tale Enmerkar and Ensuhgirana (c. early-2nd millennium BCE) depicts the two titular characters engaged in a magical battle over the fate of their respective homelands. Konstantakos (2016) writes:
The competition of Sağburu and Urğirnuna consists precisely in the magical fabrication of various animals. Each one of the adversaries throws a certain object of witchcraft into the river and draws out a magically produced creature (or group of creatures). Every time, however, Sağburu’s creations are bigger, stronger, and wilder than those of Urğirnuna, which they seize and lacerate as a result. Specifically, the foreign sorcerer produces in sequence: 1) a big carp; 2) a ewe with its lamb; 3) a cow with its calf; 4) an ibex and a wild sheep; and 5) a young gazelle. The wise witch, on the other hand, counters these creations correspondingly with 1) an eagle; 2) a wolf; 3) a lion; 4) a mountain leopard; and 5) a tiger and another kind of lion. In this way, all of Urğirnuna’s creatures are eliminated, and Sağburu wins the contest (p. 210).
This finds parallels with ancient Egyptian stories and even an event from the book of Exodus (7.8-12) (Konstantakos, 2016, pp. 210-213).
The more familiar version of the motif, which sees competitors transforming their bodies, is found in ancient Greek drama. Konstantakos (2016) describes one such tale involving the lustful adventures of Zeus:
The Cypria offers the most expanded and detailed form of the saga. Zeus was amorously chasing [his daughter] Nemesis, but she was averse to his sexual intentions and ran away. In the course of her flight, Nemesis took the form of various beasts; she became a fish in the sea and swam through the Ocean’s stream; then she changed herself into many kinds of animals on the land, in order to escape. In the end, the goddess was transformed into a bird, the species of which is variously given in the ancient sources. … Zeus assimilated himself to the same species of bird, becoming respectively a gander in the former version and a male swan in the latter one. In this form, the great god finally managed to mate with the metamorphosed and bird-like Nemesis (pp. 213-214).
The body transforming motif came to influence later European stories, many involving a battle between a magician and his arrogant pupil (folklore index no. 325) (Konstantakos, 2016, p. 208).
The Greek version is very similar to the battle between Erlang and Sun Wukong, for both feature a character fleeing under different magical disguises while being chased by an assailant who undergoes stronger transformations in response. Given the link between Greek and Indian philosophy, I’d wager that there’s some ancient South Asian version of this motif that came to influence Journey to the West. I’m just happy that Monkey wasn’t handled like Nemesis in the final product. That would have been awkward for everyone!
II. Archive
Below, I archive Konstantakos (2016). The first half of the paper is fascinating, while the second is quite repetitive. It takes up a great deal of space analyzing a Near Eastern-influenced version of the motif in the Greek Alexander Romance. Please keep this in mind.
This has been posted for educational purposes. No malicious copyright infringement is intended. If you liked the digital version, please support the official release.
Update: 04-10-22
I’ve mentioned in this article (section 3) that the Bull Demon King‘s story arc shares many similarities with Sun Wukong’s. He too has a battle of transformations, but instead of Erlang, his opponent is the Monkey King. Chapter 61 reads:
[…] Unable to enter the cave, the old Bull turned swiftly and saw Eight Rules and Pilgrim rushing toward him. He became so flustered that he abandoned his armor and his iron rod; with one shake of his body, he changed into a swan and flew into the air.
[…]
Putting away his golden-hooped rod, the Great Sage shook his body and changed into a Manchurian vulture, which spread its wings and darted up to a hole in the clouds. It then hurtled down and dropped onto the swan, seeking to seize its neck and peck at the eyes. Knowing also that this was a transformation of Pilgrim Sun, the Bull King hurriedly flapped his wings and changed himself into a yellow eagle to attack the vulture. At once Pilgrim changed himself into a black phoenix, the special foe of the yellow eagle. Recognizing him, the Bull King changed next into a white crane which, after a long cry, flew toward the south. Pilgrim stood still, and shaking his feathers, changed into a scarlet phoenix that uttered a resounding call. Since the phoenix was the ruler of all the birds and fowl, the white crane dared not touch him. Spreading wide his wings, he dived instead down the cliff and changed with one shake of the body into a musk deer, grazing rather timorously before the slope. Recognizing him, Pilgrim flew down also and changed into a hungry tiger which, with wagging tail and flying paws, went after the deer for food. Greatly flustered, the demon king then changed into a huge spotted leopard to attack the tiger. When Pilgrim saw him, he faced the wind and, with one shake of his head, changed into a golden-eyed Asian lion, with a voice like thunder and a head of bronze, which pounced on the huge leopard. Growing even more anxious, the Bull King changed into a large bear, which extended his paws to try to seize the lion. Rolling on the ground, Pilgrim at once turned himself into a scabby elephant, with a trunk like a python and tusks like bamboo shoots. Whipping up his trunk, he tried to catch hold of the bear (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, pp. 156-157).
This fight shows that Sun Wukong learned a lot from his encounter with Erlang, for his transformations are far more fierce in comparison.
Dr. Glen Dudbridge (1938-2017), a British sinologist, was a giant in the field of Journey to the West Studies. His book The Hsi-yu chi: A Study of Antecedents to the Sixteenth-Century Chinese Novel (1970) is the best treatise on the history of this world famous story cycle. It stresses the oral storytelling origin of the tale, including a 13th-century storytelling prompt; 13th-century poetic allusions to the story; a 13th-century stone carving of Monkey in Quanzhou; fragments of the story in the Korean Pak t’ongsa ŏnhae(14th-c.) and Chinese Yongle Encyclopedia (early 15th-c.); mentions of the journey in a 16th-century baojuan; Wuzhiqi and white ape tales and how they may relate to the origin of Sun Wukong; Yuan-Ming Zaju plays about Erlang and Monkey; and it also includes translations and synopses of key texts in the appendixes.
Book Description:
A study of the early versions of the classic Chinese novel known to readers in English as Monkey. Dr Dudbridge examines a long tradition of earlier versions in narrative and dramatic form through which the great episodic cycle slowly took shape. The two main fields of interest are popular culture and folklore and the development of Chinese vernacular literature. Dr Dudbridge provides a very thorough survey of present knowledge about the whole topic and discusses critically a good deal of theorising about it. This is a study for experts. It uses Chinese characters, both in text pages and in the bibliography, which is very extensive. The plates reproduce paintings, carvings and sections of text relevant to the tradition.
This has been posted for educational purposes. No malicious copyright infringement is intended. If you liked the digital version, please support the official release.
Citation:
Dudbridge, G. (1970). The Hsi-yu chi: A Study of Antecedents to the Sixteenth-Century Chinese Novel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
I’m proud to present a PDF of the original edition of Journey to the West anonymously published in 1592 by the Shidetang (世德堂, “Hall of Generational Virtue”) publishing house of Jinling (金陵, “Gold Hill,” a.ka. Nanjing). Titled Newly Printed, Illustrated, Deluxe and Large Character, Journey to the West (Xinke chuxiang guanban dazi Xiyou ji, 新刻出像官板大字西遊記), it features 20 scrolls and 100 chapters (minus the current chapter nine). It contains many charming woodblock prints depicting the events described in the story. For example, this print shows the battle between Monkey and Nezha in their three-headed and six-armed forms.
One doctoral thesis shows that this version is based on an earlier edition of the story titled Newly printed, Completely Illustrated, Chronicle of Deliverances in Sanzang of the Tang’s Journey to the West (Xinqie quanxiang Tang Sanzang Xiyou shi ni (e) zhuan, 新鍥全像唐三藏西遊释尼(厄)傳) in ten scrolls (with three to ten chapters each) by Zhu Dingchen (朱鼎臣) of Yangcheng (羊城, i.e. Guangzhou).
The PDF is quite large at 1.5 gigs, so it will take time to download.
