Journey to the West
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The Monkey King, or known to the Chinese as the Journey to West, was written by Wu Ch'eng-en (1500?-1582), a scholar-official. It is one of the renowned classical Chinese novels about an allegorical rendition of the journey, mingled with Chinese fables, fairy tables, legends, superstitions, popuar beliefs, monster stories and whatever the author could find in the Taoist and Buddhist religions. It was based on a true story of a famous Chinese monk, Xuan Zang (602-664), after years of trials and tribulations by travelling on foot to what is today India, the birthplace of Buddhism. The journey's purpose was to seek for the Sutra, the Buddhist holy book. When he returned to China, or the Great Tang as was called that time, he started to translate the sutras into Chinese, thus making a great contribution to the development of Buddhism in China.
Plot
Monkey King is an indeed rebellious extraordinary being, born out of a rock, fertilized by the grace of heaven. Being extremely smart and capable, he learned all the magic tricks and Kung Fu from a master Taoist, that can transform himself into seventy-two different forms such as a tree, a bird, a beast of prey or a bug as small as a mosquito so as to sneak into an enemy's belly to fight him inside or out. Using clouds as a vehicle he can travel 180,000 miles a single somersault and a huge iron bar weapon that supposedly serves as a ballast of the seas and can expand or shrink at its owner's command. He claims to be the king in defiance of the only authority over heaven, the seas, the earth and the subterranean world Yu Huang Da Di, or the "Great Emperor of Jade" in Chinese. That act of high treason, coupled with complaints from the masters of the four seas and the hell, invites the relentless scourge from the Heavenly army. After many showdowns, the emperor had to offer the monkey an official title to appease him. Enraged he revolted, fighting all his way back earth to resume his own claim as a king after learning that the position he held was nothing but a stable keeper. Eventually, after many battles, the heavenly army subdued him with the help of all the god warriors. However, having a bronze head and iron shoulders, all methods of execution failed and the Monkey broke many swords that hit him. As a last resort, the emperor commanded that he be burned in the furnace where his Taoist minister Tai Shang Lao Jun refines his pills of immortality. Instead of killing him, the fire and smoke added to the monkey a pair of firy golden crystal eyes that can see through. He fought his way down again and finally, under Buddha's help, the monkey was suppressed under a great mountain known as the Mount of Five Fingers that immobilized him.
Only five hundred years later, there came to his rescuer, the Tang Monk, Xuan Zang, whom we mentioned at the beginning of the story. The Monkey King become the desciple of the monk and escorted him with to ensure that he could make for the West to get the sutras, along with two other desciples they later came across. One is the humorous and uncourageous pig transgressed from a heavenly general for his crime of assaulting a fairy. The other caharacter was a person who a used to be sea monster.
There started the four's stormy journey west which was packed with actions and adventures that brought into full play the monk's four disciples, the Monkey King in particular.
Chapters
The story of Journey to the West is divided into three parts:
- An early history of the Monkey spirit
- Pseudo-historical account of Tripitaka's family and life before his trip to fetch the sutras in the Western Heaven
- The main story, consisting of 81 dangers and calamities encountered by Tripitaka and his three animal spirit disciples - Monkey, "Pigsy", and "Sandy".
The average readers are facsinated with the Monkey King's prowess and wisdom, while many critics agree that the protagonist embodies what the author tried to convey to his readers which is a rebellious spirit against the then untouchable feudal rulers.
