THE LEGEND
In the 1952 Chinese novel Xiyou ji (Hsi-yu chi), known in English as The Journey to the West, Monkey’s adventures are told in two distinct plots. The novel opens with the first plot as Monkey is born from a stone egg. Intelligent and playful, yet also ambitious, courageous, and rebellious, he becomes Handsome Monkey King of a monkey kingdom. As a disciple of the Daoist (Taoist) immortal Subodhi, Monkey is given the new, semireligious name of Sun Wukong. Gaining great supernatural powers, Sun Wukong is invited to heaven. As punishment for his wild mischief there, Buddha himself imprisons Monkey beneath a rock for five hundred years. In the second plot, Sun Wukong is freed by the Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang (Hsüan-tsang), also known as Tripitaka. Xuanzang wishes to travel to India to bring Buddhist scriptures from there to China. On this perilous journey, Sun Wukong becomes guardian, protector, and the most powerful, effective, and loyal fighter for Xuanzang. Their ordeals typically involve supernatural and shape-shifting enemies, which test all of Monkey’s powers and abilities.
In Anthony Yu’s translation of The Journey to the West, the adventures of Monkey begin right after the novel opens with a retelling of the traditional Chinese myth of the origin of the world. Atop Flower-Fruit Mountain, a big stone is impregnated “with a divine embryo” (1: 67). The stone gives birth to an egg, which the wind transforms into a stone monkey. Stone Monkey leaps up with fully formed limbs and an adult monkey body. It mingles with other monkeys on the mountain. Soon, Stone Monkey jumps through a waterfall to discover Water-Curtain Cave. This is an ideal dwelling place for all monkeys. Because his discovery makes him their accepted leader, Stone Monkey appoints himself Handsome Monkey King.
After some three to four hundred years of carefree life, Monkey King realizes that his death will come eventually. After a farewell feast put on by the other monkeys, he leaves his cave and mountain to embark on a voyage to find immortality. Traveling across the ocean to a different continent, Monkey King meets the first humans on the shore. He strips one man of his clothes and begins to mingle with people: “With a swagger he walk[s] through counties and prefectures, imitating human speech and human manners in the marketplaces” (Yu 1: 75).
On the next continent, Monkey King finally finds the Daoist immortal Subodhi. Initially reluctant to take him on as disciple because he is a monkey, Subodhi eventually relents. Subodhi gives him a new name, Sun Wukong. The Chinese character for Monkey’s surname Sun alludes to him being a monkey. Wukong has been translated as “awakening to vacuity” or “awakening to emptiness,” a Buddhist religious concept.
Trained by Subodhi, Sun Wukong’s “mind [becomes] spiritualized,” and he gradually acquires supernatural powers (Yu 1: 88). These include mastery of the art of the seventy-two transformations into different animate and inanimate forms, as well as using any of his eighty-four thousand hairs to change into either a copy of himself or another object. Sun Wukong learns the art of cloud-hopping, traversing 108,000 li (33,554 miles) in a single leap. However, when Monkey shows off his prowess to other disciples, Subodhi dismisses him and Monkey returns home.
At Water-Curtain Cave, Monkey finds that Monstrous King of Havoc is harassing his monkeys. With his new powers, including the creation of a little monkey army from his hairs, Monkey King fights Monstrous King. Snatching his enemy’s scimitar, Monkey brings it down “squarely on the monster’s skull, cleaving it in two” (Yu 1: 97). Reestablished in Water-Curtain Cave, Monkey King arms his monkeys and goes on a quest to receive a mighty weapon for himself from the Dragon King of the Eastern Ocean. He successfully takes along a heavy iron staff, the “Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod” (1: 108). It is very heavy, over 17,800 pounds. It can shift its shape to become as little as a needle, which Monkey carries in his ear when he is not using his staff as a weapon. In a dream, Monkey journeys to the underworld. There, he wipes off his and his monkey friends’ names from the ledger of souls to be summoned to die.
Eventually, the Jade Emperor of Heaven decides to offer Monkey a position in heaven to prevent him from running wild on earth. There, Monkey is made keeper of horse stables, called Bimawen (Pi-ma-wen). When he learns that this is a most menial position, he rebels and shouts, “I won’t do this anymore! I’m leaving right now!” (Yu 1: 122). Returning to his mountain, Monkey names himself “Great Sage, Equal to Heaven” (1: 124) in open defiance. The heavenly imperial authorities persuade Monkey to return to heaven. There, he is put in charge of the Garden of Immortal Peaches. However, Monkey eats most of the peaches, gets drunk on the nectar, breaks into the palace of Laozi (Lao Tzu), and eats the elixir of immortality before returning to Flower-Fruit Mountain.
At first, Monkey defeats a celestial army of 100,000 warriors by himself. However, led by their divine general Erlang Shen, the gods finally capture Sun Wukong in concert. The Jade Emperor sentences Monkey to be burned to death in a crucible. However, Monkey emerges from this ordeal stronger than ever.
Finally, it is the Buddha himself who captures Monkey literally in his palm. Monkey is imprisoned underneath five mountains created from the five fingers of one hand of the Buddha. This ends the first part of the adventures of Monkey as told in The Journey to the West.
The second adventure of Monkey involves his release from imprisonment after promising “to practice religion” and the stoppage “of his rebellion” (Yu 1: 195). Over time and several adventures, Monkey, now called Pilgrim Sun or Xingzhe (“ascetic”), proves true to his word. However, after a town is attacked, he kills six robbers. Because he took their lives, Monkey is tricked into wearing a headband made from a hair of the Buddha. Once he puts on the headband, he cannot take it off. The headband contains a spell that tightens on Monkey’s head whenever he breaks his Buddhist promises, causing unbearable headaches.
This second adventure continues with events that develop the Monkey King toward his eventual atonement and forgiveness.
SIGNIFICANCE
An archetypal analysis looks at Monkey as a remarkably versatile and creative trickster hero. Both his rebellion against the gods and his loyal and resourceful support for Tripitaka are analyzed in light of his quality as archetypal character. This analysis shows that Monkey is richly imagined and well-integrated into the many popular mythical stories contained in The Journey to the West. An approach from new historicism and cultural criticism shows how the relative peace, prosperity, and stability of the Ming dynasty gave rise to lengthy popular novels. Among them, The Journey to the West profits in reader popularity due to its masterful incorporation and presentation of the adventures of Monkey, which have become the true distinction of this novel. A feminist analysis reveals that occasionally Monkey must rely on the help of the female bodhisattva Guanyin (Kuan-yin or Kwannon), balancing out male power in the story.
After his fall and punishment, Monkey shows genuine repentance, becoming the loyal and protective guardian of the human Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang. Without reservations, Monkey supports Xuanzang unquestioningly in the pilgrim’s quest to travel to India to bring Buddhist scriptures back to China. An analysis grounded in new historicism and cultural criticism indicates how the period of stability of the Ming dynasty helped create a Chinese readership for long, carefully plotted popular novels. Among Ming novels, The Journey to the West was particularly popular. This is owed to no small extent to its multidimensional, creative trickster hero, Monkey. Feminist analysis highlights how the helplessness of Xuanzang puts him into a gendered position traditionally reserved for the helpless female of quest narratives. Feminist analysis shows further how the necessary intervention of Guanyin, the popular goddess of mercy, creates a balance to the male power of Monkey and his all-male companions.
The elemental nature of Monkey is established both by his birth from a stone egg and the recounting of the origin of the universe at the beginning of The Journey to the West. Monkey is born soon after the long creation of the world was finished, according to traditional Chinese legends. He comes from inanimate, basic matter. His birth is sufficiently special for an archetypal character. The stone that “the seeds of Heaven and Earth and . . . the essences of the sun and the moon” impregnate with a “divine embryo” is of considerable size and circumference (Yu 1: 67). It has existed since the world was created, and one day splits open to release a stone egg. This plot device means that the forces of the known universe themselves are the parents of Monkey, who has no biological parents, which thus reinforces his mythical status.
From the beginning, even with the best intentions, Monkey manages to disturb the realm of the gods with his actions. This will become a sustained theme throughout the first, rebellious half of his adventures. After his birth, Monkey “bow[s] to the four quarters” of the directions, paying homage to the universe that has created him (Yu 1: 67). However, “two beams of golden light [flash] from his eyes” and reach the heavens (1: 67–68). There, they disturb the Jade Emperor, who sends two celestial officers to check on the source of the light. They return, identifying Monkey’s eyes, but state that his eyes are dim now as he is beginning to eat and drink. Involuntarily, in his primal state, Monkey manages already to upset the divine order of things.
As he becomes closer to the world of real animals and humans, Monkey loses some of the supernatural powers of his eyes. However, his golden shining eyes remain a characteristic of him throughout his adventures. In this allegory, seeing the world also becomes illuminating it. The more Monkey focuses on ordinary activities like feeding, the more his special powers of seeing and illumination are dimmed. By lessening a Daoist form of understanding the universe, this allegory hints at the price that becoming fully human, or a humanlike animal, will exert.
Combining trickery with an intrepid, pioneering spirit and bold actions, Monkey establishes himself as an archetypal charismatic leader. He does not hesitate to demand obeisance. When the monkeys on the mountain discover a waterfall, they promise to make king the one who boldly goes through it to the hidden other side. It is Stone Monkey who rises to the challenge. The narrative creates a direct sense of excitement at Monkey’s first feat establishing his mythic reputation: “Look at him! He closed his eyes, crouched low, and with one leap he jumped straight through the waterfall” (Yu 1: 70). Behind the waterfall, Stone Monkey is rewarded for his boldness and leadership action. He discovers the Water-Curtain Cave, which turns out to be a perfect sheltered habitat for the monkey population.
Even though the cave houses a magically erected iron bridge and a stone mansion fully equipped with stone utensils ready for use, the myth also alludes to humans—and animals—finding shelter inside caves at the dawn of civilization. This may tie the myth back to the collective subconscious and makes Monkey a representative of a vaguely, collectively remembered human past as well.
Assuming a new position in the allegorical tale, Monkey takes on a new name. This pattern will be repeated throughout The Journey to the West. It will be followed not only by Monkey, but by every character who develops and takes on a new function or role in the narrative. Accordingly, Stone Monkey takes the new name Handsome Monkey King as he now rules from the Water-Curtain Cave over his newly founded monkey kingdom.
As archetypal trickster hero, Monkey King becomes restless after a few centuries of carefree and rule over a happy band of monkeys. Suddenly, Monkey King becomes worried about his own mortality. The desire for immortality has deep roots in traditional Chinese culture. Historical emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, who unified China in 221 BCE, became obsessed with the idea. He not only had himself built a terracotta army of eight thousand men to protect him in the afterlife—which was rediscovered in 1974—he also visited the supposedly magic island of Zhifu three times to obtain alchemical drugs that were said to ensure his immortality.
Monkey King’s first quest to obtain immortality serves a double narrative function: to humanize him further and to provide him with some astonishing supernatural powers, developing his trickster character. Leaving his mountain, Monkey King traverses an ocean to mingle with humans. He is quite ruthless in stripping a man of his garments to clothe himself and turns into a keen observer and commentator on humanity’s ceaseless strive to seek more and more material goods. Finally, Monkey King crosses the Western Ocean for a second new continent. There, he finds a big mountain, which may be an allegorical allusion to Mount Penglai sought so desperately by the historical emperor Qin Shi Huangi. On this mountain, Monkey King finally finds an immortal, the Daoist sage Subodhi. In this, the trickster hero’s persistence in his quest has been rewarded.
As a disciple newly named Sun Wukong, Monkey uses all his wits to learn as much as he can. He acquires immortality as well as significant new powers, yet he is taught a lesson in humility. Sun Wukong basically designs his own curriculum and will learn from Subodhi only what leads him toward immortality. His attitude borders on the insolent and foreshadows his rebellion against the gods of heaven. However, when Subodhi catches Monkey showing off his powers to other disciples, Subodhi dismisses him. Humbled only briefly, soon “rejoicing secretly,” Monkey King uses his new power of cloud-skipping to arrive back home in no time at all (Yu 1: 93).
On Flower-Fruit Mountain, a situation develops in which Monkey King has to put his new powers to best use. This delights readers with an episode illustrating the capability of the trickster hero and functions well to showcase the character. Fighting Monstrous King of Havoc demands all the wit and skills of Monkey King to emerge victorious. Later, like a genuine king, Monkey arms his people and instructs them into defending themselves. In this, the plot joins the archetypal characteristics of trickster hero and charismatic ruler.
With a mix of trickery, bragging, and genuine accomplishment, Monkey King gains a mythical weapon worthy of his character from the dragon king of the sea. As befitting a mythical archetypal character, this magic staff becomes Monkey’s attribute. Monkey is depicted with this staff in illustrated editions of The Journey to the West and prints featuring him and episodes from this popular novel.
Ultimately, it is the Buddha himself who subdues Monkey, signaling the triumph of true religion over a rambunctious rebel. Monkey has been able to run wild against the secular celestial authorities, but he proves no match to the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha. He is allowed one final gesture of defiance in the narrative. Monkey unwittingly urinates against what turns out to be the fold of two fingers in the palm of the Buddha. After this transgression, however, Monkey is imprisoned under a mountain for the next five hundred years as punishment.
In the second cycle of Monkey episodes in The Journey to the West, Monkey is truly remorseful for his previous escapades. He promises to become a loyal guardian of the Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang. Some critics have been uncomfortable with this seeming utter submission to authority. However, in the context of The Journey to the West as a popular and picaresque novel about the path toward enlightenment, Monkey’s new function as a guardian of Xuanzang represents admirable spiritual progress.
Archetypal analysis illustrates the allegorical nature of the numerous episodes featuring Monkey fighting demons and monsters to protect Xuanzang. Here, Monkey has to fight demons that represent lust, desire for power, and violence, or a mindless indulgence in earthly cravings. Many demons are shape-shifters, appearing first in human form before revealing their real demonic selves. Preoccupation with shape-shifting—for example, fox spirits assuming human form to tempt men—has long traditional cultural and mythological roots in China. The adventures of Monkey as told in The Journey to the West take up many of these traditional mythologies and meld them into a fascinating popular quest narrative.
Ultimately, Monkey, as a reformed trickster hero who puts his considerable skill and fighting prowess into the service of a higher religious cause, is rewarded with Buddhahood himself. Some critics have seen in this a narrative co-option and coercion of the rebellious, autonomous spirit into conventional social order. However, from the point of view of an archetypal character’s development, Monkey’s achievement of Buddhahood can be interpreted as spiritual triumph and accomplishment as well, as seen by other critics. In the end, the Buddha himself rewards Monkey: “Sun Wu-k’ung, when you caused great disturbance at the Celestial Palace, I had to exercise enormous dharma power to have you pressed beneath the Mountain of Five Phases. Fortunately your Heaven-sent calamity came to an end, and you embraced the teaching of Buddhism” (Yu 4: 425). For his repentance and conversion, Monkey is given the ultimate spiritual reward.
At key moments in Monkey’s battles with various demons, fiends, monsters, and shape-shifters, he has to rely ultimately on the help of Guanyin, the goddess of mercy. It is Guanyin who volunteers to find the Buddha a worthy pilgrim to travel to India and bring precious Buddhist scriptures to China. Guanyin selects both Xuanzang and his four guardians, including Monkey. Guanyin offers Monkey a chance at redemption and obtains his promise of repentance and religious sincerity. She is a female character instrumental for the plot of the novel and acts with great autonomy and power.
Guanyin provides Xuanzang with the only known means to discipline Monkey, the headband inside a cap that she instructs Xuanzang to trick the trickster into wearing: “When he returns, give him the shirt and the cap to wear; and if he again refuses to obey you, recite the spell silently. He will not dare do violence or leave you again” (Yu 1: 310). Guanyin’s device of a headband, made from a hair of the Buddha, allows Xuanzang to control him by inflicting unbearable and unavoidable pain on Monkey’s head, revealing her dominance over Monkey. While providing the means for his control, Guanyin also serves as Monkey’s ultimate recourse when challenges prove almost too much for him.
By placing Guanyin in power over Monkey, The Journey to the West balances male power. Monkey is the most adept and valuable of Xuanzang’s guardians. Yet even he has to rely on the help of the female Guanyin to ultimately ensure the success of the common quest.
The Japanese were among the first non-Chinese people who took an interest in the adventures of Monkey and adapted him into their art and literature. In 1865, Japanese artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (pen name of Owariya Yonejiro) created a series of popular woodblock prints entitled Tsuzoku Saiyuki (A Modern Journey to the West). Here, Monkey is a central character. He is depicted with his trademark gold-bound iron staff and wearing his cloud slippers familiar from The Journey to the West.
Monkey has also become a popular character in Japanese films, television series, manga, and anime. The character of the mischievous trickster hero who supports a serious quest has clearly captured the Japanese popular imagination. In 2007, for example, the movie Saiyuki (Journey to the West) was the eighth highest-earning film in Japan. It is based on the popular television series Saiyuki, which ran from 1978 to 1980 and was revived for one season in 2006.
Japanese manga very often feature a character modeled on the Monkey King. These cross-culturally inspired characters include the lighthearted, loosely adapted Four-Tails (or Son Goku, the Japanese name for Sun Wukong) in Naruto (1999–), a manga that also spawned an anime series. In Naruto, Son Goku calls himself the Handsome Monkey King, King of the Sage Monkeys, and Great Sage Equaling Heaven. More serious treatment of the character is found in Katsuya Terada’s manga Saiyukiden Daieno (2002–; The Monkey King, 2005–), which adds some sexual content to the many fighting episodes. In it, Monkey King is a serious, well-developed character. Buddhist themes and concepts are also incorporated in this manga with a generally darker, adult tone than in Naruto.