Sun Wukong

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Sun Wukong (Traditional Chinese: 孫悟空; Simplified Chinese: 孙悟空; Hanyu Pinyin: Sūn Wùkōng; Wade-Giles: Sun Wu-k'ung), the Monkey King, is a main character in the epic story, Journey to the West. In this story, he accompanies the monk Sanzang to retrieve Buddhist sutras from India. Sun Wukong is based upon the legend of Hanuman, the Indian monkey hero from the ancient Ramayana epic. Sun Wukong is also the inspiration for numerous anime and manga characters, most notably Son Goku, from the Dragon Ball series.

Contents 1 Names and titles 2 Powers and abilities 3 Making trouble in Heaven 4 As a disciple to Sanzang 5 Celebrations and Festivals 6 Sun Wukong in Politics 7 Miscellaneous 8 Sun Wukong in modern media. 8.1 Retellings for Children/Young Adults 9 Modern Retellings 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

[edit] Names and titles

(Listed in the order that they were acquired)

• Měihóu Wáng (美猴王): Meaning "Handsome Monkey King.”
• Sūn Wùkōng (孫 悟空): The name given to him by his first master, Subhuti. The surname Sūn taken from a Chinese word for "monkey,” the character itself meaning "grandchild" or "offspring,” connected to continuity of life which is apropriate for him, as he wanted eternal life. The given name "Wùkōng" meaning "awakened to emptiness.”
• Bimawen (弼馬溫): The title of the keeper of the Heavenly Horses, a punning of pimawen (辟馬瘟; lit. "removing the horses' plague"). A monkey was often put in a stable as people believed its presence could prevent the horses from catching illness. Sun Wukong was given this position by the Jade Emperor after his first intrusion into Heaven. After discovering it was one of the lowest jobs in Heaven, he became angry and quit.
• Qitiān Dasheng (齊天大聖): Meaning "Great sage equal of Heaven.” Sun Wukong demanded this title from the Jade Emperor and was eventually granted it.
• Xingzhe (行者): Meaning "ascetic,” a monk in training who does chores in temple in the old days. The name given to him by Sanzang, who said that he looked like he would fit the description.

In addition to the names used in the novel, the Monkey King has other names in various parts of China

• Gou De Tien (猴齊天) in Taiwanese (Taiwan): Meaning "Equal of Heaven, the monkey.”
• Ma Lau Jing (馬騮精) in Cantonese (Guandong, Hong Kong: Meaning "Monkey Deity.”

[edit] Powers and abilities

Wukong was taught the 72 "earthly methods of transformations" by his master, Subodhi (he had been offered a choice between the 72 earthly transformations and 36 heavenly ones). These transformations apparently cover every possible form of existence, i.e. people, objects, etc. He was given 3 special hairs by Kuan Yin (who received them from the Buddha himself), which could be transformed into other objects or people, including copies of himself.

Wukong began as a monkey born of a stone made of primal chaos. He jumped through the waterfall on their island, The Mountain of Flowers and Fruits (Hua Guo Shan), and discovered the Water-Curtain Cave. The other monkeys proclaimed him the "Monkey King" for his feat. After celebrating, he soon realized that he was still a normal monkey; he wanted immortality. Determined to find immortal beings and learn their ways, he traveled on a raft to new lands, finally finding the Patriarch Subodhi and becoming his disciple. The Patriarch rejected him at first, but Monkey's determination, and eventually his intelligence, impressed him. It was from him that the monkey received the name Sun Wukong (Wukong meaning "aware of emptiness"). Under the Patriarch's teaching and training, he acquired the powers of immortality, shape-changing, and cloud-traveling, including a technique called the "Somersault Cloud,” where one can fly one hundred and eight thousand Li in a single flip (In modern times, the saying of 108000 Li is used to describe something that is ridiculously exaggerated or far-fetched).

Wukong became too proud after learning his new abilities, and began boasting to the other disciples. His master was not happy with this, and they parted ways. The Patriarch was certain that Wukong would get himself into trouble, so he made the monkey promise never to tell anyone who had been his teacher.

Sun Wukong eventually obtained an "as-you-will golden banded cudgel" or staff known as the Ru Yi Jin Gu Bang which he could turn into a needle and keep inside his ear. The cudgel could also be expanded to be as high as Heaven. It was originally a stick for measuring sea water depth by Da Yu in his flood control and treating efforts, thus its ability to vary its shape and length. After Da Yu left, it remained in the sea and became the "Pillar holding down the sea,” an unmovable treasure of the under-sea palace of the East Sea. No one was able to pick it up. Sun Wukong was able to swindle it from the under-sea palace of the East Sea dragon king (who under-estimated Wukong and bet him he couldn't pick it up). It weighed 13850 kilograms, and could multiply, transform, and act intelligently. The Monkey King also forced the Dragon King to give him other magical gifts, including his golden chainmail, phoenix feather cap, and cloud walking boots.

[edit] Making trouble in Heaven

Hoping that a promotion and a title would make him more manageable, the Jade Emperor invited Sun Wukong to the Heavenly Kingdom. However, this proved to be in vain. After the Jade Emperor excluded him from a royal banquet, in an act of rebellion Sun Wukong ate the Empress' Peaches of Immortality and Lord Laozi's Pills of Indestructibility. He later felt guilty about this, but only slightly so, and continued to be a nuisance to everybody in the Jade Emperor' Palace. Finally, the heavenly authorities had no choice but to attempt to subdue him.

He fought and defeated the Army of Heaven's 100,000 soldiers, then went on to defeat the Four Heavenly Kings, Erlang Shen, and Nezha. Eventually, thanks to the heavenly forces' effort and teamwork, including the contributions of many famous deities, Sun Wukong was finally captured. When several more execution attempts failed, Wukong was stuffed into Lord Laozi's eight-way trigem cauldron to be distilled into an elixir by the cauldron's sacred flames, which were thought to be hot enough to consume him. After cooking for 49 days, however, the cauldron exploded and Sun Wukong jumped out, stronger than ever and possessing the newfound ability to recognize evil in any form through his "Huo Yan Jin Jing,” or "Golden Fiery Eyes.”

With all their other options exhausted, the Jade Emperor and the authorities of Heaven finally appealed to the Buddha himself, who arrived in an instant from his temple in the West. The Buddha bet Sun Wukong that he could not jump out of his palm. Wukong, knowing that he could cover 108000 Li per leap, smugly agreed. He took a great leap and landed in what seems to be a desolate section of Heaven. Nothing was visible except five pillars, and Wukong surmised that he had reached the ends of Heaven. To prove he'd been there, he wrote "The Great Sage Equal of Heaven was here" on the middle pillar , and marked the space between the first and second with his urine. Afterwards, he leapt back and landed in Buddha's palm. Smiling, Buddha asked him to turn around. Wukong looked back and saw that the "pillar" on which he had written was actually Buddha's finger. Wukong had lost the bet. Immediately, he tried to escape, but Buddha turned over his palm and pinned the Monkey King under a mountain. There he remained imprisoned for five centuries until he offered to serve Sanzang, the Tang Priest, who was destined to make the journey to the West to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures for Tang. The bodhisattva Guanyin helped the priest by giving him a magical headband which he tricked the Monkey King into wearing. With a special chant, Sanzang was able to tighten the band and cause the Monkey King unbearable pain, which he would do whenever Wukong disobeyed or displeased him. Under Sanzang's supervision, the Monkey King was allowed to journey to the West.

[edit] As a disciple to Sanzang

Throughout the epic Journey to the West, Sun Wukong faithfully helps Sanzang the Tang High Priest on his journey to retrieve Buddhist Sutras in (India). They are joined by Pig (Zhu Bajie) and River Demon (Sha Hesang/Sha Wujing), both of whom are ordered to accompany the priest to atone for their crimes. The priest's horse is actually a dragon prince who has been defeated by Sun Wukong and tamed by Guanyin. Sanzang's safety is constantly threatened by supernatural beings, and Sun Wukong often acts as a bodyguard. The group encounters a series of eighty one tribulations before accomplishing their mission and returning safely to China. Sun Wukong is granted Buddhahood, for his service and strength.

[edit] Celebrations and Festivals

The Sun Wu Kong festival is celebrated on the sixteenth day of the eighth Lunar Month on the Chinese Calendar. Festivals feature recreations of his ordeals such as walking on a bed of coals and climbing a ladder of knives.

In Hong Kong the festival is celebrated at the Buddhist Temple in Sau Mau Ping, which has a shrine to Sun Wukong.

[edit] Sun Wukong in Politics

During Mao Zedong's reign in China, he consistently used Sōng Wǔ Kōng as a role model. Mao Zedong often talked about the good example of the Monkey King, citing “his fearlessness in thinking, doing work, striving for the objective and extricating China from poverty”.” ^[1]

[edit] Miscellaneous

In spite of its popularity (or perhaps because of it) legends regarding Sun Wukong have changed with the ebb and flow that is Chinese culture. The tale with Buddha and the "Pillars" is a prime example, and did not appear until Buddhism was introduced to China during the Han Dynasty. Various legends concerning Sun Wukong date back to before written Chinese history. They tend to change and adapt to the most popular Chinese religion of a given era.

• Some scholars believe that the character Sun Wukong was partly based on Hanuman, the "monkey god" of Hinduism described in a book by the historical Sanzang. Sun Wukong became so well-known in China that he was once worshiped by some as a real god.
• Sun Wukong is so prominent in Journey to the West that the famous translation by Arthur Waley is entitled Monkey, leading to other versions of Journey to the West also being called Monkey, such as the Japanese television show, Monkey.
• The phrase "You burst out from a stone" is one of the most common excuses used by Chinese parents when answering the "where do babies come from" question.
• Sun Wukong was the influence of the creation of various Monkey Kung Fu styles.

[edit] Sun Wukong in modern media.

• Son Gokū, the central character in the Japanese manga Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z and anime Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT, is largely based on Sun Wukong. "Son Gokū" is the Japanese pronunciation of the original character's name and is used in the Japanese translations of the original story. Some of the more direct influences include Goku's Nyoi Bou with a size-changing ability reminiscent of Monkey King's cudgel, Goku's monkey tail, the Flying Nimbus which is representative of Sun Wukong's cloud traveling ability. In Episode 37 of Dragonball Z, the hospital in which the defenders of earth recover is Wukong Hospital (the U is obstructed by a highway to make it more subtle).
• Monkey Monkey, a character in the webcomic Impy and Aevyis based Sun Wukong. Some of the similarities come from Monkey's appearance, his claims that he is king of Fruit and Power Pellot Mountain (a parody on Sun Wukong's homeland), outfit, and the wand he casts magic from is based on Sun Wukong's staff.
• His staff, the Monkey King Bar is a rare weapon in the online RPG, Phantasy Star Online.
• In the video game and multi-series Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, the Pokemon creatures Hikozaru, Moukazaru, and mainly Goukazaru are based on Sun Wu-kong.
• In the manga Demons of Shanghai by Hiromu Arakawa. Sun Wu-kong is causing havoc in a tourist attraction called the "Pearl of the East" in the near future of Shanghai, while looking for his Ru-Yi Staff (which is being used to hold up a ceiling).
• The character Son Gokū in the manga Gensomaden Saiyuki, is largely based on Sun Wukong.
• The Monkey King played a role in the animated and manga series Naruto, as the summon Enkoo: Enma.
• Mushra, a character from the anime Shinzo bears many similarities to Sun Wukong.
• Cogo, a character from the 80´s anime Starzinger, is partly based on Sun Wukong.
• The Monkey King has made an appearance on two episodes of the Jackie Chan Adventures as Jacky Chan's foe.
• Sun Wukong appears as the Monkey King in the 1983 movie, Big Bird in China. He helps Big Bird and Little Xiao Foo on their way to find Feng Huang, the phoenix.
• The Xbox game Kung Fu Chaos, features a playable character called Monkey, who is referred to as a god, and uses a staff as his main weapon.
• Sun Wukong is one of Chinese deities that can be summoned for assistance in the city building game Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom.
• The Playstation 2 role-playing game Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne features Wu Kong as a playable character.
• Sun Wukong's weapon is shown as the Monkey King Bar or MKB in a Warcraft 3 custom map called Defense of the Ancients. It is one of the most powerful weapons in the game.
• In Halo 2, the BR55 Rifle has the "Monkey King" written on the side in Chinese.
• In the videogame series Marvel Vs Capcom, a female monkey by the name of Sonson was based on Sun Wukong. Her moves are based on many aspect of Sun Wukong such as his expandable staff, self multiplication, use of peaches as weapons as well as changing into a giant ape.
• The Microsoft Office XP Multilingual Pack provides a version of the Monkey King as one of its Office Assistants.
• Sun Wukong was the inspiration for the trickster Monkey character in Laurence Yep's Dragon of the Lost Sea novels
• Sun Wukong has been an important reference point for three major American novels in the past few decades: Griever: An American Monkey King in China by Gerald Vizenor, Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book by Maxine Hong Kingston, and Monkey King by Patricia Chao. None of the novels are retellings of the Monkey/Journey story, but instead use the characters from the Chinese tradition to comment on both American and Chinese culture.
• The anime Read or Die includes a character named "Genjo Sanzo.” Though this character is named after the pacifist priest of Journey to the West, as a violent person in brightly colored Chinese armor wielding a shape-changing staff and riding on his own personal cloud, the inspiration for the character is clearly Sun Wukong.
• In the video game Soul Calibur, Kilik's costumes resembles that of Sun Wukong. Kilik's legendary weapon, the Jingu Staff, is also the weapon that Sun Wukong wielded.
• The Monkey King's reincarnation is the main character in A Chinese Odyssey(1994) by Stephen Chow which is a film in two parts.
• In Gosei Sentai Dairanger and the 2nd season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, RyuuSeiOu/Dragon Thunderzord in the Robot form looks like Sun Wukong.
• A version of the Monkey King's struggle with the King of Heaven is one thread in Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel "American Born Chinese," which was short-listed for the 2006 National Book Award.

[edit] Retellings for Children/Young Adults

1. “Monkey and the River Dragon” from Stories of the Silk Road retold by Cherry Gilchrist. Published in 2005 by Barefoot Books
2. The Making of Monkey King, Monkey King Wreaks Havoc in Heaven, Tang Monk Disciples Monkey King retold by Debby Chen (these three books are also available with English/Vietnamese and English/Hmong on each page). Published in 2001 by Pan Asian Publications
3. The Magical Monkey King: Mischief in Heaven retold by Ji-Li Jiang. Published in 2004 by Shen's Books
4. Adventures of Monkey King retold by R. L. Gao. Published in 1989 by Victory Press
5. Monkey: A Journey to the West retold by David Kheridan. Published in 1992 by Shambala Press.
6. White Monkey King retold by Sally Hovey Wriggins. Published in 1977 by Pantheon Press

[edit] Modern Retellings

• A variation on the story of Sun Wukong and the Buddha is told in the final issue of the Vertigo comics series Lucifer written by Mike Carey
• Sun Wukong makes an appearance in Mark Salzman's The Laughing Sutra, a modern retelling of Journey to the West.
• Uproar in Heaven or The Monkey King, a Chinese animated film released in 1965, was based on the story of Sun Wukong.
• "The Ape" by Milo Manara retells the story of the Monkey King with humor, sexy artwork and political overtones. It ran for several months in issues of Heavy Metal, in the early 80's.

[edit] See also

• Malaysian Chinese Gods
• Hanuman

[edit] References

1. ^ http://chinaposters.org/front/front

[edit] External links

• Story of Sun Wukong with manhua
• Character Profile: Sun Wu Kong An in-depth character profile of Sun Wu Kong.
• Sun Wukong's entry at Godchecker is a tongue-in-cheek take on the Great Sage.
• 'Journey to the West' Complete untranslated novel.
• Introduction to a discussion of the possible foreign origin of Sun Wukong
• Sun Wukong at Encyclopedia Mythica