Author's Note:
This is a retelling of The Destiny of Sun Wu Kung, the King of the Apes. In the previous stories, Sun Wu Kung has gained immortality through eating magical peaches from heaven and has learned the power of transformation from a Saint. He is an extremely arrogant being and a great fighter, but after causing much trouble in the heavens, he is finally apprehended by the gods. Nothing they attempt can kill the ape though and he escapes shortly thereafter, where he encounters Buddha. I kept the beginning and the end of the story the same, but added more detail to how Buddha actually tricks Sun Wu Kung.
The Destiny of Sun Wu Kung
Sun Wu Kung, pleased with himself for escaping death once
again, is then greeted by the great Buddha. Heightening his arrogance even
more, Buddha commends the Ape King for his impressive characteristics and
actions. Buddha then challenges Sun Wu Kung to a friendly challenge. Known for
his summersaults that carry him 18,000 miles each, Sun Wu Kung is told that if
he can summersault off of Buddha’s hand, he will become the Lord of the
Heavens. Feeling especially confident by now, Sun Wu Kung scoffs at the challenge
and begins his summersaults. After reaching what he thinks to be the edge of
the world, Sun Wu Kung returns to Buddha and exclaims his triumphant return.
Keeping his promise, Buddha anoints Sun Wu Kung as Lord of the Heavens and
instructs the previous Lord to step down from his throne.
For his first action as Lord of the Heavens, Sun Wu Kung
goes to visit the palace designated for whoever holds his title, but isn’t
impressed enough with its magnificence. He commands a new palace be built, one
with room to accommodate the thousands of apes living on the magical mountain.
Within a day, an even more magnificent palace is built.
Having finally achieved his goal of immortality and a place
high in the heavens, Sun Wu Kung sits in his throne for the first time and
takes a moment to appreciate what he has accomplished. He then rushes back to
his previous home on the mountain of all the apes and tells them how he
completed a challenge from Buddha himself and is now Lord of the Heavens.
Amazed at the accomplishments of their leader, they throw Sun Wu Kung a massive
celebration and feast. Following the celebration, Sun Wu Kung invites them all
to his palace in the heavens.
Sun Wu Kung uses his transformative powers to help transport
all of the apes to heaven, but when they arrive they are all confused. Everyone
goes to the palace of the Lord of the Heavens, but sitting in the throne is the
previous Lord rather than Sun Wu Kung. Enraged at the confusion, Sun Wu Kung
rushes to Buddha and demands an explanation. Buddha explains that this entire
time, Sun Wu Kung has not left his hands. Using his magical powers, Buddha had
simply been keeping Sun Wu Kung on his hand the entire time, which can change
shape and size at will. Sun Wu Kung can’t believe that he has been deceived and
is then told by Buddha that he is not fit to be an immortal and especially not
to the Lord of the Heavens. In order to learn to control his arrogance, Sun Wu
Kung is banished to a life of servitude with a monk as his master.
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| Sun Wu Kung and his magical rod. |
Bibliography
Story Info: The Destiny of Sun Wu Kung from The Chinese Fairy Book by R. Wilhelm (1921).
Image: Web Source: Wikipedia
Jeremy, I think my favorite piece of your whole story is your graphic! It is really catchy and attention-grabbing. I sometimes have a hard time finding good images off google that I can reuse, but it seems like you found the perfect one for your story - lucky you!
ReplyDeleteAs far as your storytelling, I thought your story was really great and interesting!! I like that you kept it similar to the original, but added in a lot of details of your own. I also like the message/theme of the story, and I feel like I have seen this theme of arrogance causing characters to get in over their head or in bad situations quite a lot in the stories I have been reading from all these units! Overall, great job on your story!!
Jeremy, I also read the Monkey King unit this week, and I loved your take on this particular story. It is wise to point out the arrogance of Sun Wu Kong and how this can lead to his downfall--this reminds me a bit of the Odyssey, where Odysseus has intense hubris and angers the gods, causing them to delay his return home further. In this story, though, it is comforting to know that the Monkey King learns his lesson by the end of his quest for wisdom and regains his standing in the heavens. Overall, you did a great job with this storytelling!
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