Reading Notes W4: Wu Cheng'en, Part B

Wu Cheng'en, "Journey to the West," (421-436)

• The immortal stone became pregnant with a divine embryo. One day it split open and gave birth to a stone egg. Exposure to wind caused it to transform into a stone monkey with fully developed features and limbs. The monkey learned to climb and run instantly. (424)
• This monkey befriended a tiger, lizard, wolf, and leopard. Befriended the civet and deer. Called the gibbon and baboon his kin. (424)
• He was playing with a group of monkeys one hot morning and noted how they amused themselves (425)
• The monkeys went to bathe and then decided to follow the stream and find the source of the water for fun. (425)
• They found the source; the stream led to a waterfall. The monkeys said "if any of us had the ability to penetrate the curtain and find out where the water comes from without hurting himself, we would honor him as king" (426)
• The stone monkey leaped out upon getting the idea and took them up on their challenge. (426)
• He leaped through the waterfall and found that the only thing beyond the waterfall was a bridge made of sheet iron. The water beneath led to what he deemed to be a beautiful place. He jumped across the middle of the bridge and found a stone tablet that read "The Blessed Land of Flower-Fruit Mountain, The Cave Heaven of Water-Curtain Cave" (426)
• He told the other monkeys that they should all go live in there together (427)
• The monkeys all went in and began rushing to claim beds and plates and other belongings. (427)
• The stone monkey speaks to them by quoting the Confucian Analects, "If a man lacks trustworthiness, it is difficult to know what he can accomplish" (427)
• They accepted him as king (after he reminded them) and he became known as "Handsome Monkey King" (428)
• They enjoyed perfect happiness for three or four hundred years before the Monkey King shed a tear and said he was concerned about the future. "Thought we are not subject to the laws of man today, nor need we be threatened by the rule of any bird or beast, old age and physical decay in the future will disclose the secret sovereignty of Yama, King of the Underworld. If we die, shall we not have lived in vain, not being able to rank forever among the Heavenly beings?" (428)
• The Monkey King said he will go to the mountains in hopes of meeting the Buddhas, immortals, and holy sages, since they are not subject to Yama. He will learn from them how to be young forever. (429)
• The monkeys honored the Monkey King at the table and they all drank for a whole day. He gave them instructions the next day and then he got on the raft by himself. Once he landed on shore, he approached some humans and scared them. He stripped one who couldn't run so that he could have their clothes. He acted like a human as he walked through the counties and marketplaces. (430)
• He unwittingly spent about 9 years on the South Jambudvipa Continent before he suddenly came upon the Great Western Ocean. (431)
• Unafraid of wolves, lizards, tigers, leopards, etc. He went to the top of a magnificent mountain. (431)
• He heard someone singing and believed them to be an immortal (432)
• The man claimed not to be an immortal but just a neighbor of one. He gave the Monkey King the location of the Patriarch Subodhi. (433)
• The Monkey King invited the man to come with him, but the man refused since he couldn't neglect his livelihood. (433)
• The Monkey King reached his destination, The Mountain of Mind and Heart, The Cave of Slanting Moon and Three Stars (434)
• A boy came outside and said he was ordered to open the door and say there's someone who wants to practice austerities and that he should go and let them in. The Monkey King claimed it must be him they were talking about. He followed the boy in. (434)
• Subodhi believed the Monkey King to be a liar about where he was from. The Monkey King explained that he came from far away and was born from a stone. Subodhi was pleased and said the Monkey King was created by Heaven and Earth (435)
• He gave him the surname "Sun" (436)
• He was given the name "Wukong" meaning "Wake-to-Vacuity" (436)
• Full name: Sun Wukong (436)
• "At nebula's first clearing there was no name; Smashing stubborn vacuity requires wake-to-vacuity." (436)