Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Reading Notes: Asia, The Monkey King, Part A

A depiction of Sun Wu Kung, the monkey king of Chinese legend.

At the top of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits, there rested a magic rock. It eventually forms a magic womb, and a stone egg is formed from it. Wind blowing on the egg causes it to take shape into a monkey after tumbling around, and has the ability to crawl and walk. The monkey has beams of light shooting out of his eyes, and it startles the Jade Emperor in his palace. He sends agents to check on the disturbance, but after feeding the monkey, his eyes stop glowing. The monkey then befriends various animals and other monkeys and becomes beloved. After bathing in a stream, the monkey and his friends head up to find the source of the water and find a waterfall. They declare that whoever can do that will be king, and the stone monkey does this and wins, becoming their king. He begins going by the name Sun Wu Kung, or the Handsome Monkey King, and has the monkeys relocate to the cave near the waterfall to live together. Sun Wu Kung establishes himself as a demon king and searches for various weapons, like the Ruyi Jingu Bang, which is a large staff that weighs many tons, but he wields and conceals as the size of a needle behind his ear. After conquering other dragon kings and lords,  he obtains a golden chainmail shirt and a phoenix feather cap. After gaining this immense power, he befriends the Bull, Roc, Lion, and many other Demon Kings to add to his influence and power. He even overpowers death and erases his name from the Book of Life and Death. 

Bibliography: Wilhelm's Chinese Fairy Book. http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/myth-folklore-unit-monkey-king-sun-wu.html

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