Tag Yuan Dynasty

Archive #33 – The Hsi-yu chi: A Study of Antecedents to the Sixteenth-Century Chinese Novel (1970)

Jim R. McClanahan Leave a comment

Dr. Glen Dudbridge (1938-2017), a British sinologist, was a giant in the field of Journey to the West Studies. His book The Hsi-yu chi: A Study of Antecedents to the Sixteenth-Century Chinese Novel (1970) is the best treatise on the history of this world famous story cycle. It stresses the oral storytelling origin of the tale, including a 13th-century storytelling prompt; 13th-century poetic allusions to the story; a 13th-century stone carving of Monkey in Quanzhou; fragments of the story in the Korean Pak t’ongsa ŏnhae (14th-c.) and Chinese Yongle Encyclopedia (early 15th-c.); mentions of the journey in a 16th-century baojuan; Wuzhiqi and white ape tales and how they may relate to the origin of Sun Wukong; Yuan-Ming Zaju plays about Erlang and Monkey; and it also includes translations and synopses of key texts in the appendixes.

Book Description:

A study of the early versions of the classic Chinese novel known to readers in English as Monkey. Dr Dudbridge examines a long tradition of earlier versions in narrative and dramatic form through which the great episodic cycle slowly took shape. The two main fields of interest are popular culture and folklore and the development of Chinese vernacular literature. Dr Dudbridge provides a very thorough survey of present knowledge about the whole topic and discusses critically a good deal of theorising about it. This is a study for experts. It uses Chinese characters, both in text pages and in the bibliography, which is very extensive. The plates reproduce paintings, carvings and sections of text relevant to the tradition.

Archive link:

Click to access The-Hsi-yu-chi-A-Study-of-Antecedents-to-the-Sixteenth-Century-Chinese-Novel-1970.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.

Citation:

Dudbridge, G. (1970). The Hsi-yu chi: A Study of Antecedents to the Sixteenth-Century Chinese Novel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Pigsy as a Late Addition to JTTW and Revelation of Monkey’s Lustful Nature in an Early Ming-Era Play

Jim R. McClanahan 2 Comments

1) Did you know Zhu Bajie (豬八戒, “Pig of Eight Prohibitions”, a.k.a., “Pigsy”), the lecherous swine spirit, was a later addition to the JTTW story cycle? He does not appear in the 13th-century precursor of the novel, while a variant of Sha Wujing (沙悟淨), the complacent water spirit, appears in said precursor and even in Xuanzang’s historical biography from the 7th-century (this is even before the development of Monkey!).[1] But all three of Tripitaka’s demonic disciples appear in an early Ming dynasty (14 to 15th-century) operatic stage play (zaju, 雜劇) by Yang Jingxian (杨景賢) titled Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記). Regarding Pigsy (fig. 1), acts thirteen to sixteen of the twenty-four act play describe him taking human form, tricking a woman into marrying him, and later kidnapping her, forcing Monkey to take her place in order to defeat the monster (readers will surely recognize this as being identical to Zhu Bajie’s early adventures in chapters eighteen and nineteen of the original novel) (Dudbridge, 1970, pp. 197-198; Ning, 1986, pp. 69-78 & 151-157). Such a complex tale no doubt took time to develop before it was included in the play, and since it doesn’t appear in the 13th-century precursor, I suggest Pigsy’s addition to the story cycle most likely took place during the 14th-century.

Click the image to open in full size.

Fig. 1 – (Left) A depiction of Pigsy by Deviantart user Tianwaitang (see the original drawing). Fig. 2 – (Right) A postcard depicting 
Monkey’s battle with Princess Iron Fan (larger version).

2) Did you know the aforementioned play depicts Sun Wukong as a lustful monster? Act nine describes him kidnapping the princess of the Golden Cauldron Kingdom (Jinding Guo, 金鼎國) to be his wife (compare this with Pigsy kidnapping his wife as mentioned above). She is, however, freed by Heavenly King Li Jing (李天王), and the Bodhisattva Guanyin (觀音) eventually traps Monkey under Flower Fruit Mountain (Dudbridge, 1970, p. 195; Ning, 1986, pp. 63-66 & 145-146). In act seventeen, the four monks are leapt upon by lasciviousness maidens in the Country of Women (女國). Tripitaka resists, while Pigsy and Sandy succeed in bedding their respective partners. Monkey tries but is unfortunately stopped by his golden headband.

My lustful nature was about to be aroused, when suddenly the golden hoop on my head constricted, and the joints and bones up and down my whole body began to ache. The throbbing reminded me of a bunch of vegetables. My head hurt so my hair stood up like radish-tops, my face turned as green as smart-weed sprouts, my sweat beaded up like the moister on an egg-plant soaked with sauce, and my cock fell as limp as a soft, salted cucumber. When she saw me looking for all the world like chives sizzling in hot oil, she came around, suppressed her itch and set me free (Ning, 1986, p. 90; see also Dudbridge, 1970, p. 198).

Act nineteen sees Monkey resort to seduction in an attempt to gain access to Princess Iron Fan’s magical weapon (fig. 2). Upon meeting her, Monkey recites a poem chocked full of saucy innuendo: “The disciple’s not too shallow / the woman’s not too deep. / You and I, let’s each put forth an item, / and make a little demon” (Ning, 1986, p. 141). The princess, however, proves immune to his advances, and after an exchange of heated words, she brandishes a sword against him. This is when Sun threatens to rape her: “You Hussy! If I should lay my hands on you, I won’t beat you or scold you, just guess what I’ll do!” (Ning, 1986, pp. 141-142). Ning (1986) ties Monkey’s lustful nature in the play to longstanding Chinese myths involving ape spirits abducting and raping human woman (pp. 143-145). [2]

Notes:

1) For the evolution of Sha Wujing, see Dudbridge, 1970, pp. 18-21.
2) See also Wu (1987) for descriptions of said ape tales.

Sources:

Dudbridge, G. (1970). The Hsi-yu chi: A study of antecedents to the sixteenth-century Chinese novel. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.

Ning, C. Y. (1986). Comic elements in the Xiyouji zaju. (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 8612591)

Wu, H. (1987). The earliest pictorial representations of ape tales: An interdisciplinary study of early Chinese narrative art and literature. T’oung Pao LXXIII, pp. 86-112.

The Origin of Monkey’s Battle with Lord Erlang and its Ties to Han Dynasty Funerary Rites and Folklore

Jim R. McClanahan Leave a comment

Did you know the battle between Monkey and Lord Erlang is tied to Han Dynasty funerary rights and folklore? Wu (1987) notes that, during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 CE), the people of Sichuan often buried their dead in stone tombs decorated with brave heroes, such as archers and crossbowmen, and fierce animals, such as tigers and hounds. Regarding the latter, the canines are sometimes depicted attacking or intimidating apes, which were considered emblems of disease or bad luck (fig. 1). Therefore, by portraying the subjugation of such evil forces, the carvings are thought to have served the ritual function of protecting deceased loved ones from dark influences on their wayward journey to the afterlife (pp. 100-101).

The idea of dogs overcoming apes should bring to mind Sun Wukong’s capture at the mouth of Lord Erlang’s loyal hound at the end of chapter six.

One recurring motif depicts an archer drawing his bow to fall an ape in a tree (fig. 2). This is based on a third-century BCE tale about the legendary Chu archer Yang Youji (養由基) shooting an elusive white ape held in the palace of the King of Jing. This in turn is based on an even older tale about the archer Yi (羿) bringing order to the primordial earth by killing nine of ten suns that took the form of monstrous crows. Han era tombs are known to portray Yi drawing a bow to shoot said birds flying around a tree, so it most likely influenced the motif of Yang shooting the ape in a tree (Wu, 1987, pp. 102-106). Despite his later connection with the three-pointed polearm, Erlang was also portrayed as an archer in early media.

Click the image to open in full size.

Fig. 1 – (Top left) A Han Dynasty tomb rubbing of oversized dogs intimidating apes (larger version). Fig. 2 – (Bottom left) A Han tomb decoration depicting an archer shooting at an ape (larger version). Fig. 3 – (Center bottom) The 13th-century painting depicting Erlang and his soldiers rounding up and executing ape demons. A captive ape can be seen on the bottom left between the two soldiers (larger version). Fig. 4 (Center right) A detail from the 15th-century painting showing the ape, his humanoid wives, and their gibbon-like children being rounded up (larger version). This section is located in the last four-fifths of the scroll. Fig. 5 – (Right) A detail showing Erlang near the front of the same scroll (larger version). His armor differs slightly from that of the 13th-century version. Also take note of how a young page holds his bow, while a spirit soldier bears his (slightly obscured) three-pointed polearm.

 

Lord Erlang was originally worshiped during the Han as a hunting god and queller of mountain ghosts by the Qiang (羌) ethnic group of the western Sichuan region. His cult grew and absorbed other deities and heroes under his mantle. For instance, Wu (1987) writes:

The Er-lang cult became even more popular in Sichuan under the patronage of the Later Shu emperor, Meng Chang 孟昶 (r. 934-65), and in 965, when the Song dynasty conquered the kingdom, it adopted the cult, erecting temples for the god in the capital and throughout the country.

When the Er-lang cult became increasingly popular in Sichuan, the previous divine archers such as Yang Youji and Yi, (like many other legendary demon-quellers), were mologized into this new cult, and their defeat of an ape demon became an important part of the Er-lang legend. Er-lang’s traits in later stories and art works clearly disclose this transformation (pp. 107-108).

It should also be noted that Erlang was at some point associated with the historical engineer Li Bing (李冰, c. 3rd-cent. BCE) and the official Zhao Yu (趙昱, c. 6th/7th-cent CE), both of whom were worshipped for defeating flood demons (Wu, 1987, p. 107). I suggest this may have led to his cult being connected to that of Yu the Great (大禹), the flood-queller par excellence in Chinese folklore. This is important because Tang Dynasty legends state Yu battled a simian water demon and eventually imprisoned it under a mountain (see Andersen, 2001). Sound familiar? This may have been another avenue in which Erlang was associated with quelling ape demons.

One anonymous 13th-century album leaf ink painting portrays Erlang seated in a kingly fashion and watching as his spirit soldiers round up and execute ape demons (fig. 3). One anonymous 15th-century scroll painting reproduces the scene in color, along with other animal spirits (fig. 4 and 5). The image of the deity as a queller of ape monsters culminated in an anonymous Yuan-Ming Dynasty play called The God Er-lang Locks up the Ape-Demon “Great Sage-Equal to Heaven” (二郎神鎻齊天大聖, Er-lang Shen suo Qitian Dasheng). Much like JTTW, the god is sent to capture a magical primate, in this case an ape, who has stolen immortal food and wine from heaven (Wu, 1987, pp. 108-109). This no doubt influenced Monkeys mischief in heaven and subsequent battle with the deity.

See also:

Sources:

Andersen, P. (2001). The demon chained under turtle mountain: The history and mythology of the Chinese river spirit Wuzhiqi. Berlin: G-und-H-Verl.

Wu, H. (1987). The earliest pictorial representations of ape tales: An interdisciplinary study of early Chinese narrative art and literature. T’oung Pao LXXIII, pp. 86-112.