Sun Wukong is a famous character in Chinese literature. He is known for the novel by Wu Chenghen. It is one of the most famous archetypes in eastern mythology. He became popular after the publication of the novel "Journey to the West." In China, there were several literary sources describing the campaign of the monk Xuanzang to India. But this book is still considered a masterpiece of Chinese literature.
Character names
Interestingly, Sun Wukong is not the only name for this character. He received it from his very first teacher, whose name was Xuyputi. In literal translation, “Wukong” means “one who knows the void,” and he began to bear the name Sun, like all those who lived on the Mountain of Fruits and Flowers of Monkeys.
Sun Wukong also had a second teacher who gave him the monk name of Shinzhe, which means "traveler." So traditionally called many wandering monks.
This character also has many nicknames, which are also used in literary sources. This is the Stone Monkey, the Beautiful King of the Monkeys, Bimawen, that is, the groom, the Great Sage.
Character Biography
Sun Wukong is a character who is a stone monkey born from a magic cobblestone. This episode reminds many researchers of the birth of the God of Mithra in Mithraism.
Its history begins with the fact that the monkeys surrounding Sun Wukong once decided to find out where the mountain stream, flowing nearby, begins. As a result, they discovered a beautiful waterfall.
The monkeys decided that anyone who passes through it and comes back safe and sound will become their ruler. The first to volunteer was Sun Wukong. Behind the waterfall, he found the Cave of the Water Curtain and thus became king.
In search of immortality
He began to live happily, but he was nevertheless bothered by one fact. Namely, that sooner or later he will have to grow old and die. Then he decided to go in search of a teacher who would help him master immortality.
He found a mentor in Taoist. He taught him to fly in the clouds, as well as a variety of magical activities. When the hero of our article returned to his subjects, he went to the Sea Dragon to get some weapons for himself. All weapons that seemed normal to him in their hands became too light. Then the Dragon gave him Jinguban, the staff that once pacified the waters. As soon as the Monkey King took possession of the staff, he immediately began to use this weapon against the Dragon brothers, forcing them to give proper clothing.
Death of the king
Despite all the tricks, death nevertheless overtook Sun Wukong, a brief biography of which is given in this article. The cause of his death was banal alcohol poisoning. A servant of the Chinese ruler of the kingdom of the dead, whose name is Yanlo, immediately appeared behind him.
The judges of hell, to whom Sun Wukong was brought, began to claim that a certain error had occurred. The king made a terrible scandal and forced to delete his name from the book of the dead. He also excluded the names of his subjects from there, so that they could always serve him.
So, most of the monkeys that lived in those places, gained immortality, themselves not knowing about it. But all this did not pass unnoticed for the king. And his actions in the cave of the Sea Dragon, and the scandal in the underworld, led to the fact that many began to complain to the Jade Emperor. However, he did not begin to punish him, but instead took him with him to heaven and made him a simple groom.
Sun Wukong was not satisfied with such a low position, so he showed self-righteousness and returned to earth. After that, the subjects became even more convinced of his omnipotence and were christened the Great Sage, who is equal to Heaven. The jade Emperor, dissatisfied with the fact that Sun Wukong quit his job, sent a whole army against him. But the army could not cope with it. Only then did the emperor recognize his title and give an honorable, albeit formal, post. Designated to guard the peach orchard.
At the service of a security guard
The guard from him, too, turned out to be useless. Instead of storing peaches, he began to steal them. And when he found out that the emperor was having a rich feast, to which he was not invited, he became very angry. He made his way into the premises of the palace, where guests had to feast, until no one came. And he ate everything that was prepared for this evening. Including the elixir of immortality.
This act led to the fact that again the troops of the Heavenly Emperor were sent against Sun Wukong, who this time could capture him. But due to the fact that he drank the elixir of immortality too much, he could not be executed. He simply became invulnerable. Emperor’s subjects even tried to melt the elixir from the body of Sun Wukong, but this plan also failed. Moreover, he managed to escape from the furnace and arrange a large-scale brawl. The Buddha himself came out to pacify him, who pacified Sun Wukun only after he imprisoned him under the mountain of the Five Elements.
Liberation of the king
In captivity, the hero of our article spent half a millennium. Only after this, the goddess Guanyin commanded him to be released, who always advocated salvation and help to all those around him.
He was freed by a monk named Xuanzang, who at that very time was going to the Buddha for the scriptures. Sun Wukong was so grateful for his release that he agreed to become a student of Xuanzang, and also pledged to take him under protection throughout the journey.
When the robbers attacked them, the brave hero of our article killed them in a fight, which caused the monk's displeasure. Sun Wukong, too, was unhappy that he was scolded for the work that he undertook to do. After this quarrel, he left his teacher, but soon repented and returned.
End of travel
Then the cunning Xuanzang forced him to put on the hoop that Guanyin passed. From now on, every time the monk began to read the mantra, the hoop shrank, causing the hero of our article a severe headache. He mainly used this hoop to prevent the King of the Monkeys from destroying evil spirits. Despite this, Sun Wukong continued faithfully serving the monk and protected him from all troubles and tribulations throughout the journey.
At the end of the journey, Sun Wukong finally received a well-deserved reward. The Buddha of Western Paradise appointed him the All-conquering Buddha. From now on, the biography of the hero of our article becomes unknown to mere mortals. Only one fact has become public. In the work "Lotus Lamp" it was alleged that he somehow began to educate a boy who opposed the god Erlan, who was called the greatest warrior of heaven in order to rescue his mother from imprisonment.
Images of a hero in art
The image of Sun Wukong in films was often used by various directors. The most famous Chinese cartoon. It came out in the 60s under the title "Sun Wukong: The Trouble in the Sky Halls." It was a classic film adaptation of the famous Chinese rogue novel. The cartoon was full-length, it went 1 hour 41 minutes.
Rob Minkoff’s fantasy action movie The Forbidden Kingdom, which was filmed jointly by the US and China in 2008, is also known. Starring Jackie Chan, Michael Angarano and Jet Li.
The image of Sun Wukong is often used in computer games. In Leaque of Legends, Dota 2, Supreme Commander, Warframe, Paragon, Gods of the Arena, he is a playable character who speaks under one of his names.
In Heroes of the Storm, he participates as a legendary skin for the key character Samuro, in Dragon Knight and Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom is one of the auxiliary characters.
Rogue novel
But initially the hero of our article became popular thanks to the novel "Journey to the West" by Chenghen. This is one of four classic novels written in this case also in Chinese. The book was first published in the 1590s. Initially, the author’s name was unknown; it was not indicated on the book. It was only in the 20th century that it was possible to establish what Wu Chenghen is. This is a Chinese writer who lived during the Ming Dynasty. He is considered one of the founders of the fantastic prose genre.
Journey to the West is a satirical and science fiction novel consisting of one hundred chapters. It details the journey of a monk named Xuanzan to India for Buddhist sutras. He is heading along the Silk Road.
It is interesting that the key character is not Xuanzang himself, but his companion named Sun Wukong. It is around him that the main action is built, while the monk often performs an auxiliary and rather passive role.
On the road, they still have a lot of companions - a funny and awkward half-pig half-man named Zhu Batsze, a white horse-dragon, who once upon a time was a prince, another monk named Sha Sen.
By structure, the book consists of a chain of entertaining and interconnected episodes. They show an explicit Buddhist allegory. All this overlays the outline of a classic rogue novel, which at about the same time was very popular in European countries.
Moreover, the work itself is very difficult to structure. For example, its historical basis is surrounded by fantastic adventures that happen to heroes, and the folklore narrative principle skillfully combines with a rich author's language. It is especially worth highlighting the folk language, which on the pages of this work is combined with a high literary syllable. At the same time, prose is interspersed with all kinds of poetic inserts and lyrical digressions.