Monkey King

For other uses, see Monkey King (disambiguation).

For other uses of "Son Goku", see Son Goku (disambiguation).

"Wukong" redirects here. For other uses, see Wukong (disambiguation).

Monkey King
Sun Wukong
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Birthplace	Flowers and Fruit Mountain
Source	Journey to the West, 16th century
Ability	Immortality, 72 Bian (Morphing Powers), Jin Dou Yun (Cloud Surfing), Jin Gang Bu Huai Zhi Shen (Superhuman Durability), Jin Jing Huo Yan (True Sight).
Weapon	Ruyi Jingu Bang/Ding Hai Shen Zhen
Master/Shifu/Gang Leader	Tang Sanzang

Sun Wukong
"Sun Wukong" in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	孫悟空
Simplified Chinese	孙悟空
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sūn Wùkōng Bopomofo ㄙㄨㄣ ㄨˋ ㄎㄨㄥ Wade–Giles Sun1 Wu4-k'ung1 IPA [swə́n û.kʰʊ́ŋ] other Mandarin Xiao'erjing صٌ ءُ کوْ Wu Suzhounese Sen Ngôu-khon Gan Romanization Sun¹ Ng⁵ kung¹ Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Syūn Ngh-hūng Jyutping Syun1 Ng5-hung1 IPA [syn˥ ŋ.hʊŋ˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Sun Ngō͘-khong Tâi-lô Sun Ngōo-khong Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Swon Ngu-kuwng
Burmese name
Burmese	မျောက်မင်း
IPA	[mjaʊʔ mí̃] (Miào Mīn)
Dunganese name
Dungan	Сүн Вўкун
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	Tôn Ngộ Không
Hán-Nôm	孫悟空
Thai name
Thai	เห้งเจีย
RTGS	Heng Chia
Korean name
Hangul	손오공
Hanja	孫悟空
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Son O-gong McCune–Reischauer Son Ohgong
Japanese name
Kanji	孫悟空
Hiragana	そん ごくう
Katakana	ソンゴクウ
Transcriptions Romanization Son Gokū
Malay name
Malay	Sun Wukong
Indonesian name
Indonesian	Sun Go Kong
Khmer name
Khmer	ស៊ុន អ៊ូខុង

The Monkey King, known as Sun Wukong in Chinese, is a legendary figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West (西游记/西遊記) and many later stories and adaptations. The Monkey King's origins predate the novel and can be traced back to the Song dynasty. In the novel, he is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices. After rebelling against heaven and being imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha, he later accompanies the monk Tang Sanzang on a journey to retrieve Buddhist sutras from the West (India) where Buddha and his followers reside.

The Monkey King possesses immense strength; he is able to support the pressing weight of two celestial mountains on his shoulders while running "with the speed of a meteor". He is also extremely fast, able to travel 108,000 li (54,000 kilometres (34,000 mi)) in one somersault. Sun also knows the 72 Earthly transformations, which allow him to transform into various animals and objects. Sun Wukong is a skilled fighter, capable of defeating the best warriors of heaven. His hair possesses magical properties, capable of summoning clones of the Monkey King himself, and/or into various weapons, animals, and other objects. He has demonstrated partial weather manipulation abilities as well, and can stop people in place with fixing magic.

History

One of the most enduring Chinese literary characters, the Monkey King has a varied background and colorful cultural history. His inspiration came from the White Monkey legends from the Chinese Chu kingdom (700–223 BC), which revered gibbons and especially white ones. These legends gave rise to stories and art motifs during the Han dynasty, eventually contributing to the creation of the Monkey King figure. The Monkey King was initially developed in the book as a Taoist immortal or deity before being incorporated into Buddhist legends. His religious status is often denied by Buddhist monks both Chinese and non-Chinese alike, but is very welcomed by the general public, spreading its name across the globe and establishing itself as a cultural icon. He is also considered by some scholars to be influenced by elements of both Chinese urban myths and the Hindu deity Hanuman from the Ramayana.

Background

Birth and early life

Depiction of the Forbidden Temple's Sun Wukong as depicted in a scene in a Peking opera

According to Journey to the West, the Monkey King is born from a magic stone that sits atop the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. The stone develops a magic womb, which bursts open one day to produce a stone egg about the size of a ball.

When the wind blows on the egg, it turns into a stone monkey that can already crawl and walk. As his eyes move, two beams of golden light shoot toward the Jade palace and startle the Jade Emperor. When he sees the light he orders two of his officers to investigate. They report the stone monkey, and that the light is dying down as the monkey eats and drinks. The Jade Emperor believes him to be nothing special.

On the mountain, the monkey befriends various animals and joins a group of other monkeys. After playing, the monkeys regularly bathe in a stream.

One day, they decide to seek the stream's source and climb the mountain to a waterfall. They declare that whoever goes through the waterfall, finds the stream's source, and comes out again will become their king. The stone monkey volunteers and jumps into the waterfall.

He finds a large iron bridge over rushing water, across which is a cave. He persuades the other monkeys to jump in also, and they make it into their home. Sun Wukong then reminds them of their prior declaration, so they declare him their king. He takes the throne and calls himself Handsome Monkey King.

The Monkey King establishes himself as a powerful and influential demon. In search of a weapon, he travels to the oceans and acquires the Golden-banded staff Ruyi Jingu Bang/Ding Hai Shen Zhen (如意金箍棒/定海神针), the stabilizer of the Four Seas and a treasure of Ao Guang, the dragon-king of the Eastern Seas. The Monkey King is the only creature strong enough to wield the staff-like weapon. It can change its size, elongate, fly and attack opponents according to its master's will. It weighs 13,500 jīn or 7960 kg. When not wielding the weapon, the Monkey King shrinks it down to the size of a sewing needle and stores it in his ear.

In addition to taking the magical staff, the Monkey King defeats the Dragon King's henchmen and forces him to hand over a golden chain mail shirt (鎖子黃金甲), a phoenix-feather cap (鳳翅紫金冠 Fèngchìzǐjinguān), and cloud-walking boots (藕絲步雲履 Ǒusībùyúnlǚ). The phoenix-feather cap was one of the treasures of the dragon kings, a circlet of red gold adorned with phoenix feathers. Traditionally it is depicted as a metal circlet with two striped feathers attached to the front, presumably the signature plumage of the Fenghuang or Chinese phoenix.

Upon his return to the mountain, he demonstrates the new weapon to his followers and draws the attention of other beastly powers, who seek to ally with him. He forms a fraternity with the Bull Demon King (牛魔王), the Saurian Demon King (蛟魔王), the Single-horned Demon King (单角魔王), the Roc Demon King (鵬魔王), the Lion Spirit King (獅狔王), the Macaque Spirit King (獼猴王) and the Snub-nosed monkey Spirit King (禺狨王).

The Monkey King, now sentenced to death for attacking a Dragon King, then defies Hell's attempt to collect his soul. He wipes his name out of the Book of Life and Death, a collection of books claimed to have every name of every mortal alive and the ability to manipulate lifespan, along with the names of all monkeys known to him. The Dragon Kings and the Kings of Hell report him once again to the Jade Emperor.

Havoc in Heaven

Hoping that a promotion and a rank amongst the gods will make him more manageable, the Jade Emperor invites the Monkey King to Heaven. The monkey believes he will receive an honorable place as one of the gods but is instead made the Protector of the Horses watch over the stables, the lowest job in heaven. He rebels and proclaims himself The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal and sets the Cloud Horses free in vengeance.

The Heavens are forced to recognize his title; however, they again try to put him off as the guardian of the Heavenly Peach Garden. When he finds that he is excluded from a royal banquet that includes every other important god and goddess, his indignation turns to open defiance. He steals and consumes Xi Wangmu's Peaches of immortality, Laozi's pills of longevity, and the Jade Emperor's royal wine then escapes back to his kingdom in preparation for his rebellion.

The Monkey King later single-handedly defeats the Army of Heaven's 100,000 celestial warriors, all 28 constellations, four heavenly kings, and Nezha, and proves himself equal to the best of Heaven's generals, Erlang Shen. Eventually, through the teamwork of Taoist and Buddhist forces, including the efforts from some of the greatest deities, and then finally by the Bodhisattva of mercy, Guanyin, Sun Wukong is captured. After several failed attempts at execution, Sun Wukong is locked into Laozi's eight-way trigram Crucible to be distilled into an elixir (so that Laozi could regain his pills of longevity) by samadhi fires. After 49 days, however, when the cauldron is opened, the Monkey King jumps out, having survived by hiding in a corner marked by the wind trigram in which there was no fire and is now able to recognize evil with huǒyǎn-jīnjīng (火眼金睛) (lit. "golden-gaze fiery-eyes"), an eye condition that also gives him a weakness to smoke, and proceeds to destroy the crucible, following Heaven's remaining forces.

Imprisonment

The Jade Emperor and the authorities of Heaven appeal to the Buddha, who arrives from his temple in the West. Buddha bets that the Monkey King cannot escape from Buddha's palm. The Monkey King smugly accepts the bet. He leaps and flies to the end of the world. Seeing nothing but five pillars, the Monkey King believes he has reached the ends of Heaven. To prove his trail, he marks the pillars with a phrase declaring himself the great sage equal to heaven (and in some versions, urinates on the pillar he signed on). He leaps back and lands in the Buddha's palm. He is surprised to find that the five "pillars" he found are the fingers of the Buddha's hand. When the Monkey King tries to escape, the Buddha turns his hand into a mountain. Before the Monkey King can lift it off, the Buddha seals him there using a paper talisman bearing the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum in gold letters. The Monkey King remains imprisoned for five hundred years.

Disciple to Tang Sanzang

Sun Wukong with Tang Sanzang

Sun Wukong fighting a wind demon

Five hundred years later, the Bodhisattva Guanyin searches for disciples to protect a pilgrim on a journey to the West to retrieve the Buddhist sutras. In the hearing of this, the Monkey King offers to serve the pilgrim, Tang Sanzang, a monk of the Tang dynasty, in exchange for his freedom after the pilgrimage is complete. Understanding that the monkey will be difficult to control, Guanyin gives Tang Sanzang a gift from the Buddha: a magical circlet which, once the Monkey King is tricked into putting it on, can never be removed. When Tang Sanzang chants a certain sutra, the band will tighten and cause an unbearable headache. To be fair, Guanyin gives the Monkey King three special hairs, to be used in dire emergencies. Under Tang Sanzang's supervision, the Monkey King is allowed to journey to the West.

Throughout the novel, the Monkey King faithfully helps Tang Sanzang on his journey to India. They are joined by "Pigsy" (猪八戒 Zhu Bajie) and "Sandy" (沙悟浄 Sha Wujing), both of whom accompany the priest to atone for their previous crimes. Tang Sanzang's safety is constantly under threat from demons and other supernatural beings, as well as bandits. It is believed that by eating Tang Sanzang's flesh, one will obtain immortality and great power. The Monkey King often acts as his bodyguard to combat these threats. The group encounters a series of eighty-one tribulations before accomplishing their mission and returning safely to China. During the journey, the Monkey King learns about virtues and learns the teachings of Buddhism. There, the Monkey King is granted Buddhahood, becoming the "Victorious Fighting Buddha" (Dòu-zhànshèng-fó (鬥戰勝佛)), for his service and strength.

Names and titles

Sun Wukong is known/pronounced as Suen Ng-hung in Cantonese, Son Gokū in Japanese, Son Oh Gong in Korean, Sun Ngō͘-Khong in Minnan, Tôn Ngộ Không in Vietnamese, Sung Ghokong or Sung Gokhong in Javanese, Sun Ngokong in Thai, and Sun Gokong in Malay and Indonesian.

Painted mural depicting Sun Wukong (in yellow) and other main characters of the novel

Listed in the order that they were acquired:

Shí Hóu (石猴)

Meaning the "Stone monkey". This refers to his physical essence, being born from a sphere of rock after millennia of incubation on the Bloom Mountains/Flower-Fruit Mountain.

Měi Hóuwáng (美猴王)

Meaning "Handsome Monkey-King", or Houwang for short. The adjective Měi means "beautiful, handsome, pretty"; it also means "to be pleased with oneself", referring to his ego. Hóu ("monkey") also highlights his "naughty and impish" character.

Sūn Wùkōng (孫悟空)

The name given to him by his first master, Patriarch Bodhi (Subodh). The surname Sūn was given as an in-joke about the monkey, as monkeys are also called húsūn (猢猻), and can mean either a literal or a figurative "monkey" (or "macaque"). The surname sūn (孫) and the "monkey" sūn (猻) only differ in that the latter carries an extra "dog" (quǎn) radical to highlight that 猻 refers to an animal. The given name Wùkōng means "awakened to emptiness", sometimes translated as Aware of Vacuity.

Bìmǎwēn (弼馬溫)

The title of the keeper of the Heavenly Horses, a punning of bìmǎwēn (避馬瘟; lit. "avoiding the horses' plague"). A monkey was often put in a stable as people believed its presence could prevent the horses from catching the illness. Sun Wukong was given this position by the Jade Emperor after his first intrusion into Heaven. He was promised that it was a good position to have and that he, at least in this section, would be in the highest position. After discovering it was, in actuality, one of the lowest jobs in Heaven, he became angry, smashed the entire stable, set the horses free, and then quit. From then on, the title bìmǎwēn was used by his adversaries to mock him.

Qítiān Dàshèng (齊天大聖)

Meaning "The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal". Wùkōng took this title suggested to him by one of his demon friends, after he wreaked havoc in heaven people who heard of him called him Great Sage (Dàshèng, 大聖). The title originally holds no power, though it is officially a high rank. Later the title was granted the responsibility to guard the Heavenly Peach Garden, due to the Jade Emperor keeping him busy so he won't make trouble.

Xíngzhě (行者)

Meaning "ascetic", it refers to a wandering monk, a priest's servant, or a person engaged in performing religious austerities. Tang Sanzang calls Wukong Sūn-xíngzhě when he accepts him as his companion. This is pronounced in Japanese as gyōja (making him Son-gyōja).

Dòu-zhànshèng-fó (鬥戰勝佛)

"Victorious Fighting Buddha". Wukong was given this name once he ascended to Buddhahood at the end of the Journey to the West. This name is also mentioned during the traditional Chinese Buddhist evening services, specifically during the eighty-eight Buddha's repentance.

Líng-míngdàn-hóu (靈明石猴)

"Intelligent Stone Monkey". Wukong is revealed to be one of the four spiritual primates that do not belong to any of the ten categories that all beings in the universe are classified under. His fellow spiritual primates are the Six-Eared Macaque (六耳獼猴) (who is one of his antagonists in the main storyline), and the Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey (赤尻馬猴) & the Long-Armed Ape Monkey (通臂猿猴) (neither of who make actual appearances, only mentioned in passing by the Buddha), their powers and abilities all on par with each other.

Sūn Zhǎnglǎo (孫長老)

Zhǎnglǎo used as an honorific for a monk because Sun Wukong believed in Buddhism.

In addition to the names used in the novel, the Monkey King has other names in different languages:

• Kâu-chê-thian (猴齊天) in Minnan (Taiwan): "Monkey, Equal of Heaven".
• Maa⁵ lau¹ zing¹ (馬騮精) in Cantonese (Hong Kong and Guangdong): "Monkey Imp" (called by his enemies)

Immortality

Sun Wukong gained immortality through five different means, all of which stacked up to make him one of the most immortal and invincible beings.

Disciple to Subhuti

After feeling down about the future and death, Wukong sets out to find the immortal Taoism sage Subhuti to learn how to be immortal. There, Wukong learns spells to grasp all five elements and cultivate the way of immortality, as well as the 72 Earthly transformations. After seven years of training with the sage, Wukong gains immortality. It is noted that, technically, the Court of Heaven does not approve of this method of immortality.

Book of Mortals

In the middle of the night, Wukong's soul is tied up and dragged to the World of Darkness. He is informed there that his life in the human world has come to an end. In anger, Wukong fights his way through the World of Darkness to complain to "The Ten Kings", who are the judges of the dead. The Ten Kings try to address the complaint and calm Wukong by saying many people in the world have the same name and the fetchers of the dead may have gotten the wrong name. Wukong demands to see the register of life and death, then scribbles out his name, thus making him untouchable by the fetchers of death. It is because Wukong has learned magic/magical arts as a disciple to Subhuti that he can scare and demand the book of mortals from the Ten Kings and remove his name, thus making him even more immortal. After this incident, the Ten Kings complain to the Jade Emperor.

Peach of Immortality

Soon after the Ten Kings complain to the Jade Emperor, the Court of Heaven appoints Sun Wukong as "Keeper of the Heavenly Horses", which is a fancy name for a stable boy. Angered by this, Wukong rebels and the Havoc in Heaven begins. During the Havoc in Heaven, Wukong is assigned to be the "Guardian of the Heavenly Peach Garden". The peach garden include three types of peaches, all of which grant over 3,000 years of life if only one is consumed. The first type blooms every three thousand years; anyone who eats it will become immortal, and their body will become both light and strong. The second type blooms every six thousand years; anyone who eats it will be able to fly and enjoy eternal youth. The third type blooms every nine thousand years; anyone who eats it will become "eternal as heaven and earth, as long-lived as the sun and moon". While serving as the guardian, Wukong does not hesitate to eat the peaches, thus granting him immortality and the abilities that come with the peaches. If Wukong had not been appointed as the Guardian of the Heavenly Peach Garden, he would not have eaten the Peaches of Immortality and gained another level of immortality.

Heavenly Wine

Because of Wukong's rebellious antics following his immortality after being a disciple to Subhuti and removing his name to the book of mortals, Wukong is not considered as an important celestial deity and is thus not invited to the Queen Mother of the West's royal banquet. After finding out that the Queen Mother of the West has not invited him to the royal banquet, which every other important deity was invited to, Wukong impersonates one of the deities that was invited and shows up early to see the deal with the banquet. He immediately gets distracted by the aroma of the wine and decides to steal and drink it. The heavenly wine also happens to have the ability to turn anyone who drinks it to an immortal.

Pills of Longevity

While drunk from the heavenly wine from the royal banquet, Wukong stumbles into Laozi's alchemy lab, where he finds Laozi's pills of longevity, known as "The Immortals' Greatest Treasure." Filled with curiosity about the pills, Wukong eats a gourd of them. Those who eat the pills will become immortal. If Wukong had not been drunk from the heavenly wine, he would not have stumbled into Laozi's alchemy lab and eaten the pills of longevity.

Aftermath of Immortality

Following Wukong's three cause-and-effect methods of immortality during his time in heaven, he escapes back to his home at the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. The Court of Heaven finds out what Wukong has done and a battle to capture Wukong ensues. Due to the five levels of immortality Wukong has achieved, his body has become nearly invincible and thus survives the multiple execution attempts by heaven. In the notable last execution, Wukong has placed inside Laozi's furnace in hopes that he will be distilled into the pills of the immortality elixir. Wukong survives 49 days of the samadhi fire in Laozi's furnace and gains the ability to recognize evil. In desperation, the court of heaven seeks help from Buddha, who finally imprisons Wukong under a mountain. Wukong's immortality and abilities ultimately come into use after Guanyin suggest him to be a disciple to Tang Sanzang in the Journey to the West. There, he protects Sanzang from the evil demons who try to eat Sanzang to gain immortality. Wukong's immortality protects him from the various ways the demons try to kill him, such as beheading, disemboweling, poisoning, boiling oil, and so on, none of which kill Wukong. Sometime during the journey, Wukong obtains a Man-fruit (人參果), a fruit even rarer and powerful than the Peaches of Immortality, as only 30 of them will spawn off one particular tree only found on the Longevity Mountain (萬壽山) every 10,000 years. While one smell can grant 360 years of life, consuming one will grant another 47,000 years of life.

In Xiyoubu

The brief satirical novel Xiyoubu (西游补, "Supplement to the Journey to the West," c. 1640) follows Sun as he is trapped in a magical dream world created by the Qing Fish Demon, the embodiment of desire (情, qing). Sun travels back and forth through time, during which he serves as the adjunct King of Hell and judges the soul of the recently dead traitor Qin Hui during the Song dynasty, takes on the appearance of a beautiful concubine and causes the downfall of the Qin dynasty, and even faces King Paramita, one of his five sons born to the demoness Princess Iron Fan, on the battlefield during the Tang dynasty. The events of the Xiyoubu take place between the end of chapter 61 and the beginning of chapter 62 of Journey to the West. The author, Tong Yue (童说), wrote the book because he wanted to create an opponent—in this case, desire—that Sun could not defeat with his great strength and martial skill.

Influence

• Some scholars believe this character may have originated from the first disciple of Xuanzang, Shi Banto.
• The Hindu deity Hanuman from the Ramayana is also considered by some scholars to be one of the influences for Sun Wukong.
• In The Shaolin Monastery (2008), Tel Aviv University Prof. Meir Shahar claims that Sun influenced a legend concerning the origins of the Shaolin staff method. The legend takes place during the Red Turban Rebellion of the Yuan dynasty. Bandits lay siege to the monastery, but it is saved by a lowly kitchen worker wielding a long fire poker as a makeshift staff. He leaps into the oven and emerges as a monstrous giant big enough to stand astride both Mount Song and the imperial fort atop Shaoshi Mountain (which are five miles apart). The bandits flee when they behold him. The Shaolin monks later realize that the kitchen worker was the Monastery's guardian deity, Vajrapani, in disguise. Shahar compares the worker's transformation in the stove with Sun Wukong's time in Laozi's crucible, their use of the staff, and the fact that Sun Wukong and his weapon can both grow to gigantic proportions.
• The character of Son Goku in Dragon Ball is based on Sun Wukong, as attested by his monkey tail, staff, and name (which is simply the Japanese reading of the same name in Chinese: "孫悟空").
• Chinese DAMPE satellite is nicknamed after Wu Kong. The name could be understood as "understand the void" literally, relates to the undiscovered dark matter.
• The character Sun Wukong in RWBY is based on the lore; but instead of using his hair to make the clones, he can make the clones using his semblance through his aura.
• In Dota 2, MOBA from Valve, there is a hero called Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, which is based on Sun Wukong.
• Sun Wukong is a playable character in HiRez Studio's MOBA, Smite. Wukong has abilities based on his staff shifting size, his ability to transform, and his ability to duplicate.
• In Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard's crossover MOBA, a legendary skin the Monkey King for a hero called Samuro is based on Sun Wukong,
• League of Legends, MOBA from Riot Games, has a champion called Wukong, the Monkey King.
• In LittleBigPlanet (2008), the Monkey King appeared as a downloadable costume for the game.
• Milo Manara's "Lo Scimmiotto" (English title: "The Ape") is a comic taking most of its incidents from the original (pre-"Journey…") Monkey King story.
• In Warframe, Digital Extremes shooter, Sun Wukong appears as one of playable characters, inhabiting his signature staff, cloning ability, flying ability and immortality techniques.
• The Pokémon Infernape is loosely based on The Monkey King. Its fighting type might be in reference to Sun Wukong's prowess in physical combat.
• In Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, MOBA from Moonton, the character Sun is based on Sun Wukong.

See also

• Category: Locations in Chinese mythology
• List of media adaptations of Journey to the West
• Monkey King Festival
• Birthday of the Monkey God
• Dafo Temple, Zhangye (Contains a Qing Dynasty mural featuring Monkey and other characters from the novel)

External links

• Sun Wukong Character Profile A detailed character profile of Sun Wukong, with character history, listing and explanations of his various names and titles, detailed information on his weapon, abilities, powers, and skills, and also a detailed explanation of his personality.
• Monkey King Thrice Beats White-Skeleton Demon
• Story of Sun Wukong with manhua
• Sun Wukong's entry at Godchecker is a tongue-in-cheek take on the Great Sage.
• (in Chinese) Journey to the West