Tag Chinese mythology

The “Immortal Register” of Journey to the West

Jim R. McClanahan Leave a comment

Last updated: 04-01-2025

Anyone familiar with Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592; “JTTW” hereafter) will remember the event in chapter three where Sun Wukong gains another category of immortality by inking out his name (and those of all other primates) from the “register of births and deaths” (shengsi bu, 生死簿) in hell (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 140-141). But did you know that there is a corresponding book in heaven? The “immortal register” (xianlu, 仙籙) (fig. 1) records the names of all transcendent beings in the realm above. The term is also used in the novel to note official appointments in heaven, thereby designating officeholders as deities. For example, Monkey’s is a random earth immortal [1] until he is appointed the Bimawen, a sort of god of horses. This gives him power over all equines in the JTTW cosmos (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 309; vol. 3, p. 77).

In this article, I would like to quote all mentions of the book or appointment in relation to Sun Wukong. I will also show that the concept is mentioned in Daoist texts as far back as the early-4th-century.

Fig. 1 – Perhaps the immortal register would look something like this stack of modern bamboo strip books (larger version). Image found here.

1. Mentions in JTTW

1.1. Chapter Two

Upon returning home from studying under Patriarch Subodhi, Monkey reveals his new name to his children. His future appointment is then foretold in a couplet:

“My surname is Sun,” replied Wukong, “and my religious name is Wukong.” When the monkeys heard this, they all clapped their hands and shouted happily, “If the great king is Elder Sun, then we are all Junior Suns, Suns the Third, small Suns, tiny Suns—the Sun Family, the Sun Nation, and the Sun Cave!” So they all came and honored Elder Sun with large and small bowls of coconut and grape wine, of divine flowers and fruits. It was indeed one big happy family! Lo,

The surname is one, the self’s returned to its source.
This glory awaits—a name recorded in Heaven [xianlu, 仙籙] (emphasis added)! (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 130)

悟空道：「我今姓孫，法名悟空。」眾猴聞說，鼓掌忻然道：「大王是老孫，我們都是二孫、三孫、細孫、小孫一家孫、一國孫、一窩孫矣！」都來奉承老孫，大盆小碗的椰子酒、葡萄酒、仙花、仙果，真個是合家歡樂。咦！

貫通一姓身歸本，只待榮遷仙籙名。

1.2. Chapter Three

After receiving separate complaints about Monkey’s behavior, Heaven decides to give him a celestial position in order to keep his misadventures in check. A stellar deity is dispatched to invite him to the realm above:

The Gold Star came into the center of the cave and stood still with his face toward the south. “I am the Gold Star of Venus from the West,” he said. “I came down to Earth, bearing the imperial decree of pacification from the Jade Emperor, and invite you to go to Heaven to receive an immortal appointment [xianlu, 仙籙] (emphasis added)” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 144)

金星徑入當中，面南立定道：「我是西方太白金星，奉玉帝招安聖旨，下界請你上天，拜受仙籙。」

1.3. Chapter Four

After receiving his summons, Sun’s cloud somersault carries him to heaven faster than the envoy, and when he attempts to enter, his way is blocked by gate guardians. The aged star eventually arrives to resolve the issue, noting that he doesn’t yet have access because his name hasn’t been added to the celestial record.

“Old man,” said Wukong angrily to his face, “why did you deceive me? You told me that I was invited by the Jade Emperor’s decree of pacification. Why then did you get these people to block the Heaven Gate and prevent my entering?” “Let the Great King calm down,” the Gold Star said, laughing. “Since you have never been to the Hall of Heaven before, nor have you been given a name, you are quite unknown to the various heavenly guardians. How can they let you in on their own authority? Once you have seen the Heavenly Deva, received an appointment, and had your name listed in the Immortal Register [shoule xianlu, zhule guanming, 授了仙籙，注了官名] (emphasis added), you can go in and out as you please. Who would then obstruct your way?” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 145)

悟空就覿面發狠道：「你這老兒，怎麼哄我？被你說奉玉帝招安旨意來請，卻怎麼教這些人阻住天門，不放老孫進去？」金星笑道：「大王息怒。你自來未曾到此天堂，卻又無名，眾天丁又與你素不相識，他怎肯放你擅入？等如今見了天尊，授了仙籙，注了官名，向後隨你出入，誰復擋也？」

He serves as the keeper of the heavenly horses but rage quits upon learning that his rank is the lowest in heaven. But no one tries to stop him from leaving due to his official position:

When the Monkey King heard this, fire leaped up from his heart. “So that’s the contempt they have for old Monkey!” he cried angrily, gnashing his teeth. “At the Flower-Fruit Mountain I was honored as king and patriarch. How dare they trick me into coming to look after horses for them, if horse tending is such a menial service, reserved only for the young and lowly? Is such treatment worthy of me? I’m quitting! I’m quitting! I’m leaving right now!” With a crash, he kicked over his official desk and took the treasure [the staff] out of his ear. One wave of his hand and it had the thickness of a rice bowl. Delivering blows in all directions, he fought his way out of the imperial stables and went straight to the South Heaven Gate. The various celestial guardians, knowing that he had been officially appointed [xianlu, 仙籙] (emphasis added) a BanHorsePlague, did not dare stop him and allowed him to fight his way out of the Heaven Gate (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 149).

猴王聞此，不覺心頭火起，咬牙大怒道：「這般藐視老孫！老孫在那花果山稱王稱祖，怎麼哄我來替他養馬？養馬者，乃後生小輩下賤之役，豈是待我的？不做他，不做他，我將去也。」忽喇的一聲，把公案推倒，耳中取出寶貝，幌一幌，碗來粗細，一路解數，直打出御馬監，徑至南天門。眾天丁知他受了仙籙，乃是個弼馬溫，不敢阻當，讓他打出天門去了。

1.4. Chapter Five

Monkey is offered a second appointment as the Great Sage Equaling Heaven following a brief but tense confrontation with the realm above. And while the term xianlu (仙籙) is not used, the narrative does mention him signing his name in the book:

Now we must tell you that the Great Sage, after all, was a monkey monster; in truth, he had no knowledge of his title or rank, nor did he care for the size of his salary. He did nothing but place his name on the Register [zhu ming, 註名] (emphasis added). At his official residence he was cared for night and day by the attending officials of the two departments. His sole concern was to eat three meals a day and to sleep soundly at night. Having neither duties nor worries, he was free and content to tour the mansions and meet friends, to make new acquaintances and form new alliances at his leisure (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 160).

話表齊天大聖到底是個妖猴，更不知官銜品從，也不較俸祿高低，但只註名便了。那齊天府下二司仙吏，早晚伏侍，只知日食三餐，夜眠一榻，無事牽縈，自由自在。閑時節會友遊宮，交朋結義。

This implies that a transcendent must sign their name each time they take on a new roll.

2. Mentions in Religious Texts

It’s important to note that the immortal register is not the creation of the JTTW author-compiler. It can actually be traced to historical Daoist literature. For instance, the Scripture of the Nine Elixirs (Jiudan jing, 九丹經 , c. 300) describes a deity transferring a mortal’s name from the book of the dead to that of heaven once they ingest the ninth kind of elixir of immortality:

[Following the creation of the elixir…]

At dawn pay obeisance twice toward the sun, and ingest one pill with pure water from a well. It will make your body light, and in one hundred days the hundred diseases will be healed. The Jade Women will become your attendants. The Director of Destinies (Siming) will delete your name from the records of the dead (siji [死籍]) and enter it in the registers of immortality (xianlu [仙錄]).

[Pregadio’s (2006) explanation:] The Director of Destinies is the deity charged with establishing the length of each person’s life on behalf of the Great One (Taiyi). He performs his task by entering the individual’s name in the “records of the dead” or the “registers of immortality.”

You will travel through the air in any direction, and enter and exit the world without interruption. Nobody will be able to hold or restrain you: one moment you will be sitting, and then you will rise up and disappear. Lightly you will ascend riding the clouds, and rise to heaven (Pregadio, 2006, p. 187).

平旦，以井華水，向日再拜，吞一丸，令人身輕，百日百病除愈，玉女來侍，司命消除死籍，名著仙錄，飛行上下，出入無問，不可拘制，坐在立亡，輕舉乘雲，升於天矣。

2.1. Relationship to Sun Wukong

This is really interesting to me because Monkey’s story precisely matches the way the alchemist’s name is switched from one book to the other. His name is removed from the register of births and deaths in chapter three, and then it’s added to the immortal register in chapters four and five. The only difference is that the Great Sage removes his name by force instead of relying on a god to do it for him. Perhaps the author-compiler copied this process in order to lend some authenticity to Sun’s spiritual journey. What do you think?

It would be neat to see the immortal register pop up in fanfiction. Perhaps a fiend sneaks into heaven and steals it (for whatever nefarious reasons). This may seem like an impossible task, but JTTW chapter 63 mentions a spirit covertly infiltrating the realm above and taking celestial medicinal plants (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 192). If this can be done, I’m sure the register can be pilfered, too.

Update: 04-1-25

A user on discord asked me if the immortal register from JTTW influenced a roster from Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen yanyi, 封神演義, c. 1620 CE). The “Roll of Investment” (Fengshen bag, 封神榜) is a preordained list of humans, immortals, and demons chosen to be canonized as gods following the great Shang–Zhou war. My reply—an educated guess—was that both lists were based on the historical register from Daoist literature.

Note:

1) Monkey is one of several types of immortals recognized in JTTW:

Tathagata said, “There are five kinds of immortals in the universe, and they are: the celestial, the earthbound, the divine, the human, and the ghostly” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 115).

如來才道：「周天之內有五仙：乃天、地、神、人、鬼。

This comes from the Zhong-Lu (鍾呂) sect of Quanzhen Daoism. See Kohn (2020, pp. 120-124) for more information about these five immortals.

Sources:

Pregadio, F. (2006). Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China. United States: Stanford University Press.

Kohn, L. (2020). The Zhong-Lü System of Internal Alchemy. Russia: Three Pines Press.

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

Archive #47: The Newly Annotated Journey to the West With Illustrations (Xinshuo Xiyouji (tuxiang), 1749/1888)

Jim R. McClanahan Leave a comment

I. Original Text

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.

Book link

Click to access Journey-to-the-West-Newly-Annotated-by-Zhang-Shushen-Xinshuo-Xiyouji-compressed.pdf

II. Text With Illustrations

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.

Book link

Click to access Journey-to-the-West-Newly-Annotated-With-Illustrations-1888-compressed.pdf

Prints of Zhu Bajie and Sun Wukong from the opening illustrations (larger version).

Note:

1) The Qing versions are noted for having shoehorned Tripitaka‘s life story (chapter nine) into the original 100 chapters of the 1592 edition.

Story Idea: Firearms and the Journey to the West Universe

Jim R. McClanahan 4 Comments

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.

Last updated: 12-03-2024

I am currently reading Gunpowder Technology in the Fifteenth Century: A Study, Edition and Translation of the Firework Book (2024), and this got me thinking: what would the Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592) cosmos be like if there were guns? In this photo essay, I will briefly explore guns in Chinese folk religion, types of historical (mainly handheld) firearms used in ancient China, and, finally, ways that such weapons could be inserted into the narrative.

I. Folk Religion

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.

(Click on the pictures to enlarge them.)

Here’s a version without the cloak.

Even his tangki (spirit-medium) gets a chance to fire off some rounds.

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]

史進每日求王教頭點撥十八般武藝，一一從頭指教。 那十八般武藝？

矛錘弓弩銃，鞭簡(鐧)劍鏈撾，斧鉞並戈戟，牌棒與槍杈。

Perhaps this list influenced the ritual weapons in Vietnam.

II. Historical Firearms in Ancient China

Here is an example of a Yuan-era hand canon, minus the shaft.

Here is a “Three-Eyed Hand Canon” (Sanyan chong, 三眼銃), a three-barreled stick gun used during the Ming Dynasty.

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:

III. 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. This is a clear example of a centuries-old association between firearms and spiritual warfare.

Here’s the full mural.

Now imagine that these weapons are wielded by celestial gunner-soldiers under the command of the “Star of Fiery Virtue” (Huode xingjun, 火德星君), the god of fire. In JTTW chapter 51, his literary troops utilize fire scimitars, fire bows, fire arrows, fire crows, fire horses, red (fire) rats, fire dragons, fire carts, fire gourds, fire banners, and fire rods in battle (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 9). These are just a short step from firearms.

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.

Who would make such weapons? There’s a fun answer for that: Laozi! The novel twice describes him forging mystical weapons belonging to our main characters. For example, Zhu Bajie mentions in chapter 19 that the high god made his rake: “This is divine ice steel greatly refined, / Polished so highly that it glows and shines. / Laozi wielded the large hammer and tong …” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 382). And Monkey claims in chapter 75 that the Daoist Patriarch created his staff: “The rod of steel nine cyclic times refined / Was forged in the stove by Laozi himself” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 375). So, on top of making alchemical medicines, Laozi could be heaven’s celestial gunsmith.

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.

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).

其後，大西洋船至，復得巨砲，曰紅夷。長二丈馀，重者至三千斤，能洞裂石城，震數十里。天啟中，錫以大將軍號，遣官祀之。

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.

Update: 12-03-24

The Japanese Scroll of Battle Between Generations (異代同戱図巻, 17th-century) includes a depiction of Guanyin aiming a flintlock rifle, with the Dragon Girl waiting in attendance behind her.

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.

 

Archive #36 – Sun Wukong and Battles of Magical Transformations

Jim R. McClanahan Leave a comment

Last updated: 04-10-2022

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).

二郎圓睜鳳目觀看，見大聖變了麻雀兒，釘在樹上。就收了法象，撇了神鋒，卸下彈弓。搖身一變，變作個鷂鷹兒，抖開翅，飛將去撲打。大聖見了，颼的一翅飛起去，變作一只大鶿老，沖天而去。二郎見了，急抖翎毛，搖身一變，變作一隻大海鶴，鑽上雲霄來嗛。大聖又將身按下，入澗中，變作一個魚兒，淬入水內。二郎趕至澗邊，不見蹤跡。心中暗想道：「這猢猻必然下水去也，定變作魚蝦之類。等我再變變拿他。」果一變，變作個魚鷹兒，飄蕩在下溜頭波面上，等待片時。那大聖變魚兒，順水正游，忽見一隻飛禽：似青鷂，毛片不青；似鷺鷥，頂上無纓；似老鸛，腿又不紅：「想是二郎變化了等我哩！」急轉頭，打個花就走。二郎看見道：「打花的魚兒：似鯉魚，尾巴不紅；似鱖魚，花鱗不見；似黑魚，頭上無星；似魴魚，鰓上無針。他怎麼見了我就回去了？必然是那猴變的。」趕上來，刷的啄一嘴。那大聖就攛出水中，一變，變作一條水蛇，游近岸，鑽入草中。二郎因嗛他不著，他見水響中，見一條蛇攛出去，認得是大聖。急轉身，又變了一隻朱繡頂的灰鶴，伸著一個長嘴，與一把尖頭鐵鉗子相似，徑來吃這水蛇。水蛇跳一跳，又變做一隻花鴇，木木樗樗的，立在蓼汀之上。二郎見他變得低賤，（花鴇乃鳥中至賤至淫之物，不拘鸞、鳳、鷹、鴉，都與交群）故此不去攏傍。即現原身，走將去，取過彈弓，拽滿，一彈子把他打個躘踵。

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.

Archive link:

Click to access The_Magical_Transformation_Contest_in_t.pdf

Disclaimer:

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.

Sources:

Konstantakos, I. (2016). The Magical Transformation Contest in the Ancient Storytelling Tradition. Estudios griegos e indoeuropeos, 26, 207-234. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/25983449/_The_Magical_Transformation_Contest_in_the_Ancient_Storytelling_Tradition_Cuadernos_de_Filolog%C3%ADa_Cl%C3%A1sica_Estudios_griegos_e_indoeuropeos_26_2016_207_234.

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

Archive #33 – The Hsi-yu chi: A Study of Antecedents to the Sixteenth-Century Chinese Novel (1970)

Jim R. McClanahan 1 Comment

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.

Archive link:

Click to access The-Hsi-yu-chi-A-Study-of-Antecedents-to-the-Sixteenth-Century-Chinese-Novel-1970.pdf

Disclaimer:

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.