I consider one of my greatest accomplishments on this blog to be discovering the origin of Sun Wukong’s golden headband. This would not have been possible without reading about the Hevajra Tantra (8th-century) in Robert Nelson Linrothe’s (1999) Ruthless Compassion: Wrathful Deities in Early Indo-Tibetan Esoteric Buddhist Art. This amazing study analyzes Esoteric Buddhist statues and texts to trace the evolution of these guardians from mere dwarf attendants to mighty warrior gods endowed with the power of the Five Wisdom Buddhas. This is a great resource for anyone researching religious art involving wrathful guardians in Buddhism, Daoism, and of course Chinese folk religion, for the iconography of these divine warriors spread far and wide.
I am sharing a PDF of the book found on libgen for the benefit of other scholars. The black and white portions of the book appear to be based on a xeroxed copy. However, there are full color plates in the back.
Book description:
Buddhists believe that the wrathful spirits represent inherent qualities of our own, and that meditating on them can transmute the otherwise malevolent sides of our own natures into positive qualities and actions. The wrathful deities also provide precious clues as to the early development of esoteric Buddhism in India, about which few early texts survive. Through careful examination of a large body of images as well as Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Indic texts, this lavishly illustrated volume traces the evolution of the forms and the unfolding significance of the wrathful deity in esoteric Buddhist sculpture.
This work has been posted for educational purposes. No malicious copyright infringement is intended. If you enjoyed the digital version, please support the official release.
Citation:
Linrothe, R. N. (1999). Ruthless Compassion: Wrathful Deities in Early Indo-Tibetan Esoteric Buddhist Art. London: Serindia Publ.
An analysis of historical, transcultural, and transmedia adaptation, Transforming Monkey: Adaptation and Representation of a Chinese Epic examines the ever-changing image of Sun Wukong (aka Monkey, or the Monkey King), in literature and popular culture both in China and the United States. A protean protagonist of the sixteenth century novel Journey to the West (Xiyou ji), the Monkey King’s image has been adapted in distinctive ways for the representation of various social entities, including China as a newly founded nation state, the younger generation of Chinese during the postsocialist period, and the representation of the Chinese and Chinese American as a social “other” in American popular culture. The juxtaposition of various manifestations of the same character in the book present the adaptation history of Monkey as a masquerade, enabling readers to observe not only the masks, but also the mask-wearers, as well as underlying factors such as literary and political history, state ideologies, market economies, issues of race and ethnicity, and politics of representation and cross-cultural translation Transforming Monkey demonstrates the social and political impact of adaptations through the hands of its users while charting the changes to the image of Sun Wukong in modern history and his participation in the construction and representation of Chinese identity. The first manuscript focusing on the transformations of the Monkey King image and the meanings this image carries, Transforming Monkey argues for the importance of adaptations as an indivisible part of the classical work, and as a revealing window to examine history, culture, and the world.
The Journey to the West Research blog is proud to host an entry by our friend Saie Surendra of Hanumovies.com. During the summer of 2019, he was lucky enough to visit several Great Sage Equaling Heaven temples in Fujian Province, China, including those dedicated to him and those hosting small shrines in his honor. This entry will serve as a list of such temples. – Jim
So how did my journey to the various Great Sage Equalling Heaven temples in Fujian begin? I guess I’ll start from the beginning. Growing up, I would often see images or figurines of the Hindu Monkey God Hanuman in fellow Sri Lankan and Indian homes. For those who don’t know, Hanuman is the Indian counterpart of Sun Wukong and potentially the first known Monkey God. I was curious and intrigued and wanted to know more, but I didn’t get many answers from the people I asked. “He protects us and can revive us from bad health” was the most common reply. I researched the many translations of the Ramayana (one of two great Indian epics within which Hanuman appears) and became enchanted by his many amazing feats and achievements. I was a huge film fan growing up, so I became obsessed with the idea of making films based on him. There have been TV adaptations of Hanuman’s story—I wasn’t a fan of the more human-like portrayals—but, sadly, major Indian studios have yet to make a proper movie about him.
Fast-forward to 2008. Jet Li and Jackie Chan star in the kung fu fantasy The Forbidden Kingdom. Looking back now, it isn’t the greatest film ever, but this is when I first met … Sun Wukong (cue the “Dagger House Prelude”). This was a turning point for me, my obsession multiplied tenfold. Since then I have watched tens, if not hundreds, of film and TV adaptations of Sun Wukong. I’ve also read endless articles and books (one example) in an effort to connect the dots between our (Hindu and Buddho-Daoist) ancestors’ worship of monkey deities. I’ve found there are just too many similarities to ignore.
At first, I had never heard of Sun Wukong’s worship, so when I found the one vague article online describing the Monkey King Festival (the 16th day of the 8th lunar month) in Hong Kong, I decided I would go! I didn’t know what to expect when Jim and I met at the Great Sage Treasure Temple (大聖寶廟) in Kowloon in September of 2018, but it was a big moment for me. Crowds of young and old gathered to worship the Great Sage Equalling Heaven; Daoist priests chanted from prayer books; rows of important businesspeople bowed in unison; martial arts schools performed colorful lion dances, each kwoon paying respect to the altar as they passed; giant paper effigies were burnt. It was a veritable feast for the eyes and ears. Through our interviews with the locals, we not only learned that the festival was considered a time for strengthening community bonds and to help those in need, but also that many adherents believed their faith originated in Fujian, more specifically the city of Fuzhou. This of course agrees with what past scholars have written about Sun’s worship in Fujian.
I have a question: If you ever found yourself in heaven, what would you do? You’d take some good videos to show your friends back on Earth, right? So that was the idea; I started making a documentary (video 1) based on the real people I met and the places I visited, saving my film ambitions for later.
Video 1 – Legends of a Monkey God: Episode 1 – Hong Kong
I was restless some months after returning from the Hong Kong Monkey God Festival. It was like experiencing Heaven for a week and then falling back to Earth like a meteor with many unanswered questions. I was unable to sit around in my miserable London life any longer, so I finally decided to travel where Sun’s worship supposedly began … Fuzhou.
Arriving in Fuzhou was like a pilgrimage in itself. Let me say, this was not an easy journey for me, nor for the translator friend I hired due to my poor Mandarin. The Hokkien accent of Fuzhou gave her a hard time. In addition, the many places I had researched and mapped online seemingly didn’t exist. We visited one after another, with the locals appearing clueless about the temples we inquired about. It was almost as if Sun Wukong’s worship was a secret and only initiated members were allowed access to his houses of worship. Now, there is a saying in India that goes: “You can’t just find Him, He has to invite you”. This saying holds true, for when we finally found one of the locations (see temple one below), a person inside told us about a man who could help me on my journey. I thought, “Hang on a minute … was this guy the savior goddess Guanyin? Was he going to introduce me to my … Sun Wukong?”
I was later introduced to Mr. You, the head of several temples, the Pingshan theatre, and the greatest Sun Wukong follower I have ever met. He set aside two whole days to drive us to several Monkey King temples around Fuzhou, during which time I shot video for another documentary (video 2). I wondered whether or not he wanted anything in return. I mean, no one does anything for free, right? It turns out he was more than happy just to share his Sun Wukong with me and invite me into his secret club! He would not accept any gifts from me. I felt like I was the Tang Monk! And here is the thing: Mr. You and his friends didn’t speak a single word of English—in fact, my Mandarin was unbearable to them—yet we somehow managed to communicate and establish a strong friendship between us, “Brothers bound by the love of Monkey”. I promised myself then that I would return with better Mandarin in a Fujian dialect.
Video 2 – Legends of a Monkey God: Episode 3 – Monkey King Temples of Fujian, China
What I took away from this trip was the fact that Sun Wukong is a deity that sits at the intersection of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism. I saw effigies of him in temples of all the “Three Religions”, sometimes shared, sometimes strictly one faith. But the idea of religion in the East is not the same as that in the West. In the East, you find your own path, follow it to your goal; you don’t need to be on the same path as everyone else and no one judges you for making your own way. It’s just like the Indians say: “The destination is the same, paths are many. God is one, names and forms are many”. This ties in with the works of famed mythologist Joseph Campbell, who would call this the many “masks of God”.
II. Temple list
Note: This list is not exhaustive and will be updated periodically. Most importantly, the following GPS coordinates should ONLY be used as a general guideline. It is highly recommended that those wishing to visit these places should hire the services of a knowledgeable guide. I recommend contacting Mr. You (WeChat id: you410631621)
(Note: Mr. You has died, so his WeChat no longer works.)
26°08’54.4″N 119°08’56.9″E 福建省福州市闽侯县军民路 Junmin Rd, Minhou County, Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, China 44XX+9M Ganzhezhen, Minhou, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
I just figured out that the photo links have not worked for several months. This is because my original university gmail account, which hosted the pictures, was shut down. Everything is fixed now.
Note: See the 05-14-22 update for two additional dissertations analyzing Hanuman.
Last updated: 05-14-2022
I previously posted a paper that explores the evidence connecting Sun Wukong with the Hindu monkey god Hanuman. Here, I present a wonderful book that explores Hanuman’s origins, worship, and popular image.
Blurb:
This book offers a comprehensive introduction to one of the most beloved and widely worshiped of Hindu deities: the “monkey-god” Hanuman. It details the historical expansion of Hanuman’s religious status beyond his role as helper to Rama and Sita, the divine hero and heroine of the ancient Ramayana storytelling tradition. Additionally, it surveys contemporary popular literature and folklore through which Hanuman’s mythological biography is celebrated, and describes a range of religious sites and practices that highlight different aspects of his persona. Emphasizing Hanuman’s role as a “liminal” deity who combines animal, human, and divine qualities, and as a “middle-class” god within the Hindu pantheon, the book argues that such mediatory status has made Hanuman especially appealing to upwardly-mobile social groups as well as to Hindus of many sectarian persuasions.
I’d like to update this page with two additional sources, this time written by Arshia Sattar. The first is her Master’s thesis titled A Structural Analysis of Hanuman as a Mythological Figure (Sattar, 1987).
Abstract:
This thesis traces the career of Hanumān in Valmiki’s Rāmāyana, Tulsidās’ Rāmcaritmānas, and the Hanumān Calīsa. In each of these texts, Hanumān is presented in a different light and thus performs a different function. Hanumān is analyzed in terms of the various aspects of his personality, and his antecedents and heritage.
The thesis finds that in making his leap to Lanka in the Rāmāyana, Hanumān changes from a superior monkey into a bhakta. He also sets up the bhakti universe. Hanumān enters the Rāmcaritmānas a bhakta, and is here presented as the model for Tulsi’s creed of Rāma-bhakti. In the Hanumān Cālīsa, he reaches the pinnacle of his career. He has the status of a demi-god, a result of his devotion to Rāma. The thesis includes a translation of the Hanumān Cālīsa and a brief commentary on the text.
The second is her doctorial thesis titled Hanuman in the Ramayana of Valmiki: A Study in Ambiguity (Sattar, 1990).
Info from the Introduction:
This dissertation will look closely at the monkey Hanumān primarily as he appears in Vālmīki’s Rāmāyana (henceforth VR). Hanumān appears in many texts in the Hindu tradition, both Rāmāyana-s, as well as texts outside the Rāmāyana tradition. The other appearances Hanumān makes will not be the focus of this project, though many of them will be referred to en passant.
The present work will discuss the major feats that Hanumān performs in the VR–his birth, his leap to the sun as an infant, his later leap to Lanka as an adult monkey, and his meeting with Sītā. It will employ theoretical frameworks that are based in the narrative structure of the VR, with an intensive focus on those acts for which Hanumān is best known. This method will make possible an understand of Hanumān in the VR that is not based on Rāma’s divinity or lack thereof, but rather is more solidly related to Hanumān’s status as a mythological figure and a monkey. It will also provide construct that will illuminate the way in which Hanumān’s depiction in the later tradition is dependent on and circumscribed by the role that he plays and the abilities that he has in the VR.
The main organizational principle of the present work will be the analysis of Hanumān in terms of his miscegenated birth and its consequences. Hanumān’s parents, the apsaras Anjana and the Wind-god Vayu, do not belong to the same category of being. This mixed parentage bestows a categorical ambiguity on the monkey: he can appear as more than one thing, or as something other than what he appears to be.
[…]
Despite exceptions, it is reasonable to postulate that miscegenated creatures carry the ability to change form as a mark of their mixed parentage and are also categorically ambiguous. In fact, the ability to appear as something else and/or more than one thing at the same time (as shall be demonstrated in the case of Hanumān) is a wonderfully graphic representation of categorical ambiguity.
These have been posted for educational purposes. No malicious copyright infringement is intended. Please support the official release.
Citations:
Lutgendorf, P. (2007). Hanuman’s Tale: The Messages of a Divine Monkey. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sattar, A. (1987). A Structural Analysis of Hanuman as a Mythological Figure (Publication No. 1332031) [Master’s dissertation, The American University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.
Sattar, A. (1990). Hanuman in the Ramayana of Valmiki: A Study in Ambiguity (Publication No. T31149) [Doctoral dissertation, The University of Chicago]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.
The following video presents 10 facts about Sun Wukong that even superfans of the novel may not know. It is a summation of my and other scholars’ research. I hope you like it and will share with your friends and family.
