Sun Wukong: The Monkey King

Sun Wukong aka the Monkey King is a character from the epic Chinese novel "Journey to the West" (known in Mandarin Chinese as "Xi You Ji"), which was written in the 1590s and is widely presumed to be written by a Chinese scholar named Wu Cheng'en. The inspiration for the Monkey King is widely thought to be the Hindu monkey god Hanuman from the epic Ramayana.

To summarize the epic story of the Monkey King in a nutshell without giving too much away:

In the novel, Sun Wukong was a monkey born of stone and he became the Monkey King after joining a clan of monkeys. After discovering the Water Curtain Cave on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit (the home of the monkeys) and claiming it for the monkeys, he was respected by all monkeys and given the title "handsome Monkey King." Despite his status as the Monkey King, he felt as mortal as any other monkey.

It was precisely because of this that the Monkey King set off on a journey to the "civilized lands." It was here that he became a disciple of the Taoist immortal Bodhi and learned Taoism, as well as human manners and speech. It was also from Bodhi that he received the name Sun Wukong (with "Sun" meaning 'monkey' and "Wukong" meaning 'emptiness' in Mandarin Chinese). It didn't take very long for Sun Wukong to become Bodhi's favorite pupil. Bodhi taught him the "72 Transformations" art of shapeshifting, which enabled him to transform into almost any object, person, or animal conceivable. He also learned the "cloud somersault" technique which enabled him to travel through the clouds and jump 54,000 km (33,554 miles). Finally, Bodhi taught Sun Wukong how to turn the hairs on his body into clones of himself.

All of these magical powers were a result of the Monkey King's mastery of Taoism. Unfortunately, he became a little too proud of his abilities and started bragging to the other disciples of his awesome powers. As a result, Bodhi banished Sun Wukong from the temple and made him promise never to tell how he acquired his amazing abilities.

The Monkey King returned to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit and proclaimed himself a demon. He searched for a weapon worthy of being used by a king, and found it underneath the ocean in the palace known as Ao Guang. This weapon was the gold-banded staff known as the Ruyi Jingu Bang.

After finding the Ruyi Jingu Bang, Sun Wukong returned to his followers and magically changed in height to the size of the staff, which was pretty large. Once word of his achievements reached the other beastly powers, he formed an alliance with them and defied attempts to cast him into the underworld forever. He refused to be reincarnated any further and had his name as well as the names of all his followers removed from the Book of Life and Death. This caused him to be reported to the Jade Emperor.

The Jade Emperor lured Sun Wukong to Heaven with promises of being deified, but instead gave him the lowly position of the Protector of the Horses to watch over the gods' horse stables. Naturally, Sun Wukong was not happy about this at all. He was so furious he proclaimed himself the "Great Sage, Equal of Heaven" and set up an alliance with some of Earth's demons. He then turned all of the gods' horses loose and to calm him down, the Jade Emperor made him "Guardian of the Heavenly Garden." When he was deliberately left off an invitation list for a wedding banquet for the gods, Sun Wukong became furious yet again and decided to go home. However, before he left, he stole some of the gods' most treasured possessions.

The gods decided to take back what was theirs and sent 100,000 celestial warriors after Sun Wukong. After a spectacular celestial battle, Sun Wukong was captured and locked in a special cauldron that was supposed to liquify him. However, after 49 days, he emerged not only in solid form, but stronger than ever and the ability to see evil with a special stare!

After his escape, it seemed the gods were out of options. They appealed to the Buddha to do something about the Monkey King, which he did using the Buddha's palm. Sun Wukong remained imprisoned in the Buddha's palm for many centuries, but developed a special relationship with the Buddha during this period of time. This relationship would determine the course of the rest of Sun Wukong's life, introduce him to the Bodhisattva Guanyin, and, ultimately, to the monk and disciple Xuanzang, who is leading the pilgrimage to the West in the novel. This is where the Monkey King's story reaches its climactic conclusion.

One of Sun Wukong's most famous opponents in "Journey to the West" is the half-pig, half-human Zhu Bajie, or "Pigsy" as he is often called in English.

When Zhu Bajie went to the village of Gaojiazhuang, disguised himself as an ordinary man, married a local maiden, and kept her captive, Sun Wukong and the monk Xuanzang came to her rescue. They defeated Zhu Bajie and rescued the maiden. Afterwards, Zhu Bajie joined the pilgrimage to the West and became an ally of Sun Wukong and Xuanzang.

Afterwards, when the deformed former general Sha Wujing started terrorizing villages near and travelers crossing the Flowing Sands River, Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie teamed together to defeat Sha, who subsequently joined the pilgrimage as well.

The Monkey King is a very important part of Chinese culture. So important there is even a holiday dedicated to him on the sixteenth day of the eighth lunar month (between September and October). Across China and other countries that have a sizeable Chinese population, festivals are held that recreate some of Sun Wukong's exploits, such as climbing a ladder of knives and walking on hot coals. Also, there have been many plays, puppet shows, and operas performed about Sun Wukong.

In Hong Kong, a shrine dedicated to Syun Ng Hung (Sun Wukong's Cantonese name) can be found at a Buddhist temple in the Kowloon area of Sau Mau Ping. Every year the Sun Wukong festival is celebrated at this shrine. In the olden days, monks and local people would claim to be possessed by the spirit of the Monkey King and recreate the exploits described above! However, this is not widely practiced anymore and most people who visit the shrine nowadays just burn incense sticks and leave offerings for Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong's popularity has spread far and wide outside of China, especially in recent decades. Some of the countries where Sun Wukong's popularity has spread include Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.

Thanks to the story of the Monkey King appearing in mass media, most Japanese and Korean schoolchildren nowadays know about the life and times of Sun Wukong.

In Japan, the story of the Monkey King (known in Japan as "Son Goku") has been the subject of and inspiration for many anime, manga, and TV series and movies. One of these is the famous 1976-78 TV series "Monkey". Also, a character in the 1990s anime series Dragon Ball Z was named Son Goku and was loosely based on Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong has been the subject of many TV series and movies over the years. Also, Sun Wukong - and the "Journey to the West" novel series in general - has been highly influential on many anime and manga series over the years.

One of the most famous TV shows dedicated to Sun Wukong was the Japanese TV series "Monkey", which ran in 1978-79. This TV series starred Japanese actors, but was filmed on location in China! The series became known to English-speaking audiences thanks to the BBC, which aired most episodes of this series during its original run. Two years later in 1981, ABC in Australia aired the series, where it was also met with critical acclaim.

In 2001, Sun Wukong made his way to American TV audiences through the miniseries "The Lost Empire", which starred Thomas Gibson, Bai Ling, Eddie Marsan, Russell Wong, and Randall Duk Kim. This series was not really based on"Journey to the West", but featured characters from the novel.

In 2007, the opera "Monkey: Journey to the West" was released by Chinese actor and director Chen Shi-zheng. Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, the two masterminds behind the hit band Gorillaz, co-conceived this project with Chen and assembled the orchestra which performed the soundtrack. The opera was based on the novel "Journey to the West" and was about the life of Sun Wukong. It was performed at a number of venues in the UK, US, and France and received critical acclaim.

International superstar Jet Li has also played the Monkey King in the 2008 blockbuster hit "The Forbidden Kingdom". This movie, like the above mini-series, isn't centered on "Journey to the West", but it does feature the characters from the novel and Jet Li plays the part of Sun Wukong well!

In October 2010, filming began for a big-screen film appearance of Sun Wukong in the upcoming Hong Kong movie "The Monkey King." HK superstar Donnie Yen plays Sun Wukong in this movie and fellow HK superstars Chow Yun-Fat, Kelly Chen, and Gigi Leung play the Jade Emperor, Guan Yin, and Chang'e respectively. This film is due to be released in 2012 and when it hits the big screen, we should be in for a spectacular treat!

In 2011, Chinese TV producer Zhang Jizhong announced the creation of a 3D film series verion of the "Journey to the West" novels, which will be adapted for the big screen by Coraline author Neil Gaiman. The story of the Monkey King is sure to be included in this series!

Other Monkey King movies include:
-"Saiyuki" aka "The Magic Land of Alakazam" and "Alakazam the Great" (English titles). This was an anime movie released in 1960 by Toei Animation in Japan.
-"Monkey King With 72 Magic". This is a 1976 Taiwanese fantasy/kung fu movie about the Monkey King starring Ting Wa-chung and was directed by Fu Ching-wa. It was reviewed on an episode of the TV series "The Cinema Snob" in Aug. 2009.

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All images in this lens were used courtesy of Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons and are in the public domain. Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie picture copyrights: Fanghong/Wikipedia. Yoshitoshi Tsukioka Sun Wukong painting copyright: Andres/rojas22; Wikimedia Commons.