A depiction of the Monkey King from Chinese legend, Sun Wu Kung
The Handsome Monkey King, known simply as Sun Wu Kung to many, had been a huge disruption to the status quo of Heaven. Since his birth from a stone from the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, to his coronation for leading a group of monkeys upstream to the source of their river, which was near a great waterfall and cave they now reside, to his very reluctant appointment to a job in Heaven after gaining several magical and powerful artifacts that have established him as one of the greatest and most feared beings in existence. After being "promoted" to keeper of the Garden of Peaches, Sun Wu Kung, in a fiery rage, decided to plot and destroy those in Heaven who belittled and opposed him. After wreaking havoc in Heaven and defeating many celestial generals, deities, and dragon kings, it became time for someone to step in. The Buddha himself appeared before Sun Wu Kung and made a wager; if Sun Wu Kung could escape from his palm, he would not imprison him and, in fact, make him a Buddha himself and have him ascend. Sun Wu Kung vehemently agreed, and the wager was on. After many weeks of wandering and running, he had approached five large white pillars unlike anything he had ever seen in his life. Believing he had escaped Buddha and found the end of Heaven itself, he began to carve his name into a pillar. Upon further reflection and inspection, Sun Wu Kung, by sheer luck, began inspecting his own hand before finishing engraving his own name. He realized that these pillar must the edge of the Buddha's finger and quickly jumped between the pillars, falling into a void of pure darkness...
And like that, he had caught and held open once again in the familiar air of Heaven. The Buddha had caught Sun Wu Kung after he had escaped his hand. Always a being of his word, Buddha opened the mind of Sun Wu Kung and gave him the ability to ascend into a powerful Buddha in his own right, co-ruling Heaven as Heaven's Equal, finally.
Author's Note: In this version of this portion of the story of Sun Wu Kung, our protagonist is faced with his greatest challenge: trying to escape Buddha himself. In the original version of the myth, Sun Wu Kung cannot escape the palm of Buddha and is then enclosed and imprisoned in his fist for 500 years as punishment for wreaking havoc in heaven after being disrespected. In this version, Sun Wu Kung is successful and contributes to a sense of an unstoppable force in media, like Michael Myers from the Halloween horror franchise, which I think is an interesting idea to ponder in life.
Bibliography: Wilhelm's Chinese Fairy Book. http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/myth-folklore-unit-monkey-king-sun-wu.html
Hey, Chase!
ReplyDeleteI, also, did a story over the Monkey King--I loved the original and what you did with it! I never even thought about writing about Sun Wu Kung becoming a Buddha--great idea! You also did a great job summarizing Sun's adventures so that readers who have not read the original know what all is going on!
Great job and I am excited to see what else you write this semester!
Hi Chase,
ReplyDeleteIt seems like Sun Wu Kung was really busy doing a lot! I think it is interesting that you changed the tale to be one where Sun Wu Kung is able to escape Buddha's hand. I wonder what happened after Sun Wu Kung became the same level as Buddha. Does the original Buddha still try to maintain his power over Sun Wu Kung? Looking forward to new twists from you!
Hi Chase,
ReplyDeleteThis story is a very captivating story and I really enjoyed reading it. I would like to see more of the buddah within this story and maybe some of his powers as well. I enjoyed how you made the story become something different than the original. I also enjoyed the positive outcome of the story. I want to read more from you. I look forward to seeing how your stories develop as we get closer to the end of the semester.
Chase,
ReplyDeleteI love Monkey King stories; your re-telling did not prove otherwise. The changes you made were solid and did not seem inorganic or weird at all, unlike some stories I’ve seen in the course. The story progressed well, and I only have one criticism: the second sentence of the story being 4 lines long required some extra effort to follow. It made sense overall, so it wasn’t a major issue.
Keep up the great writing!
-Lance J.
Hi Chase,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your story. It was super fun to learn about Sun Wu Kung. It's interesting that the myth included a monkey king, heaven, and Buddha. That seems like such a mixture of cultures and beliefs! I do wish you had maybe provided more background about Sun Wu Kung in the beginning as I didn't read the original stories and didn't know anything about him.
Hello, Chase!
ReplyDeleteI am back for more of your stories! Unfortunately, this will be the last time I comment on one of your stories, so I am just going to go ahead and say that I have really enjoyed all of your stories thus far, and I am sure this story will be no different! Overall, I really liked this story! You really made the story your own, and your creativity shined in this one! I know this is the end for this class, but you should continue nurturing your writing talent elsewhere!