Tag Xiyouji

How Tall are the Main Characters from Journey to the West?

Jim R. McClanahan Leave a comment

A member of a Monkey King Facebook group I belong to posted a Chinese informational picture titled “Journey to the West: The Four Body Height Ratios of the Master and His Disciples” (Xiyou ji: Shitu siren shengao duibi, 西游记 师徒四人身高对比) (fig. 1). Each character is depicted with their correct corresponding height, ranging from Sun Wukong as the shortest to Sha Wujing as the tallest. The bottom of the picture provides some measurements:

The original novel describes Bajie’s body as being 1 zhang tall. Three chi is 1 meter. One zhang is around 3.3 meters. Sha Monk is 1.2 zhang, which is close to 4 meters. The Tang monk is 1.8 meters. The Lord Great Sage is 4 chi, or approximately 1.3 meters.

原著描述八戒身高一丈，三尺为一米，一丈是三米三左右。沙僧一丈二接近四米，唐僧一米八，大聖爺四尺，大约一米三。

The information is overgeneralized and at times conjectural, but I figured the picture would be interesting to my followers on Twitter. Little did I know that it would explode in popularity. As of this writing, my tweet has 940 likes (most of these received in a few days). This indicates that not many people were aware of the great height disparity between the pilgrims. I’ve therefore decided to write an article recording what Journey to the West actually says about each character’s height. 

I believe that the creator of the informational picture got their measurements from this essay, for it has the exact same title and very similar material (Zhongshi Damei Shenghuo [ZDS], 2020). I will use the claims therein to compare and contrast with the actual text from the novel.

Fig. 1 – The Chinese informational picture listing the pilgrims’ heights (larger version). I unfortunately don’t know who the original artist is. A reverse image search didn’t turn up anything. This page has the earliest appearance of the informational picture that I can find.

1. Measurements

ZDS (2020) uses a mixture of the ancient Chinese chi (尺) and zhang (丈) and the modern meter (mi, 米). The chi (and subsequently the zhang) varied at the local level at different times. During the Ming (1368-1644), when Journey to the West was published, the measurements equaled:

  • One chi (尺) = roughly 31.8 cm (12.3 in)
  • Ten chi = one zhang (丈)
  • one zhang (丈) = roughly 3.18 m (10.43 ft) (Jiang, 2005, p. xxxi).

Yes, the novel is set during the Tang (618-907), but many elements of the story (e.g. language, religion, mythos, martial arts, etc.) are filtered through the lens of the Ming. Therefore, it’s appropriate to use Ming-era measurements.

2. Heights

The characters are listed below from shortest to tallest.

(Note: I will be relying on the Wu & Yu (2012) translation. But since it uses “feet” instead of the original chi or zhang, I’ll alter the source throughout the article for more accuracy.)

2.1. Sun Wukong

See my previous articles discussing Monkey’s height (here and here).

ZDS (2020) states that Sun is “4 chi, that is less than 1.3 m [4.26 ft] or the same height as a child” (4 chi, yejiushi budao 1.3 mi, gen haitong yiban gao, 4尺，也就是不到1.3米，跟孩童一般高). But they miss an important distinction. The novel twice describes him as being “not four chi tall” (buman sichi, 不滿四尺), meaning that Monkey is an unknown height below 1.272 m (4.17 ft).

The phrase is first spoken by the Monstrous King of Havoc (Hunshi mowang, 混世魔王) in chapter 2:

When the Monstrous King saw him, he laughed and said, “You’re not four chi tall (emphasis added), nor are you thirty years old; you don’t even have weapons in your hands. How dare you be so insolent, looking for me to settle accounts?” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 128).

魔王見了，笑道：「你身不滿四尺，年不過三旬，手內又無兵器，怎麼大膽猖狂，要尋我見甚麼上下？」

The second is said hundreds of years later by the Great King Yellow Wind (Huangfeng dawang, 黃風大王) in chapter 21:

The old monster took a careful look and saw the diminutive figure of Pilgrim—less than four feet (emphasis added), 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).

那怪仔細觀看，見行者身軀鄙猥，面容羸瘦，不滿四尺。笑道：「可憐，可憐。我只道是怎麼樣扳翻不倒的好漢，原來是這般一個骷髏的病鬼。」

Some readers may wonder why such a powerful character can be so tiny. This is because the novel describes Sun as a literal monkey. Refer back to this article for more information.

2.2. The Tang Monk

I have yet to formally write about Tripitaka‘s height.

ZDS (2020) suggests that the “Tang Monk should be about 1.8 m [5.90 ft]” (Tangseng yinggai zai 1.8 mi zuoyou, 唐僧应该在1.8米左右). This estimate is based around the size of a stone box used in chapter 49 to imprison him:

Pilgrim … mov[ed] towards the rear of the palace. He looked, and sure enough there was a stone box, somewhat like a trough that people use in a pigpen or a stone coffin. Measuring it, he found it to be approximately six chi in length (emphasis added). He crawled on top of it and soon heard the pitiful sound of Tripitaka’s weeping coming from inside (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 347).

行者 … 徑直尋到宮後看，果有一個石匣，卻像人家槽房裡的豬槽，又似人間一口石棺材之樣，量量足有六尺長短。卻伏在上面，聽了一會，只聽得三藏在裡面嚶嚶的哭哩。

Six chi is 1.9 m or 6.25 ft. Tripitaka would obviously be shorter given the inside thickness of the stone walls, but the novel doesn’t provide such detailed information. This means that the 1.8 m estimate is conjecture. So, what other proof is there?

ZDS (2020) also cites a poem from chapter 54 as evidence that the Tank Monk is “tall and handsome” (yougao youshuai, 又高又帅):

What handsome features!
What dignified looks!
Teeth white like silver bricks,
Ruddy lips and a square mouth.
His head’s flat-topped, his forehead, wide and full;
Lovely eyes, neat eyebrows, and a chin that’s long.
Two well-rounded ears betoken someone brave.
He is all elegance, a gifted man.
What a youthful, clever, and comely son of love,
Worthy to wed Western Liang’s gorgeous girl! (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol.  3, p. 55). [1]

丰姿英偉，相貌軒昂。齒白如銀砌，唇紅口四方。頂平額闊天倉滿，目秀眉清地閣長。兩耳有輪真傑士，一身不俗是才郎。好個妙齡聰俊風流子，堪配西梁窈窕娘。

But, as can be seen, the verse mentions nothing about his height, only his beauty.

Hence, there isn’t enough information in the novel to officially say how tall Tripitaka is. But for those demanding some sort of answer, we can always speculate using real world data.

According to one study, out of a sample size of 28,044 Chinese men from 31 provinces/autonomous regions, the average modern height is 169 cm (5.54 ft). Additionally, this Chinese article references a study claiming that men from ancient times up to the Ming were between 165 cm (1.65 m or 5.41 ft) and 167 cm (1.67 m or 5.47 ft). This is obviously shorter than the 1.8 m suggested above.

Therefore, the most we can say is that the Tang Monk would be average historical height.

2.3. Zhu Bajie

I’ve written about Zhu Bajie’s height in the past (see here).

ZDS (2020) writes that Zhu’s “snout is 3 chi long” (zui chang 3 chi, 嘴长3尺). This is based on a descriptive poem from chapter 85:

A snout, pestlelike, over three chi long (emphasis added)
And teeth protruding like silver prongs
Bright like lightning a pair of eyeballs round,
Two ears that whip the wind in hu-hu sound.
Arrowlike hairs behind his head are seen;
His whole body’s skin is both coarse and green.
His hands hold up a thing bizarre and queer:
A muckrake of nine prongs which all men fear.

(Wu & Yu 2012, vol. 4, p. 149).

碓嘴初長三尺零，獠牙觜出賽銀釘。
一雙圓眼光如電，兩耳搧風唿唿聲。
腦後鬃長排鐵箭，渾身皮糙癩還青。
手中使件蹊蹺物，九齒釘鈀個個驚。

But, again, an important distinction is missed. Zhu’s nose is “over three chi long,” or larger than 95.4 cm (3.12 ft), which is over half the height of an average human. ZDS (2020) says this measurement indicates that: “According to the laws of biology, (Zhu’s) body is approximately 3.5 m [11.48 ft]” (Anzhao shengwuxue de guilu, shenti yue 3.5 mi zuoyou, 按照生物学的规律，身体约3.5米左右). However, they never explain what laws they are referring to.

The only other information about Zhu’s size that I’m aware of appears in chapter 29. Upon entering a new kingdom, Tripitaka describes his two remaining disciples. [2] He starts with the pig spirit:

“My elder disciple has the surname of Zhu, and his given names are Wuneng and Eight Rules. He has a long snout and fanglike teeth, tough bristles on the back of his head, and huge, fanlike ears. He is coarse and husky, and he causes even the wind to rise when he walks (emphasis added) …” (Wu & Yu 2012, vol. 2, p. 51).

我那大徒弟姓豬，名悟能八戒，他生得長嘴獠牙，剛鬃扇耳，身粗肚大，行路生風 …

This tells us that Zhu has a large body capable of stirring the wind when he moves. But it’s important to note that Tripitaka’s subsequent dialogue assigns Sha Wujing a specific height (see below). This points to Zhu being shorter in comparison.

Therefore, just like the Tank Monk, there isn’t enough info to officially say how tall Zhu is. But we can again speculate using real world data.

My friend Barbara Campbell (blog) suggested that I use extinct prehistoric pigs as reference. A prime example is Megalochoerus homungous, which has been estimated to be 3.8 m (12.46 ft) long, 1.8 to 2.2 m (5.9 to 7.21 ft) at the shoulder, and up to 1,600 kg (3,527.39 lbs) (Uchytel, n.d.). A reconstruction by the paleo artist Roman Uchytel presents a towering creature with a head half as long as a man’s body (fig. 2). This is quite similar to the size of Zhu’s nose. Even with it’s head facing forward, a bipedal M. homungous would still be around 3.8 m (12.46 ft) tall. But as you’ll read below, this is too tall if Zhu is supposed to be shorter than Sha.

So how tall is Zhu? Your guess is as good as mine. But for those demanding some sort of answer, we can use human arm span to body height ratio, which is roughly 1:1. Using 1.8 m (5.9 ft), or the lower estimate for M. homungous‘ shoulder height, Zhu could be as much as 3.6 m (11.81 ft). But I am in no way comfortable with this estimate. It’s 100% pure conjecture, and I think it is still too tall.

Fig. 2 – A reconstruction of M. homungous by Roman Uchytel (larger version). Mr. Uchytel graciously gave me permission to use a watermarked version of his art for free. Please consult his website here.

2.4. Sha Wujing

I’ve previously mentioned Sha’s height in an article about Zhu Bajie’s appearance (refer back to here).

ZDS (2020) writes that Sha is “One zhang 2 chi, nearly 4 m” (yizhang erchi, chabuduo 4 mi le, 一丈二尺，差不多4米了). This is based on Tripitaka’s continued dialogue with the foreign king in chapter 29:

“… My second disciple has the surname of Sha, and his religious names are Wujing and Monk. He is one zhang two chi tall and three span wide across his shoulders (emphasis added). His face is like indigo, his mouth, a butcher’s bowl; his eyes gleam and his teeth seem a row of nails” (Wu & Yu 2012, vol. 2, p. 51).

第二個徒弟姓沙，法名悟淨和尚，他生得身長丈二，臂闊三停，臉如藍靛，口似血盆，眼光閃灼，牙齒排釘。他都是這等個模樣，所以不敢擅領入朝。

This tells us that the monstrous monk is a whopping 3.816 m (12.51 ft) tall, with an exceptionally broad body.

Fun fact: Sha Wujing’s height is based on his giant antecedent, an obscure desert spirit appearing in the 7th-century biography of  the historical monk Xuanzang (on whom Tripitaka is based). The spirit comes to the cleric in a dream to admonish him for sleeping on the journey to India:

[Xuanzang] dreamed that he saw a giant deity several zhang tall (emphasis added), holding a halberd and a flag in his hands. The deity said to him, “Why are you sleeping here instead of forging ahead?” (based on 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！」

“[S]everal zhang” would be 3 zhang (9.54 m or 31.29 ft) or more tall! That’s one big spirit!

3. Conclusion 

“Journey to the West: The Four Body Height Ratios of the Master and His Disciples” is an informational picture that depicts the pilgrims with their correct corresponding heights. The bottom of the picture also provides measurements to supplement the illustration. These numbers were likely borrowed from ZDS (2020), an online article with the exact same name and very similar material. According to the essay, Sun Wukong is less than 1.3 m (4.26 ft), the Tang Monk is about 1.8 m (5.90 ft), Zhu Bajie is 3.5 m (11.48 ft), and Sha Wujing is nearly 4 m (13.12 ft). However, this information is overgeneralized and at times conjectural.

The original Chinese text of Journey to the West naturally gives more accurate information. But, unfortunately, the book only lists specific heights for two characters: Monkey is shorter than 1.272 m (4.17 ft) and Sha is 3.816 m (12.51 ft). As for the other two, not enough information is given for Tripitaka or Zhu to officially say how tall they are. However, speculating with real world historical height data suggests that the literary monk could be somewhere between 1.65 m (5.41 ft) and 1.67 m (5.47 ft), which is obviously shorter than the 1.8 m cited above. But even using prehistoric pigs as a reference, Zhu Bajie is the hardest to calculate since the novel indirectly implies that he is shorter than Sha. I used the lower end shoulder height estimate of the extinct M. homungous to suggest that Zhu could be as much as 3.6 m (11.81 ft) tall. But I think this is still too big.

On an interesting note, Sha’s great height is based on his giant antecedent, a desert spirit appearing in the historical Xuanzang’s 7th-century biography. The spirit is described as being 9.54 m (31.29 ft) or more!

Note:

1) “Western Liang’s gorgeous girl” is referring to the Queen of Womanland.

2) The Tang Monk had previously expelled Monkey from the group in chapter 27 (Wu & Yu, vol. 2, pp. 26-28).

Sources:

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.

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

Uchytel, R. (n.d.). Megalochoerus. Prehistoric Fauna. Retrieved from https://prehistoric-fauna.com/Megalochoerus.

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

Zhongshi Damei Shenghuo. (2020, August 18). Xiyou ji: Shitu siren shengao duibi [Journey to the West: The Four Body Height Ratios of the Master and His Disciples]. Sohu. Retrieved from https://www.sohu.com/a/413598842_120113471

 

 

Archive #39 – Journey to the West Adaptations

Jim R. McClanahan Leave a comment

The Journey to the West Research blog is proud to host an entry by our friend Monkey Ruler (Twitter and Tumblr). They have graciously written an essay on the global nature of Journey to the West adaptations, as well as provided a link to their ongoing project recording JTTW media (fig. 1). As of the publishing of this article, it includes a long list of almost 570 movies, 90 TV shows, and 160 video games! – Jim

Fig. 1 – Depictions of Sun Wukong from adaptations produced over 50 years apart: (left) Havoc in Heaven (Danao tiangong, 大鬧天宮, 1961) and (right) Monkey King: Hero is Back (Xiyouji zhi Dasheng guilai, 西遊記之大聖歸來, lit: “Journey to the West: Return of the Great Sage,” 2015) (larger version). Courtesy of Monkey Ruler.

I. Media adaptations

This started out as a collection of Xiyouji (西遊記; lit: “Journey to the West,” 1592) movies and TV shows for the sake of a Master’s class project; it was simple enough to look for Xiyouji media and start adding them to a collection datasheet. But even when the project was over, I kept finding more and more adaptations, even stumbling across others trying to show the magnitude of how much this novel has encompassed popular culture throughout the centuries. It has been told and re-told again and again in oral and published literature, plays, art, songs, poems, etc., and now on the big and small screens. Audiences are re-introduced to the image of Sun Wukong and his fellow pilgrims with every new media addition.

What really inspired me was the book Transforming Monkey: Adaptations and Representation of a Chinese Epic (2018) by Hongmei Sun, where she explained in depth the cultural impact that Sun Wukong (fig. 2) and Xiyouji has had on Chinese media, as well as how this loose set of franchises have come to represent Chinese culture as these shows and movies have become more globally accessible. Xiyouji is such an iconic cultural universe that it can be both heavily entertaining while still being so personal to audiences of any generation depending on how the artist/writer portrays their interpretation of these characters and their stories. 

There hasn’t been a lot written about how these interpretations influence modern Xiyouji adaptations despite how the story has greatly influenced popular culture.

Fig. 2 – The front cover of Transforming Monkey (2018) (larger version).

Xiyouji is such an influential story, one that will continue to grow more and more globally known throughout time because it is such an all-encompassing piece that can cover politics, identities, and allegories, while still being a very personal and interpersonal work that artists or writers can relate to. 

However, even with these layers of meaning and symbolism to be found, the story never loses the charming and entertaining aspects that can and have captured audiences. Despite being published over 430 years ago (with a history stretching back even further), Xiyouji is still able to relate to modern audiences through its allegories of oppression, rebellion, and self-identity. It has the capability to resonate with any generation depending on what artists or writers at the time wish to highlight or personally connect with themselves or their current world around them, using Xiyouji as a medium for their own struggles.

As Xiyouji starts to become more and more globally known, it is important to understand and resonate that this is still a Chinese story and how to address further adaptations with cross-nation gaps in both translation and cultural differences. There are media forms that are far more exploitative of the mythical journey, creating impractical scenarios of the narrative and thus changing the message of the story and characters completely. However, there needs to be an acknowledgment of what doesn’t work as Xiyouji adaptations due to the ever-changing zeitgeist in not only its home of origin but introducing it to a global sphere as it adds influence. 

In order to see what works for adaptations, there needs to be an acknowledgment of what is the core of the story and just why it remains popular, story-beat or character-wise. For example, Sun Wukong can be used as a great model for positive ambivalence in media, moving away from set limits of a single stereotype and rather being a constant motion of new ideas and new identities. Monkey has been changed from a mischievous monkey to a revolutionary hero to a post-modern rebel against authority throughout the years. But even throughout the constant changes and interpretations, people never lose sight of what the nature of Sun Wukong is: rebelliousness, variability, optimism, and persistence. 

Monkey is a transcending character as he is able to mediate contradictions within his own design, one being his gold-banded staff, a symbol of breaking barriers, and his golden filet (fig. 3), a symbol of limits. These two simple but prominent pieces of iconography immediately tell audiences who the character is supposed to be and what they are about.

Fig. 3 – A modern replica of Monkey’s golden filet or headband (larger version).

While it is entertaining and able to be enjoyed by younger audiences, Xiyouji still has a deeper meaning that can be interpreted and recognized into adulthood. This is one of the few stories that I imagine can be adapted again and again without the issue of overlap as there are so many ways people can personally connect with these characters. 

Having that any generation, anyone really can find enjoyment in this media, and perhaps even be inspired to read the novel itself.

II. Archive link

Please consult the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet linked below. They are listed as “Movie Information,” “Movie Links,” “Honorary Shows,” “Game Information,” “Game Pictures,” “Honorary Games,” and “Sources.” – Jim

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GsiCGzE1DZDy2Vpc85wiVXSyLWpxMbxj/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112097376285754662736&rtpof=true&sd=true

Laozi’s Realm in Journey to the West

Jim R. McClanahan 2 Comments

Last updated: 03-12-2023

A reader recently asked me why Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592) associates Laozi (老子), a high god of Daoism, with the Tushita Heaven (Doushuai tian, 兜率天). It’s easy to understand why they might be confused, for this is a Buddhist heaven in which bodhisattvas are born prior to their final life and enlightenment as a Buddha (Buswell & Lopez, 2014, p. 930). I’ve therefore decided to do a brief study.

This piece will complement my article about the location of the Buddha’s realm. It will also give me an excuse to add new material to my article about the cosmic geography of Journey to the West.

I. What the novel says

Sun Wukong stumbles upon Laozi’s realm while in a drunken stupor. Chapter five reads:

Dear Great Sage! Reeling from side to side, he stumbled along solely on the strength of wine, and in a moment he lost his way. It was not the Equal to Heaven Residence that he went to, but the Tushita Palace. The moment he saw it, he realized his mistake. “The Tushita Palace is at the uppermost of the thirty-three Heavens,” he said, “the Separation’s Regret Heaven, [1] which is the home of the Most High Laozi. How did I get here? (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 165-166).

好大聖，搖搖擺擺，仗著酒，任情亂撞。一會把路差了，不是齊天府，卻是兜率天宮。一見了，頓然醒悟道：「兜率宮是三十三天之上，乃離恨天太上老君之處，如何錯到此間？…

This is also where the god’s famous alchemical furnace is located. Chapter seven reads:

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. He then ordered the Daoist who watched over the brazier and the page boy in charge of the fire to blow up a strong flame for the smelting process (Wu & Yu, 2012, p. 189).

那老君到兜率宮，將大聖解去繩索，放了穿琵琶骨之器，推入八卦爐中，命看爐的道人、架火的童子，將火搧起鍛煉。

Based on the above, Laozi and his furnace reside in the “Tushita Palace” (Doushuai gong, 兜率宮) of the “Separation’s Regret Heaven” (Lihen tian, 離恨天), which is said to be the highest of the “thirty-three heavens” (sanshisan tian, 三十三天). I will return to the Tushita Palace below.

II. The Buddhist Heavenly Realms

The twenty-fifth scroll of the Sūtra of the Foundations of Mindfulness of the True Law (Ch: Zhengfa nianchu jing, 正法念處經; Sk: Saddharmasmṛtyupasthānasūtra, 6th-century) lists thirty-three Buddhist heavenly realms. [2] These make up the heaven of the “Thirty-Three (Gods)” (Ch: Sanshisan tian, 三十三天; Daoli tian, 忉利天; Sk: Trāyastriṃśa, त्रायस्त्रिंश) (fig. 1). But Separation’s Regret is not mentioned among them, and the actual thirty-third realm is called the “Heaven of Purity” (Qingjing tian, 清淨天). So where does Laozi’s realm come from?

Fig. 1 – The thirty-three heavenly realms overlaid on a map of Buddhist cosmic geography (larger version). From the Establishment of the Dharma-Field with Illustrations (Fajie anli tu, 法界安立圖,17th-century).

III. Ties to Performance Arts

According to Johnson (2020), the Heaven of Separation’s Regret (Lihen tian, 離恨天) is a reoccurring trope in Yuan dynasty stage plays denoting the “[f]rustrations of love” (p. 136). Idema (Wang & Idema, 1995) further explains that it was considered “the home of thwarted lovers obligated to endure eternal separation” (p. 120, n. 24).

The Anthology of Yuan Music Dramas (Yuanqu xuan, 元曲選, 17th-century) contains several examples. One is Listening to a Zither from the Bamboo Thicket (Zhuwu tingqin, 竹塢聽琴, 13th-century) in which a character sings:

Separation’s Regret is the highest of the thirty-three heavenly realms. Of the four hundred and four illnesses, [3] lovesickness is the most bitter. This pining will kill me.

三十三天離恨天最高。四百四病相思病最苦。則被這相思害殺我也。

What’s important for my purposes is that the Yuan play Story of the Western Wing (Xixiangji, 西廂記) specifically mentions Separation’s Regret together with the Tushita Palace, the same palace from Journey to the West. While visiting a monastery, the male lead becomes entranced by a woman and longingly sings of her beauty. Part of the song reads:

Stunning knockouts—I’ve seen a million;
But a lovely face like this is rarely seen!
It dazzles a man’s eyes, stuns him speechless,
And makes his soul fly away into the heavens (emphasis added).
She there, without a thought of teasing, fragrant shoulders bare,
Simply twirls the flower, smiling.

顛不刺的見了萬千，似這般可喜娘的龐兒罕曾見。則著人眼花撩亂口難言，魂靈兒飛在半天。他那裡盡人調戲軃著香肩，只將花笑拈。

This is Tushita Palace,
Don’t guess it to be the heaven of Separation’s Regret (emphasis added).
Ah, who would ever have thought that I would meet a divine sylph?
I see her spring-­breeze face, fit for anger, fit for joy,
Just suited to those flowered pins pasted with kingfisher feathers (Wang & Idema, 1995, pp. 120-121).

這的是兜率宮，休猜做了離恨天。呀，誰想著寺裡遇神仙！我見他宜嗔宜喜春風面，偏、宜貼翠花鈿。

When the male lead sings of the Tushita Palace, he is referring here to the “contentment” of the Buddhist Tushita heaven (Buswell & Lopez, 2014, p. 930). That’s why he differentiates it from the Separation’s Regret heaven. After all, Tushita is higher than the traditional Heaven of the Thirty-Three Gods (refer back to sec. II) in Buddhist cosmology (fig. 2) (Buswell & Lopez, 2014, p. 230-231).

This song (or others like it) might ultimately explain why Journey to the West associates the Tushita Palace with Separation’s Regret. But how does this connect to Laozi?

Fig. 2 – A diagram of the heavens above the Heaven of the Thirty-Three Gods atop Mt. Sumeru (larger version). From Sadakata, 1997, p. 60. Take note that the heaven of the Thirty-Three Gods is separated from Tushita by the Yama Heaven.

IV. The Daoist Heavens

The Seven Bamboo Tablets of the Cloudy Satchel (Yunji qiqian, 雲笈七籤, c. 1029), an encyclopedia of mostly Shangqing (上清) Daoist texts, states that the universe has thirty-six heavens. These comprise thirty-two lower heavens, then the three respective heavens of the “Three Pure Ones” (Sanqing, 三清), and a final grand heaven at the top called the “Great Canopy” (Daluo tian, 大羅天) (fig. 3) (here and here, for example; see also Miller, 2008c). The Cloudy Satchel lists the heavens of the Three Pure Ones from top to bottom, associating Laozi with the bottommost (i.e. the thirty-third heaven):

The realms of the Three Pure ones are Jade Clarity, Highest Clarity, and Grand Clarity.

其三清境者，玉清、上清、太清是也。

[…]

The Lord of Divine Treasures (Laozi) lives in the Grand Clarity Realm, that is the Great Scarlet Heaven.

神宝君治在太清境，即大赤天也。

An earlier work, Pearl Satchel of the Three Caverns (Sandong zhunang, 三洞珠囊, 6th-century), more pointedly refers to the number of Laozi’s heaven, stating:

It is said that the Most High Lord Lao lives at the top of the thirty-third heaven in the Grand Ultimate Palace of the Great Clarity Realm.

又云：大清境、太極宮，即太上老君位在三十三天之上也。

As can be seen, Laozi’s heaven, the “Grand or Great Clarity Realm” (Tai / Daqing jing, 太/大清境), is said to be the thirty-third of thirty-six Daoist heavens. This likely explains how he was associated with the thirty-three Buddhist heavenly realms, Separation’s Regret, and thereby the Tushita Palace.

Fig. 3 – The various layers of the thirty-six Daoist heavens according to the Seven Bamboo Tablets of the Cloudy Satchel (c. 1029) (larger version). Adapted from Miller, 2008c, p. 850. The original source lists the thirty-sixth heaven as number one. I’ve numbered them according to how they are listed in the Cloudy Satchel. 

V. Myth vs Religion

While there is an overlap between Chinese mythology and religion, this article shows that the cosmos of Journey to the West is not an accurate snapshot of religious beliefs. But the novel should not be looked upon solely as entertainment, as is commonly claimed. Like Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen yanyi, 封神演義, c. 1620), Journey to the West helped spread the mythos of many gods still worshiped today. This is especially true for Sun Wukong because he never received royal patronage due to his literary penchant for rebelling against authority (Shahar, 1996).

VI. Conclusion

The early chapters of Journey to the West state that Laozi and his furnace reside in the Tushita Palace of the Separation’s Regret Heaven, which is the highest of the thirty-three heavenly realms. These realms were borrowed from Buddhism, but Separation’s Regret does not appear among them. It is instead a trope from Yuan-era drama denoting the frustration of being separated from a lover. One Yuan play in particular mentions Separation’s Regret together with the Tushita Palace, a clear reference to the Buddhist heaven of the same name, showing how they might have been associated. And since Laozi’s realm is the thirty-third of thirty-six Daoist heavens, this likely explains why he came to be associated with the thirty-three Buddhist heavenly realms, Separation’s Regret, and thereby the Tushita Palace.

This article shows that Journey to the West is therefore not an accurate snapshot of Chinese religion. But the novel is important as it helped spread the mythos of many gods still worshiped today, including Sun Wukong.

Update: 03-02-23

It turns out that “Tushita Palace” (Doushuai(tian) gong, 兜率(天)宮) is used many times throughout Buddhist literature to refer to the Tushita Heaven (see here and here). For example, the Flower Garland Sutra (Huayan jing, 華嚴經, late-3rd to early-4th-century) reads:

Then the king of the Tushita heaven (emphasis added), having set up the throne for the Enlightened One, respectfully greeted the Buddha together with countless godlings of the Tushita heaven.

爾時，兜率天王為如來敷置座已，心生尊重，與十萬億阿僧祇兜率天子奉迎如來

[…]

In the Tushita palace (emphasis added) a host of unspeakably many enlightening beings hovered in the air, and with diligence and single-mindedness produced offerings surpassing all the heavens and presented them to the Buddha, bowing respectfully, while countless forms of music played all at once (Cleary, 1993, pp. 504-505).

兜率宮中不可說諸菩薩眾，住虛空中，精勤一心，以出過諸天諸供養具，供養於佛，恭敬作禮。阿僧祇音樂一時同奏。

Update: 03-04-23

Famed Tang-era poet Li Bai / Bo (李白, 701-762) uses the phrase “Separation’s regret” (Lihen, 離恨), translated below as “Parting’s pain,” to describe the agony of being separated from his beloved winter time comforts:

“Parting from My Felt Curtain and Brazier” (Bie zhanzhang huolu, 別氈帳火爐)

I recall recently in late winter weather
the north wind and three feet of snow.
Getting old, I couldn’t stop feeling cold,
how was I to get through the long nights?
Luckily I had a green felt curtain,
I hung it up against the wind.
Also there was this red brazier
that warmed me up in the snow.
I was like a fish diving into deep water,
like a rabbit hiding deep in his hole.
Tender and gentle, the wintering scales revive,
poached in warmth, frozen flesh revitalized.
But then those dark and gloomy evenings
changed instantly to a time of balmy light.
It’s the seasons moving inevitably on—
of course my affection has not ceased.
The frizzy curtain is rolled up with the days,
the ashes die in the fragrant brazier.
Parting’s pain (emphasis added) belongs to springtime,
our tryst will be in the tenth month.
If only this body stays healthy,
we will not be parted for long (Owen, 2006, p. 52).

憶昨臘月天，北風三尺雪。
年老不禁寒，夜長安可徹。
賴有青氈帳，風前自張設。
復此紅火爐，雪中相暖熱。
如魚入淵水，似兔藏深穴。
婉軟蟄鱗蘇，溫燉凍肌活。
方安陰慘夕，遽變陽和節。
無奈時候遷，豈是恩情絕。
毳䈴逐日卷，香燎隨灰滅。
離恨屬三春，佳期在十月。
但令此身健，不作多時別。

This shows that the phrase carried the same tortured meaning prior to being elevated to a metaphorical heaven during the Yuan.

On an unrelated note, Dario Virga reminded me that Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen yanyi, 封神演義, c. 1620), a sort of prequel to Journey to the West, places Laozi in a different location. For instance, chapter 44 reads:

Chi Jingzi took his leave of the Elder Immortal of the South Pole and sailed on his auspicious cloud towards the Mysterious Metropolis, arriving at the immortal mountain in no time at all. This was the Mysterious Metropolis Cave of the Great Canopy heaven, [4] which was the residence of Laozi (emphasis added). Inside was the wonderland of the Eight Effulgences Palace … [5]

赤精子辭了南極仙翁，駕祥雲往玄都而來。不一時已到仙山。此處乃大羅宮玄都洞，是老子所居之地，內有八景宮，仙境異常 …

As mentioned above, the Great Canopy is the highest of the traditional thirty-six Daoist heavens (Miller, 2008c; refer back to fig. 3).

Update: 03-06-23

After a quick search, it appears that Journey to the West also makes use of the Great Canopy Heaven (Daluo tian, 大羅天). For example, chapter 35 associates it with Laozi’s Tushita Palace:

After receiving the five treasures, Laozi lifted the seals of the gourd and the vase and poured out two masses of divine ether. With one point of his finger he transformed the ether again into two youths, standing on his left and right. Ten thousand strands of propitious light appeared as

They all drifted toward the Tushita Palace;
Freely they went straight up to Great Canopy (emphasis added)(Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 146). [6]

那老君收得五件寶貝，揭開葫蘆與淨瓶蓋口，倒出兩股仙氣。用手一指，仍化為金、銀二童子，相隨左右。只見那霞光萬道，咦！
縹緲同歸兜率院，逍遙直上大羅天。

But since Journey to the West closely associates the Tushita Palace with the thirty-third heaven of Separation’s Regret, I think the addition of Great Canopy is a clear cut case of a separate oral tradition making its way into the novel.

Lingbao (靈寶) Daoism recognizes thirty-two main heavens topped by the Great Canopy heaven, for a total of thirty-three (fig. 4). This shows that Buddhism came to influence Daoism’s cosmic geography (Miller, 2008b).

This means that the novel places Laozi’s realm in two different locations, but each is treated as the thirty-third heaven.

Fig. 4 – The Thirty-two cardinal Daoist heavens (larger version). Image from Miller, 2008b, p. 848.

Update: 03-12-23

I was surprised to learn recently that the Sutra Spoken by the Buddha on the Names of the Buddhas (Foshuo foming jing, 佛說佛名經, 6th-century) lists a certain “Separation’s Regret Buddha” (lihen fo, 離恨佛). I’m not sure if lihen (離恨) is a translation/transliteration of a foreign Indian Buddhist term. I doubt the deity is related to Laozi’s drama-inspired heaven, but it’s still interesting to see the term associated with a Buddha.

Notes:

1) Source slightly altered for accuracy. Yu’s (Wu & Yu, 2012) translation originally reads “the Griefless heaven” (vol. 1, p. 166). See section III above for more context.

2) The Great Dictionary of Buddhism (Foxue dacidian, 佛學大辭典, 1922) gives the same list.

3) This is a concept borrowed from Buddhist medicine (Demiéville, 1985, p. 77).

4) The original Chinese reads “Daluo gong” (大羅宮), which can be translated as “Great Canopy Palace.” But I’ve already shown in my 03-02-23 update that gong (宮) can also refer to a heaven, and this is true of Great Canopy.

5) Translation by the author. The Eight Effulgences (Bajing, 八景) refer to planetary and stellar deities, internal alchemical practices, or divine chariots of the gods (Robinet, 2008).

6) Source altered slightly for conformity. Yu’s (Wu & Yu, 2012) translation originally reads “Heaven’s Canopy” (vol. 3, p. 77)

Sources:

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

Cleary, T. (1993). The Flower Ornament Scripture: A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra. Boston: Shambhala.

Demiéville, P. (1985). Buddhism and Healing Demiéville’s Article “Byō” from Hōbōgirin (M. Tatz trans.). Lanham: University Pr. of America.

Johnson, D. R. (2020). A Glossary of Words and Phrases in the Oral Performing and Dramatic Literatures of the Jin, Yuan, and Ming. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies.

Miller, A. L. (2008a). Daluo tian. In F. Pregadio (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Taoism (Vols. 1-2) (p. 299). London: Routledge.

Miller, A. L. (2008b). Sanshi’er tian. In F. Pregadio (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Taoism (Vols. 1-2) (ppp. 847-848). London: Routledge.

Miller, A. L. (2008c). Sanshiliu tian. In F. Pregadio (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Taoism (Vols. 1-2) (pp. 849-851). London: Routledge.

Owen, S. (2006). The Late Tang: Chinese Poetry of the Mid-Ninth Century (827-860). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center.

Robinet, I. (2008). Bajing. In F. Pregadio (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Taoism (Vols. 1-2) (pp. 210-211). London: Routledge.

Sadakata, A. (1997). Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins. Japan: Kosei Publishing Company.

Shahar, M. (1996). Vernacular Fiction and the Transmission of Gods’ Cults in Later Imperial China. In M. Shahar & R. P. Weller (Eds.), Unruly Gods: Divinity and Society in China (pp. 184-211). Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press.

Wang, S., & Idema, W. L. (1995). The Story of the Western Wing. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.

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

The Buddha’s Vulture Peak and Journey to the West

Jim R. McClanahan Leave a comment

Last updated: 02-28-2023

According to Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592), the Buddha’s realm (fig. 1) is located in the Western Cattle-Gift Continent (i.e. India) atop “Vulture Peak.” For example, in chapter 98, an immortal tells Tripitaka:

Anthony C. Yu Translation

“Sage Monk, look at the spot halfway up the sky, shrouded by auspicious luminosity of five colors and a thousand folds of hallowed mists. That’s the tall Spirit Vulture Peak, the holy region of the Buddhist Patriarch” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 4, p. 343).

W. J. F. Jenner Translation

“Holy monk, do you see the auspicious light of many colors and the richly textured aura in the sky? That is the summit of Vulture Peak, the holy territory of the Lord Buddha” (Wu & Jenner, 1993/2020, vol. 4, p. 2250).

聖僧，你看那半天中有祥光五色、瑞藹千重的，就是靈鷲高峰，佛祖之聖境也。

Fig. 1 – The Buddha’s realm (larger version). Found randomly on the internet. Artist unknown.

1. Various Names

The novel provides several Chinese names for this hallowed place:

  • Jiufeng (鷲峰) – “Vulture Peak”
  • Jiuling (鷲嶺) – “Vulture Ridge”
  • Lingjiu xianshan (靈鷲仙山) – “Immortal Mountain of the Spirit Vulture” (the fanciest in my opinion)
  • Lingjiu feng (靈鷲峰) – “Peak of the Spirit Vulture”
  • Lingjiu gaofeng (靈鷲高峰) – “Tall Peak of the Spirit Vulture”

2. Real World Location

Vulture Peak (Sk: Gṛdhrakūṭaparvata, गृद्धकूट; Ch: Lingjiu shan, 靈鷲山; Qidujue shan, 耆闍崛山) is a Buddhist holy site located around the ancient city of Rājagṛaha (modern day Nalanda District, Bihar, India) (fig. 2). It was often visited by the historical Buddha and his disciples. Various traditions believe it to be the site from which the Enlightened One delivered some of his most important teachings, including those from the Nikāyas and Āgamas (Theravāda), as well as the Heart Sūtra and the Perfection of Wisdom sūtras (Mahāyāna). The Japanese Nichiren-shū sect even considers it a Buddhist paradise (Buswell & Lopez, 2014, p. 327).

Fig. 2 – A modern day picture of Vulture Peak (larger version). Image found on Wikipedia.

3. Religious Etymology

So where does the strange name come from? Lopez (1988) explains that the original Sanskrit, Gṛdhrakūṭaparvata, means “mass of vultures peak” (p. 36). The commentary to the Section of the Suttas says that the place was so named “because vultures lived on its peaks [fig. 3], or because the peaks looked like vultures.” [1] The commentary also alludes to story no. 536 from a famous 5th-century Indian collection of birth stories in which Ānanda is presented as the “king of the vultures, with a following of ten thousand vultures [that] dwelt upon Vulture Peak” (Cowell, 1895, p. 224; Bodhi & Buddhaghosa, 2017, p. 839).

The association of Ānanda with vultures is interesting as the Biography of the Eminent Monk Faxian (Gaoseng Faxian zhuan, 高僧法顯傳, c. 5th-century) gives a related supernatural reason:

Three [li] before you reach the top, there is a cavern in the rocks, facing the south, in which Buddha sat in meditation. Thirty paces to the north-west there is another, where Ânanda was sitting in meditation, when the deva Mâra Piśuna, [2] having assumed the form of a large vulture, took his place in front of the cavern, and frightened the disciple. Then Buddha, by his mysterious, supernatural power, made a cleft in the rock, introduced his hand, and stroked Ânanda’s shoulder, so that his fear immediately passed away [fig. 4]. The footprints of the bird and the cleft for (Buddha’s) hand are still there, and hence comes the name of ‘The Hill of the Vulture Cavern’ (Faxian & Legge, 1886/1965, p. 83).

未至頭三里有石窟南向。佛本於此坐禪。西北三十步復有一石窟。阿難於中坐禪。天魔波旬化作鵰鷲住窟前恐阿難。佛以神足力隔石舒手摩阿難肩。怖即得止。鳥迹手孔今悉在。故曰鵰鷲窟山。

Barring the location’s supposed bird-like appearance, the original Sanskrit name and surveyed Buddhist sources give the impression that the peak was home to large numbers of vultures. This association appears to have been embellished in Buddhist stories to include a connection to Ānanda.

Fig. 3 – (Right) An Indian Vulture (larger version). Image found on Wikipedia. Fig. 4 – (Center) Detail of a relief sculpture depicting the Buddha reaching his hand through the rock to calm Ānanda. Take note of the vulture on the top left. (Right) A line drawing of the scene (larger version). From Yungang Cave no. 38, 6th-century. Adapted from Wang, 2005, p. 197.

4. Conclusion

Journey to the West depicts the Buddha’s realm atop “Vulture Peak” in the western continent. The novel provides several Chinese names, the fanciest of which is “Immortal Mountain of the Spirit Vulture.” This place is in fact a real world holy site in Bihar, India considered a place from which the Enlightened One taught important Buddhist doctrine. The original Sanskrit name and Buddhist sources suggest that the mountain is named for the large number of vultures who supposedly resided there. Buddhist stories would come to associate these birds with Ānanda. For example, one 5th-century Indian source depicts him, in a past life, as the king of 10,000 vultures living on Vulture Peak. A 5th-century Chinese source states that he was terrified by a deva-turned-vulture in order to interrupt his meditation. But he was saved by the reassuring hand of the Buddha.

Update: 02-12-23

I was curious as to when the Chinese translation of Gṛdhrakūṭaparvata first appeared. Wang (2005) notes it was used as far back as Dharmarakṣa‘s 286 CE translation of the Lotus Sūtra (p. 194). The holy site is referred to as “Mountain of the Spirit Vulture” (Lingjiu shan, 靈鷲山) at least five times. [3] I’d like to know if “spirit vulture” is a reference to Māra’s transformation from the story cycle mentioned by Faxian.

Update: 02-28-23

I’ve written an article about the location of Laozi’s realm.

Laozi’s Realm in Journey to the West

Notes:

1) Bodhi & Buddhaghosa, 2017, p. 903. Lopez (1988) also cites two commentators with the same respective views (p. 36).

2) Legge (Faxian & Legge, 1886/1965) explains: “Piśuna is a name given to Mâra, and signifies ‘sinful just'” (p. 83, n. 2).

3) However, Wang (2005) says that the term appears six times (p. 194).

Sources:

Bodhi, B., & Buddhaghosa, B. (2017). The Suttanipāta: An Ancient Collection of the Buddha’s Discourses Together with Its Commentaries Paramatthajotikā II and Excerpts from the Niddessa. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications.

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

Cowell, E. B. (Ed.) (1895). The Jātaka, or Stories of the Buddha’s Former Births (Vol. 5). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/cu31924072231545/page/n243/mode/2up

Faxian, & Legge, J. (1965). A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fâ-Hien of his Travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline. New York: Dover Publications. (Original work published 1886)

Lopez, D. S. (1988). The Heart Sūtra explained: Indian and Tibetan Commentaries. Albany, N.Y: State University of New York Press.

Wang, E. Y. (2005). Shaping the Lotus Sutra: Buddhist Visual Culture in Medieval China. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.

Wu, C. & Jenner, W. J. F. (2020). Journey to the West (Vols. 1-4). Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. (Original work published 1993)

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

How Many Humans Does Sun Wukong Kill in Journey to the West?

Jim R. McClanahan Leave a comment

Last updated: 01-17-2023

Someone on Tumblr recently asked me if I knew how many monsters, spirits, and humans that Sun Wukong kills throughout Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592). But since he’s a “hyper murder monkey” (fig. 1), this is impossible to quantify without an overly extensive survey of the book. However, the task becomes far more manageable if narrowed down to just humans. I know of at least seven instances in chapters 14, 27, 28, 44, 46, and 56. Although I can’t give an exact count, the number slain is over 1,030!

This study is by no means exhaustive. I’ve surely missed a few examples in the latter half of the book. But I’ll update this piece in the future if anything else pops up.

Fig. 1 – The story of the hyper murder monkey by @FlorkOfCows (larger version).

I. Chapter 14

  • Six robbers

The first instance happens when Sun and his master are accosted by six robbers shortly after the immortal is released from under Five Elements Mountain:

Master and disciple had traveled for some time when suddenly six men jumped out from the side of the road with much clamor, all holding long spears and short swords, sharp blades and strong bows. “Stop, monk!” they cried. “Leave your horse and drop your bag at once, and we’ll let you pass on alive!” Tripitaka was so terrified that his soul left him and his spirit fled; he fell from his horse, unable to utter a word. But Pilgrim lifted him up, saying, “Don’t be alarmed, Master. It’s nothing really, just some people coming to give us clothes and a travel allowance!” “Wukong,” said Tripitaka, “you must be a little hard of hearing! They told us to leave our bag and our horse, and you want to ask them for clothes and a travel allowance?” “You just stay here and watch our belongings,” said Pilgrim, “and let old Monkey confront them. We’ll see what happens.” Tripitaka said, “Even a good punch is no match for a pair of fists, and two fists can’t cope with four hands! There are six big fellows over there, and you are such a tiny person. How can you have the nerve to confront them?”

As he always had been audacious, Pilgrim did not wait for further discussion. He walked forward with arms folded and saluted the six men, saying, “Sirs, for what reason are you blocking the path of this poor monk?” “We are kings of the highway,” said the men, “philanthropic mountain lords. Our fame has long been known, though you seem to be ignorant of it. Leave your belongings at once, and you will be allowed to pass. If you but utter half a no, you’ll be chopped to pieces!” “I have been also a great hereditary king and a mountain lord for centuries,” said Pilgrim, “but I have yet to learn of your illustrious names.” “So you really don’t know!” one of them said. “Let’s tell you then: one of us is named Eye That Sees and Delights; another, Ear That Hears and Rages; another Nose That Smells and Loves; another, Tongue That Tastes and Desires; another, Mind That Perceives and Covets; and another, Body That Bears and Suffers.” “You are nothing but six hairy brigands,” said Wukong laughing, “who have failed to recognize in me a person who has left the family, your proper master. How dare you bar my way? Bring out the treasures you have stolen so that you and I can divide them into seven portions. I’ll spare you then!” Hearing this, the robbers all reacted with rage and amusement, covetousness and fear, desire and anxiety. They rushed forward crying, “You reckless monk! You haven’t a thing to offer us, and yet you want us to share our loot with you!” Wielding spears and swords, they surrounded Pilgrim and hacked away at his head seventy or eighty times. Pilgrim stood in their midst and behaved as if nothing were happening.

What a monk!” said one of the robbers. “He really does have a hard head!” “Passably so!” said Pilgrim, laughing. “But your hands must be getting tired from all that exercise; it’s about time for old Monkey to take out his needle for a little entertainment.” “This monk must be an acupuncture man in disguise,” said the robber. “We’re not sick! What’s all this about using a needle?” Pilgrim reached into his ear and took out a tiny embroidery needle; one wave of it in the wind and it became an iron rod with the thickness of a rice bowl. He held it in his hands, saying, “Don’t run! Let old Monkey try his hand on you with this rod!” The six robbers fled in all directions, but with great strides he caught up with them and rounded all of them up. He beat every one of them to death, stripped them of their clothes, and seized their valuables. Then Pilgrim came back smiling broadly and said, “You may proceed now, Master. Those robbers have been exterminated by old Monkey” (Wu & Yu, vol. 1, pp 314-315).

This ends with Tripitaka becoming angry and exiling Monkey. The cleric later welcomes him back, only to rein in his disciple’s unruly behavior with the heaven-sent golden headband (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 315-317 and 318-320). This becomes a reoccurring theme (see below).

The six murders (fig. 2) are allegories for defeating the desires of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, mind, and body that hinder one’s spiritual progression. [1] This is explained by Monkey in chapter 43 (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 254).

Fig. 2 – A woodblock print depicting Sun killing the six bandits (larger version). It comes from The Illustrated Journey to the West (Ehon Saiyuki, 繪本西遊記), a 19th-century Japanese translation.

II. Chapter 27

  • Unknown

The second is alluded to during the White Bone Spirit episode. In her attempts to eat the monk, the wily skeleton demon takes on the guises of a beautiful girl, her elderly mother, and her elderly father in turn. But each time Sun attacks her with his staff, she leaves a fake corpse in her wake, [2] making it seem like the immortal has murdered yet another person. This naturally upsets Tripitaka, but Monkey explains that evil spirits commonly disguise themselves as something welcoming in order to catch and eat humans. He uses himself as an example, claiming to have done the same as a young monster:

“Master,” said Pilgrim with a laugh, “how could you know about this? When I was a monster back at the Water-Curtain Cave, I would act like this if I wanted to eat human flesh. I would change myself into gold or silver, a lonely building, a harmless drunk, or a beautiful woman. Anyone feebleminded enough to be attracted by me I would lure back to the cave. There I would enjoy him as I pleased, by steaming or boiling. If I couldn’t finish him off in one meal, I would dry the leftovers in the sun to keep for rainy days. Master, if I had returned a little later, you would have fallen into her trap and been harmed by her.” That Tang Monk, however, simply refused to believe these words; he kept saying instead that the woman was a good person (Wu & Yu, vol. 2, p. 20).

In the end, the cleric isn’t convinced that Sun didn’t kill an entire family, and so he punishes him with the band-tightening spell before once again banishing him from the group (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, pp. 26-28).

I know some online commentators believe that Monkey lies here about eating people. I’ll leave it up to the reader to make their own decision. But even if his claims are true, there is no way of quantifying the number eaten.

III. Chapter 28

  • 1,000-plus hunters

The third happens shortly after Sun’s exile. Upon returning to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, he learns that more than half of his 47,000 monkey subjects had been killed centuries ago in a great fire set by Erlang, and then half of the survivors later fled elsewhere due to a lack of food. In addition, half of those who remained were killed and eaten or captured for entertainment by a band of over 1,000 human hunters who recently came to inhabit the mountain. Hearing this greatly enrages the Monkey King. He thereafter instructs his subjects to gather piles of small rocks for a magical wind attack (Wu & Yu, vol. 2, pp. 31-32):

Making the magic sign with his fingers and reciting a spell, he drew in a breath facing the southwest and blew it out. At once a violent wind arose. Marvelous wind!

It threw up dust and scattered dirt;
It toppled trees and cut down forests.
The ocean waves rose like mountains;
They crashed fold upon fold on the shore.
The cosmos grew dim and darkened;
The sun and the moon lost their light.
The pine trees, once shaken, roared like tigers;
The bamboos, hit abruptly, sang like dragons.
All Heaven’s pores let loose their angry breaths
As rocks and sand flew, hurting one and all.

The Great Sage called up this mighty wind that blew up and scattered those rock pieces in every direction. Pity those thousand-odd (qianyu, 千餘) hunters and horses! This was what happened to every one of them:

The rocks broke their dark heads to pieces;
Flying sand hurt all the winged horses.
Lords and nobles confounded before the peak,
Blood stained like cinnabar the earth.
Fathers and sons could not go home.
Could fine men to their houses return?
Corpses fell to the dust and lay on the mountain,
While rouged ladies at home waited.

The poem says:

Men killed, horses dead—how could they go home?
Lost, lonely souls floundered like tangled hemp.
Pity those strong and virile fighting men,
Whose blood, both good and bad, did stain the sand!

Lowering the direction of his cloud, the Great Sage clapped his hands and roared with laughter, saying, “Lucky! Lucky! Since I made submission to the Tang Monk and became a priest, he has been giving me this advice:

‘Do good a thousand days,
But the good is still insufficient;
Do evil for one day,
And that evil is already excessive.’

Some truth indeed! When I followed him and killed a few monsters, he would blame me for perpetrating violence. Today I came home and it was the merest trifle to finish off all these hunters.”

He then shouted, “Little ones, come out!” When those monkeys saw that the violent wind had passed and heard the Great Sage calling, they all jumped out. “Go down to the south side of the mountain,” said the Great Sage, “and strip the dead hunters of their clothes. Bring them back home, wash away the bloodstains, and you all can wear them to ward off the cold. The corpses you can push into the deep mountain lake over there. Pull back here also the horses that are killed; their hides can be used to make boots, and their meat can be cured for us to enjoy slowly. Gather up the bows and arrows, the swords and spears, and you can use them for military drills again. And finally, bring me those banners of miscellaneous colors; I have use for them” (Wu & Yu, vol. 2, pp 33-34).

This is by far the largest number of humans killed in one go by the hyper murder monkey.

IV. Chapter 44

  • Two Daoists

The fourth happens shortly after the pilgrims arrive in the Cart-Slow Kingdom. Sun is appalled to learn that three self-proclaimed immortals have convinced the region’s monarch to not only destroy all Buddhist institutions but also to enslave the clerics to the Daoists. His initial response is to play a joke on two cocky Daoist overseers by convincing them (under the guise of an aged coreligionist) that he has a relative among the 500 monks who should be set free. But when they ask which one, our hero claims all of them to be his kin (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, pp. 269-275):

The Daoists said, “You must be a little crazy, for all at once you are babbling! These monks happen to be gifts from the king. If we want to release even one or two of them, we will have to go first before our masters to report that they are ill. Then, we have to submit a death certificate before we can consider the matter closed. How could you ask us to release them all? Nonsense! Nonsense! Why, not to speak of the fact that we would be left without servants in our household, but even the court might be offended. The king might send some officials to look into the work here or he himself might come to investigate. How could we dare let them go?” “You won’t release them?” said Pilgrim. “No, we won’t!” said the Daoists. Pilgrim asked them three times and his anger flared up. Whipping out his iron rod from his ear, he squeezed it once in the wind and it had the thickness of a rice bowl. He tested it with his hand before slamming it down on the Daoists’ heads. How pitiful! This one blow made

Their heads crack, their blood squirts, their bodies sink low;
Their skin split, their necks snap, their brains outflow! (Wu & Yu, vol. 2, p. 275).

V. Chapter 46

  • One civil official

The fifth happens during a magical contest of torture against one of the three supposed immortals. Monkey easily survives a bath in boiling oil but fakes his death in order to play a trick on Zhu Bajie. The officer in charge of the execution reports the development to the monarch, leading Tripitaka to eulogize and present offerings to his disciple’s spirit. But once Zhu hijacks the proceedings by calling Sun a Bimawen, [3] our hero erupts from the caldron to chastise his religious brother. Fearing possible punishment for seemingly lying to the king, the aforementioned official claims the primate is instead a ghost (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, pp. 310-312):

Maddened by what he heard, Pilgrim leaped out of the cauldron, dried himself from the oil, and threw on his clothes. Dragging that officer over, he whipped out his iron rod and one blow on the head reduced him to a meat patty. “What ghost is this who’s manifesting itself?” he huffed (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, pp. 312-313).

VI. Chapter 56 – Part 1

  • Two bandit chiefs

The last two instances that I know of take place shortly after the scorpion spirit episode. The sixth follows a similar pattern to chapter 14: Tripitaka is confronted by bandits → He gets scared and falls off the horse → The bandits demand money and the horse → Sun intervenes → His banter enrages them and they hit and stab at his adamantine pate to no avail → They comment on his hard head → Monkey pulls out his iron staff, referring to it as a needle → The bandits infer that he works in a certain profession and claim to have no use for the needle → He enlarges the weapon and eventually beats them to death. [4] The only difference here is that Sun first challenges the men to lift his staff:

… Sticking the rod into the ground, Pilgrim said to them, “If any of you can pick it up, it’s yours.” The two bandit chiefs at once went forward to try to grab it, but alas, it was as if dragonflies were attempting to shake a stone pillar. They could not even budge it half a whit! This rod, you see, happened to be the compliant golden-hooped rod, which tipped the scale in Heaven at thirteen thousand, five hundred [catties]. How could those bandits have knowledge of this? The Great Sage walked forward and picked up the rod with no effort at all. Assuming the style of the Python Rearing its Body, he pointed at the bandits and said, “Your luck’s running out, for you have met old Monkey!” One of the bandit chiefs approached him and gave him another fifty or sixty blows. “Your hands must be getting tired!” chuckled Pilgrim. “Let old Monkey give you one stroke of the rod. I won’t do it for real either!” Look at him! One wave of the rod and it grew to about seventy feet, its circumference almost as big as a well. He banged it on the bandit, and he at once fell to the ground: his lips hugging the earth, he could not make another sound.

The other bandit chiefs shouted, “This baldy is so audacious! He has no travel money, but he has killed one of us instead!” “Don’t fret! Don’t fret!” said Pilgrim, laughing. “I’ll hit every one of you, just to make sure that all of you will be wiped out!” With another bang he beat to death the other bandit chief Those small thieves were so terrified that they abandoned their weapons and fled for their lives in all directions (Wu & Yu, vol. 3, pp. 80-81).

VII. Chapter 56 – Part 2

  • One unfilial son
  • twenty-ish bandits

The seventh happens sometime after one of the surviving bandits, the son of an elderly couple surnamed Yang (楊), discovers that his parents are feeding and sheltering the pilgrims for the night. He and his brothers-in-arms make plans to attack the monks after eating dinner and sharpening their weapons, but old Mr. Yang alerts them, giving Tripitaka and his disciples ample time to escape:

Every bandit was darting forward like an arrow, and by sunrise, they caught sight of the Tang Monk. When the elder heard shouts behind him, he turned to look and discovered a band of some thirty men rushing toward him, all armed with knives and spears. “Oh, disciples,” he cried, “the brigand troops are catching up with us. What shall we do?” “Relax, relax!” said Pilgrim. “Old Monkey will go finish them off!” “Wukong,” said Tripitaka as he stopped his horse, “you must not hurt these people. Just frighten them away.” Unwilling, of course, to listen to his master, Pilgrim turned quickly to face his pursuers, saying, “Where are you going, sirs?” “You nasty baldie!” cried the thieves. “Give us back the lives of our great kings!”

As they encircled Pilgrim, the bandits lifted their spears and knives to stab and hack away madly. The Great Sage gave one wave of his rod and it had the thickness of a bowl; with it, he fought until those bandits dropped like stars and dispersed like clouds. Those he bumped into died at once, those he caught hold of perished immediately, those he tapped had their bones broken, and those he brushed against had their skins torn. The few smart ones managed to escape, but the rest of the dumb ones all went to see King Yama!

When Tripitaka saw that many men had fallen, he was so aghast that he turned and galloped toward the West, with Zhu Eight Rules and Sha Monk hard on the horse’s heels. Pilgrim pulled over one of the wounded bandits and asked, “Which is the son of old Yang?” “Father,” groaned the thief, “the one in yellow.” Pilgrim went forward to pick up a knife and beheaded the one in yellow. Holding the bloody head in his hand, he retrieved his iron rod and, in great strides, caught up with the Tang Monk. As he arrived before the horse, he raised the head and said, “Master, this is the rebellious son of old Yang, and he’s been beheaded by old Monkey.” [fig. 3] Paling with fright, Tripitaka fell down from the horse, crying, “Wretched ape! You’ve scared me to death! Take it away! Take it away!” Eight Rules went forward and kicked the head to the side of the road, where he used the muckrake to bury it (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, pp. 88-89).

The quote is clear that not all 30 bandits are killed. Apart from Yang the bandit, I think 20(-ish) is a conservative estimate based on the wording.

And just like chapters 14 and 27, this episode ends with Tripitaka punishing his disciple with the band-tightening spell before exiling him from the group (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, pp. 89-90).

Fig. 3 – Monkey presenting the head of Yang the bandit to his master. This screenshot comes from episode 10 of OSP’s retelling of Journey to the West (larger version).

VIII. Conclusion

To my knowledge, the Monkey King kills over 1,030 humans in Journey to the West. This includes six allegorical robbers in chapter 14, an unknown amount alluded to in chapter 27, over 1,000 hunters in chapter 28, two Daoists in chapter 44, one civil official in chapter 46, and two bandits chiefs, one unfilial son, and maybe 20-ish bandits in chapter 56. I may have missed a few instances in the latter half of the novel, so please don’t look at the above total as complete.

Update: 01-17-2023

I previously mentioned an instance in chapter 27 where Monkey admits to eating humans in his youth, something that some online commentators believe to be a fib. Well, a Tumblr user, who goes by both @abitfiendish and @localcactushugger, reminded me that dialogue in chapter 39 further calls this into question.

After a pill of immortal elixir fails to revive a long-dead king, Tripitaka suggests mouth-to-mouth necessitation is needed to complete the resurrection process. Sun is ultimately chosen for this job since he had apparently never eaten meat:

Eight Rules walked forward and was about to do this when he was stopped by Tripitaka. “You can’t do it,” he said. “Wukong still should take over.” That elder indeed had presence of mind, for Zhu Eight Rules, you see, had been a cannibal since his youth, and his breath was unclean. Pilgrim, on the other hand, had practiced self-cultivation since his birth, the food sustaining him being various fruits and nuts, and thus his breath was pure. The Great Sage, therefore, went forward and clamped his thundergod beak to the lips of the king: a mighty breath was blown through his throat … (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, pp. 195-196).

But it should be remembered that Journey to the West is crammed full of inconsistencies (likely born from the novel coalescing from different oral tales). For example, this chapter shows that all it takes to revive a dead person is an elixir pill and mouth-to-mouth. However, in chapter 97, Monkey has to physically retrieve the soul of a recently deceased householder from the underworld in order to resurrect him (see the material below figure 3 here).

Again, I’ll leave it up to the reader to make their own decision.

Note:

1) Things that arouse the eyes (sights), ears (sounds), nose (smells), tongue (tastes), and mind and body (wants and desires).

2) This is related to an ancient Daoist concept called “Release by means of a corpse” (Shijie, 尸解). Stories as far back as the Han describe immortals leaving behind a fake corpse (sometimes a magically disguised object) while they ascended in secret to heaven (Kirkland, 2008).

3) This plays on the homophonous relationship between Bimawen (避馬瘟, lit: “avoid the horse plague”), an ancient belief that female monkeys placed in horse stables could ward off equine sickness, and Bimawen (弼馬溫, “To assist horse temperament”), Sun’s former station as keeper of the heavenly horses (see here).

See Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 3, pp. 78-81.

Source:

Kirkland, R. (2008). Shijie In F. Pregadio (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Taoism (Vol. 2) (pp. 896-897). London [u.a.: Routledge].

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