Note: My blog is not monetized, so I am not making any money from this post. My hope is that the PDF will make this legendary story more accessible to a wider audience. If you enjoyed the digital version, please, please, please support the official release.
Here I present a PDF of the 100-chapter Foreign Language Press four-volume boxed set of Outlaws of the Marsh (a.k.a. Water Margin, Shuihu zhuan, 水滸傳, c. 1400; “WM” hereafter) translated by Sidney Shapiro. Credited to Shi Nai’an and Luo Guanzhong, this classic Chinese military romance follows 108 heavenly and earthly spirits-reborn-heroes who band together and use their great physical or mental strengths to rebel against the falling Song Dynasty (960–1279). Some of the surviving members later accept clemency from the government and work to fight the barbarian hordes invading China. Few survive to old age.
I’m archiving this book because it has a deep connection with Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592; “JTTW” hereafter). Here are a few examples. First, the name and number of Sun Wukong‘s “Multitude of Terrestrial Killers” (Disha shu, 地煞數; a.k.a. his “72 kinds of transformations,” qishier ban bianhua, 七十二般變化) and Zhu Bajie’s “Multitude of Celestial Rectifiers” (Tiangang shu, 天罡數; a.k.a. his “36 kinds of transformations,” sanshiliu ban bianhua, 三十六般變化) are similar to that of the spirits mentioned above. [1] In WM ch. 2, they are called the “Stars of the 36 Celestial Rectifiers and of the 72 Terrestrial Killers—a total of 108 Demon Lords” (三十六員天罡星，七十二座地煞星，共是一百單八個魔君) (Meulenbeld, 2019, p. 5; Shi & Luo, 1975/2021, vol. 1, p. 16). [2]Second, see my previous article analyzing the parallels between the Monkey King and the bandit Wu Song (武松). See also the sister article over at the Journey to the West Library blog. And third, I’ve previously suggested that Sun’s ploy to rescue the beleaguered wife of Zhu Bajie in JTTW ch. 18 is based on an event from WM ch. 5. Both feature:
Young, beautiful daughters in unwanted relationships (Green Orchid vs the unnamed maiden).
Elderly fathers worried for their child (Mr. Gao vs Mr. Liu).
Evil spirit-turned-inhumanly strong, hot-tempered, heavy metal staff-wielding martial monks who come to their aid (Sun Wukong vs Lu Zhishen).
The monk takes the place of the woman in a darkened room.
The villain is beaten (Zhu Bajie vs Zhou Tong) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 374-377; Shi & Luo, 1993/2001, pp. 109-113).
This PDF will complement the translations that I’ve previously archived. These include the JTTW story cycle (here and here), the four-volume 2000 Library of Chinese Classics Chinese-English bilingual edition of Creation of the Gods (Fengshen yanyi, 封神演義, c. 1620 CE), a fan translation of Journey to the South (Nanyouji, 南遊記, c. 1570s-1580s), and the four-volume 2001 Foreign Language Press boxed set of Three Kingdoms (Sanguo yanyi, 三國演義; lit: “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” 14th century.).
1) Anthony C. Yu (Wu & Yu, 2012) translates these as the “Art of the Heavenly Ladle” and the “Art of the Earthly Multitude” (vol. 1, p. 122). I instead follow the translation used by Meulenbeld (2019). In regards to Tiangang (天罡), he explains: “In its exorcist manifestation, the Northern Dipper is known as gang 罡, which I translate here as ‘rectifier’ due to the ritual function it has in righting wrong” (Meulenbeld, 2019, p. 7). “Terrestrial Killers” is a direct translation of Disha (地煞).
2) Shapiro translates these as the “[t]hirty-six stars of Heavenly spirits and seventy two stars of Earthly Fiends, a total of one hundred and eight demons” (Shi & Luo, 2001, vol. 1, p. 16). Each of the 108 bandits is later associated with a particular star in WM ch. 71 (Shi & Luo, 2001, vol. 4, pp. 1499-1501; Shi & Luo, 1975/2021, vol. 3, pp. 972-975).
Sources:
Meulenbeld, M. (2019). Vernacular “Fiction” and Celestial Script: A Daoist Manual for the Use of Water Margin. Religions, 10(9), 518. MDPI AG. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rel10090518.
Shi, N., & Luo, G. (2001). Outlaws of the Marsh (Vols. 1-4) (S. Shapiro, Trans.). Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. (Original work published 1993)
Shi, N., & Luo, G. (2021). Shuihu zhuan (shang, zhong, xia) [Tale of the Water Margin (Vols. 1-3)]. Beijing: Renmin wenxue chubanshe. (Original work published 1975)
Wu, C., & Yu, A. C. (2012). The Journey to the West (Vols. 1-4) (Rev. ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.
Hello! Welcome to the Journey to the West Research blog, a repository for research on the great Chinese classic Xiyou ji (西遊記, 1592 CE). The story follows a Buddhist monk and his fallen gods-turned-monster disciples on a quest to procure salvation-bestowing scriptures from the Buddha in India. The main characters include:
The naive Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang (唐三藏, “Tripitaka of the Tang Dynasty Clan”; a.k.a. the “Tang Monk,” Tangseng, 唐僧), a literary version of the historical monk Xuanzang (玄奘, 602-664 CE)
The rebellious monkey-spirit Sun Wukong (孫悟空, “Monkey Awakened to Emptiness“; a.k.a. “Handsome Monkey King,” Meihou wang, 美猴王; a.k.a. “Great Sage Equaling Heaven,” Qitian dasheng, 齊天大聖; a.k.a. “Monkey”)
The lecherous pig-spirit Zhu Wuneng/Bajie (豬悟能/八戒, “Pig Awakened to Power/of Eight Rules; a.k.a. “Pigsy”)
The quiet river-spirit Sha Wujing (沙悟净, “Sand Awakened to Purity”; a.k.a. “Sha Monk,” Shaseng, 沙僧; a.k.a. “Sandy”)
The oblivious serpent-turned-White Dragon Horse (Bai Longma, 白龍馬)
The three main disciples—Sun, Zhu, and Sha—work hard to protect the Tang Monk from all manner of fallen gods or escaped divine mounts-turned-monsters, cultivated animals-turned-spirits, and mischievous ghosts wanting to eat his divine flesh. Along the way, the pilgrims encounter or are aided by Buddho-Daoist deities, immortals, and sages. See this article for a full character list. Also, for those short on time, please consult this wonderful 100-chapter summary of the novel over at the Journey to the West Library blog.
Studying the characters, events, mythology, religion, and philosophy of Journey to the West has been one of the greatest pleasures of my life, but I have entered a new phase of research that focuses on Sun Wukong in a much, much broader sense. I recently started a new project centered around the Greco-Roman hero Heracles–Hercules. My hope is that studying a mythic figure from a different time and place will provide more insight into our favorite primate immortal as a hero of the world and not just China. And since my attention will be focused on that, I likely won’t post new, in-depth research as often as I use to. This doesn’t count upcoming guest posts or the backlog of articles that I have almost finished. Nor does it count new archives of important materials or the occasional update I will make to existing pieces.
In the meantime, I have organized a master list of all 200-plus blog posts, including all of the books, papers, and comics I’ve archived over the years. Each has been placed in categories to make finding a particular subject easier. I must note that some posts will repeat as they belong in more than one category. The resulting list has been pinned to the top of the website to greet new and seasoned readers.
The Newly Annotated Journey to the West (Xinshuo Xiyouji, 新說西遊記, 1749) by Zhang Shushen (張書紳) is one of three popular editions of JTTW that circulated during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and overshadowed the original. [1] It contains a running commentary dispersed throughout the pilgrims’ many adventures. Anthony C. Yu (Wu & Yu, 2012) describes Zhang’s work as having a Confucian bias:
In his unabridged hundred-chapter Xinshuo Xiyouji (The Journey to the West, Newly Interpreted) of 1749, Zhang Shushen declared in the section entitled “Xiyouji zongpi 西游記總批 (Overall Comments on The Journey to the West)” that “the book Xiyou has been designated by the ancients as a book meant to illuminate the Dao [a pointed dig at the 1662 edition titled Xiyou zhengdao shu, with the Daoist-leaning preface attributed to Yu Ji … ], by which it originally means the Dao of the sages, the worthies, and the Confucians (儒 Ru). To consider it an illumination of the Dao of immortals and Buddhism would be a mistake, indeed.” From a point of view clearly unsympathetic to the popular movement of Three-Religions-Joining-As-One (sanjiao heyi 三教合一, a possibly millennium-old notion … ), Zhang defended the story of the quest for Buddhist scriptures as an allegory of the classic Confucian doctrines on the illustration of virtue (mingde 明德) and the rectification of the mind (zhengxin 正心), ignoring the repeated and complex elaborations of zhengxin in Chan Buddhism also for at least a thousand years prior to his time (vol. 1, pp. 51-52).
I’ve decided to archive a scanned copy of this work for posterity.
A digital version of the text (interspersed with other commentaries) can be found here.
I’ve previously archived illustrated versions of JTTW, including the original 1592 edition, (images from) Li Zhuowu’s late-16th-century critique, and a circa 1835 Japanese translation. Here, I’d like to add another, the Newly Annotated Journey to the West With Illustrations (Xinshuo Xiyouji tuxiang, 新說西遊記圖像, 1888). The original text and commentary are the same, but this edition features a preface by Wang Tao (王韜), as well as over 100 woodblock prints.
The prints in the archived book below are admittedly a little fuzzy. This webpage has somewhat clearer versions.
This article will serve as a very basic introduction to dough figurines. The artform of food-based dolls has many names across Asia, including niemian ren or liat bin/bian jin/lin (捏面/麵人) and niesu or liat sok/so (捏塑) in Chinese and Hokkien-speaking countries, amezaiku (飴細工) in Japan, and to he in Vietnam.
I will update this piece when new information becomes available.
1. Uiling’s Work
I first learned about Uiling’s art from a Facebook post (video 1). It features Sun Wukong in whimsical, brightly-colored scenes of combat and worship.
Video 1 – A video of Great Sage dough figurines.
1.1. Brief Interview
Uiling was kind enough to answer some questions:
1. I would really like to learn more about the history and uses of decorated dough figurines. Are they related to religion?
The figurines are only available during the Yulanpen [i.e. Hungry Ghost] Festival in the seventh month of the lunar calendar. They are used to ward off evil spirits. In my seaside hometown of Quanzhou, Fujian, adults buy them for children to play with in order to drive away evil spirits.
(The demonifugic properties of the figurines no doubt explain why Sun Wukong is a popular subject of dough figurine makers. He is after all the demon queller par excellence.)
2. Can you tell me how you started making decorated dough figurines? Is this a family tradition? And can you walk me through the process? What materials do you use, and how long does it take to make the figurines?
The materials are wheat flour, glutinous rice flour, salt, honey, etc. It takes five hours to make one. I have enjoyed this since I was a child and have learned from people everywhere. I want to produce items that suit how I feel in my soul. I have written a book titled Quanzhou Clay Toys.
Those wishing to purchase his creations should download the REDnote (小红书) app. Then, search “泉郡粧糕宫.” If this doesn’t work, you can reach out to the artist on Facebook. Again, search “泉郡粧糕宫.”
1.2. Style Influences
Uiling’s version of Sun Wukong features long hair, something that may seem unique to the laymen (fig. 1).
Fig. 1 (left) – A (porcelain or wood) Quanzhou glove puppet Monkey King head (larger version). Photo found here. Fig. 2 (right) – A Fujian Great Sage statue in my personal collection (larger version).
And these in turn are modeled on long-haired military monks (wuseng, 武僧) from Chinese opera (fig. 3).
Several online articles link dough figurines to the origins of mantou pastries. Thankfully, I was able to find a dynastic source mentioning the legend. [1] The Song-era Records on the Origins of Things and Affairs (Shiwu jiyuan, 事物紀原, c. 11th-century) contains an entry reading:
Steamed Buns [Mantou, 饅頭]
The novel says: In the past, when Martial Marquis Zhuge [Zhuge wuhou, 諸葛武侯; i.e. Zhuge Liang, 諸葛亮] was leading an expedition to capture Meng [孟; i.e. Meng Hou, 孟获], people said that the land of the Man-barbarians [蠻] was permeated with sorcery. So, he had to pray to the gods in order to procure spirit-soldiers to help him. But the local custom involved killing sacrificial victims before the gods would send troops. However, the Martial Marquis refused, choosing instead to wrap mutton and pork in rice dough and shape them like human heads [rentou, 人頭]. After this “sacrifice,” the gods sent the soldiers.
From then on, later generations called these “steamed buns” [mantou, 饅頭; i.e. a homonym of “Man-barbarian heads”]. In Lu Di’s (Miscellaneous) Methods of Sacrifice [(Za) Ji fa, (雜)祭法] of the Jin Dynasty, steamed buns were used during the spring sacrifice as items offered to the gods. And Xu Shi’s “Rhapsody on Pasta” [Bing fu, 餅賦] also mentions this, so it’s suspected that steamed buns originated from the Martial Marquis.
It’s easy to see how this story was associated with our subject. Both the steamed buns and and figurines are humanoid representations that are shaped from rice dough. And both serve a religious function.
I hope to write more about this fascinating artform in the future.
Update: 10-12-24
Dr. Robin Ruizendaal, a noted scholar of traditional Chinese puppetry, recently posted a colorized photo of a dough figurine maker from the mid-20th century (fig. 3). His original description reads:
1940年代四川成都龍泉驛區賣捏麵人演偶戲
Dough puppet maker and vendor brings his merchandise to life on a small stage in Chengdu, Sichuan province (1940s).
The maker appears to be using his figurines as puppets to entertain/entice the young lads to buy some of his wares.
1) I learned about said source from Ma (2019, p. 981). However, I am not following their translation of the passage because it is different from the version I have.
Source:
Ma, B. (2019). History Of Medicine In Chinese Culture (Vols. 1-2). Singapore: World Scientific Publishing.
From time to time I like to post a fun blog not directly related to (though sometimes informed by) my research. Regular articles will resume after this entry.
I first set out to see if firearms play any part in Chinese folk religion. I found a few examples from Taiwan. The first is “Lord Red Flag” (Hongqi gong, 紅旗公; a.k.a. “Marshal of Sacred Righteousness,” Shengyi yuanshuai, 聖義元帥), a relatively recent martial god. He and his marshals are depicted holding rifles.
Three more involve Prince Nezha. The first of two (from the same temple) is a traditional statue adorned with an M4 assault rifle and other modern weaponry.
Here’s a closeup of the rifle. Also, take note of the holstered revolver (i.e. the black pouch) on his waist.
The profile view shows clips on his belt (again, in black pouches), as well as a grenade on top of an ammo case at his feet.
The second is a three-headed and eight-armed Nezha with an anti-tank rocket launcher, a rocket round, and a grenade at his feet.
A third statue (my personal favorite) portrays the prince with an MP 40 submachine gun and modern military gear. The carving on the water is amazing. I first learned of it here.
I learned here and here that cannons are sometimes worshiped in East and Southeast Asia as fertility gods. (See the 09-29-24 update below for more info about cannons.)
I also learned that ritual guns sometimes appear in Chinese folk temples of Vietnam.
If present, the guns number among ritual weapons that are commonly found in martial god temples of Chinese folk religion. (But I’ve never personally seen a gun among said armaments in Taiwanese temples.) This Vietnamese article briefly mentions that the weapons are based on the eighteen arms of Chinese martial arts. And it’s interesting to note that a “hand canon” (chong, 銃) does appear among the eighteen arms listed in the Water Margin (Shuihu zhuan, 水滸傳, c. 1400):
Shi Jin daily sought Drill Instructor Wang’s tutelage in the eighteen (weapons of) martial arts. He taught him from the very beginning. Which eighteen martial arts?
Lance, hammer, bow, crossbow, hand cannon, whip, metal tablet, long sword, chain, truncheon, fu-axe, yue-axe, ge-halberd, ji-halberd, shield, staff and spear, and toothless rake. [1]
You can see that they were attached to bladed polearms, which could be used offensively or defensively between reloading.
There were even five-barreled and shielded firearms called “Rapid-Thunder Hand Cannons” (Xunlei chong, 迅雷銃). So cool!
Here’s a Chinese video demonstrating the one and three-barreled versions:
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.
Given that the novel projects Ming-era concepts backwards to the Tang Dynasty, having gods wield such weapons hundreds of years before they were even invented wouldn’t be out of place in the JTTW universe. A writer could just say that the weapons were created in the realm above and eventually trickled down to mankind. Admittedly, I like the real history better because it shows the ingenuity of our predecessors, but the story requires a little tinkering.
Writers wanting to expand on the idea of firearms in heaven could take Ming gunners, their uniforms, and their strategies as models to work from. This page features a lovely figurine of such soldiers, including lots of juicy historical info. And the fact that the historical troops were part of the “Divine Machine Battalion” (Shenji ying, 神機營), which specialized in firearms, really solidifies their connection to the heavenly realm.
How could demons get ahold of celestial guns? Well, referring back to chapter 51, a buffalo-spirit uses the “diamond cutter” (jingang zhuo, 金鋼琢), an uber powerful, bracelet-like treasure-weapon also created by Laozi, to twice suck away all of the aforementioned fire weapons (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, pp. 9 and 23). Devil craftsmen would then have time to analyze the heavenly technology, which would allow them to eventually make their own (inferior?) copies.
Recall that the Great Peng demon is said in chapter 74 to have taken over a human kingdom by eating all of the inhabitants some 500 years ago, and the former population was replaced by spirits (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 360). Firearms would definitely make a human-to-monster kingdom transition for less powerful demon kings a lot easier.
Another possibility is that a fiend could simply sneak into heaven to steal some. This may seem like an impossible task, but JTTW chapter 63 mentions something similar happening. The dragon-spirit “Princess All Saints” (Wansheng gongzhu, 萬聖宮(公)主) is said to have “[snuck] into heaven and stole[n] from before the Hall of Divine Mists the nine-leaf divine agaric planted by the Lady Queen Mother of the West” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 192). So, if someone can secretly infiltrate the realm above and steal divine vegetation, they could certainly steal heavenly armaments.
Perhaps the simplest way that demons could attain celestial firearms is by ambushing heavenly troops and commandeering their equipment.
I could see Red Boy (Honghai’er, 紅孩兒) using his powerful Samadhi flame to forge his own hand cannons, at least with the help of devil craftsmen. His association with fire only makes it natural that his own troops would carry firearms.
The only thing I can’t think of is how heavenly hand cannons would differ from their real world counterparts. Would they just use gunpowder and metal shot, or would it be more magical in nature, like shooting meteors? I’m open to suggestions from readers.
Update: 09-29-2024
The film Enoken no Songoku: Zenpen (エノケンの孫悟空 前編; a.k.a. “Enoken’s Songoku,” 1940) features the Monkey King mowing down demons with his staff-turned-machine gun.
There are at least two toys depicting the Great Sage with a gun. The first I learned about via a Facebook group post. I love how his sniper rifle is modeled on his magic staff. You can see the original packaging here.
And here is a Black Myth: Wukong-inspired figure with a powerful-looking rifle/shot gun combo. I saw it here.
Regarding cannons, I learned that a giant Western cannon was worshiped by court officials during the Ming. The History of the Ming (Mingshi, 明史, 1739) explains:
At this time, a ship arriving from the Great Western Ocean [i.e. the West] brought an enormous cannon, which got the name of the “Red Barbarian” [Hongyi, 紅夷]. It measured over two-zhang [20.86 ft/6.358 m] long, and weighed as much as 3,000 catties [3,902.18 lbs/1,770 kg]. It could demolish any stone city-walls, and its earthquake-like roar could be heard for several dozen li around. During the Tianqi [天啟] reign, the name of “Great General” [Da jiangjun, 大將軍] was given to it, and officials were sent to offer libations [si, 祀] to it (based on Needham, 1986, p. 392).
Needham (1986) suggests the cannon’s worship is connected to folk beliefs: “In Taoist folk-religion any device or machine of almost miraculous potency was something which should receive veneration” (p. 392 n. b).
Update: 10-05-24
I forgot to mention the “Gatling Gun Bodhisattva” (Jia-te-lin pusa, 加特林菩薩) from Chinese social media and Japanese manga. The following clip expounds the Heart Sutra of the Honored Gatling Gun Bodhisattva (Namo Jia-te-lin pusa Xinjing, 南無加特林菩薩心經).
Update: 11-23-24
Reader Danna Zhang left a wonderful comment about how Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen yanyi, 封神演義, c. 1620 CE), a sort of prequel to Journey to the West, also includes gunpowder weaponry:
Late comment, but FSYY also puts Ming dynasty gunpowder weapons into the 11th BCE Shang dynasty setting. Apart from the numerous mentions of “cannons go boom”, In Chapter 56, they broke Deng Jiugong’s ambush-disguised-as-wedding by hiding a cannon in the gift casket and using it to make a surprise attack, and in Chapter 88, Jiang Ziya suggests to King Wu that they need the “Sky-blasting Cannon” (轰天大炮) to breach the walls of Mianchi City.
At this point, I think the bronze age gunpowder weapon isn’t a bug, it'[s] a feature.
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.
