The Tang monk Tripitaka (Tang Sanzang, 唐三藏; a.k.a. Xuanzang) is depicted in Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592) as the earthly reincarnation of Master Golden Cicada (Jinchan zi, 金蟬子) (fig. 1), the Buddha’s fictional second disciple. This deity is banished to live out ten pious lives in China until the time comes for him to build merit as the scripture pilgrim, thereby gaining reentry into paradise. His crime of not paying attention to the Buddha’s lectures and subsequent exile to the mortal realm is encapsulated in part of a poem from chapter twelve:
Gold Cicada was his former divine name.
As heedless he was of the Buddha’s talk,
He had to suffer in this world of dust,
To fall in the net by being born a man
[…] (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 275).
Fig. 1 – A modern interpretation of Master Golden Cicada as a literal insect by Taylor-Denna (larger version). See here for the full version and the artist’s statement. Used with permission.
McEvilley‘s (2002) The Shape of Ancient Thought shows that Greek Orphic and Egyptian philosophy also believed in exiling gods from the heavens as a form of punishment. For example, Empedocles (5th c. BCE) wrote of gods being exiled for ten thousand years for the crime of murder or lying under oath. The fallen deity is believed to reincarnate into every creature of land, air, and sea (fig.3), and when their long punishment is up, they are reborn in their last life as a person of high culture, such as royalty, religious leaders, and scholars. They then return to their former heavenly station upon death (McEvilley, 2002, p. 106). Plato (5th to 4th c. BCE) specifically mentions the god undergoing ten reincarnations interspersed with thousand-year-long periods of afterlife reward or punishment (McEvilley, 2002, p. 108). The multiples of ten mentioned here fascinate me as they relate to the number of Tripitaka’s incarnations.
Fig. 3 – A symbolic painting showing the course of life, death, and reincarnation (larger version). Artist unknown.
McEvilley (2002) continues by tracing these and related Greek and Indian beliefs to the Egyptian Book of the Dead:
The deceased must somehow be regarded as a king or prince before he is eligible to “get thee back to the heights of heaven.” Thus Ani declares, “I am crowned like unto the king of the gods, and I shall not die a second time in the underworld.” Again, the prayer is made, “May Osiris, the scribe Ani, be a prince … and may the meat offerings and the drink offerings of Osiris Ani, triumphant, be apportioned unto him.” “I am crowned,” Ani claims, “I am become a shining one, I am mighty, I am become holy among the gods.” “I am the prince of eternity.” “May it be granted that I pass on among the holy princes,” Ani prays, and he is reassured: “The god Tmu hath decreed that [Ani’s] course shall be among the holy princes.” “Horus,” the Book of the Dead says, “was like unto a prince of the sacred bark, and the throne of his father was given unto him.”
Something very like the doctrine of Empedocles is suggested, and possibly related to it as forerunner. The ba, which was once a god among the other gods, descends to earth, that is, into a body, in order to right some wrong it has done in the past; either it descended as a pharaoh or it has somehow been processed through nature for long ages until it has purified itself sufficiently to be reborn as a pharaoh; after its purification it is ready to return to the company of the gods in heaven, and this is signified by the status as pharaoh. Empedocles said the final incarnation was as a prince, a poet, or a healer. Plato said the last reincarnation was as a philosopher—but he meant philosophers to be kings. They both may be echoing an Egyptian idea either that gods are incarnated only as pharaohs or that the last incarnation is as a pharaoh. A parallel is found in the Hindu caste system, in the idea that only brahmans can attain moksa—that is, “become Osiris”; the soul must reincarnate upward through the castes before it is in position to get off the wheel.
The nature of the primal crime or ancient wrong which the soul “descended on to the earth” to set right is not clearly stated, as it is not in the Greek versions of the myth, where it is either left undefined or ambiguously declared to be either perjury or bloodshed. The Egyptian texts dwell repeatedly on this subject, but with an ambiguity not unlike that of the Greek texts. Various clues in the Greek tradition indicate that the crime which the Orphic was attempting to expiate was either the ancient war of the Titans against the gods, for which they were exiled from heaven and imprisoned in Tartarus, or their rending and devouring of Dionysus Zagreus, or both. (In the Greek tradition, as West says, “The Titans are by definition the banished gods, the gods who have gone out of this world.”) The Egyptian texts may foreshadow the Greek myth of the Titans when they refer to a primal rebellion of one group of gods against another. “O ye gods of the underworld,” Osiris Ani says, “who set yourselves up against me, and who resist the mighty ones …” Again, he says:
Hail, Thoth! What is it that hath happened unto the holy children of Nut? They have done battle, they have upheld strife, they have done evil, they have created the fiends, they have made slaughter, they have caused trouble; in truth, in all their doings the mighty have worked against the weak …I am not one of those who work iniquity in their secret places; let not evil happen unto me.
The children of Nut include Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. When Ani claimed “before Isis I was,” he was dissociating himself from this contentious generation of deities in which the primal murder of Osiris by Set occurred, and claiming to have been one among the earlier generation, the “gods of the first time.” But there are also suggestions that the crime might be Set’s dismemberment of Osiris, whom Ani, in his role as Horus, avenger of his father, has to reconstitute to make reparation. Ani, in other words, might be expiating either or both of the Egyptian versions of the crimes of the Titans, and part of his strategy in doing so is to claim that he belongs to the earlier generation of gods (pp.131-133).
So the crime of murderous rebellion or bearing a false oath became inattentiveness to the Buddha’s teachings in Journey to the West. And the gods of ancient Greece and Egypt became a son of Buddha punished to ten reincarnations as a mortal, his last one as a holy monk. This final point mirrors the concept of the last incarnation being a grand one as a king or holy person.
How these beliefs or related proto-beliefs came to China is unknown to me. If pressed, I would venture it involved some Buddhist text containing an ancient Indian arm of this philosophy.
2. Connection to the Other Pilgrims
I can’t pass up the opportunity to mention how this also relates to the other pilgrims, who are portrayed as former gods exiled from heaven for some offense. In place of several rounds of reincarnation, they are (among other punishments) forced to serve as Tripitaka’s guardians, protecting him from leagues of demons wanting to jump ahead in the cosmic hierarchy by eating the monk’s flesh and gaining immortality. Marshal Tianpeng (Zhu Bajie) is banished for drunkenly forcing himself on the Moon goddess and reborn as a grotesque pig spirit (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 212) (fig. 2). The Curtain-Raising General (Sha Wujing) is banished for breaking a treasure cup at a heavenly banquet and reborn as a monstrous water spirit plagued by a magic sword that stabs at him weekly (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 209-210). [1] The dragon prince, son of the Western Sea Dragon King Aorun, is banished for burning a heavenly pearl (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 213-214), but in place of execution, he agrees to transform into a dragon horse (a kind of rebirth) and serve as Tripitaka’s mount (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 328). And even Sun Wukong is banished for his rebellion (the divine crime mentioned above) and punished to imprisonment under Five Elements Mountain. It’s interesting to note that one scholar suggests this punishment represents a symbolic death, leading to his eventual reincarnation (see Shao, 1997). (I’d like to add Sun’s additional punishment of eating a hellish diet of molten copper and hot iron balls speaks to a transitional period of afterlife punishment.) And once the pilgrims complete their penance (i.e. the journey), all are welcomed back into heaven, in this case the Buddha’s paradise.
Fig. 2 – A Taiwanese stamp featuring Zhu Bajie and the moon goddess.
I’ve archived a paper suggesting that Sun Wukong and Erlang’s magic battle of transformations was influenced by ancient Greek (and by extension Near Eastern) stories.
I’ve written an article recording other examples of Buddhist deities from Chinese fiction being exiled from heaven much like those in Greek philosophy.
1) It could be argued that Zhu and Sha do not reincarnate but simply take on monstrous forms upon being banished to earth because they still retain their memories, weapons, and magical skills. But maybe, as immortals, they are able to affect their own rebirth by directing the final destination of their primal spirit, thereby bypassing the normal mode of reincarnation that results in the loss of memory. An example of this is the rogue immortal Huaguang (華光) from Journey to the South (Nanyouji, 南遊記, pre-1590), who is reborn several times and still has memories of his past and access to his holy weapons.
Sources:
McEvilley, T. (2002). The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies. New York: Allworth.
The historical Buddhist monk Xuanzang (玄奘, 602-664) is famous for having traveled to India between 629 and 645 in order to supplement the Chinese Buddhist canon with fresh scriptures (see here). As his legend grew, an embellished story cycle began referring to him as Tang Sanzang (唐三藏; lit: “Tripitaka (“Three Baskets”) of the Tang Dynasty Clan”), and as early as the 11th century, he acquired a divine monkey disciple who would later become Sun Wukong (孫悟空). The cleric eventually gained his own supernatural background, for evidence shows that he was worshiped as an Arhat (Luohan, 羅漢; Zunzhe, 尊者), a Buddhist saint, by the Song Dynasty (960–1127 CE) (Liu, 2019). A Yuan-Ming zaju stage production plays on this concept by depicting Tripitaka as the reincarnation of the Arhat Vairocana (Pulujia zunzhe, 毗廬伽尊者) (Dudbridge, 1970, p. 193). [1] This saintly status was further embellished in Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592), the culmination of his story cycle, where the character is cast as the earthly reincarnation of Master Golden Cicada (Jinchan zi, 金蟬子), the Buddha’s fictional second disciple.
In this article, I would like to discuss the Golden Cicada, including the story details explaining his background and the origin of his title. I ultimately suggest that the term was chosen because the celestial’s banishment to Earth and eventual return to paradise recalls the metamorphic lifecycle of the real life insect.
Chapter twelve contains a poem introducing Tripitaka as the chosen pilgrim and reveals his heavenly origin. The first part reads:
Gold Cicada was his former divine name. As heedless he was of the Buddha’s talk, He had to suffer in this world of dust, To fall in the net by being born a man […] (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 275).
Details about the extent of the former celestial’s punishment is revealed throughout the book. For instance, in chapter 33, a demon explains the source of the heavenly aura [2] around Tripitaka:
That Tang Monk is actually the incarnation of the Elder Gold Cicada, a virtuous man who has practiced austerities for ten existences (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 105).
Furthermore, in chapter 100 the Buddha tells his former disciple:
Because you failed to listen to my exposition of the law and slighted my great teaching, your true spirit was banished to find another incarnation in the Land of the East. Happily you submitted and, by remaining faithful to our teaching [Buddhism], succeeded in acquiring the true scriptures (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 4, p. 381).
So, we learn that the Golden Cicada was banished to live out ten pious lives in China until the time came for him to build merit as the scripture pilgrim, thereby gaining reentry into paradise.
2. Title Origin
Yu (2008) alludes to chapter 99 explaining the source of the name Golden Cicada (p. 110). I can’t find such an overt explanation, but the chapter does mention the monk miraculously surviving drowning after being dumped by a disgruntled river turtle[3] into a heavenly river, along with his disciples and the hard-won scriptures. The novel exclaims:
Ah! It was fortunate that the Tang Monk had cast off his mortal frame and attained the way. If he were like the person he had been before, he would have sunk straight to the bottom (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 4, p. 363).
The “cast[ing] off of his body” (tuotai, 脫胎) is reminiscent of the way in which the real life insect sloughs off its shell (fig. 1). If this is what Yu was referring to, I think this is but one part of the puzzle.
Fig. 1 – A newly formed cicada clinging to its shell (larger version).
I suggest that the author-compiler of Journey to the West chose the cicada imagery for the symbolic nature of its life cycle. Munsterberg (1972) describes the insect’s role in ancient Chinese religion:
Cicadas carved in jade are frequently found in graves of the Han period [fig. 2]. Since the cicada hatches above ground, spends a long period underground, and finally emerges as if in rebirth, these burial tokens were probably intended to induce resurrection by sympathetic magic (p. 32).
The Golden Cicada’s life follows this cycle very closely: the celestial being resides above in the Western Paradise, is banished below for an extended period of time, and is only allowed back into the celestial realm after a metamorphosis.
The lifesaving transformation previously referred to by Guanyin takes place in chapter 98 when Tripitaka and his disciples are ferried across a heavenly river in a bottomless boat on their way to the Western Paradise:
All at once they saw a corpse floating [fig. 3] down upstream, the sight of which filled the elder [Tripitaka] with terror.
“Don’t be afraid, Master,” said Pilgrim [Sun Wukong], laughing. “It’s actually you!”
“It’s you! It’s you!” said Eight Rules [Zhu Bajie] also.
Clapping his hands, Sha Monk also said, “It’s you! It’s you!”
Adding his voice to the chorus, the boatman also said, “That’s you! Congratulations! Congratulations!” Then the three disciples repeated this chanting in unison as the boat was punted across the water. In no time at all, they crossed the Divine Cloud-Transcending Ferry all safe and sound. Only then did Tripitaka turn and skip lightly onto the shore. We have here a testimonial poem, which says:
Delivered from their mortal flesh and bone, A primal spirit of mutual love has grown. Their work done, they become Buddhas this day, Free of their former six-six senses sway (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 4, pp. 345-346). [4]
Here, we see Tripitaka has shed his mortal form to become a Buddha just like the cicada sheds its shell to grow wings and fly. The monk has freed himself from the endless cycle of birth and death to achieve nirvana.
The Thirty-Six Stratagems (Sanshiliu ji, 三十六計, c. 5th-6th-cent.), a collection of military, political, and civil tactics, contains a plan known as “The Golden Cicada Sheds its Shell” (Jinchan tuoke, 金蟬脫殼), which entails leaving a decoy that distracts the enemy while the losing force is retreating. I’m not sure if this directly influenced the celestial’s title, but it at least shows that the name was known long before Journey to the West was published.
The strategy is actually used by a tiger demon in chapter 20:
Whipping out the iron rod, Pilgrim [Sun Wukong] shouted, “Catch him!” Eight Rules [Zhu Bajie] at once attacked with even greater ferocity, and the monster fled in defeat. “Don’t spare him,” yelled Pilgrim. “We must catch him!” Wielding rod and rake, the two of them gave chase down the mountain. In panic, the monster resorted to the trick of the gold cicada casting its shell (emphasis added): he rolled on the ground and changed back into the form of a tiger. Pilgrim and Eight Rules would not let up. Closing in on the tiger, they intended to dispose of him once and for all. When the monster saw them approaching, he again stripped himself of his own hide and threw the skin over a large piece of rock, while his true form changed into a violent gust of wind heading back the way he had come. (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 401).
I would like to further suggest that the name Master Golden Cicada (Jinchan zi, 金蟬子) might have been chosen to serve as a pun for “child or student of Chan” (Chanzi, 禪子) (fig. 4). While the historical Xuanzang was the patriarch of the Yogacara school of Chinese Buddhism (Robert & David, 2013, pp. 1015-1016), the novel closely associates him with Chan:
The depiction of the novelistic Xuanzang surely and constantly associates him and his entourage with Chan. Revealing examples can readily be found in both narrative content and such titular couplets as “Tripitaka does not forget his origin; / The Four Sages test the Chan Mind” (chapter 2[3]); “The Child’s tricky transformations confuse the Chan Mind; / Ape, Horse, Spatula, and Wood Mother-all are lost” (chapter 40); “The Chan Lord, taking food, has demonic conception; / Yellow Dame brings water to dissolve perverse pregnancy” (chapter 53); “Rescuing Tuoluo, Chan Nature is secure; / Escaping defilement, the Mind of Dao is pure” (chapter 67); “Mind Monkey envies Wood Mother; / The demon lord plots to devour Chan” (chapter 85); and “Chan, reaching Jade-Flower, convenes an assembly; / Mind Monkey, Wood, and Earth take in disciples” (chapter 88) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 64-65).
If true, this would mean that the cicada-like spiritual transformation is based around a pun.
Fig. 4 – The similarities in form and pronunciation of chanzi (larger version).
This seems like such an obvious connection that I wouldn’t be surprised if someone else beat me to the conclusion by decades or even centuries.
Update: 08-29-20
Art historian Jin Xu posted a picture of a 6th century stone bodhisattva statue on twitter, and I was interested to see a cicada adorning the headdress (fig. 5 & 6). One essay about the statue suggests it was commissioned by an aristocratic layman since cicadas are known to have decorated the caps of high-ranking officials:
Another noteworthy characteristic of this superb sculpture is the cicada-shaped decoration on the front of the crown. To date, there are no other known Chinese Buddhist sculptural examples of this kind. However, cicada images can be found on gold mountain-shaped crown plaques that also are embellished with thin gold wire and granulation; these have been excavated from the tomb of Ping Sufu of the Northern Yan period (A.D. 409-436), and seated Buddha images were molded onto the back face of these crown ornaments. These excavated materials would have been made some one hundred years before the present image and suggest that there were members of the aristocracy who revered Buddhism and hid Buddha images on the backs of their crowns. This suggests the possibility that the Shumei bodhisattva, with a cicada in place of a Buddha image, was created at the request of a member of the aristocracy who revered Buddhism and believed in the philosophy that the Emperor is the living Buddha, which may have dated back to the Northern court (Standing Bodhisattva, n.d.).
The sculpture didn’t influence Tripitaka’s title as the Golden Cicada Elder. But it’s still fascinating to see a real world connection between the insect and a bodhisattva.
Fig. 5 – The 6th century Bodhisattva statue with a cicada decorating the crown (larger version). From Qingzhou Museum in Shandong province, China. Fig. 6 – A detail of the insect (larger version).
Update: 09-13-20
Deviantart user Taylor-Denna has drawn a beautiful depiction of Tripitaka’s former incarnation as a literal cicada (fig. 6). It is quite unique as I’ve never seen any other artist portray the former celestial in such a way. The image makes one think of an insect who acquired magic powers through spiritual cultivation and rose through the Buddho-Daoist hierarchy to become the Buddha’s disciple. The idea would make a good prequel story.
Fig. 6 – Detail of Master Golden Cicada by Taylor-Denna (larger version). Click here for the full version and the artist’s statement. Used with permission.
Update: 12-01-21
I’ve archived a book that shows how Tripitaka’s exile from heaven is similar to ancient Greek and Egyptian beliefs.
In chapter 81, Monkey alludes to his master’s past life, adding to the reason why the celestial had been exiled to Earth:
“You don’t realize that Master was the second disciple of our Buddha Tathagata, and originally he was called Elder Gold Cicada. Because he slighted the Law, he was fated to experience this great ordeal.”
“Elder Brother,” said Eight Rules, […] “Why must he endure sickness [for two days] as well?”
“You wouldn’t know about this,” replied Pilgrim. “Our old master fell asleep while listening to Buddha expounding the Law. As he slumped to one side, his left foot kicked down one grain of rice. That is why he is fated to suffer three days’ illness after he has arrived at the Region Below.”
Horrified, Eight Rules said, “The way old Hog sprays and splatters things all over when he eats, I wonder how many years of illness I’d have to go through!”
“Brother,” said Pilgrim, “you have no idea either that the Buddha is not that concerned with you and other creatures. But as people say:
Rice stalks planted in noonday sun Take root as perspiration runs. Who knows of this food from the soil Each grain requires most bitter toil?
Master still has one more day to go, but he’ll be better by tomorrow” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 4, p. 82).
This points to the supreme importance of rice in an agrarian society like ancient China.
Fig. 10 – “Break the Cycle” by Countingclowns (larger version). The original can be seen here.
3.1. Historical Origin
Update: 06-03-23
Tripitaka’s past celestial life and punishment appear to be based on information from Xuanzang’s historical life story, A Biography of the Tripitaka Master of the Great Ci’en Monastery of the Great Tang Dynasty (Datang Da Ci’ensi Sanzang Fashi zhuan, 大唐大慈恩寺三藏法師傳, 7th century). After his death, a spirit extolls the monk’s virtues, as well as reveals the karmic result of his afterlife:
The Venerable Xuanzang alone cultivated the deeds of both blessedness and wisdom in nine lives. In every incarnation he was always learned and erudite, intelligent and eloquent, always the first and foremost in the land of Cīna in Jambudvīpa. Such were his blessed virtues also. […] Owing to the power of his good deeds, he has now been reborn in the inner court of Maitreya in the Tuṣita Heaven, where he will hear the Dharma with comprehension and understanding, and he will never again be born in the human world (Huili & Shi, 1995, p. 336).
Like Tripitaka, Xuanzang has nine prior pious past lives, and like Master Golden Cicada, he comes to live in a paradise where he can listen to a Buddha lecture on the Dharma. The novel simply changes some of the details, like Xuanzang’s final rebirth in paradise being a previous life, and instead of Maitreya, he studies under the historical Buddha.
4. Updates (continued)
Update: 06-04-23
Brose (2021) mentions a small temple in Taipei, Taiwan where one of Xuanzang’s avatars, the bodhisattva Nine Lotuses (Jiulian pusa, 九蓮菩薩) is worshiped. [5] What’s important for this article is that the deity’s mythos, as recounted by a temple master, alludes to the Golden Cicada’s story:
[Xuanzang], she explained, originally lived in a heavenly Buddha realm, but because his cultivation was incomplete, he was sent down to earth to perform the meritorious task of bringing Buddhist sūtras from India to China. Once his work was complete, Xuanzang was able to return to the Buddha realm, but out of compassion for the world, he left a portion of his spirit behind in the form of Nine Lotuses (Brose, 2021, pp. ix-x).
Update: 04-09-24
In chapter 27, the white bone spirit also comments on the monk’s past life and the effects of eating his flesh:
“What luck! What luck!” she said, unable to contain her delight. “For several years my relatives have been talking about a Tang Monk from the Land of the East going to fetch the Great Vehicle. He is actually the incarnation of the Gold Cicada, and he has the original body that has gone through the process of self-cultivation during ten previous existences. If a man eats a piece of his flesh, his age will be immeasurably lengthened. So, this monk has at last arrived today!” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, 17).
Recall that the 01-14-23 update quotes the fullest description of events leading to Master Golden Cicada’s banishment from paradise: he falls asleep during a sermon and accidentally kicks something, causing a single grain of rice to fall to the ground. Well, I’m reading a biography of the Buddha and learned that his family has a connection to rice:
Sakyamuni’s father was called Suddhodana. The name means “pure rice” or “white rice.” In Chinese it is translated as Ching-fan-wang [[Jingfan wang, 淨飯王;] king of pure rice]. Legend says that the names of his four younger brothers all contained the element meaning “rice” (odana). These names suggest that the Sakyas were already cultivating rice and that they particularly valued white rice (Nakamura, 2000, vol. 1, p. 46).
This might explain the Buddha’s reaction.
4.1. Historical Origin – 2
Update: 01-25-25
To recap, Journey to the West casts the Tang Monk Tripitaka as the last incarnation of Master Golden Cicada (Jinchan zi, 金蟬子), the second disciple of the Buddha who is exiled from paradise for falling asleep during his master’s sermon. Chapter 81 adds a second crime: kicking something in his slumber and making a single grain of rice fall to the ground.
This leads me to the point of this post. A reader contacted me the other day asking if Sariputra (Sk: शारिपुत्र; Pali: Sariputta; Ch. Shelifu, 舍利弗), one of the Buddha’s ten primary disciples, was the basis for Master Golden Cicada since he was known for having a golden glow about him. A cursory search didn’t turn up anything connecting them, but thanks to the reader’s prompt, I kept digging and was interested to learn that another disciple of Tathagata, Aniruddha (Sk: अनुरुद्ध; Pali: Anuruddha; Ch: Analu, 阿那律) (fig. 11), was known to have fallen asleep during the Enlightened One’s lessons.
According to monk Jiaoguang’s (交光, fl. 1600) Dafo Dingshou Lengyan Jing Zhengmai Shuxu (大佛頂首楞嚴經正脉疏序, T. 275):
Analu [Aniruddha] then stood up, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said to him respectfully …
[Commentary:] Changshui [6] says: Nalu, namely Anouloutuo, which means “free of poverty,” was a Rice Prince. He gave a meal to a Solitary Buddha in a past life and enjoyed happiness for 91 kalpas.
… “When I first entered the monastic life, I was too fond of sleep. The Thus-Come One admonished me, saying that I was no better than an animal. After the Buddha scolded me, I rebuked myself and wept. For seven days I did not sleep, and as a result I went blind in both eyes.”
[Commentary:] Gushan [7] says: According to the Ekottara Agama, the Buddha was preaching the Law in Jetavana when Nalu fell asleep. The Buddha spoke in verse: “Tut-tut … Why are you sleeping? River snails, mussels, clams and the like sleep for a thousand years, never hearing the names of Buddhas.” Thereupon, Nalu made it known that he would never sleep again, and he soon lost his sight. [8]
The term “Rice Prince” (Bifan wangzi, 白飯王子) refers to the fact that Aniruddha was the cousin of the Buddha and a fellow grandson of King Sihahanu, whose sons, including the Buddha’s father (as mentioned above), all had the suffix odana (“rice”) as part of their names. Aniruddha’s father was Amitodana (“Unmeasured Rice”) (Nakamura, 2000, vol. 1, p. 46; Harvey, 2013, p. 117; Thomas, 1931/2013, p. 24).
Therefore, we have a Buddhist disciple who dozes off during the Buddha’s sermon and has an association with rice. This makes Aniruddha the best possible influence for Master Golden Cicada that I’ve seen. The story goes back to at least the 4th century Zengyi ahan jingxu (增壹阿含經序, T. 125), so it would have been around long enough to eventually influence Journey to the West.
I need to point out, however, that I’m not the first person to write about this. While I was finishing typing this update, I came across this article, which mentions Aniruddha in passing. But to my credit, I actually cited the historical Buddhist literature involved.
Fig. 11 – A colored relief of the Buddha helping his blind disciple sew a new robe (larger version). Image found here.
Update: 02-13-25
I just thought of a way to work Aniruddha into JTTW lore: In chapter eight of the Lotus Sutra (Miaofa lianhua jing, 妙法蓮華經; a.k.a. Fahua jing, 法華經, c. 3rd century), the Buddha mentions our tired friend among a list of 500 Arhats who will attain perfect enlightenment and share the same holy title:
In our headcanon, Master Golden Cicada could be the celestial title of the Arhat Aniruddha, but his sleeping episode instead takes place in heaven. In addition, “Universal Brightness” (Puming, 普明) could just be a classification of Buddha, thus allowing for his Tripitaka avatar to receive the individualized title “Buddha of Candana Merit” (Zhantan gongde fo, 旃檀功德佛) at the end of his quest.
Update: 02-19-25
Something just dawned on: although I’ve always considered Master Golden Cicada to be a bodhisattva, the novel never specifically calls him that. So what is his actual spiritual rank then? Several pieces of Information point to him being an Arhat.
First, recall that the introduction to this article reads:
The cleric [Xuanzang] eventually gained his own supernatural background, for evidence shows that he was worshiped as an Arhat (Luohan, 羅漢; Zunzhe, 尊者), a Buddhist saint, by the Song Dynasty (960-1127 CE) (Liu, 2019). A Yuan-Ming zaju stage production plays on this concept by depicting Tripitaka as the reincarnation of the Arhat Vairocana (Pulujia zunzhe, 毗廬伽尊者) (Dudbridge, 1970, p. 193).
This shows that the Tang Monk was already closely associated with Arhats in the past. Second, something I learned but forgot to mention here is that Tripitaka Seeks the Scriptures (Sanzang qujing, 三藏取經), a rare Yuan-Ming puppet play that predates the 1592 JTTW, even refers to the cleric’s past life as the “Golden Chan Arhat” (Jinchan luohan, 金禪羅漢). (This implies that chan (蟬, “cicada”) was based on the Chan (禪) of Chan Buddhism, thereby supporting my suggestion from the 12-08-18 update.) Third, as mentioned above, Golden Cicada was likely based on the Arhat Aniruddha, one of the Buddha’s ten principal disciples, who was reprimanded by his master for dozing off during a lesson. And fourth, the Arhats Ananda (A’nuo, 阿儺) and Kasyapa (Jiaye, 伽葉), two other principle Buddha disciples, also appear among the Enlightened One’s heavenly retinue in JTTW (chapters 7, 8, 77, 98, 99, & 100). Therefore, taken together, this info is a strong indication that the novel’s author-compiler intended Golden Cicada to be an Arhat.
Because of this, I’ve updated the article by removing any previous references to him as a bodhisattva.
Update: 02-21-25
I posted a summary of my last update to Twitter, and a follower commented that Golden Cicada wouldn’t have been able to reincarnate like bodhisattvas if he was really an Arhat. This is based on Buddhist belief. For instance, Buswell and Lopez (2014) briefly explain: [T]he arhat is one who has attained nirvāṇa in this life, and at death attains final liberation ([parinirvāṇa]) and will never again be subject to rebirth” (p. 62). But I reminded them that JTTW is not an accurate snapshot of mainstream beliefs by pointing to two instances from past media (mentioned above) where Tripitaka is the reincarnation of an Arhat. Here, I translate the pertinent sections.
I. The Yuan-Ming JTTW zaju play
Guanyin reveals the monk’s divine origins in act one:
At present, the Western Land of India has the “Golden Scriptures of the Great Repository” in 5,480 volumes. We desire to transmit them to the Eastern Lands (i.e. China), but how can we help propagate them if we don’t have the illusory, corporal body of a genuine person? Currently, the various Buddhas are discussing what to do, and they have decided that the Arhat Vairocana of the Western Heaven will be reborn (tuohua, 托化) as a son to Chen Guangrui’s family in Hongnong County, Haizhou, China. When he grows up, he will leave the family to become a monk and travel to the Western Heaven to retrieve scriptures. He will (later) spread the teachings.
You can see here that there are no negative reasons for his reincarnation. This differs from the next source.
II. The Yuan-Ming JTTW puppet play
Tripitaka describes being born (chushi, 出世) to father Chen Guangrui and a beautiful, nameless mother in scene one (see page 1 of this PDF). His celestial origin is later revealed by “Equaling Heaven” (Qitian, 齊天; i.e. Monkey) in scene six:
The Golden Chan Arhat descended to earth (jiangshi, 降世) because he privately went to the lantern fruit festival without reporting this to the temple sangha, causing the Buddha to punish him to 36 tribulations, including journeying to the Western Heaven to acquire scriptures. After suffering over countless days, he finally returned to the right fruit (i.e. achieved enlightenment).
… 金禪羅漢降世，因私赴燈果會，不報寺中眾僧，佛罰伊過三十六劫，往西天取經。苦難滿日，修歸正果。(see page 9 of this PDF)
Having read the above, I think Master Golden Cicada’s Arhatship is now fully established as fact within the JTTW story cycle.
5. Updates (continued) – 2
Update: 08-03-25
The notion that Arhats fall asleep is exemplified by the “Dreaming/Sleeping Arhat Fist” (Shuimeng luohan quan, 睡梦罗汉拳) from the 1992 HK film King of Beggars (Wu zhuangyuan Su qi’er, 武状元苏乞儿; lit: “Top Martial Scholar: Beggar Su”; video 1).
Video #1 – The scene where Beggar Su displays his new-found boxing abilities.
2) This heavenly aura is also mentioned by Sun Wukong later in chapter 80 (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 4, p. 66).
3) The turtle had previously helped the pilgrims cross the same river in chapter 34, and in return they agreed to ask the Buddha when the terrapin would be allowed to achieve human form (for all creatures strive for such an attainment). But Tripitaka forgot to ask the Enlightenment One while visiting the Western paradise, so the turtle dumped them into the river upon their return.
4) The six-six senses (liuliu chen, 六六塵) are “the intensified form of the six gunas, the six impure qualities engendered by the objects and organs of sense: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and idea” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 4, p. 405 n. 7).
5) Brose (2021), however, explains that this goddess “is usually identified as the divinized form of a Ming Dynasty empress dowager” (p. ix).
6) The monk Changshui (長水), a.k.a. Zixuan (子璿; 965-1038), was the compiler of the Shou lengyan yanyi shu zhu jing (首楞嚴義疏注經, T. 1799) (Sorenson, 2011, p. 39).
7) Gushan (孤山), a.k.a. Zhiyuan (智圓; 976-1022), wrote a commentary for the Shou lengyan jing shu (首楞嚴經疏) (McBride, 2016, pp. 144-145 n. 238).
8) The translation of the commentary is mine, while the rest comes from Buddhist Text Translation Society & Hsuan (2012, p. 210).
Sources:
Brose, B. (2021). Xuanzang: China’s Legendary Pilgrim and Translator. Boulder, Colorado: Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Buddhist Text Translation Society & Hsuan, H. (2012). The Surangama Sutra: A New Translation with Excerpts from the Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua. (n.p.): Buddhist Text Translation Society.
Buswell, R. E. , & Lopez, D. S. (2014). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press.
Harvey, P. (2013). Buddha, Family Of. In C. S. Prebish & D. Keown (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Buddhism (pp. 117-121). United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.
Huili, & Shi, Y. (1995). A Biography of the Tripitaka Master of the Great Ci’en Monastery of the Great Tang Dynasty (L. Rongxi Trans.). Berkeley, CA: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research.
Liu, S. (2019). Songdai Xuanzang de shenghua: Tuxiang, wenwu he yiji [The Sanctification of Xuanzang in the Song Dynasty: Images, Artifacts and Remains]. Zhonghua wenshi luncong, 133, 161-219.
McBride, R. D. (2016). Doctrine and Practice in Medieval Korean Buddhism: The Collected Works of Ŭich’ŏn. Germany: University of Hawaii Press.
Munsterberg, H. (1972). The Arts of China. Rutland, Vt: C.E. Tuttle Co.
Sorenson, H. H. (2011). Textual Material Relating to Esoteric Buddhism in China Outside the Taisho, vol. 18-21. In C. D. Orzech, H. H. Sorensen, & R. K. Payne (Eds.), Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia (pp. 37-70). Netherlands: Brill.
