Tag Sha Wujing

A Realistic Retelling of Journey to the West?

Jim R. McClanahan 8 Comments

Last updated: 10-04-2025

I was recently asked about the existence of a realistic retelling of Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592) that follows the adventures of the historical monk Xuanzang (玄奘, 602-664). To my knowledge, it doesn’t exist, but this is something I’ve thought about to some extent. In this article, I would like to discuss what a realistic journey might be like.

Table of Contents

1. Literature vs History

There are some important distinctions that first need to be made between the literary and historical stories before we can speculate about our version.

1.1. The Novel

  1. The story is set in a syncretic Buddho-Daoist universe modeled on Hindo-Buddhist cosmic geography. This flat world-disc features four cardinal continents (of various shapes) floating in a great ocean around the four faces of Mt. Sumeru. The Daoist heaven sits atop this mountain, taking the place of the “Heaven of the Thirty-Three” from the original Buddhist structure. China is located in the Southernmost continent (the original structure, however, associated this with India). India and the Buddha’s paradise are moved to the Westernmost continent (since it is West of China in OUR world).
  2. The literary Xuanzang (fig. 1) is the final reincarnation of “Master Golden Cicada” (Jinchan zi, 金蟬子), the fictional second disciple of the Buddha who was exiled to China for ten lifetimes as punishment for being inattentive during a heavenly lecture.
  3. His father, Prefect Chen Guangrui (陳光蕊), is murdered by a bandit, who takes his government post and pregnant wife for his own. Chen’s son is born in Jiangzhou (Jiangxi) sometime after, forcing his mother to float the baby down the river in a basket (à la Moses) in order to save his life. He is found and raised by the old abbot of a Buddhist temple. Eighteen years later, after receiving his ordination, the monk Xuanzang is reunited with his mother and magically-revived father, and the bandit-turned-official is arrested and executed (ch. 9).
  4. He leaves China in 640 with the blessing of the Tang emperor (ch. 13) and returns in 654 (ch. 100). [1]
  5. The expressed purpose of his mission is to obtain the correct scriptures needed to perform a grand mass to release untold souls from suffering in hell (see note #1 here).
  6. He is portrayed as a proponent of the Chan (禪; Sk: Dhyāna) school of Buddhism.
  7. Xuanzang is an extremely whiny character modeled after a Confucian official who is blindly loyal to the throne, extolls virtues of propriety, and complains about everything. He is depicted as having an encyclopedic knowledge of Buddhist scripture, but he doesn’t always understand the underlying meaning, something that Monkey sometimes explains to him (see note #8 here).
  8. He initially leaves with a few human disciples, who are eventually eaten (ch. 13), and takes on the monstrous disciples Sun Wukong (ch. 13), Zhu Bajie (ch. 19), and Sha Wujing (ch. 22) along the way.
  9. These latter disciples aren’t “Chinese.” They come from different countries among said continents. For example, Monkey’s Flower Fruit Mountain is an island located to the east of the Easternmost continent (refer back to here).
  10. Xuanzang spends all of his time traveling or trying to escape from a monster or spirit who has kidnapped him. No time is spent studying languages or scripture.
  11. All of the kingdoms encountered conveniently speak (and to some extent dress) like the Chinese.
  12. The group receives the scriptures directly from the Buddha in the Western Paradise of India and are magically transported back to China.
  13. Xuanzang and his disciples are immediately whisked away from China upon delivery of the sutras, leaving the mass to be performed by someone else. The group is returned to the Western Paradise, where they receive an elevation in spiritual rank (ch. 100) (Wu & Yu, 2012).

Fig. 1 – A print of the literary Xuanzang from a Qing-era edition of Journey to the West (larger version). Originally found on Wikimedia Commons. Fig. 2 – An anonymous 14th-century Japanese painting of the historical Xuanzang on the road to India (larger version). Originally found on Wikipedia.

1.2. The Real World

  1. The real Xuanzang (fig. 2) obviously existed in OUR world, the Earth.
  2. He was born in Luoyang (Henan) to the aristocratic Chen (陳) family, the youngest of four boys.
  3. He followed in his oldest brothers footsteps by becoming a monk at eleven, receiving full ordination at twenty.
  4. He left China illegally in 629 and returned a celebrity in 645.
  5. The expressed purpose of his mission was to obtain scriptures that resolved contradictions in and expanded the corpus of the Chinese Buddhist canon.
  6. He initially traveled by himself within China, but later joined caravans in Central Asia and India, even having his own royal escorts at different times.
  7. He was exposed to different cultures, languages, and religions, the latter including Zoroastrianism and Vedism (early Hinduism).
  8. He was a proponent of the Yogācāra (Sk: “Yoga practice”; Ch: Weishi zong, 唯識宗, “Consciousness Only”) school of Buddhism.
  9. He was super brave and intelligent, with an encyclopedic knowledge of Buddhist and even Vedic literature. Apart from Buddhist schooling in his youth, much of this knowledge was gained during prolonged study abroad.
  10. He faced many problems on the trip back to China, even losing some of his hard-won scriptures in a fording accident.
  11. Xuanzang returned home with hundreds of scriptures, over one hundred Buddha relics, and tens of statues. He spent the remainder of his life translating texts, while also battling his celebrity. He died at the age of 61 (Brose, 2021).

2. The Realistic Journey

This is not meant to be exhaustive since trying to adapt every character and event from the novel would make it much too long. The point is to give the reader a basic understanding of what Xuanzang’s historical journey was like.

Everything prior to his birth would be nearly the same, including the monk’s previous incarnations and Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing’s respective early lives and punishments. But since the story will take place on Earth, the location of literary events will have to be placed in a real world context. For example, Monkey would have to be born on an island east of China. Japan is certainly an interesting option, with Mt. Fuji (Fujisan, 富士山) being a good candidate for his birthplace. Taiwan’s Mt. Jade (Yushan, 玉山) is another (see the 02-14-23 update below for more info). Fun fact: Taiwan is known for its “Rock Macaques” (fig. 3). This is a fitting name considering that Sun is born from stone.

Fig. 3 – A Taiwanese Rock Macaque (larger version). Originally found here.

Placing Monkey’s past in a real world context opens the door to interesting possibilities in this adaptation. The novel describes him studying Buddho-Daoist arts under the Patriarch Subodhi in the Westernmost continent (i.e. India). But since Daoism didn’t exist in ancient India, he would have likely learned Hindo-Buddhist spiritual cultivation techniques and philosophy, thereby becoming a competent (albeit short-tempered and naughty) rishi. Therefore, he would know how to read and speak the Pali/Sanskrit language of the different Buddhist and Vedic texts that Xuanzang would come to study. One implication is that Sun would be able to help his master if any language or philosophical barriers popped up. This means that his assistance would contribute to Xuanzang’s later translation of Buddhist scriptures in China!

2.1. Travel to and Life in India

Xuanzang’s initial request to leave China was denied by the Tang court of Emperor Taizong. Undeterred, the monk traveled in secret towards the northwestern reaches of the empire in 629, eventually learning from a sympathetic official that he was to be arrested if caught (Brose, 2021, p. 16). He would likely have come across Monkey just prior to leaving China. Remember that chapter 13 also refers to Five Elements Mountain as the “Mountain of Two Frontiers” (Liangjie shan, 兩界山), the eastern half belonging to the Middle Kingdom and the western half belonging to Turkic peoples (Dada, 韃靼; a.k.a. “Tartars“) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 305). The Heavenly Mountain (Tianshan, 天山) (fig. 4) would therefore be a good spot for the trickster god’s earth prison as it stretches from Northwestern China into Central Asia.

Communication between master and disciple wouldn’t be an issue since Monkey would have likely picked up some Chinese during his early life and rebellion. The other disciples would be added at different spots along the route through Central Asia (see the 10-10-22 update below for more info). But since Zhu and Sha have memories of their previous lives, they too would likely know Chinese.

Fig. 4 – The Heavenly Mountains (larger version). Originally found on Wikipedia.

Xuanzang’s Central Asian route took him through Sūyāb (Kyrgyzstan), Samarkand (Uzbekistan), the Kunduz River valley (Afghanistan), and then Balkh (Afghanistan). Here, the monk stopped for a month to study Sanskrit literature under Prajñākara before both of them left to cross the Hindu Kush Mountains. After Bamiyan (Afghanistan), both of them attended the required three-month “Rainy Retreat” at a Buddhist monastery in Kapisā (Afghanistan). This was a time of intense study (Brose, 2021, pp. 23-28). Xuanzang likely attended the three-month retreat every year of his journey, making this aspect of the historical story a major divergence from the novel. This means that, unless the various monsters or spirits tried attacking him in monasteries, his disciples would only see action during the time (days or weeks) that it took the group to travel to a new location.

Since the story is set in the real world, Daoism’s influence would fade as the group traveled westward. This then raises the question: if Sun Wukong requires divine assistance to help identify or defeat a powerful foe in, say, Central Asia, would he zip back to the Daoist heaven in China, or would he simply consult the local foreign gods and spirits? The former possibility would allow us to stick closer to the novel, but the latter would be far more interesting. The Iranic, Judeo-Christian, or Greek gods in that area might be willing to help thanks to the Buddha’s request. I could see this leading to some comical inter-faith drama:

Foreign god: “Monkey Man, you have no power over us in this region!”

Sun Wukong: “Oh, really? Let me introduce you to my two friends [holds up fists], RIGHT and LEFT!”

But this might make the story a little too complex. And since Buddhism was present throughout Central Asia at one point or another, it would make more sense for Monkey to call on Buddhist deities for help. Either way, the story would have to be changed to accommodate gods and spirits outside of Daoism.

Prajñākara stayed in Kapisā, while Xuanzang headed for northern India. His travels took him through Nagarahāra (Afghanistan), Gandhāra (Afghanistan/Pakistan), the Swat Valley (Pakistan), Taxila (Pakistan), and Kashmir (India). He studied in the latter city for two years, while a team of twenty royally-appointed scribes copied extensive scriptures for him. For the next three years after this, he traveled through Cīnabhukti, Jālandhara, Śrughna, Matipura, and Kānyakubja, staying for a month or as long as a year in certain places to study with specialists in Buddhist and Vedic literature. Xuanzang later sailed down the Ganges River, where, according to legend, his priceless collection of Buddhist scriptures and imagery attracted the attention of Hindu pirates. When captured, he sunk into deep meditation while awaiting a sacrificial death by fire, but a strong, supernatural wind began throwing the world into chaos. Thinking that the attempted murder of the monk displeased their goddess Durga, the pirates begged for his forgiveness (Brose, 2021, pp. 30-35). This seems like a perfect demonstration of Sun Wukong’s powers. He would use this trick in place of outright murdering the bandits in order to avoid punishment via the golden headband.

Xuanzang traveled through areas of India where Buddhist institutions once flourished but had fallen into decay, some places being taken over by Hindu and Jain ascetics who practiced extreme forms of austerities. During this time, he also went about visiting all of the famous locations associated with the historical Buddha’s life but was dismayed to see some of those in ruins and/or abandoned. These included the garden where the Enlightened one was born (Lumbini, Nepal) (fig. 5), his father’s palace (Kapilavastu), where he lived as an adult (Jetavana), and the forest where he died (Kuśinagara). Xuanzang took the declining state of Indian Buddhism as proof that his time was the Latter Day of the Dharma (Brose, 2021, pp. 30-32 and 35-38). This surely strengthened his resolve to learn all he could and take back as many scriptures as possible to China in order to ensure that the religion continued to thrive there. His monstrous disciples would be the ones to tote this huge collection in place of human laborers.

Fig. 5 – A 2nd to 3rd-century Gandharan stone carving depicting the Buddha’s birth from his mother’s side in Lumbini (larger version). Originally found on Wikipedia.

The idea of monsters and spirits attacking the monk while he visits these once flourishing but now dilapidated Buddhist sites is somewhat comical. I think that the evil would live in the various ruins or in the forests and hills around said locations. This would mean that demonic mountain strongholds from the novel would be a rarity in this retelling.

Thankfully, though, Xuanzang was able to visit two places associated with the Buddha’s life that still flourished, namely the park where he gave his first sermon (Sarnath) and the area where he achieved enlightenment (Bodh Gayā). The monk was later invited to a grand Buddhist complex in Nālandā, where he became a disciple of Śīlabhadra, a learned master of the Yogācāra school. He studied in Nālandā for five years, receiving a special status that freed him from community duties so he could focus on his studies (Brose, 2021, pp. 37-45). After a failed trip to Sri Lanka, Xuanzang traveled around southern India and eventually studied for two years in Parvata. After returning to Nālandā and learning from various local masters for a few months, he studied for two years with Jayasena, a very knowledgeable lay disciple of Śīlabhadra (Brose, 2021, pp. 50-53).

The total of Xuanzang’s time spent studying in Nālandā and Parvata alone adds up to an astounding nine years. That is an awfully long time for Sun, Zhu, and Sha to see no action. Perhaps they too would live the life of monks and possibly resume their spiritual cultivation in order to better themselves. They could even help teach the clerics at the various institutions how to protect themselves, much like the famous Shaolin Monks (fig. 6). This might replace the episode in chapter 88 in which Monkey and his religious brothers accept three Indian princes as students. Sun could instead give a chosen cadre of monks super strength and divine longevity in a similar fashion.

Fig. 6 – A group of Shaolin monks practicing martial arts (larger version). Originally found here.

Xuanzang’s final year in India was apparently an eventful one. Apart from saving Nālandā from destruction by accepting a tyrannical king’s invitation to visit, he evidently took part in a number of life or death religious debates against Brahmins and Mainstream Buddhists. However, there is no evidence that the grandest of these ever took place. It might even be a later embellishment by Xuanzang’s disciple (Brose, 2021, pp. 53-60). Therefore, I think it should be left out of the retelling.

2.2. Return to and Life in China

I’m going to skip over the events just prior to Xuanzang leaving India, as well as the various trials and tribulations that he faced along the road to China. His disciples would certainly continue protecting him from any evil that still wished to capture the monk. This means that the various episodes could be spread out to the return journey as well.

Instead, I’d like to briefly discuss Xuanzang’s life after returning to the Middle Kingdom. Despite his illegal departure, the monk was welcomed home in 645 with open arms and became an instant celebrity. Emperor Taizong shortly thereafter asked him to compose an account of his travels, the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions (Datang xiyou ji, 大唐西域記), [2] which was finished in 646. The year before, he and a team of experts from all around the empire began translating the scriptures, but fame, official duties, and later unwanted changes to group members by the proceeding Emperor Gaozong hindered the project over the years. The monk was expected to entertain aristocratic guests and donors, and he often traveled to perform the ordination of hundreds of monks at newly built monasteries. This took a toll on his body, which was apparently plagued by a chronic illness that affected his heart and bones. Wishing to escape his celebrity and return to more steady translation work, he requested and failed many times over the years to be relocated to more remote institutions. Instead, he was forced to stick close to the Tang capital, where, years later, he was lucky to escape political upheaval in the court that saw some of his official friends exiled or even executed. Apart from this, Xuanzang was forced to defend himself against critiques on two fronts. On one side were Daoists who disliked his fame and railed against the foreign nature of Buddhism (Daoism was after all the state religion at that time). And on the other, some Buddhists heavily criticized his translation method, as well as his Yogācāra philosophy, which differed from other Mahāyāna teachings. At the end of his life, the poor monk injured his leg in an accident and was bedridden for two months before dying at the age of 61 in 664. His death was apparently followed by miraculous lights in the sky. [3]

Now, I can already hear some of my readers asking: what happened to his disciples? Does everyone still achieve an elevation in spiritual rank? Monkey and his religious brothers would have left by this time. Whereas the pilgrim’s meet the Buddha face to face in India at the end of the novel, he would instead manifest before them (or at least jointly in their dreams) after they successfully transported the scriptures to China. This is when he would offer them their respective promotions, Sun becoming a Buddha, Sha Wujing an arhat, and Zhu an altar cleaner. They would thereafter leave to enjoy their divine lives in the Western Paradise (see the 11-04-23 update below for more info). However, I think Xuanzang would postpone his enlightenment until he finished translating the scriptures. Monkey might even visit his former master in his dreams and encourage him to continue his work even when he is old and sick. The many hardships that the monk faces towards the end of his life would, therefore, make his final ascension all the more bittersweet.

I’m interested to hear reader’s ideas on where they might insert famous episodes into this more realistic setting. Please let me know in the comments below or in an email (see the “contact” button above).

3. Updates

Update: 10-10-22

It turns out that Sha Wujing would be the first disciple recruited on the road to India in our more realistic retelling. As I show in this article, his antecedent appears in various retellings of Xuanzang’s journey as a stern, encouraging spirit or even a heaven-sent protector.

The monk’s embellished biography notes that, while traveling west of the Jade Gate, he chose to bypass various watchtowers on his illegal journey by trekking though the 800 li Gashun Gobi desert (Mohe yanqi, 莫賀延磧). But after only 100 li, Xuanzang lost his surplus of water when the heavy bag slipped from his hands. He went without drink for four days, all the while chanting the name of Avalokiteśvara (i.e. Guanyin) for deliverance, as well as the Heart Sutra, to keep demons at bay (Huili & Li, 1995, pp. 26-27). On the early morning of the fifth day, a divine mist lulled him to sleep, where:

[He] dreamed that he saw a giant deity several tens of feet tall, holding a [halberd] and a flag in his hands. The deity said to him, “Why are you sleeping here instead of forging ahead?” (Huili & Li, 1995, p. 28).

即於睡中夢一大神長數丈，執戟麾曰：「何不強行，而更臥也！」

After he awoke and mounted his horse, it veered in a different direction than Xuanzang intended and arrived at a much needed oasis, which was apparently provided by Guanyin (Huili & Li, 1995, p. 28).

However, a Tang-era Japanese source appearing in a work of the 11th-century states that the “Spirit of the Deep Sands” (Shensha shen, 深沙神) physically interacted with Xuanzang, calling himself the monk’s “guardian spirit” and even providing him with food and water (Dudbridge, 1970, p. 19). The same source also states that he had previously appeared before the earlier monk Faxian (法顯, 337-422) in a ghastly, demonic form (fig. 7):

I am manifested in an aspect of fury. My head is like a crimson bowl. My two hands are like the nets of heaven and earth. From my neck hang the heads of seven demons. About my limbs are eight serpents, and two demon heads seem to engulf my (nether-) limbs… (Dudbridge, 1970, p. 20).

Fig. 7 – A 13th or 14th-century Japanese carving of the Spirit of the Deep Sands (larger version).

The spirit’s great height influenced Sha’s whopping twelve Chinese-foot (zhang er, 丈二; 12.6 feet / 3.84 m) frame (Wu & Yu 2012, vol. 2, p. 51), his necklace of heads was the model for our hero’s necklace of skulls (Wu & Yu 2012, vol. 1, p. 230), and the “Moving Sands” (Liusha, 流沙) of his harsh desert home served as the basis for Wujing’s “Flowing-Sands River” (Liusha he, 流沙河) (Wu & Yu 2012, vol. 1, p. 421).

I would like to combine details from the Chinese and Japanese sources, making the Spirit of the Deep Sands a physical being, and instead of the pearly thread-wrapped wooden staff wielded by Sha in the novel (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 428), the deity would use the aforementioned halberd. I’d also borrow from the novel, having him exiled to earth for an offense in heaven, but in place of the Flowing-Sands River, be banished to the desert to await the coming of Xuanzang (Wu & Yu 2012, vol. 1, p. 210).

Another interesting change that just occurred to me would be to completely reverse the order of Xuanzang’s disciples. Even though the literary monk happens upon them in the order of Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing, Guanyin first recruits them in the order of Sha, Zhu, and Sun (Wu & Yu 2012, vol. 1, pp. 207-216). Making Monkey the lowest-ranking, yet most powerful religious brother would lead to some funny situations. Sha and Zhu might try to order him around at first, but they would soon learn not to test the powerful monkey rishi’s patience. I can see them begging him to intervene when they can’t defeat a given evil.

Perhaps Zhu would be recruited in Central Asia, while Monkey might be discovered under a mountain closer to India. What say you?

Update: 12-17-22

Journey to the West characterizes the Buddha as having a corporeal form. This is revealed in chapter 55 when a Scorpion Spirit (Xiezi jing, 蝎子精) stings and hurts him:

Once upon a time she [the scorpion] happened to be listening to a lecture in the Thunderclap Monastery. When Tathagata saw her, he wanted to push her away with his hand, but she turned around and gave the left thumb of the Buddha a stab. Even Tathagata found the pain unbearable! (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 72).

他前者在雷音寺聽佛談經，如來見了，不合用手推他一把，他就轉過鉤子，把如來左手中拇指上扎了一下。如來也疼難禁 …

I take this to mean that the Scorpion Spirit was imbued with “dharma power” (fali, 法力) while listening to the Enlightened One’s lectures. This makes sense as Campany (1985) explains that this is the penultimate power in the novel’s Buddho-Daoist universe.

(Baring a discrepancy in chapter six, [4] the Scorpion Spirit is the only figure in all of Journey to the West shown capable of piercing the Monkey King’s adamantine hide (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 65). She does so with her “horse-felling poison stake” (daoma du zhuang, 倒馬毒樁), which is actually her stinger (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 72).)

But since this article focuses on a real world journey set over a 1,000 years after the Enlightened One’s death, I would like to suggest that similar exposure to the spiritual power of the Buddha might give other demons or spirits a similar boost. In this case, the items granting this power would be relics associated with Shakyamuni.

Strong (2004) notes that there are three main types of Buddha relics: 1) those of the body left over from his cremation (hair, teeth, nails, bones, and Śarīra beads); 2) those that he used (walking staff, alms bowl, robes, etc.); and 3) those that he taught (i.e. lessons from scripture) (p. 8). I think that the first and second categories would be perfect for our story, especially the Śarīra (Sheli/zi, 舍利/子). These pearl-like beads were associated with the wish-fulfilling Cintāmaṇi (Ruyi baozhu, 如意寶組) jewel in East Asia (Strong, 2004, p. 10), so I could see them granting spirits power. [5]

Evil forces might sneak into monasteries to retrieve such items in a bid to gain extra power in order to fuel their nefarious machinations, assert their will on the surrounding populous, and/or to defeat Monkey and his religious brothers, thereby allowing them to gain immortality by eating the Tang Monk. Protecting the relics would, therefore, be one reason to keep the demon disciples busy during Xuanzang’s long years of study.

Update: 12-29-22

It turns out that Journey to the West has śarīra beads. In fact, they are mentioned at least 18 times throughout the novel. One example is a treasure belonging to the Yellow-Robed Demon (Huangpao guai, 黃袍怪). Chapter 31 reads:

Leading Pilgrim [Sun Wukong], the fiend [Yellow Robe] took his companion into the murky depth of the cave before spitting out from his mouth a treasure having the size of a chicken egg. It was a śarīra [shelizi, 舍利子] of exquisite internal elixir. Secretly delighted, Pilgrim said to himself, “Marvelous thing! It’s unknown how many sedentary exercises had been performed, how many years of trials and sufferings had elapsed, how many times the union of male and female forces had taken place before this śarīra of internal elixir was formed. What great affinity it has today that it should encounter old Monkey!” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, pp. 80-81). [6]

那怪攜著行者，一直行到洞裡深遠密閉之處。卻從口中吐出一件寶貝，有雞子大小，是一顆舍利子玲瓏內丹。行者心中暗喜道：「好東西耶。這件物不知打了多少坐工，煉了幾年磨難，配了幾轉雌雄，煉成這顆內丹舍利。今日大有緣法，遇著老孫。」

As can be seen, Yellow Robe’s śarīra is portrayed as the hard-won product of spiritual cultivation. This agrees with Strong’s (2004) statement that Buddhists believed such beads were “brought on not only by the fire of cremation but also by the perfections of the saint (in this case the Buddha) (emphasis added) whose body they re-present” (p. 12).

But in our realistic retelling, Yellow Robes could have stolen the treasure from a monastery or stupa.

Update: 01-04-23

I mentioned in the original post that Sun Wukong would study Hindo-Buddhist arts and become a talented rishi. The Saṃyutta Nikāya (Sk: संयुक्त निकाया; Ch: Xiang ying bu, 相應部, c. 250 BCE) notes that such cultivators develop a host of supernatural powers once they master the four mental qualities (Pali: Iddhipāda):

  1. Multiplying the body
  2. Vanishing and reappearing
  3. Passing through solid objects (walls, ramparts, mountains, etc.)
  4. Diving into the earth like water
  5. Walking on water like earth
  6. Traveling through space
  7. Touching the sun and moon
  8. Hearing all sounds, both human and divine
  9. Knowing the minds of others
  10. Having memories of all of one’s past lives
  11. Knowing the future rebirths (and their causes) of all beings
  12. Liberation from the filth of the world through supreme wisdom (Bodhi, 2000, pp. 1727-1728)

Monkey already exhibits several of these powers in the original narrative.

Update: 01-29-23

Here’s another example of the śarīra beads appearing in Journey to the West. Chapter 62 reads:

This all came about because our All Saints Old Dragon once gave birth to a daughter by the name of Princess All Saints, who was blessed with the loveliest features and the most extraordinary talents. She took in a husband by the name of Nine-Heads, who also had vast magic powers. Year before last, he came here with the Dragon King and, exerting great divine strength, sent down a rainstorm of blood to have the treasure pagoda defiled. Then he stole the sarira Buddhist treasure from the building. Thereafter the princess also went up to the great Heaven where she stole the nine-leaved agaric, which the Lady Queen Mother planted before the Hall of Divine Mists. The plant and the Buddhist treasure are both kept now at the bottom of the lagoon, lighting up the place with their golden beams and colored hues night and day (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 172).

因我萬聖老龍生了一個女兒，就喚做萬聖公主。那公主花容月貌，有二十分人才。招得一個駙馬，喚做九頭駙馬，神通廣大。前年與龍王來此，顯大法力，下了一陣血雨，污了寶塔，偷了塔中的舍利子佛寶。公主又去大羅天上，靈霄殿前，偷了王母娘娘的九葉靈芝草，養在那潭底下，金光霞彩，晝夜光明。

This supports the idea of evil attacking monasteries, and raining down blood would be one method of deconsecrating said locations.

Update: 02-14-23

Above, I mentioned that Japan or Taiwan would be good candidates for the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, but I now feel that I didn’t give enough context. As I explain in this article (and briefly in sec. 1.1 above), Buddhist cosmic geography portrays the world as four cardinal continents surrounding a great mountain. Journey to the West changes the original system by associating China with the southern continent and moving India to the western continent. If we continue this trend by associating the other two continents with real countries, the north would be Russia or Mongolia and the east would be Korea (fig. 8). And since the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit is said to be an island east of the eastern most continent, Japan would be the best choice (fig. 9). This means Sun would be a Snow Macaque.

 Fig. 9 – A top view of Buddhist cosmic geography overlaid with the names of real world countries (larger version). Adapted from Buswell & Lopez, 2014, pp. xxxi. Fig 10 – Detail from a map of East Asia (larger version). Map found here.

Update: 08-26-23

Tumblr user digitalagepulao has drawn lovely versions of the JTTW pilgrims (fig. 11). This is for their own “Expedition to the West au” (JTTW alternate universe) storyline based on the info presented above in the original article. They explain their design choices based on the countries where the disciples are recruited:

Sha Wujing (435cm): His outfit is mostly inspired by Mongolian clothes since he’s found in the Gobi desert stretch of the journey. His bangles are made of fossil bone, and he can use the waist cloth as a headwrap during adverse weather. His markings are inspired by African Lungfish and Mudfish fins, as they are species that exist somewhere between water and dry air. The beasts on his knees are an extension of him, and he can see and speak through them as needed. His beard and long hair can have Ghibli physics depending on his mood and emotions.

Zhu Wuneng (~300cm): Inspired by Northern Tibetan clothes, as that’s the region the group recruits him. Traditional clothes tend to have way more accessories and golden details so I had to simplify a bit. His features are a mix of wild boars and Indonesian babirusa, with the iconic bristles on his head. I leaned on ceremonial Tibetan swords and necklace beads for the decorations on his rake. His vest can be closed, he just prefers not to most of the time.

Sun Wukong (125cm): I’ve already commented on his design over here, but I’ll elaborate that the yellow shirt is the one he gained from Tripitaka soon after he was released, while the pants and red half-robe were the garments he was given by Guan Yin. The hoops on his feet and purple beads were reacquired back in Huaguoshan when he first fled the pilgrimage, heading to his family instead of Ao Guang’s palace. (A-ma and Jinju gave them to him so he’ll always have something to home to remember them by, as well as where he first started, as the beads were gained during his lessons with Subodhi.)

Tripitaka (163cm): This is but one of his many outfits since travel can be rough on clothes, and even more so when you get kidnapped by demons and thrown off your horse all the time. He wears the usual orange monk robes, with some kind of travel clothes over them. He gains some fur boots from Boquin for cold weather but usually prefers sandals most of the time. He seldom uses the cassock and crown he received from Guan Yin, save for when he pays respects to temples and holy sites, but the staff is a constant companion.

Ao Lie (167cm, 130cm at the shoulder as horse): Being effectively in exile until the journey is complete, he wears less fancy clothes than he usually would as a prince, but his status still shows. I tried to balance more casual hanfu of the era with some armor parts, like the waist guard and armored boots. He was given the skill to shapeshift into a horse by Guan Yin when she commanded him to wait for the chosen pilgrim monk, so he can shift at will, but preferably when the tack has been taken off. Speaking of, tack is lost and replaced multiple times during the journey, so I didn’t depict any specific one.

Fig. 11 – Digitalagepulao’s JTTW character designs (larger version). Used with permission.

Update: 11-04-23

Above, I stated: “They [Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing] would thereafter leave to enjoy their divine lives in the Western Paradise.” But I’ve never really liked the idea that Monkey would forever abandon his people. This is especially true since his rebellion led to heaven decimating the monkeys and burning their cave (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 31). So, I think a better ending for this historical version would be for the “Victorious Fighting Buddha” (fig. 12) to return to the Mountain of Flower and Fruit, where he transforms it into his own Pure Land (Jingtu, 淨土). The monkeys killed in years passed would be reborn there, and everyone would receive periodic lessons on the dharma between bouts of play. It would be a paradise even grander than when the Great Sage was at the height of his power.

Fig. 12 – Monkey as the Victorious Fighting Buddha (larger version). Imagery based on the iconography of the historical Yuddhajaya Buddha. Art by NingadudeXx.

Update: 10-04-25

Here’s an article where I propose a more natural reason for Wukong and the Greek hero Heracles to fight each other. It’s based on the above story idea.

Story Idea: Sun Wukong vs Heracles / Hercules

Note:

1) The novel adds four more fictional years to a historical reign period (see section 1 here).

2) The Emperor’s true purpose in asking for the travelogue was to gain information pertinent to military campaigns against Turkic forces west of China (Brose, 2021, pp. 75-76).

3) See chapter 3 in Brose (2021).

4) Chapter six reads: “They bound him with ropes and punctured his breastbone with a knife, so that he could transform no further” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 186). But this is not stated or implied to be a form of physical punishment. It serves only to keep Monkey in his base form. The blade is mentioned again in chapter seven: “Arriving at the Tushita Palace, Laozi loosened the ropes on the Great Sage, pulled out the weapon from his breastbone, and pushed him into the Brazier of Eight Trigrams” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 189).

5) I guess the beads would be swallowed or kept close to the body. Their holy power would surely kill lesser devils but empower cultivator-demon kings.

6) Source altered slightly. I’ve made it more accurate.

Source:

Bodhi, B. (2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya; Translated from the Pāli by Bhikkhu Bodhi (Vols. 1-2). Boston: Wisdom Publications.

Brose, B. (2021). Xuanzang: China’s Legendary Pilgrim and Translator. Boulder, Colorado: Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Buswell, R. E. , & Lopez, D. S. (2014). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press.

Campany, R. (1985). Demons, Gods, and Pilgrims: The Demonology of the Hsi-yu Chi. Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR), 7(1/2), 95-115. doi:10.2307/495195

Dudbridge, G. (1970). The Hsi-Yu Chi: A Study of Antecedents to the Sixteenth-Century Chinese Novel. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.

Huili, & Li, R. (1995). A Biography of the Tripiṭaka Master of the Great Ci’en Monastery of the Great Tang Dynasty. Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist translation and research.

Strong, J. S. (2004). Relics of the Buddha. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

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

Interesting Facts about the Monkey King

Jim R. McClanahan Leave a comment

Last updated: 08-28-2022

I recently posted a list of facts about Sun Wukong (孫悟空) to reddit. I am presenting an elongated version of it here, which serves as a summation of everything that I’ve learned over the years. It is by no means comprehensive. I’ll add more facts in the future as I learn of them. Enjoy.

Current count: 108

  1. He was likely influenced by the Hindu monkey god Hanuman (Ch: Ha nu man, 哈奴曼) in different waves, one possibly from the north (via Tibet) and another from the south (via Southeast Asia). But the parallels are most apparent from the standard 1592 edition of JTTW, suggesting that the author-compiler had access to some form of the Indian epic Rāmāyana (7th-c. BCE to 3rd-c. CE). The novel even includes material from the epic Mahābhārata (4th-c. BCE to 4th-c. CE).
  2. In my opinion, however, the greatest influence on his 1592 persona is a white ape antagonist from a Tang-era story. Similarities include: 1) both are supernatural primates possessed of human speech; 2) one thousand-year-old practitioners of longevity arts; 3) masters of Daoist magic with the ability to fly and change their appearance; 4) warriors capable of single-handedly defeating an army; 5) have a fondness for armed martial arts; 6) have an iron-hard, nigh-invulnerable body immune to most efforts to harm them; 7) have eyes that flash like lightning; 8) live in verdant mountain paradises (like Flower Fruit Mountain); and 9) reside in caves with stone furniture (like the Water Curtain Cave).
  3. He has the second longest association with the JTTW story cycle, appearing as the “Monkey Pilgrim” (Hou xingzhe, 猴行者) circa 1000 (or before). Sha Wujing’s earliest antecedent appeared during the 8th-century, while Zhu Bajie didn’t appear until the 14th-century.
  4. The oldest published mention of the Monkey Pilgrim is a eulogy appearing in a tale from Zhang Shinan’s (張世南) Memoirs of a Traveling Official (Youhuan jiwen, 遊宦紀聞, 13th-century). One scholar dates the story to around 1127.
  5. The oldest depictions of this character (late-11th to late-13th-century) appear in Buddhist cave art along the Silk Road in Northern China. He is almost always portrayed in a scene worshiping the Bodhisattva Guanyin.

  6. A 13th-century version of JTTW describes the Monkey Pilgrim as a white-clad scholar who is an ancient immortal from the very beginning of the tale. He was beaten with an iron rod as a young immortal after he stole magic peaches and was subsequently banished to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. He actively searches out the monk to protect him as the cleric’s two previous incarnations were eaten by a monster (Sha Wujing’s antecedent) in the past.

  7. This immortal fights with two staves (at different times), a golden-ringed monk’s staff and an iron staff (both borrowed from heaven). The monk’s staff can create destructive blasts of light, as well as transform into titanic creatures, including a club-wielding yaksha and an iron dragon. The iron staff isn’t shown to have any special powers. These weapons were later combined by storytellers, the rings from the former being added to the ends of the latter.

  8. He is called the “Monkey King” (Houwang, 猴王) as far back as the 13th-century version. This position is likely based on a jataka tale about the Buddha’s past life as a king of monkeys.
  9. The immortal is bestowed the title “Great Sage Steel Muscles and Iron Bones” (Gangjin tiegu dasheng, 鋼筋鐵骨大聖) at the end of the story by Tang Taizong.
  10. This immortal was heavily influenced by the Buddhist Saint Mulian (目連; Sk: Maudgalyayana).
  11. He was popular even in Korea and appeared in a set of carvings from a 14th-century stone pagoda.
  12. The earliest mention of the name “Sun Wukong” that I’m aware of appears in an early-15th-century zaju play. It depicts the character as a sex-crazed maniac who kidnaps a princess to be his wife, tries to seduce Princess Iron Fan, and later gets erectile disfunction when his golden headband tightens while trying to have sex with a young maiden in the Kingdom of Women.

  13. The dharma name “Wukong” (悟空) was likely influenced by a historical monk of that name who traveled to India during the 8th-century. The name means “Awakened to Emptiness”, thus referencing Buddhist enlightenment. I think the corresponding Sanskrit name would be something like “Bodhiśūnyatā” (but don’t quote me on this).

  14. The surname “Sun” (孫) means “grandson” but is an open reference to husun (猢猻, lit: “grandson of the barbarian”), the Chinese word for “macaque“. It was also a popular surname for supernatural primates in stories associated with the Lingyin Temple (靈隱寺), which also likely influenced the Monkey King.

  15. The 1592 edition of the novel associates the components of Sun (孫 = zi, 子 & xi, 系) (ch. 1 – see section 4.2 here) with the formation of a “holy embryo” (shengtai, 聖胎), an immortal spirit that lives on after the adherent dies.

  16. So taking all of the Buddhist and Daoist references into account, another translation for Sun Wukong would be “Immortal Awakened to Enlightenment”. This is a reference to the Buddho-Daoist philosophy of Zhang Boduan (張伯端, mid- to late-980s-1082), who believed that in order to become a true transcendent (xian, 仙), one had to achieve both the Daoist elixir of immortality and Buddha-nature (i.e. Buddhahood).

  17. The aforementioned zaju play calls him the “Great Sage Reaching Heaven” (Tongtian dasheng, 通天大聖).

  18. Said play also states that he has two sisters and two brothers. The sisters are respectively named the “Venerable Mother of Mount Li” (Lishan laomu, 驪山老母) and “Holy Mother Wuzhiqi” (Wuzhiqi shengmu, 巫支祇聖母). His older brother is called “Great Sage Equaling Heaven” (Qitian dasheng, 齊天大聖) and the younger the “Third Son Shuashua” (Shuashua sanlang, 耍耍三郎).

  19. His story in the 1592 version takes place not in our world but in one modeled after ancient Hindo-Buddhist cosmic geography, which features four island-like continents floating in a great ocean around the four respective faces of a cosmic mountain. And yet the novel was published during a time coinciding with the late Renaissance period in Europe, precisely 49 years after Copernicus suggested that the Earth orbits the sun.
  20. His home, the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit (Huaguo shan, 花果山), is located near the easternmost continent, while China is associated with the southernmost continent. This means that Monkey, within the novel, is not Chinese!
  21. He has had past lives (see the 11-24-20 update here).

  22. He’s not the only figure from world myth born from stone. In fact, “Birth from rock” (T544.1) is a mythic category appearing in Stith Thompson’s Motif-Index of Folk-Literature.

  23. While his stone birth (ch. 1) is likely based on that of Yu the Great (Dayu, 大禹), a legendary King of the Xia dynasty (more on this below), it may ultimately be linked to Tibetan stories of stone-born monkey deities.
  24. He was likely born during the late-Zhou Dynasty (circa 1046-256 BCE).
  25. He serves as a physical manifestation of the “Mind Monkey” (xinyuan, 心猿), a Buddho-Daoist philosophy denoting the disquieted thoughts that keep Man trapped in the illusory world of Saṃsāra (see the material below figure three here). This phrase is also surprisingly associated with sexual desire.
  26. Despite the association above, Monkey shows no interest in sex throughout the entire novel. This may be a response to the highly sexualized Sun Wukong from the zaju play.
  27. The novel also gives him the alchemical title “Squire of Metal/Gold” (Jingong, 金公), a possible “anagrammatic reading of the Chinese graph for lead or qian 鉛, which may be broken up into the two graphs of jin and gong” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 532 n. 3). Lead is an ingredient in external alchemy (see the material after figure two here). The title might also be referring to the earthly branch shen (申), which is associated with both metal and monkeys (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 532 n. 3).

  28. The overall arc of his birth and early life were likely based on that of the historical Buddha to make his tale more familiar to readers. Similarities include: A) supernatural births that split open their respective mothers (Queen Maya vs stone egg); B) producing a radiant splendor in all directions upon their birth; C) being talented students that quickly master concepts taught to them; D) early lives as royals (Indian prince vs king of monkeys); E) shock at the impermanence of life; F) questing for a spiritual solution to said impermanence; and G) finding said solution via spiritual practices (Indic meditation vs Daoist elixir arts).

  29. His “Water Curtain Cave” (Shuilian dong, 水簾洞), the grotto-heaven where he and his people live in the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, is associated with a different immortal in older religious literature. For instance, the Song-era text Master Ghost Valley’s Numinous Writ of the Essence of Heaven (Guigu zi tiansui lingwen, 鬼谷子天隨靈文) calls the titular character the “Master of the Waterfall Cave” (Shuilian dong zhu, 水濂洞主). In this case, the source uses a different lian (濂) in place of the lian (簾) associated with Monkey’s cave. But they both mean the same thing: a waterfall hiding a cave mouth (see the 12-11-21 update here). One 17th-century novel influenced by JTTW states that Master Ghost Valley lives in the Water Curtain Cave (Shuilian dong, 水簾洞; i.e. the same as Monkey’s home) with his student, the Warring States strategist Sun Bin (孫臏, d. 316 BCE). This means that two characters surnamed Sun (孫) live there in Chinese literature (see section II here).
  30. Despite modern media portraying him as an adult-sized humanoid character that is sometimes handsome and/or very muscular, the 1592 version describes him as an ugly, bald, and skinny Rhesus macaque that is less than four feet tall. This means that one of the most powerful warriors in the Buddho-Daoist cosmos is the size of a child.
  31. While commonly portrayed as a Daoist immortal, his first master, the Patriarch Subodhi (Xuputi zushi, 須菩提祖師) (ch. 1 & 2), is shown to live in India and have a strong connection to Buddhism, possibly even being a Bodhisattva.
  32. The breathing and energy circulation methods that Monkey uses to achieve immortality (ch. 2) are based on real Daoist elixir practices.
  33. The actual name for his famous 72 Transformations is “Multitude of Terrestrial Killers” (Disha shu, 地煞數), which is based on a popular set of malevolent stellar gods.
  34. This skill not only allows Monkey to transform into whatever he wants but also gives him a store of extra heads and possibly even extra lives like a video game (see section 4.4 # 3 here).
  35. He specifically learns the 72 Transformations (ch. 3) in order to hide from a trio of elemental calamities sent by heaven to punish cultivators for defying their fate and achieving immortality. This is the origin of the “Heavenly Tribulation” (tianjie, 天劫; zhongjie, 重劫) trope from modern Xianxia literature.
  36. But, surprisingly, he is not a true immortal, just long-lived and really hard to kill. The novel refers to him as a “bogus immortal” (yaoxian, 妖仙). This references Zhang Boduan’s aforementioned philosophy where one must obtain both the Daoist elixir (which Monkey did) and Buddha-Nature (which he hadn’t yet achieved) in order to be a true transcendent.
  37. While training under Subodhi (ch. 3), he expressly passes on learning the bureaucratic-style magic rites normally used by earthly priests to request something from heaven because the skills involved won’t result in eternal life. Instead, after achieving immortality, Monkey just commands the gods to do his bidding (see section II here).
  38. He can grow 100,000 feet (30,480 m) tall (ch. 1, 6, 61, and 97). This skill is called the “Method of Modeling Heaven on Earth” (Fatian xiangdi, 法天像地), and it is related to ancient Pre-Qin and Han concepts of astral-geography later used in the construction of imperial Chinese cities.
  39. His magic “immortal breath” (xianqi, 仙氣) can transform his hairs, his staff, and objects not in direct contact with his body into anything he desires. It can also change disembodied souls into “ether” for ease of transport, and evidence suggests that it can even grant some form of immortality.
  40. Monkey has 84,000 hairs on his body, and he can transform them into hundreds of thousands, millions, and even billions of hair clones (see the 03-19-22 update here).
  41. The novel only mentions him learning martial arts in passing (ch. 67 – see section 4.5 here), but one episode (ch. 51) features a battle between Monkey and a demon king in which they use a host of real world fighting techniques that are still known and practiced today.
  42. His favorite style of boxing is “Short Fist” (duanquan, 短拳) (see the 05-02-18 update here).
  43. His skill with the staff is so great that the novel compares it to techniques from two manuals listed among the Seven Military Classics of China (see the 08-07-18 update here).
  44. The bureaucratic mix-up that resulted in his soul being dragged to hell (ch. 3) is based on “mistaken summons” to the underworld and “return-from-death” narratives present in early Chinese “miraculous tales” (Zhiguai xiaoshuo, 志怪小説) (Campany, 1990).
  45. When he looks at his entry in the ledgers of hell, he learns that: 1) his soul number is “1,350”; 2) his real name is “Heaven-Born Stone Monkey” (Tianchan shihou, 天產石猴); and 3) he was fated to have a “good end” at the ripe old age of 342. This refers to a person’s pre-allotted lifespan (ming, 命) (Campany, 2005; Campany & Ge, 2002, pp. 47-52).
  46. The distance that his cloud-somersault can travel, 108,000 li (33,554 mi / 54,000 km), is based on a metaphor for instantaneous enlightenment. It comes from the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Chan Patriarch Huineng (惠能). The Chan Master explains that the common trope of the Buddha’s paradise being separated from the world of man by 108,000 li is based on a combination of the “Ten Evils” (Shi’e, 十惡) and “Eight Wrongs” (Baxie, 八邪) of Buddhism. Those who rid themselves of these spiritual flaws will achieve enlightenment and thus arrive instantly at the Buddha’s paradise.
  47. The initial depiction of his magic staff as a great iron pillar kept in the dragon kingdom treasury (ch. 3) is based on a metal column that the immortal Xu Xun (許遜) chained a demonic dragon to and then imprisoned in the aquatic realm in Chinese mythology.

  48. It’s a common misconception that his staff weighed down the Milky Way galaxy. This is based on a mistranslation. The W. J. F. Jenner edition claims that the weapon anchored said star cluster. However, the original Chinese states that it was used as a means to measure and set the depths of the Heavenly River (Tianhe, 天河; a.k.a. Milky Way).

  49. The weight of his staff is likely an embellishment on the weight of a heavy stone block lifted by the bandit-hero Wu Song (武松) in the Water Margin (Shuihu zhuan, 水滸傳, c. 1400). This episode and the JTTW episode where Monkey acquires his staff both involve a hero (Wu Song vs Sun Wukong) asking someone (a friend vs the Dragon King) to take them to a seemingly immovable object (stone block vs iron pillar). They then adjust their clothing before lifting the object with ease. Most importantly, the Chinese characters for the respective weights are visually similar. Sun’s staff is 13,500 catties (yiwan sanqian wubai jin, 一萬三千五百斤; 17,5560 lbs. / 7965.08 kg), while the stone block is 300 to 500 catties (sanwubai jin, 三五百斤; 390-650 lbs. / 177-295 kg). The characters in bold indicate the similarities between the two weights, where as those in red indicate the embellishments: 一萬三千五百斤.

  50. He singlehandedly defeats the “Nine Planets” (Sk: Navagraha; Ch: Jiuyao, 九曜, “Nine Luminaries”), personifications of the sun and planets from Hindu astrology (Gansten, 2009), during his rebellion (ch. 4) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 170-172).

  51. His time as the Bimawen (弼馬溫, “To assist horse temperament”), a minor post overseeing the heavenly horse stables (ch. 4), is based on an ancient Chinese practice of placing monkeys in horse stables to ward off equine sicknesses. The belief was that the menstrual blood of female monkeys mixed with horse food somehow guarded against diseases. This is hilarious as the position links Sun Wukong to menstruation!

  52. His title “Great Sage Equaling Heaven” (Qitian dasheng, 齊天大聖) (ch. 4) was actually borrowed from the “Eastern Marchmount” (Dongyue, 東嶽; a.k.a. “Eastern Peak”), the god of Mt. Tai. This suggests that the older brother from the aforementioned zaju play is really the Eastern Marchmount.
  53. His time as the Guardian of the Immortal Peach Groves (ch. 5) is likely based on a Song-era Daoist scripture in which the aforementioned Sun Bin is tasked by his teacher, Master Ghost Valley, with protecting a tree laden with special fruit. He later captures a magic white ape stealing said produce (see section III here). The simian thief saves his life by offering Sun a set of secret religious texts. Both stories include: 1) a character surnamed Sun (孫) protecting special fruit (Sun Bin vs Sun Wukong); and 2) supernatural primates that steal and eat the fruit. Therefore, Monkey’s 1592 persona serves as both the guard and the thief!
  54. The elixir pills that he drunkenly eats in Laozi’s laboratory (ch. 5) likely influenced the senzu beans from the world famous Dragon Ball (Jp: Doragon Bōru,ドラゴンボール; Ch: Qilongzhu, 七龍珠) franchise.
  55. His conflict with Erlang (ch. 6) can be traced to ancient Han-era funerary rituals, and their battle of magic transformations shares parallels with ancient Greek tales and can ultimately be traced to even older stories from the Near East.
  56. His time in Laozi‘s furnace (ch. 7) is based on an episode from the aforementioned 13th-century version of JTTW. It may also be connected to a story of Laozi magically surviving a foreign king’s attempt to boil him in a cauldron.
  57. He is shown to be weak against spiritual fire and smoke (see the 06-28-22 update here).
  58. Smoke from the furnace irritates his eyes, giving him his famous “Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils” (Huoyan jinjing, 火眼金睛). The former is likely based on the “actual red-rimmed eyes of [the Rhesus macaque]” (Burton, 2005, p. 148). The latter is likely based on the golden pupils of macaques (see section 2.1 here).
  59. The message that he leaves on the Buddha’s finger (ch. 7) is a popular form of graffiti in East Asia.
  60. His time under Five Elements Mountain (Wuxing shan, 五行山) (ch. 7) is based on stories of the aforementioned Wuzhiqi (無支奇/巫支祇) being imprisoned under a mountain by Yu the Great.
  61. He was pressed under the mountain during the late-Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220CE – see section II here).
  62. A religious precious scroll predating the 1592 edition states that Erlang instead traps Monkey beneath Mount Tai, and the aforementioned 15th-century zaju play states it was Guanyin and the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit.
  63. This punishment links him to a broader list of mythic baddies imprisoned in earth, including Lucifer, Loki, and the Titans of Tartarus. I plan to write a later article about “earth prisons” in world myth.
  64. One scholar suggests that being trapped under Five Elements Mountain is a symbolic death (remember that Monkey claims to be free of the Five Elements after attaining immortality), meaning that the hellish diet is his karmic punishment in the afterlife, and his later release is a symbolic reincarnation.
  65. Monkey’s mountain imprisonment was only part of his punishment. The other half was a hellish diet of hot iron pellets and molten copper, punishments straight from Buddhist canon.
  66. His golden headband (ch. 13) has three influences: 1) a historical ritual circlet worn as a physical reminder of right speech and action by Esoteric Buddhist yogins in ancient India; 2) adornments, likely based on stylized lingzhi mushrooms, worn by Daoist protector deities; and 3) an Iranic triple-crescent crown.
  67. The oldest depiction of Monkey with his headband that I know of appears in a late-Xixia (late-12th to early-13th-century) Buddhist cave grotto in Northwestern China.
  68. The earliest depiction of his double “curlicue-style” headband that I’m aware of is a 13th-century stone carving in Fujian.
  69. The secret spell that tightens his headband is likely the Akshobhya Buddha mantra.

  70. Along with the headband, his tiger skin kilt (ch. 13) can be traced to a list of ritual items prescribed for worshiping wrathful protector deities in Esoteric Indian Buddhism. These same ritual items came to be worn by the very protector deities that the yogins revered. This explains why some deities in Chinese folk religion (including Sun Wukong) are portrayed with the golden headband and tiger skin.

  71. Modern artists sometimes depict him with two long feathers protruding from the front of his golden headband, giving him the appearance of an insect. But the feathers (lingzi, 翎子) are actually associated with a different headdress called the “Purple Gold Cap” (zijin guan, 紫金冠), which is worn on top of the head. It was a military headdress later associated with heroes in Chinese opera (see section 2.2 here).
  72. Monkey is also shown to be weaker in water. For instance, he enlists Zhu Bajie to combat the water demon who turns out to be Sha Wujing (ch. 22) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. pp. 422-423).
  73. The baby-shaped fruit that he eats (ch. 24) comes from a tree based on Indo-Persian lore.
  74. He claims to have eaten people when he was a monster in his youth (ch. 27) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 20).
  75. His greatest feat of strength is carrying two mountains while running at meteoric speeds (ch. 33). One is the axis mundi of the Hindo-Buddhist cosmos, while the other is the place from which (according to legend) Buddhism spread upon entering China. This episode is based on an older tale in which Erlang does the lifting.
  76. His doppelganger, the Six-Eared Macaque (ch. 56-58), is actually an aspect of his troubled mind. Once he kills him, Monkey takes one step closer to Buddhahood.
  77. He fights and is defeated by an ancient bird demon who is a spiritual uncle of the Buddha (ch. 77). This monster is based on the Hindu bird god Garuda.
  78. He and his religious brothers take human disciples in India (ch. 88), and Monkey later performs an arcane ritual in which he grants them superhuman strength (and possibly some form of immortality).
  79. His title, “Victorious Fighting Buddha” (Douzhan sheng fo, 鬥戰勝佛) (ch. 100), is based on a real world deity numbering among the “Thirty-Five Confession Buddhas“.
  80. The novel ranks him higher than Guanyin after his ascension (see the third quote here).
  81. As an enlightened Buddha, Monkey is eligible for his own “Buddha-Field” (Sk: Buddhakṣetra; Ch: Focha, 佛刹), essentially his own universe in which he will lead the inhabitants to enlightenment (Buswell & Lopez, 2014, p. 153).
  82. Despite his association with the Victorious Fighting Buddha, he is primarily worshiped as the Great Sage Equaling Heaven in East and Southeast Asian Chinese folk religion.
  83. Fighters of the Boxer Rebellion (Yihetuan yundong, 義和團運動, 1899-1901) believed that they could channel the Monkey King to gain his great combat skills.
  84. Modern ritual specialists known as “spirit-mediums” (Hokkien: Tangki, 童乩; Ch: Jitong, 乩童; lit: “Divining Child”) also channel the Great Sage, allowing his worshipers to have direct access to the divine. While they may use a staff to enhance the theater of their performance, the weapon surprisingly doesn’t serve a ritual function. They instead use a set of bladed or spiked weapons to draw blood intended to create evil-warding paper talismans (see the material below figure six here).
  85. Chinese folk religion recognizes more than one Great Sage, usually between three and five individuals.
  86. Monkey’s faith started in Fujian province, China and spread via boat to other countries within the Chinese diaspora. When he first started being worshiped is unknown. The first concrete references to his worship come from the 17th-century (see section III here). But the aforementioned 13th-century stone carving depicts him as a wrathful guardian, alongside other protector deities, Bodhisattvas, patriarchs, and eminent monks. This suggests that he might have been revered at an earlier time.
  87. He was even worshiped in 19th-century America!
  88. The iconic pose where he shades his eyes to search the horizon is likely based on a common motif associated with Chinese sea gods.
  89. He has a number of religious birthdays, one of which is the 16th day of the 8th lunar month (the day after the Mid Autumn Festival).
  90. There is a style of Chinese boxing named after him, “Great Sage Boxing” (Cantonese: Taishing kyun; Mandarin: Dasheng quan, 大聖拳). Another closely associated style is “Great Sage Axe Boxing” (Can: Taishing pek kwar kyun; Man: Dasheng pigua quan, 劈掛拳). These arts also have staff styles associated with the Monkey King.
  91. His time in Laozi’s furnace and ability to grow 100,000 feet tall influenced a Shaolin Monastery myth related to the founding of their famous staff fighting method. The story describes how a lowly kitchen worker jumped into an oven and remerged as a staff-wielding titan to battle mountain brigands attacking the monastery (see section 3 here).
  92. Mao Zedong, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, was a fan of the Monkey King, even associating himself with the character in his poetry. Also, a CCP propaganda play of the 1960s associates the scripture pilgrims with members of the Communist Party, with Monkey referencing Mao.
  93. He shares several connections with Yu the Great (here and here). These include: A) both have stone births; B) Monkey’s staff was originally used by Yu as a drill and as a ruler to set the depths of the fabled world flood; C) Sun’s demonic sister Wuzhiqi was conquered by Yu in some stories; and D) both are legendary hero-kings.

  94. He shares a number of similarities with Wu Song. These include: A) both are reformed supernatural spirits originally trapped under the pressing weight of a mountain; B) slayers of tigers; C) Buddhist monks nicknamed “Pilgrim” (xingzhe, 行者), a title noting junior and traveling monks, as well as untrained riffraff that became clerics to avoid trouble with the law or taxes and military service (Wu Song is the latter and Monkey the former); D) martial arts monks who fight with staves; E) have moralistic golden headbands; and F) weapons made from bin steel (bin tie, 鑌鐵) (Wu Song’s Buddhist sabers vs Monkey’s magic staff).

  95. He shares a surprising number of similarities with the Greek hero Heracles (a.k.a. Hercules). These include: A) supernatural births via masculine heavenly forces (son of Zeus vs the stone seeded by heaven); B) quick to anger; C) big cat skins (Nemean lion vs mountain tiger); D) fight with blunt weapons (olive wood club vs magic iron staff); E) great strength; F) knocked out by a god during a fit of rage (Athena with a rock vs Laozi and his Diamond-Cutter bracelet); G) given punishment to atone for past transgressions (12 labors for killing family vs protecting the monk for rebelling against heaven); H) constantly helped by goddesses (Athena vs Guanyin); I) similar enemies (there’s a long list); tamer of supernatural horses (Mares of Diomedes vs Heavenly Horses); J) travel to lands peopled by women (Amazons vs Kingdom of Women); K) theft of fruit from the gardens of queenly goddesses (Hera’s golden apples of the Hesperides vs the Queen Mother’s immortal peaches); L) travel to the underworld; M) take part in a heavenly war (Gigantomachy vs rebellion in heaven); N) become gods at the end of their stories (god of heroes and strength vs Victorious Fighting Buddha); and O) worshiped in the real world (Greece and Rome vs East and Southeast Asia).

  96. He time travels to different points in Chinese history in an unofficial 17th-century sequel to JTTW.

  97. He has a total of eight children between two 17th-century novels. He has five sons in A Supplement to the Journey to the West (Xiyoubu, 西遊補, 1640), but only one of them is mentioned by name. “King Pāramitā” (Boluomi wang, 波羅蜜王) is portrayed as a sword-wielding general capable of fighting Sun for several rounds. His name is based on a set of virtues learned by Bodhisattvas on their path to Buddhahood. In Journey to the South (Nanyouji, 南遊記) he has two sons named “Jidu” (奇都) and “Luohou” (羅猴), who respectively represent the lunar eclipse demons Ketu and Rahu from Indian astrology. He also has a giant, monstrous daughter, “Yuebei Xing” (月孛星, “Moon Comet Star”), who is named after a shadowy planet representing the lunar apogee (or the furthest spot in the moon’s orbit) in East Asian astrology. Only the daughter plays a part in the story. She uses a magic skull, which can kill immortals three days after their name is called.

  98. He influenced the manga/anime hero Son Goku (a Japanese transliteration of 孫悟空) from the Dragon Ball Franchise.
  99. He almost appeared in an Indiana Jones movie!
  100. He has appeared in both Marvel and DC comic book series.
  101. The world’s tallest statue of Monkey is 40 ft (12.192 m) tall and resides at the Broga Sak Dato Temple (武來岸玉封石哪督廟) in Malaysia.
  102. He is the mascot of several entities in Taiwan, including the HCT delivery company, the Hang Yuan FC football team, and the Taipei Water Department.
  103. He has appeared in nearly 65 video games.
  104. He is the namesake for a Chinese satellite designed to search for dark matter.
  105. He is the namesake of a fossa on Pluto. This plays on his association with the underworld.

  106. He is the namesake of the Wukongopterus (Wukong yilong shu, 悟空翼龍屬), a genus of Chinese pterosaur.

  107. He is the namesake of Syntelia sunwukong, a Synteliid beetle from mid-Cretaceous Burma.
  108. A Covid-19 lab in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China adopted the name “Fire Eyes” (Huoyan, 火眼) in honor of Monkey’s ability to discern evil spirits.

Sources:

Burton, F. D. (2005). Monkey King in China: Basis for a Conservation Policy? In A. Fuentes & L. D. Wolfe (Eds.), Primates Face to Face: Conservation Implications of Human-Nonhuman Primate Interconnections (pp. 137-162). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Buswell, R. E., & Lopez, D. S. (2014). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. N: Princeton University Press.

Campany, R. F. (1990). Return-from-Death Narratives in Early Medieval China. Journal of Chinese Religions, 18, pp. 91-125.

Campany, R. F., & Ge, H. (2002). To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth: A Translation and Study of Ge Hong’s Traditions of Divine Transcendents. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Campany, R. F. (2005). Living off the Books: Fifty Ways to Dodge Ming in Early Medieval China. In C. Lupke (Ed.), The Magnitude of Ming: Command, Allotment, and Fate in Chinese Culture (pp. 129-150), University of Hawaii Press.

Gansten, M. (2009). Navagrahas. In K. A. Jacobsen (Ed.), Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Vol. 1) (pp. 647-653). Leiden: Brill.

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

Archive #34 – Understanding Reality: A Taoist Alchemical Classic

Jim R. McClanahan 3 Comments

Last updated: 03-17-2022

The Wuzhi pian (悟真篇, “Writings on Understanding / Becoming Aware of Reality”, 1075) is a Song-era work of Buddho-Daoist philosophy by the Southern Quanzhen School Patriarch Zhang Boduan (張伯端, mid to late-980s-1082) (fig. 1). Shao (1997) expertly shows that Zhang’s writing had a huge impact on the standard 1592 edition of Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記) (see especially ch. 4). For example, the reason that the first half of Sun Wukong‘s story (ch. 1 to 7) is Taoist heavy (i.e. his quest for immortality and later ascension to heavenly rank) is because this follows the first part of Zhang’s philosophy, which is attaining the golden elixir (jindan, 金丹). And the reason the second half (ch. 14 to 100) is Buddhist heavy (i.e. building merit by protecting Tripitaka on the pilgrimage west and the rise to Buddhahood) is because the second part of Zhang’s philosophy involves attaining the Buddha-Mind. Combined, these achievements make someone a true transcendent, one free from the wheel of rebirth.

A line from the Wuzhi pian is a prime example of Zhang’s stance on those who strive only to attain the elixir: “A halo behind the head is still a phantom; / Even when clouds rise beneath your feet you are still not an immortal” (Zhang, Liu, & Cleary, 1987, p. 161). This explains why Monkey is banished from heaven and imprisoned under Five Elements Mountain. He has yet to attain the Buddha-Mind.

An even better example of this two-stage process among Zhang’s other works reads:

The elixir is the most precious treasure for the physical body.
When cultivated to perfection, the transformations are endless.
If one further explores the true meaning of the buddha-nature,
One is bound to attain the ineffable bliss of the birthless (Xue, 1977, as cited in Shao, 1997, pp. 99-100).

I’m archiving an English translation of the Wuzhi pian by Thomas Clearly, with explanations by the Qing-era Daoist scholar Liu Yiming (1734-1821).

Fig. 1 – A print of Zhang Boduan (a.k.a. Zhang Ziyang, 張紫陽) from the Ming-era Traces of Immortals and Buddhas (Xianfo jizong, 仙佛奇蹤) (larger version).

Archive link:

Click to access Chang-Po-Tuan_-Thomas-Cleary_-Liu-Yiming-Understanding-Reality-University-of-Hawaii-Press-1987.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: 03-17-2022

Jeff Pepper, writer and publisher of Imagin8 Press, left an informative comment reminding me that Zhang actually appears in a later chapter of JTTW.

It’s worth noting that Zhang Boduan (also referred to as Zhang Ziyang and Great Heaven’s Immortal Purple Cloud) appears in Chapter 71 of JTW. Sun Wukong has just returned Lady Golden Sage Palace to her husband, the king of Scarlet Purple Kingdom. The king tries to embrace her but is painfully pricked by the poison thorns on her cloak. Zhang appears in the clouds, comes to earth, points his finger at the Lady, and her poison cloak disappears. He explains that he was the one who put the cloak on her in the first place, to protect her from her captor, the evil demon Jupiter’s Rival.

Citation:

Zhang, B., Liu, Y., & Cleary, T. (1987). Understanding Reality: A Taoist Alchemical Classic. Honululu Univ. of Hawaii Press.

Shao, P. (1997). Monkey and Chinese Scriptural Tradition: A Rereading of the Novel Xiyouji (UMI No. 9818173) [Doctoral dissertation, Washington University]. Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database.

How Tall is the Monkey King? – A Debate

Jim R. McClanahan 2 Comments

This was originally posted as a 03-03-2022 update to an existing article, but I decided to make it a standalone piece.

Last updated: 04-27-2024

In “What Does Sun Wukong Look Like?” I highlighted several sentences pointing to the Monkey King’s small stature (fig. 1 & 2). For example, one monster comments:

The old monster took a careful look and saw the diminutive figure of Pilgrim [Monkey]—less than four Chinese feet [buman sichi, 不滿四尺, 4.17 ft or 1.27 m] in fact—and his sallow cheeks. He said with a laugh: “Too bad! Too bad! I thought you were some kind of invincible hero. But you are only a sickly ghost, with nothing more than your skeleton left!” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 408).

This information was later used in the making of a youtube video called “10 Facts About Sun Wukong the Monkey King.” Fact number seven was that “He’s really short,” and I ended the section by saying: “That’s right! The Great Sage Equaling Heaven, the conqueror of the heavenly army … is the size of a child.” A Chinese viewer later left a thought-provoking comment on the video stating that I was wrong about Monkey’s size.

Fig. 1 – An accurate Monkey King (larger version). Drawn by my friend Alexandre Palheta Coelho (instagram and deviantart). Slightly modified by me to match what I’ve written here. For the original version, see here. Fig. 2 – A size chart comparing Sun to a six-foot human (larger version).

The Debate

Here, I will present the comment in full but interspersed with my responses:

Hello! I am a Wukong fan from China. I really enjoyed your video! I would like to say that the height of the Monkey King has been very controversial on the internet in China. The data and appearance depictions in classical Chinese novels can be somewhat exaggerated. Journey to the West is a mythological novel is even more so. For example, seventy-two transformations, a somersault that can travel one hundred thousand eight hundred thousand li respectively refer to infinite changes and fly extremely fast. Seventy-two and one hundred and eighty thousand are not exact numbers, so relying solely on data is not reliable. Besides, in addition to four feet, Wukong has also appeared other height data. For example, the earliest version of the Journey to the West, “世德堂本”, Chapter 21. “大圣公然不惧。那怪果打一下来，他把腰躬一躬，足长了三尺，有一丈长短。” “Our Great Sage was not in the least frightened. When the monster struck him once, he stretched his waist and at once grew three chi, attaining the height of one zhang altogether.”

This PDF scan (page 258) shows the original version of the novel did indeed read “grow three chi” (changle sanchi, 長了三尺) and not six like in the modern version (Wu & Yu, vol. 1, p. 408). I was surprised when this was brought to my attention.

One zhang minus three chi equals seven chi. In other words, the height of the Monkey King here was seven chi (Since the height unit in Chinese classical novels is based on the ancient system, 7 chi is around 5.5 feet). But in later versions and translations, “grew three chi” was changed to six chi. This has always been a point of contention. The figure of four feet (four chi) appears twice, both from the perspective of other monsters, such as the Monstrous King, who is three zhangs tall (around 24 feet). It may be possible that Sun Wukong is short in his eyes in comparison.

For those unfamiliar with ancient Chinese measurements, one zhang (丈) equals ten chi (尺, i.e. “Chinese feet”) (Jiang, 2005, p. xxxi). The passage in question does imply that Monkey is seven chi tall. However, there are two problems. First, during the Ming (1368-1644) when the novel was published, one chi equaled approximately 12.52 inches (31.8 cm) (Jiang, 2005, p. xxxi). This would make Sun a whopping 7.3 feet (2.22 m) tall! I must admit that the chi varied at the local level, but I doubt the variations would lead to a nearly two-foot (60.96 cm) difference. Additionally, if we use the measures for the Tang (618-907 CE), when the story is set, a chi was 11.57 inches (29.4 cm), making Monkey 6.75 feet (2.06 m) tall. There was, however, a “small chi” (xiaochi, 小尺) at this time, which was 9.66 inches (24.6 cm) (Nienhauser, 2016, p. 405 n. 40). This would only make him 5.65 feet (1.72 m) tall. But I would question if the common folk reading the novel during the Ming were aware of and still using this truncated measure. Second, as written above, the figure for “not even four chi” (buman sichi, 不滿四尺, 4.17 ft or 1.27 m) appears twice. But it’s important to note that this estimate is made by two different characters at two different locations and times. The first is spoken in chapter two by the Monstrous King of Havoc (Hunshi mowang, 混世魔王) in the Water Belly Cave (Shuizang dong, 水臟洞) of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit (east of the Eastern Purvavideha Continent) (PDF page 36; Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 128). This takes place over 100 years before Sun’s initial rebellion during the Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE). And the second is spoken in chapter 21  by Great King Yellow Wind (Huangfeng dawang, 黃風大王) in the Yellow Wind Cave (Huangfeng dong, 黃風洞) of Yellow Wind Ridge (Huangfeng ling, 黃風嶺) somewhere in the Southern Jambudvipa Continent (PDF page 258; Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 408). This takes place sometime after his release from his 600-plus-year punishment under Five Elements Mountain during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE). Therefore, this seems like a more reliable measure—given the distance between them—than the ten minus three argument. I suggest the latter was actually a typo that later editions tried to amend by changing three to six. 

Another reason is that the author may be deliberately blurring the height of the Monkey King. Because at least in the story, the author describes Wukong according to the height of normal people. For example: Before Wukong learned Magic skills, when he could not change his height, he had robbed ordinary people’s clothes to wear. If Wukong was the height of a child, the clothes would hardly fit. When Wukong set out on his journey to the west, he once wore the clothes of Tang Monk. Wukong could carry the Taoist priest changed by the Silver Horned King (if he was a child height this would be very difficult).

These are good points, but a 7.3-foot tall Monkey wouldn’t be able to wear the clothing of the aforementioned people either. Conversely, tucking in or rolling up clothing wouldn’t be out of the question. And carrying a priest wouldn’t be a problem for a small-statured hero capable of hoisting the weight of two cosmic mountains while running at meteoric speeds.

In the same chapter, the Tang monk sitting on the horse can pull Wukong’s tiger skin skirt. Wukong can easily grab Eight Rules’ ear. In the Bhikṣu Kingdom, Wukong once exchanged clothes with Tang monk, etc.

Horses are tall animals, so the Tang Monk would’ve probably fallen off before even grabbing the skirt of an adult-sized Sun Wukong. I look at this as something that sounds good on paper until it’s tried in real life.

I think even a 5.5-foot tall Monkey would have problems grabbing the ear of Zhu Bajie, who is likely 10 feet (3.05 m) tall or more given his three chi (3.13 ft / 95.4 cm) snout (PDF page 108; Wu & Yu 2012, vol. 4, p. 149) and giant body that “causes even the wind to rise when he walks” (PDF page 367; Wu & Yu 2012, vol. 2, p. 51). Either way, jumping would be involved, making this irrelevant.

And just because Sun might be smaller doesn’t mean he wears child-sized clothing. I believe the first instance of sharing clothes happens in chapter 14: “Pilgrim … noticed that Tripitaka had taken off a [robe] made of white cloth and had not put it on again after his bath. Pilgrim grabbed it and put it on himself” (PDF page 174; Wu & Yu, vol. 1, p. 313). He seems to wear whatever is available to him.

In China, there is another speculation about Wukong’s height: monkeys are usually hunched over. Wukong is four chi tall when bent over and seven chi tall when standing upright.

I studied primates in college. Monkeys usually walk on their palms (palmigrade) (fig. 3) and only stand when foraging, fighting, or carrying things. But I don’t recall the novel ever mentioning Sun traveling on all fours (please correct me if I’m wrong). Therefore, he likely walks on two legs. In this case, as stated, monkeys have a hunched posture when standing. They can’t stand straight because of mechanical limitations in their skull, spine, hips, legs, and feet (my previous essay on hominids applies to monkeys as well). One could argue that Monkey can overcome these limitations with his immortal body, but this definitely wouldn’t give him three more chi of height. For example, here’s a macaque standing at full height (fig. 4). As can be seen, straightening the head, spine, and legs would only give a handful of inches or centimeters.

Fig. 3 – A macaque skeleton in its natural posture (larger version). Fig. 4 – A young macaque male standing (larger version).

And as stated in this article, Sun shares all of the hallmarks of a macaque, including a “furry, joweless face with fiery eyes, a broken or flat nose, a beak-like mouth with protruding fangs, and forked ears.” This likely includes a smaller stature.

Of course, there is no doubt that he is very thin, and is definitely the shortest one in the scripture takers, but at least, his height is more like that of a shorter adult than a child. The role of Sun Wukong is a combination of human nature, monkey nature, and divinity. The author may be deliberately obscuring his height. Therefore, when describing daily life, Wukong is the same height as normal people, but in the eyes of other demons, he is more prominent in the shape of the monkey. And he has the divine power to change his height at will. Sorry for my bad English, really enjoyed your video!

I will concede that four chi is a rough estimate, so he might be slightly shorter or even taller than this. Either way, he’d be far below average human height.

Update: 03-06-22

Chapter 20 includes a scene where Monkey refers to his stature: “A person like me, old Monkey, may be small but tough, like the skin around a ball of ligaments!” (PDF page 246; Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 395).

Update: 03-08-22

Above, I suggested that the ten minus three argument was a typo. But there might be a numerological explanation. Qing-era scholar Wang Xiangxu (汪象旭, fl.1605-1668) borrowed from the Daoist philosophy of Zhang Boduan (張伯端, 987?-1082) by applying his “three fives equal one” (sanwuyi, 三五一) five elements concept (fig. 5) to numbers appearing in the novel. As Shao (1997) explains:

One set of five consists of wood (3) and fire (2). Wood in the east produces fire in the south. The second set is that of metal (4) and water (1). Metal in the west produces water in the north. The third is earth in the center whose number is five. The whole business of the “gold elixir” is to integrate all three sets of five to produce one—the gold elixir (pp. 16-17).

Shao (1997) goes on to explain the numeric significance of the dharma vessel constructed from Sha Wujing’s 9-skull necklace and the heavenly gourd in chapter 22: 

Wang Xiangxu shows a keen eye for the “one” gourd and “nine” skulls which make a perfect “ten”—the number for the completion of earth. However, it is not the numbers that attract him, but what they indicate—that the gold elixir is creation—a process that involves the integration of all the five elements—not unlike the creation of the universe (p. 18).

Therefore, three (wood) and seven (fire) may be a reference to the completion of ten (the golden elixir) in Daoist numerology. If this is true, even the later switch from three to six still matches this (refer to fig. 5).

Fig. 5 – A chart explaining the three fives (larger version). From Shao, 1997, p. 17.

Update: 04-27-24

Chapter 37 gives a more precise measurement for Monkey’s height. He first transforms into a “tiny monk about two cun tall” (二寸長的小和尚兒) (based on Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 172). He shortly thereafter grows even bigger when a prince makes fun of him:

Tripitaka pulled open the box’s cover; Pilgrim [Sun Wukong] leaped out and began to hobble all over the place. The prince said, “This little midget! What can he know?” When Pilgrim heard this remark about his size, he at once resorted to magic. Straightening up his torso, he grew about three chi and four or five cun instantly (emphasis added). “If he can grow that rapidly,” said the soldiers, highly startled, “it will only be a few days before he pierces the sky.” When Pilgrim reached his normal height, however, he stopped growing (emphasis added) (based on Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, pp. 174-175).

三藏扯開匣蓋兒，那行者跳將出來，呀的兩邊亂走。太子道：「這星星小人兒，能知甚事？」行者聞言嫌小，卻就使個神通，把腰伸一伸，就長了有三尺四五寸。眾軍士吃驚道：「若是這般快長，不消幾日，就撐破天也。」行者長到原身，就不長了。

As mentioned above, one chi (尺) is roughly 12.3 in or 31.8 cm (Jiang, 2005, p. xxxi). Expanding on this, one chi equals 10 cun (寸; a.k.a. “Chinese inches”) (Jiang, 2005, p. xxxi). One cun would be about 1.25 in or 3.18 cm. Two cun would therefore be 2.5 in or 6.36 cm. Growing the stated additional height would then put our hero at 3 chi and 6 or 7 cun, which is roughly 3.86 ft or 1.176 m. This agrees with the aforementioned estimate of “not (or less than) four chi tall” (buman sichi, 不滿四尺) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 128 and 408).

It’s important to note that the cited quote above does indeed appear in the original 1592 edition (see PDF page 480) (fig. 6). This proves that the aforementioned “grow three chi” (changle sanchi, 長了三尺) from PDF page 258 was a typo!

Fig. 6 – A scan from the original 1592 edition showing that Monkey only grows an additional “3 chi and 4 or 5 cun” (larger version). 

Sources:

Jiang, Y. (2005). The Great Ming Code / Da Ming Lu. Vancouver, Wa: University of Washington Press.

Nienhauser, W. H. (2016). Tang Dynasty Tales: A Guided Reader. Singapore: World Scientific.

Shao, P. (1997). Monkey and Chinese Scriptural Tradition: A Rereading of the Novel Xiyouji (UMI No. 9818173) [Doctoral dissertation, Washington University]. Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database.

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

Review of DC Comics’ Monkey Prince #0 to #6

Jim R. McClanahan 4 Comments

Note: For the time being, I’m changing this from a review of issue #0 to a review of the whole series. Until anything of significance takes place in the story (no luck as of issue #6), I’ll confine my thoughts to this page.

Last updated: 04-11-2026

The DC Comics character Monkey Prince (Ch: Xiao Houwang, 小猴王; a.k.a. “Marcus”), son of Sun Wukong (孫悟空), first appeared in “The Monkey Prince Hates Superheroes” from the DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration (2021) (Yang, 2021a). In anticipation of the character receiving his own 12-issue series in February 2022, DC released a free digital issue #0 (fig. 1) (DC Publicity, 2021). I stated in my previous review of the Monkey Prince that I wasn’t going to evaluate issue #0 due to so many problems with the original, as well as unpromising errors in promotional material for upcoming issue #1. But I changed my mind because I want readers unfamiliar with Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592; “JTTW” hereafter), the Chinese classic on which the comic is based, to have an informed opinion about the quality of the character design and writing through the lens of the original.

Issue #0 is written by Gene Luen Yang, colored by Sebastian Cheng, lettered by Janice Chiang, and edited by Jessica Chen. Bernard Chang provides art for the opening and closing pages, while Billy Tan draws the “flashback” scenes, or the majority of the issue (Yang, 2021b, p. 3). Readers of my previous review will remember that Editor Chen thought up the Monkey Prince but also worked with Mr. Yang and Mr. Chang to craft “the origin and the essence of [the character] together” (Aguilar, 2021). 

Those who like this subject might fancy learning about Sun Wukong’s children in Ming-Qing Chinese literature. See also my review of Marvel’s Sun Wukong.

Fig. 1 – The front cover of Monkey Prince #0 (larger version). From Yang, 2021b. Copyright DC Comics.

Table of Contents

1. Story Overview

Titled “Apokolips in the Heavenly Realm,” the story opens on the Monkey Prince fighting a nest of insect-like parademon soldiers at night in Philadelphia. When asked how he knew about the nest, Shifu Pigsy (a.k.a. Zhu Bajie, 豬八戒) reveals that he and Sun Wukong had fought their kind once before in the past. This took place centuries ago when Darkseid, a despotic New God, sent his army to conquer the heavenly realm. A flashback shows the Bull Demon King (Niu mowang, 牛魔王), his wife Princess Iron Fan (Tieshan gongzhu, 鐵扇公主; a.k.a. “Rākṣasi,” Luocha, 羅剎), their son Red Boy (Hong hai’er, 紅孩兒), the immortal Erlang (二郎), and the child god Nezha (哪吒) standing against a wave of invading vanguard warriors and a sea of parademons (fig. 2). In the initial clash, Princess Iron Fan uses her famous palm-leaf fan (bajiao shanzi, 芭蕉扇子) to attack Mad Harriet, and the Bull Demon King protects his wife by punching Kalibak. But Big Barda incapacitates Red Boy with a sneak attack from behind. Luckily, though, the Monkey King swoops in at the last moment to save him from a second, fatal blow. Pigsy thereafter replaces Red Boy and uses his battle rake to strike at the warrioress, while also taking the opportunity to flirt with her.

At the height of battle, Sun and Erlang sense something traveling through time and space. This is revealed to be Darkseid himself when he arrives via boom tube. The evil god then exclaims:

Hear me denizens of the Heavenly Realm! I am … the sovereign ruler of Apokolips! I’ve come to save you from your own incompetence! You are clearly outnumbered! If you value your lives, you will surrender immediately! (Yang, 2021b, p. 6, panel #2).

The Bull Demon Family jointly attacks the despot with their magic weapons, but this proves futile against his invulnerable body. Meanwhile, Monkey and Pigsy find and destroy the parademon nest, thereby decimating the invaders’ numerical advantage.

Sun soon after returns to confront Darkseid, comically referring to him as “our most venerable though uninvited guest” (Yang, 2021b, p. 7, panel #3). When the New God claims to have never heard of the famous Monkey King, our hero reveals that he’s destroyed the nest. He goes on to flaunt his power by creating countless hair clones of himself, stating: “It is YOU who are clearly outnumbered” (Yang, 2021b, p. 8, panel #1). Darkseid admits defeat; though, he claims to have a future use for Sun Wukong but not the others, so he unleashes his omega beams and kills the Bull Demon King and Princess Iron Fan. Red Boy is left to mourn over the bodies of his parents.

The issue ends with the Monkey Prince and Shifu Pigsy discussing how the event likely drove Red Boy to a life of villainy (Yang, 2021b).

Fig. 2 – A splash page showing some of the Journey to the West characters fighting Darkseid’s army (larger version). From Yang, 2021b, p. 3. Copyright DC Comics.

2. The Art

There’s a noticeable difference in quality throughout the comic. The “flashback” by Mr. Tan has a rough, sketchy style, while the “present day” sections by Mr. Chang, are crisp and dynamic. Mr. Cheng, the colorist, should be congratulated on his amazing work because he helps elevate the mediocre pencils comprising the majority of the comic.

2.1. Character Design

The panels of issue #0 are often packed with kinetic figures, making it hard to see detailed, full body images of the characters. I’ve, therefore, chosen to base my analysis on the character sheets from Blum (2021). I won’t be including Erlang or Nezha in the analysis as their presence is not as out of place as the others.

A major flaw is that the JTTW characters are presented as they might have looked during the pilgrimage instead of at the end of the novel. This doesn’t make any sense as the story takes place centuries after the events of the journey. And of course Mr. Chang has taken some artistic license with the designs instead of using descriptions from the book. But, admittedly, some are quite beautiful, such as that for Princess Iron Fan.

The Bull Demon King is depicted as a brown, minotaur-like figure with blue and red armor and matching gauntlets and boots, green pants, and a black battle ax (Blum, 2021) (fig. 3). The problem is that: 1) In the novel, the monster wields his own “cast-iron rod” (huntie gun, 混鐵棍) and a pair of his wife’s treasure swords (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, pp. 137 and 147). I’m guessing Mr. Chang got the idea for a black ax from the 2014 Chinese film The Monkey King (fig. 4). Films are obviously not a good source to use when adapting a readily available novel; 2) his armor doesn’t match that described in chapter 60:

He had on a wrought-iron helmet, water polished and silver bright; / He wore a yellow gold cuirass lined with silk brocade; / His feet were shod in a pair of pointed-toe and powdered-sole buckskin boots; / His waist was tied with a lion king belt of triple-braided silk (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 137).

And 3) while the novel doesn’t note the color of his anthropomorphic form, the demon’s true form is said to be a “giant white bull” (da bai niu, 大白牛) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 157). This is why the faithful 2011 TV show depicts the Bull Demon King with white fur (fig. 5). 

Fig. 3 – The Bull Demon King’s character design (larger version). Image from Blum (2021). Copyright DC Comics. Fig. 4 – The Monkey King (2014) movie poster showing Aaron Kwok’s bull demon summoning energy from his black ax (larger version). Fig. 5 – A screenshot of the white Bull Demon King from the 2011 TV show (larger version). Image found here. Take note of his iron staff.

Princess Iron Fan is portrayed with jewelry and makeup, a layered coif, and an elegant, multi-colored dress (fig. 6). A mini version of her palm-leaf fan is shown tucked inside a white belt at her waist (Blum, 2021). The problem is that: 1) Her main weapons in the novel are a pair of “blue-bladed treasure swords” (qingfeng baojian, 青鋒寶劍); [1] 2) the fan is reduced to a small leaf and kept inside her mouth, and when full size, it is 12-feet long (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 145). This obviously differs from the small, handheld weapon shown in the comic (Yang, 2021b, p. 4, panel #1); and 3) most importantly, chapter 61 expressly states that Princess Iron Fan forsakes her lavish clothing to dress as a renunciate upon the defeat of her husband:

When Rākṣasi heard the call [of the Bull Demon King], she took off her jewels and her colored clothing. Tying up her hair like a Daoist priestess [daogu, 道姑] and putting on a plain colored robe like a Buddhist nun [biqiu, 比丘] [fig. 7], she took up with both hands the twelve-foot long palm-leaf fan to walk out of the door (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 161).

She thereafter follows a reclusive life of self-cultivation (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 163). So, there is a huge contrast between her comic book design and how she looks at the end of her story arc.

Fig. 6 – Princess Iron Fan’s character design (larger version). Image from Blum (2021). Copyright DC Comics. Fig. 7 – A drawing of a Buddhist nun (larger version). Image found here. Just imagine Raksasi with her hair tied into a knot on top and perhaps wearing grey-blue robes.

Red Boy is portrayed as a muscular teenager with a red and black undercut hairstyle, a small, purple cape, a bare chest and shoulders with a red, armored stomacher and matching gauntlets and boots, and purplish-blue, baggy pants. Flaming jewels(?) adorn the armor on his stomach, forearms, and knees (fig. 8). He wields a golden, red-tasseled spear with a partitioned blade (Blum, 2021). The problem is that: 1) Red Boy’s weapon is described in chapter 41 as an “eighteen-foot fire-tipped lance” (zhangba chang de huojian qiang, 丈八長的火尖槍) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 222); and 2) he’s depicted as a small child in the novel. He’s said to be huskier than Nezha, with a powder white face, deep red lips, and beautiful, black hair (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 222). In fact, his nickname is the “Great King Holy Infant” (Shengying dawang, 聖嬰大王) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 219). [2] And after his defeat at the hands of the Bodhisattva Guanyin (Guanyin pusa, 觀音菩薩), he becomes her disciple, taking the religious name “The Child Sudhana” (Shancai tongzi, 善財童子; lit: “Child of Goodly Wealth”) (Wu & Yu, vol. 2, p. 354). So, he definitely shouldn’t look like a teenager; and 3) Guanyin subdues the fiery demon with gold circlets that squeeze his head, wrists, and ankles (fig. 9) (Wu & Yu, vol. 2, p. 251). This story is used to explain the presence of golden bracelets and anklets on modern religious statues of the deity (fig. 10). So, a child-like appearance and golden bands are associated with Red Boy in both literature and religion, and yet we see these are totally absent from Mr. Chang’s design.

Fig. 8 – Red Boy’s character design (larger version). Image from Blum (2021). Copyright DC Comics. Fig. 9 – A modern drawing of the literary demon (larger version). Image found here. Take note of the rings on his wrists and ankles. Fig. 10 – A modern day religious statue of Sudhana (larger version). 

Lastly, Sun Wukong is depicted wearing a purple gold cap with lingzi (翎子) feathers, golden armor with a blue cape and gauntlets, a tiger skin kilt, and red pants with black boots (fig. 11) (Blum, 2021). He wields a golden staff with dragon finials spiraling down each tip like a corkscrew. The problem is that: 1) Chapter 3 describes the staff as a bar of black iron banded on each end with a golden ring (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 135); 2) while the armor design is similar to early depictions of the Monkey King (minus the blue cape and gauntlets and the tiger skin kilt), the novel implies that it was stripped from his body once he was captured by heaven. I quote from my previous article (see section 2.2.):

Contrary to popular belief, Sun does not wear the armor throughout the entire story. Though not openly stated, the novel suggests it is stripped from the monkey when he is captured by heavenly soldiers in chapter six: “They bound him with ropes and punctured his breast bone with a knife, so that he could transform no further” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 186). Obviously the knife wouldn’t have punctured the magic armor. And after heaven fails to harm his body during an attempted execution, one celestial reports:

Your Majesty, we don’t know where this Great Sage has acquired such power to protect his body. Your subjects slashed him with a scimitar and hewed him with an ax; we also struck him with thunder and burned him with fire. Not a single one of his hairs was destroyed. What shall we do? (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 186). (emphasis mine)

Prior to his turn in Laozi’s eight trigrams furnace in chapter seven, the story again references the knife in Monkey’s breastbone, suggesting he is still naked: “Arriving at the Tushita Palace, Laozi loosened the ropes on the Great Sage, pulled out the weapon from his breastbone, and pushed him into the [brazier]” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 189). One late-Ming woodblock print actually portrays him naked upon his escape from the furnace (fig. 16). Most importantly, after being released from his 600 plus-year-long imprisonment under Five Elements Mountain, Monkey is expressly described as being “stark naked” (chi tiao tiao, 赤條條) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 309).

Fig. 16 – Wukong in his birthday suit escaping from Laozi’s eight trigrams furnace (larger version). From Mr. Li’s Criticism (late-16th to early-17th c.).

This means that he wouldn’t have worn the armor during the entirety of the journey (ch. 14 to 100); and 3) most importantly, the Monkey King is elevated in spiritual rank at the journey’s end, becoming the Buddha Victorious in Strife (Dou zhansheng fo, 鬥戰勝佛; a.k.a. the “Victorious Fighting Buddha”) (Wu & Yu, 2012, p. 381). Religious depictions of this historical deity portray him wearing the traditional robes of a Buddhist monk and holding a symbolic sword and suit of armor in his hands (fig. 12). So, Sun Wukong should be portrayed as a Buddha and not an armored warrior (fig. 13). 

Fig. 11 – Sun Wukong’s character design (larger version). Image from Blum (2021). Copyright DC Comics. Fig. 12 – The Buddha Victorious in Strife holding a sword and suit of armor (larger version). Image found here. Fig. 13 – A modern drawing of Monkey as a Buddha by Tianwaitang on deviantart (larger version).

Someone might ask: “Who cares what the characters look like?” Well, the creative team had two choices when they elected to adapt JTTW. One, they could have done so in broad strokes and laid the foundation for a fresh, new take that departs greatly from the original. An example of this is the South Korean drama Hwayugi (2017-2018), where the characters are depicted as gods disguised as humans living in modern Seoul. Or two, they could be faithful to the novel. The team sort of chose the latter as they created a main character that’s a carbon copy of the Monkey King (complete with the same strengths and weaknesses), designed secondary characters how they might have looked in the original, and Mr. Yang even references specific events from the novel in the comic story (see below). So if they’re going to adhere this much to the literary source, they should have at the very least followed the descriptions provided therein. As the old saying goes: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” It would be like me adapting Harry Potter despite never having read the books (I’m looking at you Mr. Chang). [3] My designs would no doubt be so wildly different from the original that the characters would be nearly unrecognizable.

3. The Writing

Let me begin by saying that I actually like the idea of Darkseid taking a boom tube to the heavenly realm. It’s a smart way of bridging the dimensional gap between modern comics and traditional Chinese literature. But that’s where my favorable comments end for the most part.

Mr. Yang makes some strange choices in the story. For example, making Zhu Bajie and the Bull Demon Family part of the heavenly army’s main force is odd because it overlooks the 72 commanders and 100,000 stellar soldiers from the original. [4] With the exception of Nezha, they are nowhere to be found in the comic, making it look like Sun Wukong, Erlang, Zhu, the Bull Demon King, Princess Iron Fan, and Red Boy are the sole defenders of heaven fighting to hold back the tide of Darkseid’s invasion (maybe this will be explained in a future issue).

Zhu Bajie would not have been involved at all because he was made the “Janitor of the Altars” (Jintan shizhe, 淨壇使者) at the end of the journey. This position allows him to constantly eat any leftover offerings on Buddhist altars (tan, 壇) from all over the world (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 4, p. 382). So Zhu would have been too busy selfishly stuffing his stomach to his heart’s content.

Apart from being strange that earth-dwelling villains like the Bull Demon King and Princess Iron Fan would defend the heavenly realm, their inclusion in the story does not mesh with the way their respective arcs end in JTTW. As noted above, the monster king’s true form is a giant white bull. His story ends when he is trapped in this form and taken under guard by Devraja Li Jing (李靖天王) and Nezha to see the Buddha (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, pp. 161 and 162). The details of his arc are quite similar to that of Sun Wukong: he’s an iron staff-wielding demon king nicknamed the “Great Sage,” who knows 72 changes, can adopt a titanic form, takes part in a battle of transformations with an enemy, is trapped by a joint effort from heaven and incapacitated by a circular object, and finally faces the Buddha. [5] So it’s not a stretch to suggest that the Bull Demon King is also punished in a similar manner. I show in this article (see section 1) that being trapped under the pressing weight of a mountain is a reoccurring sentence for supernatural offenders in Chinese literature. And don’t forget about Monkey’s secondary punishment, a hellish diet of hot iron balls and molten copper. Therefore, the monster king would likely still be imprisoned by the time Darkseid invades heaven.

Before continuing, I should note that Mr. Yang is well aware of the Bull Demon King’s fate, for he references his literary defeat in the comic. During the flashback, the monster asks Sun Wukong: “Would a blood brother have betrayed me to a cosmic net of Buddha’s warrior guardians, Monkey?” (Yang, 2021b, p. 5, panel #3). So, this makes the demon’s inclusion in the heavenly army twice as puzzling as he’s still bitter about his defeat.

Princess Iron Fan’s story ends when she “[goes] off somewhere to practice self-cultivation as a recluse” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 163). The novel continues: “In the end she, too, attained the right fruit [zhenguo, 正果] and a lasting reputation in the sutras” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 163). This might imply that she compounds Buddhist merit by performing good deeds or perhaps even religious miracles, becoming a sort of Buddhist saint in her own right. So, I imagine that she, too, would be unavailable to fight against the sudden invasion of Darkseid’s army.

On the contrary, Red Boy’s inclusion makes more sense because as Guanyin’s disciple, she might send Sudhana to “test the waters” (so to speak) to see whether or not a given threat merits the intervention of a higher power. She does this, for example, in chapter six when she sends Muzha (木吒) to help fight Sun Wukong during his rebellion (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 175). But just like his senior religious brother, Sudhana surely wouldn’t be able to stand against the threat alone. He would have to work with the aforementioned heavenly commanders and stellar soldiers.

This brings me to Sun Wukong. The story does make a passing reference to his elevation in spiritual rank. When Darkseid fails to recognize Monkey’s name, our hero states: “Enlightenment sure does a number on fame” (Yang, 2021b, p. 7, panel #5). But that’s it. Sun is not presented as a Buddha, just his regular, pre-enlightened self swinging a staff and resorting to the same old tricks. The narrative could’ve been taken to a new level by featuring the Buddha Victorious in Strife.

The thing that bothers me the most about the comic is the anticlimactic confrontation between Sun and Darkseid. Neither takes any overt action against the other. In my opinion, Darkseid, who has never met the Monkey King, gives up way too easily (fig. 14). You’d think there would at least be a brief exchange of fists so they can gauge each other’s strength. And once the invader realizes he’s dealing with a powerhouse, seeing Sun then multiply himself many times over would make him think twice about sticking around. But this only dresses up the story at hand. See below for my suggested changes.

Fig. 14 – Darkseid gives up the invasion upon seeing Monkey duplicate himself (larger version). From Yang, 2021b, p. 8. Copyright DC Comics.

4. My Rating

Overall, I would give issue #0 2.5 out of 5 stars. It is marred by mediocre pencils, designs that don’t match the characters’ description from JTTW, and a story that doesn’t agree with how the respective characters’ arcs end in the original. I gave extra points for the beautiful coloring of Mr. Cheng, though.

Now, I have to ask the question: Why would the creative team (haphazardly) cram so many recognizable JTTW characters into canon? The first answer is clear: DC is likely after that sweet, sweet money from the Asian market. Sure, sales stateside might get a small boost from Asian Americans, but the target demographic is likely the millions of mainland and diasporic Chinese comics readers. The second answer is that the death of the Bull Demon King and Princess Iron Fan under Darkseid’s omega beams likely sets up Red Boy’s spiral into villainy and a later battle between him and the Monkey Prince. [6] That’s right ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves some throwaway characters! It honestly would have been better (and more respectful to the original) if the husband and wife had never appeared in the comic.

5. What I Would Change

My suggestions for issue #0 build off of the changes I made in the original review. Read it first to better understand my choices here.

I would do away with the Bull Demon King, Princess Iron Fan, and Zhu Bajie. Instead, the original heavenly army would meet the brunt of Darkseid’s forces upon their arrival. Playing off of the comic story, and acknowledging my own changes, Guanyin would send her disciples Muzha and Sudhana to take part in the battle. And taking more inspiration from the comic story, I would also have Erlang arrive but instead go toe-to-toe with Darkseid. The “Small Sage” (Xiaosheng, 小聖) is after all the only god to truly defeat the Monkey King, so he would be a worthy opponent. But lets say that the invader somehow gets the upper hand, and so I would pay homage to the original novel by having the Jade Emperor call on Gautama Buddha to intervene. But he instead sends the Buddha Victorious in Strife, who obviously has experience with causing havoc in heaven. The Monkey Buddha shows off his power by easily nullifying the attacks of Darkseid’s army and even negating the omega beams by turning them into a shower of flowers, reminiscent of ancient biographies of Gautama Buddha:

The host of Mara hastening, as arranged, each one exerting his utmost force, taking each other’s place in turns, threatening every moment to destroy [the Buddha, but] … Their flying spears, lances, and javelins, stuck fast in space, refusing to descend; the angry thunderdrops and mighty hail, with these, were changed into five-colour’d lotus flowers…” (Beal, 1883, pp. 152 and 153).

I could borrow still more from the novel and have the Buddha Victorious in Strife make Darkseid a wager, recalling Gautama Buddha’s bet with Sun Wukong involving his cloud somersault. But instead of betting that he can’t leap from his palm, the Monkey Buddha makes a wager involving the boom tube.

This is where I run into trouble, though. I don’t know enough about the cosmic hierarchy of the DC universe to go past this point. I say this because Darkseid is considered a “conceptual being” that lives outside of time and is capable of creating avatars of himself (Darkseid (New Earth), n.d.). I’m not sure how this stacks up against DC’s concept of an enlightened being. But from a Buddhist cosmological perspective, I believe that the Buddha would be more powerful because he has achieved “nirvāṇa” (Ch: niepan, 涅槃) and broken free of the wheel of rebirth (Buswell & Lopez, 2014, pp. 589-590). However, the New God, even as a deva capable of creating avatars, would still be subject to the “Desire realm” (Sk: kāmadhātu; Ch: yujie, 欲界) of Saṃsāra (Ch: lunhui, 輪迴; shengsi lunhui, 生死輪迴) (Buswell & Lopez, 2014, pp. 230-233 and 411). Therefore, I imagine that the Buddha Victorious in Strife plays a trick on Darkseid and is able to trap or even destroy his avatar. As mentioned above, this would make the real villain (in his home dimension) think twice before tangling with Monkey again. 

I’m now obligated to insert my concept of the Monkey Prince into the story. Since he’s born during the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE), he would be alive during the attack on heaven. But as a young, inexperienced disciple, he wouldn’t take part in the battle, just hear news of it from Guanyin during the event and stories of what happened from his half-brother Sudhana after the fact. This way, the Monkey Prince would remember the invasion and yearn to do his part when Darkseid reappears in the present.

Lastly, I feel it’s necessary to give the character a name. The comic calls him the “Monkey Prince” in his hero form and “Marcus” in his human form. I think Sun Taizi (孫太子), or “Prince Sun,” is a great name as it plays off of San Taizi (三太子), the “Third Prince” (fig. 15), one of Nezha’s titles in Chinese folk religion. (Fun fact: This deity serves as a heavenly vanguard in Sun Wukong’s own religion.) Borrowing from existing religious beliefs sparks the titillating idea that Sun Taizi’s heroic deeds would earn him devotees. Beyond his own continuing spiritual cultivation, he would grow in strength as more and more believers pray to and leave him offerings! This wouldn’t be the first time a monkey god is worshiped in America.

Fig. 15 – A religious statue of San Taizi, the “Third Prince,” from the Nine Dragons Prince Temple (Jiulong taizi gong, 九龍太子宮) in Tainan, Taiwan (larger version). Photo taken by the author. 

6. Updates

6.1. Prediction

Update: 12-24-21

I noted in my original review that promotional material for upcoming issue #1 shows Marcus living in Gotham City prior to the events in Philadelphia. The story is said to include Batman, and a sneak peek shows the Caped Crusader accosting Marcus’ criminal foster parents (fig. 16). I predict that future suggested changes to issue #1 and beyond are going to become harder and harder as the comic story is fleshed out. My original changes portray the character as a young demigod who grows up in Guanyin’s earthly paradise and only later becomes acquainted with modern superheroes through happenstance. So, I will have to bypass all of these flashbacks and only suggest changes to the broader story.  

Fig. 16 – The Batman panel from issue #1 (larger version). Copyright DC Comics.

6.2. Buddha > Darkseid & New Info

Update: 01-26-22

In the above post, I noted that I didn’t know enough about the comic book hierarchy to say whether or not DC’s version of a Buddha would be strong enough to defeat Darkseid. But I subsequently argued in favor of this outcome based on Buddhist cosmology—i.e. the New God is still subject to Samsara and the wheel of rebirth, while a buddha is free. 

I recently read more about said comics hierarchy. The informative answers from this Quora question show that beings like Mr. Mxyzptlk are more powerful than Darkseid because they reside in higher plains of existence. The New God is 4th-dimensional, while the imp is 5th-dimensional. This means that beings who reside beyond existence, like a Buddha, would hold infinitely more sway over reality. This brings me to the next subject.

Thanks to a friend’s Facebook post, I learned the story for the upcoming Monkey Prince #3 (available 04-05-22). Blum (2022) provides an analysis, as well as a copy of the promotional blurb, which reads: 

The bat’s out of the bag as Monkey Prince and Pigsy both realize what all the demon spirits around the world are after—eating specific superheroes in order to gain their powers! And this penguin demon has his eyes on…Batman! Uh-oh, Monkey Prince, it’s bad enough you have to keep hiding your tail when you’re Marcus, and how your circlet keeps returning latched onto your body as something else every time you try to get rid of it—but now cannibalism is also on the menu? YEOW! (see here)

While I like that there will be an ongoing reference to Tripitaka’s immortality-bestowing flesh (as noted in the original review), a penguin demon just sounds…well…really bad. There’s not one single menacing thing that comes to mind when I think of a penguin. At least the deer demon was big and had antlers. I’m wondering if this creature has any connection to the Batman villain. 

6.3. Monkey Prince #1

Update: 02-02-22

Monkey Prince #1 (fig. 17) was released on 02-01-22, and just as I predicted, there’s nothing to build off of regarding suggested changes.

The story takes place in Gotham City, home of the Batman. Marcus is traumatized as a young child when the Dark Knight beats up his adoptive father while looking for information about the pair’s criminal activity. This event leads to Marcus developing a phobia around just about everything, including bats, black curtains, water, etc. After briefly living elsewhere, a now teenaged Marcus returns to attend high school in the city, but he’s singled out by bullies for his apparent weakness. Apart from his parents, his only positive role model is a husky, Chinese janitor name Mr. Zhu (i.e. Shifu Pigsy in disguise). Zhu encourages the boy to overcome his fear of water by jumping into a pool. Marcus refuses at first, but after miraculously sprouting a monkey tail in class and subsequently getting beaten up and his shoes stolen by bullies, he takes the plunge. He finds himself magically transported to the “Water Curtain Cave,” [7] home of the Monkey King. He even catches a brief glimpse of his father. Most importantly, he’s transformed into the Monkey Prince, only to reemerge into the present and use his new found powers to beat up his bullies. Damian Wayne, Batman’s son and sidekick, alerts his father to the disturbance. The issue ends when the Dark Knight misjudges his throw and accidentally beheads the Monkey Prince with a batarang. No joke!

Some new information comes to light:

  1. Marcus’ adopted parents are named Laura and Winston Shugel-Shen.
  2. Both are PhD tech scientists who have worked for the Riddler, Intergang, and Captain Cold.

Their new boss, the Penguin, has procured their services to use a large ray to possess an accountant with an ancient Chinese demon. The ray shatters a metal hu-gourd, revealing the Great King Golden Horn (Jinjiao dawang, 金角大王) demon from chapters 33 to 35 of the original. The experiment seemingly fails, causing the Penguin to shoot the victim in a rage. However, the aforementioned promotional material for issue #3 describes a “penguin demon” that wants to eat superheroes to gain their powers. This suggests that the demon actually takes hold of the Penguin (Yang, 2022a).

Lastly, the ongoing criminal career of Marcus’ adoptive parents really bothers me. Everyone, even celestials, appears to be oblivious to their illegal activities. Shifu Pigsy either doesn’t know or doesn’t care. Either way, it’s shitty writing. Also, in the beginning, when Batman discovers Marcus watching him accost his father, the Dark Knight simply leaves. He doesn’t attempt to arrest the parents or take the child into protective custody. Again, shitty writing. Ugh.

Fig. 17 – The front cover of issue #1 (larger version). Copyright DC Comics.

6.4. Monkey Prince #2

Update: 03-13-22

Issue #2 (fig. 18) was released on 03-01-22, and it’s the same bad writing. Batman, Robin, and Shifu Pigsy play a game of hot potato with the Monkey Prince’s head, while the latter nearly dies of asphyxiation before escaping. Marcus subsequently denounces Pigsy and throws away the golden headband, only for it to return with the quaint ability to move about his body. Meanwhile, as predicted, the golden horn demon takes over Penguin’s body, and this monstrous hybrid soon goes about draining the qi energy from countless victims. A shadowy figure with two demon attendants then convinces Penguin to go after the life force of superheroes, thus leading into the aforementioned events of issue #3 (Yang, 2022b).

Above, I suggested that Darkseid is still subject to the wheel of reincarnation despite being long-lived. As an inhabitant of the Desire Realm, he too will eventually die. I just came across a fitting line from Buddhist scripture, something that the Monkey Buddha could say to the New God as a warning: “Despite your millions of kalpas of life / It comes to emptiness and annihilation in the end” (Zhang, 1977, as cited in Shao, 1997, p. 110).

Also, this Quora answer features another powerful character, one who lives outside the multiverse, capable of easily defeating even true form Darkseid. 

Fig. 18 – The front cover of issue #2 (larger version). Copyright DC Comics.

6.5. Monkey Prince #3

Update: 04-06-22

Issue #3 (fig. 19) was released on 04-05-22, and I have to say it was extremely bland. Nothing of substance happened at all. It honestly just feels like stuffing to pad out the series. The length of the comic sort of proves this point. Only 24 of the total 31 pages of the digital version comprise the story. The rest is a teaser for a new Batman storyline (Yang, 2022c).

The issue opens on Shifu Pigsy reciting the band-tightening spell as he and the Monkey Prince soar through the clouds. This teaches the young hero that he needs to concentrate in times of stress, or he’ll lose mental control over his cloud-somersault and fall to his death. At the same time, Marcus attempts to snatch a red envelope from his teacher’s hand. This is subsequently revealed to be a magically disguised gift: a vigilante-type superhero mask to hide his true identity.

The Monkey Prince is later hailed by a young girl (one who unknowingly witnessed his first transformation in issue #1) and tasked with finding her brother: Marcus’ bully. He finds him strung upside down in a stadium and being interrogated by Robin, Batman’s son and sidekick. After a brief fight in which the hero’s forearm is accidentally separated at the elbow, the Monkey Prince successfully returns his former bully to the sister. She kisses him as a reward.

Meanwhile, Shifu Pigsy locates and kills the two demons who were present when the shadowy figure suggested (in issue #2) that the demon-possessed Penguin should drain the life energy of superheroes. This drives the Penguin to kidnap the Shugel-Shens and hold them hostage, noting in a broadcasted message to the Caped Crusader that he’ll eat them if Batman doesn’t meet with him. The issue ends with a shocked Marcus learning of his adoptive parents’ predicament (Yang, 2022c).  

One thing of interest is that Shifu Pigsy hints Marcus has brothers: “Do you know how difficult it was to locate just one of the Monkey King’s sons? Sure, there are others but…” (Yang, 2022c, p. 8, panel #3). I’ll be interested to see if they ever explain why Sun Wukong knocked up random human women and then left them to solely raise or adopt-out the child. It honestly doesn’t reflect positively on the Monkey King.

Also, I’m still not sold on the Penguin being a demon. Mr. Yang could have gone with other rogues. Killer Croc, for example, is known to eat people. Even the Joker seems like a better choice. A demon-possessed psychopath is far more scary than a penguin.

Another thing that bothers me is the description of the demon itself. Shifu Pigsy claims: “Among your [Marcus’] father’s deadliest enemies was the Golden Horn King. He and his brother Silver Horn King wreaked such havoc across China!” (Yang, 2022c, p. 23, panel #2). But this isn’t the case in the original novel. While they were difficult to handle, Laozi explains: “These youths were requested by the Bodhisattva from the sea three times; they were to be sent here and transformed into demons, to test all of you and see whether master and disciples are sincere in going to the West” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 145). This means that they were never actual demons, and they certainly weren’t among the deadliest, nor did they wreak havoc across China. This is yet another example showing that the creative team doesn’t actually care about the novel.  

Fig. 19 – The front cover of issue #3 (larger version). Copyright DC Comics.

6.6. Monkey Prince #4

Update: 05-03-22

Issue #4 (fig. 20) was released on 05-03-22, and it’s more of the same fluff. The story opens on the Monkey Prince transforming his cloud into an R-shaped signal (a play on the Bat-Signal) to get Robin’s attention. And when the Boy Wonder arrives, they agree to a brief partnership to find the Shugel-Shens in exchange for the simian hero later answering pertinent questions. Robin then deduces that the hostages are being held in an old auction house where Batman first fought the Penguin.

After briefly bonding over the strictness of their respective masters, the young heroes travel to the auction house, where they are ambushed by the Penguin demon. He attempts to crush them with a large, metal vault door but misses. Batman subsequently appears and retaliates with bat-shaped knuckledusters. But the sight of the Caped Crusader (who cut off the Monkey Prince’s head in issue #1) causes Marcus to lose focus, making him fall through his cloud and explode into several pieces upon hitting the ground. It’s only with the reassuring words of Pigsy that he’s able to collect everything back together. Meanwhile, Batman and Robin work as a team to take down the Penguin, much to Shifu Pigy’s delight. 

The Monkey Prince attempts to untie his adoptive parents, but Batman stops him, revealing that all past victims were found to have worked for the Penguin, suggesting that the Shugel-Shens are fellow hench people. Marcus has little time to process this unsettling information before low-ranking spirits appear to assist the fallen demon. They overwhelm Batman, allowing the Penguin to start absorbing his powerful, heroic qi energy. The Monkey Prince takes this opportunity to free his parents, but he’s called back into battle by Shifu Pigsy before having a chance to fly them to safety. Torn between helping Batman or his parents, Marcus asks Robin to throw a batarang at his midsection, cutting him in half. His torso then helps the Caped Crusader by tackling the Penguin, while his legs release the Shugel-Shens on the street outside.

Upon rejoining both halves, the Monkey Prince takes a can of magic soda previously given to him by Pigsy and throws it at the demon. This somehow disrupts the monster’s hold on the Penguin, allowing Robin to separate the two with a well-placed staff strike. Batman and his ward thereafter question and attempt to apprehend Marcus and Shifu Pigsy, but the latter tricks them into chasing decoys, while the two hide using a magic disguise. Meanwhile, the spirits help the weakened Golden Horn demon escape. They worry that their master will punish them for failing, but one of them states it was a partial success as the monster was able to absorb enough qi to remain in solid form. They’re last seen taking a boom tube back to the “Flame Planet.” The issue closes with Marcus’ bully apologizing to him at the behest of his sister, the young woman who kissed the Monkey Prince at the end of the last issue (Yang, 2022d).

Beyond the lovely art and coloring by Mr. Chang and Chris Sotomayor, respectively, there’s nothing positive that I can say about this issue. The author, Mr. Yang, continues to make odd choices. His characterization of Batman throughout the series has completely missed the mark. The Cape Crusader is overly dramatic and extremely dense. For example, the Monkey Prince tricks him into looking down at his crotch by saying, “You left the house with your fly down!” (Yang, 2022d, p. 18, panel #2). I remind the reader that Batman’s design includes the classic dark gray trunks over light gray pants, so why would he even look down? Ugh.  

The Monkey King’s whereabouts are finally revealed, but the location makes no sense. When the low-ranking spirits first see the “magic monkey” (Marcus), one exclaims: “Impossible! He was lossst [sic] in the Phantom Zone!” (Yang, 2022d, p. 18, panel #4). The Phantom Zone is a timeless pocket dimension that serves as a penal colony for the worst villains in the universe. But it’s not impossible to escape from, for even Superman has done this. So, how can a Buddha, a being beyond reality, be trapped in this cosmic Alcatraz? I’m assuming Sun Wukong’s exile there was the work of Darkseid. I guess we’ll find out in later issues how he accomplished this feat.

And lastly, Marcus is shown capable of easily transporting people, Robin and later his parents, on his cloud (Yang, 2022d, p. 6, panel #3, for example; p. 14, panel #4, for example). But JTTW is clear that this is not feasible, for Zhu Bajie states: “The mortal nature and worldly bones of Master [Tripitaka] are as heavy as the Tai Mountain…How could my cloud soaring bear him up? It has to be your cloud somersault” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 427). Sun Wukong counters:

If you can’t carry him, what makes you think I can? There’s an old proverb that says:

Move Mount Tai: it’s light as mustard seeds.
Lift a man and you won’t leave the red dust! (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 427).

I show in this article that Mt. Tai is considered the heaviest thing in Chinese culture. Therefore, Monkey and Zhu Bajie are arguing that it’s impossible to lift mortals on celestial clouds.

Fig. 20 – The front cover of issue #4 (larger version). Copyright DC Comics.

6.7. Monkey Prince #5

Update: 06-11-22

Issue #5 (fig. 21) was released on 06-07-22, and it’s even more bland than issue #3. After leaving Gotham, Marcus and his family move to the seaside town of Amnesty Bay, the childhood home of Aquaman. There, the Shugel-Shens meet with their new boss, Black Manta, who reveals his revised plan to awaken a demon within a silver hu-gourd (i.e. Great King Silver Horn (Yinjiao dawang, 銀角大王)). The scientist couple are hesitant to agree to the new arrangement given that they almost died at the hands of his brother, Great King Golden Horn, but they acquiesce after deciding to transfer his spirit into a seemingly harmless hermit crab (I predict a giant monster similar to Tamatoa).

Meanwhile, Marcus meets a pink-haired, black leather-clad goth girl at the new high school. She shows an unusual interest in him, evening calling to him on the street after school. But once she rips away his shirt, revealing the golden band on his body, she morphs into a long-toothed monster and tackles Marcus into the ocean. This triggers his aquaphobia (see issue #1). After Shifu Pigsy arrives and pulls him to safety, the Monkey Prince drives her back into the water with a timely delivered staff (bestowed by his master) but refuses to further engage the villainess in the aquatic environment. She is subsequently revealed to be Shellestriah, the half-human daughter of the Atlantean villain Trench King. The issue ends with Trench King alluding to the immortality-bestowing abilities of superhero flesh (Yang, 2022e). That’s it. Nothing new is added to further the Darkseid/Monkey King storyline from issue #0. This entire issue was just boring fluff.

Though, I will say that I enjoyed the opening page, which depicts the historical Monkey King at various stages in his character arc, from his rebellion and punishment beneath Five Elements Mountain to the journey proper and his elevation to Buddhahood at the end of the story (fig. 22) (Yang, 2022e, p. 3). But, again, Mr. Chang has wrongly portrayed Sun Wukong as an armored warrior instead of a robed Buddha.

Fig. 21 – The front cover of issue #5 (larger version). Fig. 22 – The opening page showing the Monkey King’s story arc (larger version). Copyright DC Comics.

6.8. Monkey Prince #6

Update: 07-09-22

Issue #6 (fig. 23) was released on 07-05-22, and while it continues the Darkseid story (see issue #0), it’s only briefly alluded to and, therefore, does not warrant its own page. Shifu Pigsy gives Marcus a pep talk about his father’s past, thereby teaching him that one needs to move past their fears (i.e. the boy’s fear of water) in order to become stronger. It is here when he briefly reveals the ultimate fate of the original Monkey King: after the battle in heaven, Darkseid banished Sun Wukong to the Phantom Zone with a blast from his omega beams (fig. 24). Back in the present, as predicted, the experiment of Marcus’ adopted parents, the Shugel-Shens, results in a titanic monster hermit crab. The villain Black Manta promises to attack Atlantis with it but instead attacks Harmony Bay (the childhood home of Aquaman) for some reason. The Monkey Prince goes onto battle the creature, driving out the demon with a magic can of soda (ugh) but breaking his extending staff in the process. Marcus then proves that he has overcome his fear by jumping into the ocean, but when Pigsy joins him, both are immediately captured by Atlantean troops readying for an assault from the villain Trench King. Meanwhile, a group of sea dragons in Atlantis are shown bickering while playing elephant chess. One among them, who had previously claimed that his scarred eye held a shard from the Monkey King’s staff, starts to complain of a burning sensation. It produces a light that eventually grows into a golden shaft, predicting the appearance of Sun’s magic staff. The issue ends with Monkey awakening within the Phantom Zone (fig. 25) (Yang, 2022f).

The author, Mr. Yang, again takes liberties with the original story. For instance, Shifu Pigsy tells an altered version of Sun’s past where he seemingly has powers upon his stone birth (Yang, 2022f, pp. 4), thereby skipping over his tutelage in Daoist longevity arts and martial arts under the Patriarch Subodhi (this was no doubt done to save space). And he only acquires his staff after beating up the denizens of heaven (Yang, 2022f, pp. 5). This is completely reversed in the novel, as Monkey is invited to hold position in heaven only after causing trouble in the dragon kingdom and hell (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 133-144). Pigsy goes on to state: Once we completed our journey to the west, we all achieved enlightenment” (Yang, 2022f, p. 6). A note then reads: “Well, I was assigned the title ‘Altar Service Attendant,’ but still. It’s an enlightenment of sorts” (Yang, 2022f, p. 6). I’m sure Mr. Yang fully understands the meaning of “enlightenment.” He’s likely using the term to describe the pilgrims’ elevation in spiritual rank. But this is an oversimplification that needs to be corrected. Only the monk Tripitaka and Sun Wukong achieve Buddhahood—i.e. being freed from the wheel of rebirth; while Sha Wujing becomes a luohan, a sort of Buddhist saint. Zhu Bajie doesn’t really receive an elevation in rank. It’s more of a lateral promotion. He’s essentially a janitor who gets to eat the left over food on Buddhist altars all over the world (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 4, pp. 381-382). Does this sound like enlightenment to you?

The addition of Asian sea dragons to Atlantis is a clear cut case of shoehorning, but I kind of like them. They are comically grumpy and bicker like old human men who have known each other for many, many years. The staff shard growing into a golden pillar is an interesting touch, but I’m not quite sure how the narrative will justify this. An unofficial 17th-century sequel to JTTW states that Sun’s spiritual descendent finds the staff in the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. Marcus previously visited this place (Yang, 2022a, pp. 18-19, for example), which would have made this the ideal time to acquire the magic weapon from his father.

I still don’t agree with the Monkey King being trapped in the Phantom zone. As mentioned above, a Buddha is beyond the realm of desire, meaning that he would be beyond the control of the gods.

Figure 23 (left) – The front cover of issue #6 (larger version). Fig. 24 (top right) – Darkseid banishes Monkey to the Phantom Zone (larger version). From Yang, 2022f, p. 6, panel #4. Fig. 25 (bottom right) – Sun awakens in the Phantom Zone (larger version). From Yang, 2022f, p. 23. Copyright DC Comics.

6.9. Giving up On the Series

Update: 01-03-23

Several issues of the Monkey Prince have been published since my last update, but I’m honestly no longer interested in the series. It’s a chore to read, so I’d rather work on things that I like and am interested in. I might return in the future to finish my review, but it won’t be for a while. Sorry to those who have been following this page. 

6.10. List of Monkey Prince Powers

Update: 04-11-26

A reddit member has posted a list of the Monkey Prince’s powers.

Respect Marcus Shugel-Shen, the Monkey Prince (DC Comics, Post-Flashpoint)
byu/rangernumberx inrespectthreads

Notes:

1) The novel doesn’t name the swords upon their first appearance (Wu & Yu, vol. 3, p. 124). They are named slightly later when the Bull Demon King wields them (Wu & Yu, vol. 3, p. 147).

2) Yu (Wu & Yu, 2012) translates this as “Great King Holy Child” (vol. 2, p. 219). 

3) Mr. Chang admits that he only heard a few JTTW stories as a child and doesn’t know how the novel ends (Ching, 2021)

4) This is based on a passage from chapter five:

[The Jade Emperor] at once commanded the Four Great Devarājas to assist Devarāja Li and Prince [Nezha]. Together, they called up the Twenty-Eight Constellations, the Nine Luminaries, the Twelve Horary Branches, the Fearless Guards of Five Quarters, the Four Temporal Guardians, the Stars of East and West, the Gods of North and South, the Deities of the Five Mountains and the Four Rivers, the Star Spirits of the entire Heaven, and a hundred thousand celestial soldiers (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 169).

Koss (1981) counts 72 commanders from the names listed in the beginning (pp. 83-84).

5) I’ve already mentioned the iron staff above (compare this to Monkey’s weapon). The Bull Demon King takes the title “Great Sage, Parallel with Heaven” (Pingtian dasheng, 平天大聖) in chapter four (compare this to Sun’s title, the “Great Sage Equaling Heaven“) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 156-157). Most of the similarities that I mentioned happen in chapter 61. His skill with the 72 changes is referenced when he takes on Zhu’s appearance (compare this to Monkey’s ability) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 148). The battle of transformations against Sun takes place shortly after he’s overwhelmed by our hero and Zhu in combat (compare this to Monkey’s battle of changes with Erlang in ch. 6) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, pp. 156-157; vol. 1, pp. 182-183). He takes on his cosmic form, a giant white bull, in a last ditch effort to defeat Sun (compare this to Monkey’s skill) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 157). He is trapped on all sides by Buddho-Daoist deities (compare this to Sun’s troubles with heaven in ch. 6) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, pp. 159-160; vol. 1, pp. 185-186). Nezha uses his fire wheel to stop him from regrowing his severed heads (compare this to the diamond bracelet that Laozi (老子) uses to knock the Monkey King off his feet in ch. 6) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 160; vol. 1, p. 186); and he is taken to see the Buddha at the end of his story arc (compare this to Sun’s meeting with the Buddha) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, p. 162).

6) This spiral is implied during the discussion between the Monkey Prince and Shifu Pigsy at the end of the issue (Yang, 2021b, p. 10). 

7) The Water Curtain Cave (Shuilian dong, 水簾洞) is a grotto-heaven located somewhere within the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. The stone monkey becomes the Monkey King by jumping through a waterfall and discovering the cave in chapter one. His people soon after take residence inside (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 104-106).

Sources:

Aguilar, M. (2021). Jessica Chen Talks Returning Favorites and the Monkey Prince’s Debut in Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration. Comic Book. https://comicbook.com/comics/news/dc-festival-of-heroes-the-asian-superhero-celebration-jessica-chen/.

Beal, S. (Trans.). (1883). The Fo-sho-hing-tsan-king: A Life of Buddha by Asvaghosha Bodhisattva. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/foshohingtsankin00asva/mode/2up.

Blum, J. (2021). DC Festival of Heroes’ Monkey Prince Gets Solo Series. CBR. Retrieved from https://www.cbr.com/dc-monkey-prince-solo-series/.

Blum, J. (2022). DC’s New Bad Guys Eat Superheroes to Steal Their Powers. CBR. Retrieved from https://www.cbr.com/dc-villains-eat-superheroes-monkey-prince/.

Buswell, R. E., & Lopez, D. S. (2014). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press.

Ching, B. A. (2021). Meet the Monkey Prince: Yang and Chang Introduce DC’s Newest Hero. DC. https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2021/05/12/meet-the-monkey-prince-yang-and-chang-introduce-dcs-newest-hero.

Darkseid (New Earth). (n.d.). DC Database. Retrieved from https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Darkseid_(New_Earth).

DC Publicity. (2021, October 15). DC’s Monkey Prince: New Series to Debut on Lunar New Year 2022. DC Comics. Retrieved from https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2021/10/16/dc’s-monkey-prince-new-series-to-debut-on-lunar-new-year-2022.

Koss, N. (1981). The Xiyou ji in its Formative Stages: The Late Ming Editions (vol. 1 and 2). (UMI No. 8112445) [Doctoral dissertation]. Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. 

Shao, P. (1997). Monkey and Chinese Scriptural Tradition: A Rereading of the Novel Xiyouji (UMI No. 9818173) [Doctoral dissertation, Washington University]. Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database.

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

Yang, G. L. (2021a). The Monkey Prince Hates Superheroes. In Jessica Chen (Ed.). DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration (pp. 70-82) [Google Play]. New York, NY: DC Comics. Retrieved from https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Minh_Le_DC_Festival_of_Heroes_The_Asian_Superhero?id=qXUrEAAAQBAJ.

Yang, G. L. (2021b). Monkey Prince, (0) [Digital]. New York, NY: DC Comics. Retrieved from https://www.dccomics.com/reader/#/comics/483798.

Yang, G. L. (2022a). Monkey Prince, (1) [Kindle]. New York, NY: DC Comics. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Monkey-Prince-2022-2021-ebook/dp/B09P45TWKD/.

Yang, G. L. (2022b). Monkey Prince, (2) [Kindle]. New York, NY: DC Comics. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Monkey-Prince-2022-2021-ebook/dp/B09RQ6581L.

Yang, G. L. (2022c). Monkey Prince, (3) [Kindle]. New York, NY: DC Comics. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Monkey-Prince-2022-2021-ebook/dp/B09TV1BQSW/.

Yang, G. L. (2022d). Monkey Prince, (4) [Kindle]. New York, NY: DC Comics. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Monkey-Prince-2022-2021-ebook/dp/B09X5YZGQ5/.

Yang, G. L. (2022e). Monkey Prince, (5) [Kindle]. New York, NY: DC Comics. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Monkey-Prince-2022-2021-ebook/dp/B09ZVH9C5J/.

Yang, G. L. (2022f). Monkey Prince, (6) [Kindle]. New York, NY: DC Comics. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Monkey-Prince-2022-2021-ebook/dp/B0B3B6D522.