The Tale of Sun Wunkong - Monkey King

This is the story of Sun Wukong - how he became monkey king, how he aquired his magic abilities and got hold of a terrific weapon, how he then upset heaven and fought the Gods themselves.

It's the first part of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West by Wu Ch'eng-en (1500?-1582), an acount of how the monk Xuanzang travelled to India in company of three monsters and a dragon queen to get the Buddhist sutras to China.

Taken from here: http://www.china-on-site.com/pages/comic/comiccatalog1.php


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It is said that in ancient times there was a magic rock on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit of Aolai County in Tungsheng State. The rock had been favored the elements of nature for millions of years. Then, one day, suddenly, it burst open, giving birth to a stone egg from which a stone monkey emerged.




The stone monkey joined a band of monkeys on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. One day as they were playing they came upon a curtain of water covering the entrance to a cave. The monkeys agreed that whoever was brave enough to pass through the water into the cave would be their king. Only the stone monkey dared to enter the cave.

In the cave were stone pots, bowls, beds and benches. On a stone pillar in the middle of the cave there was an inscription: "This Cave of the Water Curtain leads to heaven."

From that day on, the monkeys played by day and slept in the cave by night. They accepted the stone monkey as their king. The stone monkey started to call himself "Monkey King", casting off, for all time, the word "stone".



One day the Monkey King turned sad. He worried that he would die and would not enjoy the pleasures of life forever. One of the monkeys had read the King's mind and he said, "In the world,only Sages, Immortals and Buddhas are live forever. "On hearing these words, the Monkey King's sadness turned to joy. He said, "I will try to find immortality wherever it is.I shall set out tomorrow."

The next day, the Monkey King set out on a raft to travel across the sea. After travelling for many years, he still had not learned the way to immortality. He passed through South Chanpu State and then crossed the Western Sea. Finally,he came to the territory of West Niuhe State.



The Monkey King had been in West Niuhe State for many years but could find no immortals. Undaunted, he continued his travels. Finally he was directed to climb a high mountain where he found a cave in the deep forest. There carved on the wall of a cliff, were the words, "Cave of the Slanting Moon and Three Stars."



The gate of the cave was shut, so the Monkey King had to wait outsides. After a while,a fairy child came out. He said, "My master, Subhuti, told me that a man who wishes to practice Buddhism is waiting outside the gate. Is it you?" The Monkey King hastened to answer, "Yes, it is I."

The Monkey King was led by the fairy to visit the Master. The Master took pity on his being an orphan. Because the Monkey King had no surname, the Master called him "Sun Wukong Sun."

The Master let Sun Wukong sweep the grounds, hoe the weeds, plant flowers and trees, cut wood and carry water just as the senior disciples did. Sun Wukong was very obedient and diligent in all of his efforts for the Master. This lasted for seven years.



In time, the Master came to believe that Sun Wukong was honest, persistent and worthy of instruction. He finally taught Sun Wukong the ways of immortality, including seventy-two magical transformations and a somesault which could carry him around the world.

Once Sun Wukong had learned these skills, the Master encouraged him to return to his own land. But Sun Wukong said, "I cannot return until I have paid my debt of gratitude to you for your many years of guidance. "The Master answered, "I do not need your thanks. I simply wish that you never use your new knowledge to make trouble."

Sun Wukong said good bye to his Master and returned to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit to discover that his monkeys had been tormented for many years by the Demon of Havoc. Using his new powers, he defeated the Demon of Havoc and returned to the Water Curtain Cave in triumph.

All of the monkeys joyously greeted their king with wine and fruit to welcome him. They celebrated for a whole day.

Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, decided to teach the monkeys to defend themselves. First he drilled the monkeys with wooden swords and bamboo spears, but soon he realized that they needed real weapons. Sun Wukong then raided a city near the mountain and brought back an arsenal of weapons.

But after half a month passed, Sun Wukong complained that he needed his own special weapon. Four old monkeys who heared him said "Your majesty, our cave is connected to the Dragon Palace of the East Sea. Why don't you ask the Dragon King for a weapon?"

The clever Sun Wukong used his new skills to dive directly to the bottom of the East Sea. When he reached the Dragon Palace he was stopped by a sea beast on patrol. "I am the Sage of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, "proclaimed Sun Wukong, a neighbors to your Dragon King. Don't you know of me?"



The sea beast returned to the palace to announce Sun Wukong. The Dragon King came out to personally invite Sun Wukong. After they had sat for some time,Sun Wukong said to him, "I need a special weapon to guard my cave. I have learned that you have many magic weapons. You must let me have one."

The Dragon King feared Sun Wukong's powers. He ordered his servants to bring a nine pronged fork which weighed 3600 pounds. Sun Wukong held the fork in his hand and said, "Too light. Please give me another." The Dragon King was surprised, but he ordered his servants to fetch an ancient battle axe.

The axe weighed 7200 pounds. Sun Wukong held up the weapon and again complained that it was too light. The Dragon King was frightened and said, "Your Majesty, I have no weapons heavier than this one."

Sun Wukong laughed and said, "You must search your palace again. If you find me a suitable weapon, I will pay for it." The Dragon King was losing patience. His wife and daughters took him aside and suggested, "Why don't you give him the magic sea shaping iron left by Da Yu when he tamed the waters? Sun Wukong can reshape it for his own use."

The Dragon King followed their advice. He took Sun Wukong to his treasure house. The magic iron was there, still sparking. Sun Wukong went forward and touched the iron pillar with his hand. It was about twenty feet long.



Sun Wukong gasped, "What a precious weapon! I must pull it out. "He grasped the iron and effortlessly pulled it out of the ground.

He looked at it admiringly and said, "If only it weren't so wide and so long. "Instantly the iron shrank to two feet. Sun Wukong was delighted. He examined the iron and found that there were golden rings in both ends of the iron and a line of words in the middle. The word were "Golden ringed Wishing Staff weighing 13500 pounds."

Sun Wukong was very pleased with his new treasure. He ran back to the Dragon King's crystal palace swinging the enormous staff. The Dragon King was terribly frightened, his children were in a panic and every beast ran for his life.

Sun Wukong then insisted on a suit of golden armor,a gold crown and a pair of cloud riding shoes. After he was dressed, he turned the staff into an embroidery needle and slipped it nearly into his ear. He thanked the Dragon King and returned to the Water Curtain Cave.

The monkeys, who were waiting in the cave suddenly saw their king spring out of the water, shining all over. The monkeys cheered in chorus. "How beautiful you are!"


The Monkey King took the golden ringed staff from his ear and told them how he had gotten the treasure. Then he said the word "bigger" three times. The magic weapon returned to its full size. Sun Wukong dashed out of the cave and used his magic power to make himself ten thousand feet high. Now his staff could reach up to heaven and down into hell.



All the other monkeys were stunned. Sun Wukong rejoined the other monkeys and celebrated his new treasures at a banquet for all.Soon all the monkeys were drunk, Sun Wukong fell fast asleep under the shade of a pine tree.

In his dream two men approached him.The men tied him up and took him to the "Nether World".




Sun Wukong pleaded, "Why are you taking my soul away?" The two ghosts paid no attention to his words and continued to drag him into the Nether World. The Monkey King was deeply distressed. He took his magic staff from his ear, enlarged it,a nd fought off the ghosts all the way into the castle of the King of the Nether World.


The King was so frightened by Sun Wukong that he had his judge consult the book in which was recorded the life and death of all people. The book said that the stone monkey would live to be three hundred and forty two years old. Learning that his new immortality had not been properly recorded in the book, the Monkey King angrily crossed out his name and those of all the other monkeys. He then made straight for the Cave.

Sun Wukong had made a great disturbance in the Dragon Palace and in the Nether World. So the Dragon King and the King of the Nether World petitioned the Jade Emperor to punish Sun Wukong. The Jade Emperor sent the spirit of Planet Venus to bring Sun Wukong to heaven.

Venus arrived at the Mountain and declared to the Monkey King, "The Jade Emperor wants you to go to the Heavenly Palace to receive an immortal appointment. "Happily, Sun Wukong followed him to the heavenly palace.

Sun Wukong rode the clouds very quickly, leaving Venus far behind. He arrived at the gate of the South Heaven, but was stopped outside the gate by the guards. He was just about to leave when Venus arrived and stopped him. "Don't be angry, please. They don't know you yet."



Venus led the Monkey King into the Heavenly Palace. Sun Wukong did not properly greet the Jade Emperor when he saw him. The Emperor appointed Sun Wukong to the post of "Pi Ma Wen", keeper of the imperial stables. Sun Wukong accepted the post without expressing gratitude to the Jade Emperor."




The Monkey King didn't know that "Pi Ma Wen" was a lowly position. He was pleased to have gotten the post. He kept himself busy grooming the heavenly horses day and night. He labored in this way for half a month. One day, all of the grooms were sitting together drinking wine. The Monkey King abruptly asked, "What kind of post is 'Pi Ma Wen'?" One of the grooms answered, "It's a most unimportant post, quite like head groom."


Sun Wukong was so angry that he cried out, "I am the king of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. Why does he belittle me by making me a groom to his horses?" At that he pushed over a table and took the magic staff from his ear and fought his way out of the gate of South Heaven.



Arriving at the Mountain, Sun Wukong cried, "I have come back, my children." The monkeys welcomed him at the gate of the cave. They said, "You have been in heaven for ten years. Today,you have come back in glory. "The Monkey King angrily told them that he had only been a groom to the horses of heaven.

The monkey shared Sun Wukong's anger. They suggested, "You are clever enough to be 'the Greatest Sage'. "Sun Wukong was very pleased with his idea. He immediately ordered his servant to put up a banner to show his title.



The next day the Jade Emperor called his ministers to a meeting. The groom supervisor reported, "The monkey has returned to his mountain because he disliked the post. "The Jade Emperor ordered King Li and his son, Third Prince Nezha, to go down from heaven to vanquish the Monkey King.

King Li led thousands of troops to the Mountain with the God Chu ling as his scout. Sun Wukong gathered all of the monkeys to prepare for the coming fight. When King Li arrived, Sun Wukong cried, "I have infinite powers. Why does the Jade Emperor ask me to groom horses for him? I will turn the Heavenly Palace upside down if he doesn't grant me the title of 'the Greatest Sage'."

Both sides began to fight, Sun Wukong brandished his magic staff and God Chu ling wielded his hatchet. y the end of the first round of fighting, the hatchet of the God was cut in two. The God Chu ling fled.



King Li was in such a fury he ordered Third Prince Nezha to launch an attack. Nezha cried, "Change!" and immediately he changed into a man with three heads and six arms. He violently attacked Sun Wukong with six kinds of weapons. Sun Wukong also cried out, "Change!" and he too was at once provided with three heads, six arms and six kinds of weapons--a sword, a knife,a rope, a strick, a ball and a fire wheel--and fought fiecely for thirty more rounds.



The Third Prince quickly turned the six kinds of weapons into millions of weapons and Sun Wukong did the same. In addition, Sun Wukong pulled out a hair from his body and changed it into another Sun Wukong. Overpowered, Nezha was defeated and fled.

King Li returned to heaven to ask for reinforcements. The Spirit of Venus offered, "As it appears that we can't defeat the Monkey at this time, I suggest it would be better to grant him the empty title of 'The Greatest Sage'. "The Jade Emperor nodded his agreement and requested an audience with the Monkey King.

Sun Wukong followed the spirit back to the Heavenly Palace. The Jade Emperor proclaimed to Sun Wukong, "Today, I grant you the title of 'The Greatest Sage.' This position should be high enough to satisfy you. Don't make trouble again. "In addition,the Jade Emperor ordered a palace built for Sun Wukong beside the peach grove of the Queen. Sun Wukong would be allowed to care for the grove.

One day when the "Sage" was inspecting the grove, the God of Earth pointed to the first row of peach trees and said, "It takes 3000 years for these trees to blossom and bear fruit. One will gain health if one eats of their fruit. "Then he pointed to the second row of trees saying, "It takes 6000 years for these to blossom and bear fruit. One will never age if one eats the fruit of these trees." "The third row of trees takes 9000 years to blossom and bring forth fruit. One will become a celestial being after eating of their fruit." Sun Wukong was very pleased to hear what the God said.



The peaches of 9000 years were soon ripe. Sun Wukong was eager to taste them and managed to fool the God of Earth into leaving the grove. He took off his official clothes, climbed up a tree and ate his fill. From that time on, he often went to the grove and enjoyed the celestial peaches.

One day, the Queen was to give a peach banquet. She commanded her seven fairies to pick peaches from the grove. The fairies picked two baskets of peaches from the first stand of trees and three baskets from the second stand.

When the fairies came to the last stand of trees, they found very few ripe peaches and had to pick the unripe ones. While they were picking the fruit, they found a worm under a leaf. It was Sun Wukong, who had turned himself into a worm. After he had eaten his fill of peaches, he had fallen fast asleep. He was now awakened by the fairies.

When he awoke, Sun Wukong regained his normal appearance, and with his magic staff in hand,he cried, "Who dares to steal this fruit?" The seven fairies all got down on their knees and said, "We have been ordered by the Queen to pick peaches for the banquet."

At this, the "Greatest Sage" asked, "Has she invited me to the banquet?" The fairies answered, "She invited the gods of each palace." The Sage was angered by this. Using his powers, he put a spell on the fairires and rode a cloud straight to the jade pool of the Queen.

In no time at all Sun Wukong reached the jade pool. Sun Wukong drooled at the sight of so many kinds of delicious foods, including dragon's livers and phoenix marrows,a nd strong wines. He quickly pulled out a hair from his body and turned it into many flying insects which lit upon the giants, celestail beings, gods and other guests, causing them to fall into a deep sleep.



Sun Wukong helped himself to all of the wonderful foods and wine. Soon he became quite intoxicated.

Sun Wukong was just able to stagger into the Tou Shui Palace of T'ai-shang Lao Tzu. It was empty. Lao Tzu had gone to lecture to the gods.



Sun Wukong entered a chamber where elixirs of immortality were made. He found five gourds containing a fresh batch of elixirs. Sun Wukong said happily, "Since this is my lucky day I will just have to have a little taste." He poured the elixirs out of the gourds and ate them all.

As the effects of the wine wore off, Sun Wukong whispered to himself, "I think I am causing great trouble. It might be safer for me to descend to the Mountain. Better to be a king than a Sage." With that he disguised himself and ran away with two jars of wine. When they caught sight of their King, the monkeys said, "You have been in heaven for hundreds of years. What post were you granted this time?" The Monkey King told them of all his adventures and of stealing the peaches and elixirs of immortality. Later, in their cave, the monkeys and their king drank with great abandon.

Meanwhile, in the peach grove, the spell Sun Wukong had put on the seven fairies had worn off. The fairies had worn off. The fairies lost no time in reporting that the "Greatest Sage"had stolen the peaches of immortality. Soon it was also reported that the wine and elixirs had been stolen. Finally Sun Wukong's guard of the Sage Palace came to say, "The Sage is not in the palace. I don't know where he is."

The Jade Emperor was so enraged that he commanded the for great kings to help King Li, Third Prince Nezha and one hundred thousand heavenly troops to attack Sun Wukong. They encircled the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit with eighteen nets.

At the mouth of the Water Curtain Cave, the Monkey King ordered his monkey troops to prepare to battle the gods of heaven.The forces of heaven and the forces of the Mountain fought until the sun set. After darkness fell, the Monkey put a handful of his hairs into his mouth. He bit them into pieces and cried, "Change!" At once, each hair changed into another Sun Wukong. All of them fought the gods with their magic staffs.



King Li could not defeat all the Sun Wukongs. The Jade Emperor met with his ministers again. The Kuan-yin of the South Sea, who had been invited to the peach banquet,said, "I know a god who can catch this monkey. It's your Majesty's nephew, the God Erlang Shen." The Jade Emperor sent for Erlang Shen.

Erlang Shen took his troops to the Water Curtain Cave. They waved their banners and beat their fighting drums.

The Monkey King fought more than three hundred rounds with Erlang Shen. Then Erlang Shen stretched himself ten thousand feet high to better attack Sun Wukong.

The "Greatest Sage" stretched himself as high as Erlang Shen. He held up his staff to strike at the God. The generals of Erlang Shen released their hawks and dogs and shot arrows into the cave. The monkeys fled in all directions.



The Monkey King despaired when he saw his troops fleeting. He, too, turned and ran. The God Erlang Shen caught up to him and cried, "Where can you run? Surrender or die!" Sun Wukong had lost all will to fight. He slipped from Erlang Shen's grasp and ran for his life.

But he could not pass the gate of the monkey cave. His magic staff was too broad. Quickly, Sun Wukong shrank the staff and placed it in his ear. Then, he turned himself into a sparrow and hid in a tree top.



When Erlang Shen arrived at the cave entrance, he recognized the sparrow as Sun Wukong. Erlang Shen turned himself into a starving hawk and flew towards the tree top.




Just in time, Sun Wukong changed from a sparrow to a crow and flew up to the sky. Erlang Shen turned into a huge sea crane and pursued the crow. Sun Wukong dived into a brook and changed into a fish. Shenreached the brook but could not find Sun Wukong. He murmured to himself, "That monkey must be in the water. I can't let him escape."

Erlang Shen turned himself into a fish hawk, but Sun Wukong turned himself into a snake and left the water. Erlang Shen realized that the snake was Sun Wukong and changed back into a sea crane to catch the snake, but the snake changed into a wild goose and stood on the bank of the brook.

Erlang Shen resumed his normal appearance. He then used a sling shot to shoot at the wild goose, but the wild goose rolled down a nearby cliff.

Sun Wukong, who now lay at the foot of the cliff, changed himself again--into a temple. Sun Wukong's mouth was open, his teeth were the doors, his eyes the window lattices and his tail a flag pole set behind the temple.



When Erlang Shen arrived at the foot of the cliff, he saw the temple. He looked at it carefully. "Strage, "he said, "to put the flag pole behind the temple rather than on top of it. This must be the monkey playing one of his tricks. He wants to bite me as I enter. But first, I will smash this latticework and then kick in the doors. Sun Wukong was surprised to hear God Elang Shen's words. He thought, I can't have my teeth and eyes smashed." In a moment he changed back and sprang up to the sky and disappeared.

The God Erlang Shen quickly followed by riding a cloud to the sky. Erlang Shen used King Li's enchanted mirror to catch sight of Sun Wukong, who was flying toward the mouth of the Kuan River.

Above the river, Sun Wukong disguised himself as Erlang Shen and ran straight into a nearby temple. The ghosts of the temple greeted him respectfully. While Sun Wukong was sitting in the middle of the temple watching the burning joss sticks, a ghost entered to announced, "Another God Erlang Shen has arrived."

The real Erlang Shen dashed into the temple with his magic sword in hand. Sun Wukong returned to his own appearance. The two fought furiously until their battle brought them back to the Mountain.

Far above the Moutain, the Jade Emperor, his Queen, Kuan-yin of the South Sea and Lao Tzu watched the battle. Lao Tzu volunteered, "I will help Erlang Shen." He then removed a large diamond ring from his finger and threw it down from heaven. Sun Wukong,who was entirely absorbed in the fight, did not expect a new threat from heaven. The ring struck his on the head and he fell to the ground. Before he could get to his feet, Sun Wukong was bitten by one of Erlang Shen's dogs.



The diamond ring was instantly turned into a rope which tied Sun Wukong fast. The Monkey King raised up his head, laughed and shouted, "True heroes never stab in the back."

The Monkey King was returned to the Crystal Palace by the heavenly troops and tied to a post. The Jade Emperor ordered Sun Wukong cut into pieces. But neither sword nor spear could hurt even a hair on Sun Wukong's body.



The gods were at a loss at what to do. Lao Tzu had a suggestion, "Since he has eaten the fruit and elixir of immortality and has drunken the magic wine, he cannot be easily killed. We had better put him into the furnace and when his body is burned, the elixirs he has eaten will be left at the bottoms."

Lao Tzu dragged Sun Wukong to the Tou Shuai Palace. He pushed Sun Wukong into the furnace and order the furnace keepers to fan the flames with great force.

Wu-k'ung was kept in the furnace for forty-nine days. Lao-chun was just about to open the furnace when the Monkey King leaped out. He had survived by standing in the draft of the fans. The flames never caught him, but the smoke had turned his eyes red.



The furnace keepers tried desperately to hold back Sun Wukong, but he knocked them down. Then Sun Wukong struck down Lao Tzu.

The Monkey King took the enchanted staff from his ear and strentched it wide. Then he made such a great disturbance in heaven that neither the gods nor the four great heavenly kings dared to fight with him again.




Sun Wukong could not be stopped. Cheng Chun the on-duty god, nervously dispatched thirty-six generals to besiege him. The Jade Emperor hurriedly sent for Buddha.

Buddha left the Lei Yin Temple and went to the Heavenly Palace accompanied by two gods. Buddha used his great powers to stop Sun Wukong's attack. The Monkey King angrily cried, "Who dares to stop me?"

Buddha laughed and said, "I am Buddha of the Western Paradise." Sun Wukong said, "I am Sun Wukong, the Greatest Sage, conqueror of all heaven. I demand to be Emperor." "And what makes you think you are clever enough to be an emperor?" u-k'ung answered Buddha, "Everybody should have a chance to be emperor. I have mastered the seventy-two transformations, the ways of immortality and the somersault around the world. So,I am qualified to be emperor."



Buddha asked, "But with all of your powers, can you jump out of the palm of my hand? If you can, I promise to let you be emperor. If not, you must leave heaven to further practice your skills." Sun Wukong snickered and said to himself, "Buddha is so stupid. His palm is no more than nine inches long. Of course I can jump out."

"Will you keep your promise?" Sun Wukong asked. "Yes,of course," replied Buddha. Buddha opened his right hand; it was the size of a lotus leaf. Sun Wukong put his staff in his ear and leaped onto Buddha's palm, saying confidently, "Here I go!"

He somersaulted again and again until he came to pive pink columns which reached to the sky. A cloud of smoke hovered over the columns. "I must have reached the end of the universe. The Heavenly Palace will be mine when I return, "thought Sun Wukong.



"Before I go, I must leave some marks to show Buddha how far I have come," he thought. At that he pulled out a hair and turned it into a pen. On the center column he wrote, "The Greatest Sage has been here."

After that, he urinated on the first column and then somersaulted back to the starting place. He shouted,"Now that I have come back from the end of the universe, please turn the Heavenly Palace over to me"

Buddha scolded, "You little stinker. You haven't jumped out of my palm. Look down." When Sun Wukong lowered his head, he found that on the middle finger of Buddha was the line of words which he had just written. And from the fingers came the powerful smell of monkey urine.

Sun Wukong was shocked. "What happened? I must try again!" He was just about to jump when Buddha turned his palm over and pushed Sun Wukong out of the gate of West Heaven.

Buddha's five fingers now turned into five mountains of gold, wood, water, fire and earth, which together were called the "Five-Element Mountain." Where the mountains met the Earth Sun Wukong was held prisoner.

Buddha bid farewell to the Jade Emperor and stepped outside the gates of West Heaven. He called the god of Earth and other gods to guard the monkey and told them to give Sun Wukong pills of iron to eat and juice of copper to drink. Buddha explained that when Sun Wukong had suffered enough, someone would come along to rescue him.

Sun Wukong was sealed in the mountain of five hundred years. It was not until Master Xuanzang of the T'ang Dynasty passed by on his way to the Westen Paradise that Sun Wukong was rescured. The Master accepted Sun Wukong as his disciple and took him along to the Western Paradise.



Sun Wukong asked his Master to stand far from the mountains so he could jump clear. Xuanzang was surprised at the great sound as Sun Wukong burst from the mountain. The Master San Tsang gave Sun Wukong a new name--Hsing Che. Together, Hsing Che and Master San Tsang started toward the Western Paradise on their new adventure, the Pilgrimage for the Buddhist Scriptures.


THE END.

TL,DNR.

This story was also serialized in Heavy Metal back in the 80's. I might even still have it in a box in storage someplace.

Oh, and this should be in the Workshop. Whoosh!!