This story explains how the great monkey king, Sun Wu Kung,
was born. His egg was hatched from a magical rock. He came out as a stone
statue, but eventually learned to walk and move about. He spent his time with
all the other apes. One day they were by a waterfall and decided whoever could
jump through the waterfall would be their king. Sun Wu Kung immediately jumped
through, discovering a heavenly land on the other side. He was named Handsome
King of the Apes and lived happily with the others for 300 years.
One day Sun Wu Kung begins crying because he realizes that
they are all getting old and will die soon. He then finds out that Buddhas,
blessed spirits, and gods are the only ones who can be immortal. He sets out to
find these immortals and spends many years learning how to act as a human. He
eventually finds a mountain that he thinks may contain blessed spirits.
On this mountain, Sun Wu Kung finds a man who tells him
where a saint lives. He finds the saint’s palace and the saint officially gives
him his name. He then spends the next years learning how to do various things
and eventually learns “the great truth.” The saint surprises him however, and
tells him that he still acts too much like a wild animal.
The saint then tells Sun Wu Kung that he will tell him one
of the 360 great truths. He begins to ask him about individual “ways,” but Sun
Wu Kung keeps saying no after he discovers that it will not help him reach
eternal life. The saint then pretends to be angry and storms off, but Sun Wu
Kung realizes that he is being told a secret message and goes to meet the saint
in the middle of the night.
Sun Wu Kung is then taught “the truth” and also how to
transform himself, which he can do 72 times.
After another few years, Sun Wu Kung is with some of the
saint’s disciples, when they ask him to show them a transformation. He obliges
and turns himself into a pine tree. After the saint sees him waste a
transformation on this, Sun Wu Kung is told he needs to leave the palace for
good and never tell anyone that he was a student of the saint.
Sun Wu Kung returns to his mountain with the other apes and
is greeted very kindly. He then learns that a devil visited the mountain
shortly before his arrival and took many of his sons. He then goes to the
devil’s mountain and demands his children back. Sun Wu Kung begins to fight the
devil and uses his transformation powers to defeat him and returns to his
mountain.
The fight makes the apes realize that they need to be
trained in combat. Sun Wu Kung learns of a land with thousands of warriors and
blacksmiths and then travels there. He uses his powers to make everyone run from
the town and then brings back all of their weapons. Sun Wu Kung seeks a great
weapon though and goes to visit the dragon king. The dragon offers him many
weapons but he denies all of them.
Sun Wu Kung is then told to retrieve a magical rod from the
sea, which he does and is satisfied with as a weapon. He also demands armor,
which is given to him and then returns home with his magical items.
Sun Wu Kung has a dream where he is summoned to “The Nether
World,” which is where dead beings go. He wreaks havoc there and demands the
book of life, which he takes all apes out of. This makes all the apes immortal.
Just as the dragon-king did, the Princes of the Dead complained to the Lord of
the Heavens about the monkey king.
The Evening Star suggest to the Lord that Sun Wu Kung gets
warned about his actions and if he again acts out of line then he will be
punished. He visits the Lord and is made stablemaster of the heavenly steeds,
where he excelled and was celebrated with a banquet in heaven.
After a while, Sun Wu Kung learns that stablemaster is a
very low position in the heavens and out of anger he takes out his rod weapon
and beats his way back to his mountain. He then declares himself “The Great
Saint Who Is Heaven’s Equal.”
The Lord sends a few of his warriors to go take Sun Wu Kung
prisoner, but they fail to defeat him in battle. The Evening Star then makes
another recommendation, which is to give him the title of “Great Saint Who Is
Heaven’s Equal.” This is done and Sun Wu Kung returns to heaven.
Sun Wu Kung is given a giant palace and then a job to watch
over the peach gardens. The peaches were magical and each of the three kinds
carried different magic. When fairies went to the gardens to pick peaches for a
festival they discover that there are hardly any left because Sun Wu Kung has
eaten them, especially the ones that give eternal life.
Sun Wu Kung then transforms himself to look like one of the
gods and then attends the feast as a worm. On his way back he gets lost and
wanders into the palace of Laotzse, where he finds the elixir of life. He
realizes that if the gods discover what he has done, he will be punished. He
then escapes and returns to the other apes, which he gives the eternal life
drink to.
The gods learn of what Sun Wu Kung has done and sends
warriors to go kill him. He wards off each fighter though and the warriors
return to the lord with the bad news. It is then suggested that Yang Oerlang is
sent to fight the ape. They fight for seemingly ever but reach no conclusion.
The two transform into numerous figures to chase each other
and continue fighting to no avail. Sun Wu Kung then turns himself into the
likeness of Yang Oerlang and sat on his throne. Yang Oerlang discovers this and
begins to attack Sun Wu Kung and the fighting continues.
The gods, who try to kill him but cannot because of all the
peaches and pills of life he has taken, have finally apprehended Sun Wu Kung.
He is then put in a furnace, where even the flames do still not harm him and
when the furnace is opened he escapes and destroys everything in sight. He then
charges to the palace of the Lord, who panics and calls for Buddha to help.
Buddha challenges Sun Wu Kung and tells him he will become
the new lord if he can escape Buddha’s hand. Shockingly to him, he cannot and
is then banished from the heavens by Buddha held captive for hundreds of years
on an enchanted mountain. He is then released to be a monk who is his master
and behaves appropriately from then on.
We then learn that after years of honorable behavior and
defense of his master, (the monk) Sun Wu Kung is made a god by Buddha.
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