The Monkey King, or Sun Wukong, is a Chinese literary figure and a popular cultural icon throughout much of Asia and the Asian American immigrant community. The story of the Monkey King is chronicled in the pages of Journey to the West, one of the great novels in Chinese literature. Written by Wu Cheng’en during the Ming Dynasty in the sixteenth century, Journey to the West tells the adventures of a group of unlikely companions who undertake a long trek to retrieve sacred Buddhist scriptures. The popularity of the novel and of Sun Wukong ensured the survival of the Monkey King story among Chinese immigrants coming to America. However, it was not until World War II that the story was popularized in the West by author Arthur Waley, who translated the first third of the novel and named his version Monkey, making Monkey the common English name for the Monkey King.
Born from a stone egg atop a sacred mountain, Sun Wukong is a powerful figure with an array of amazing abilities. He can alter his size at will, ride clouds, change into seventy-two different forms, and outfight almost any opponent. Proficient in magic, he can cast a variety of spells and can pull hairs from his body to form nearly anything he needs, although he typically uses this power to create clones of himself in battle. His stone body makes him impervious to harm, but hampers his movement in water. His weapon of choice is a massive iron staff, which he can shrink to the size of a needle and put behind his ear. At the beginning of Journey to the West, his character is that of a trickster hero, arrogant and mischievous yet also childlike and clever.
After becoming king of the monkeys, thus attaining his title of Monkey King, Sun Wukong learned of his own mortality. His subsequent efforts to attain immortality resulted in altercations with various gods, which attracted the attention of the Jade Emperor, the master of the Chinese heavenly administration. To curb the Monkey King’s ambitions and prevent him from causing any further havoc, the Jade Emperor offered him a place in the Celestial Court. Sun Wukong accepted, only to find his post was that of a lowly stable keeper. He also learned he was not invited to a sumptuous banquet held for the other heavenly officials. Insulted, the Monkey King devoured the magic pills of longevity and the peaches of immortality that were to be served at the banquet and attempted to fight his way back to the mortal realm. Alarmed, the armies of heaven rallied against him but were unable to defeat him. The battle ended through the intervention of the Buddha, who sealed the Monkey King under a mountain, alive but unable to move. However, the Buddha’s actions were part of a greater plan. After 500 years, the Buddhist monk Xuanxang (Tripitaka in the Waley translation) released the Monkey King from imprisonment. Xuanxang was on a quest to recover Buddhist scriptures, and in exchange for his freedom, Sun Wukong agreed to travel with the monk as his protector. To control the rambunctious Monkey King, Xuanxang tricked him into wearing a magic headband that shrinks upon command, causing Sun Wukong considerable pain. Along the way, companions Sha Wujing (Sandy) and Zhu Bajie (Pigsy) joined Xuanxang and Sun Wukong. The quartet overcame a gauntlet of obstacles ranging from demons and natural disasters to their own interpersonal conflicts. They were occasionally helped by the goddess Guanyin, and after their successful quest, the Buddha granted the Monkey King immortality and eternal happiness for his noble efforts.
Sun Wukong’s combination of incredible skills and his clever, comedic personality have made him a memorable character. As a result, he has made appearances in different forms of media. Sun Wukong has appeared on a Sesame Street special and has figured in several novels, films, video games, and television programs in both the United States and China. Many cultural imports from other countries in East Asia also reflect the broad appeal of the character, one example being the character Goku in the popular Japanese anime Dragonball Z. Goku is loosely based on the Monkey King. While not yet as familiar to American audiences as Asian audiences, growing economic and cultural connections with China may propel the Monkey King to a new level of prominence as a favorite story character in the United States.
Daniel Fandino
See also Bok Kai Temple, Folktale, and Parade; Fa Mu Lan, or Mulan; Fortune Cookie, Origins of; Guandi; Zodiac, The
Further Reading
Annenberg Learner. 2013. “Journey to the West.” http://learner.org/courses/worldlit/journey-to-the-west. Accessed September 15, 2015.
Wu, Cheng’en. 1943. Monkey. Translated by Arthur Waley. New York: John Day.
Wu, Cheng’en. 1977. The Journey to the West. Translated and edited by Anthony C. Yu. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.