Episode 2Three Taps on the Head. What Did They Mean?Sun Wukong's Apprenticeship with Subhuti
Episode 2. After watching a friend die, the Monkey King becomes terrified of endings. He crosses the sea to study under the immortal Patriarch Subhuti, who gives him the name "Sun Wukong." He cracks the riddle of three taps on the head and learns the way to escape death. But when he shows off his powers, he's expelled, and he flies home to face a demon king who has been terrorizing his people.
Sun Wukong and Subhuti: Journey to the West Chapters 1–2 Explained
The Original Story: From Monkey King to Sun Wukong
Journey to the West is one of the great classic novels of China. Its earliest surviving full edition was printed in Nanjing in 1592 by the Shidetang publishing house. Before the famous pilgrimage to India begins, the novel spends several chapters on the early life of its hero, a stone-born monkey who rules the monkeys of Flower-Fruit Mountain (Huaguo Shan). This episode covers the second half of Chapter 1 and all of Chapter 2.
The Monkey King has everything a king could want, but he is afraid of one thing: death. An old monkey tells him that buddhas, immortals and sages are beyond the reach of Yama, the king of the underworld. So he builds a raft and sets out alone across the sea. He lands among humans, steals some clothes, and learns to talk and behave like them. But he finds only people chasing fame and money, and nobody who knows the way of immortality. After years of searching he crosses a second ocean. In the mountains of the western continent, a woodcutter tells him where a real master lives: Patriarch Subhuti, at the Cave of the Slanting Moon and Three Stars on the Mountain of Mind and Heart (Lingtai Fangcun Shan).
Subhuti already knows the monkey is coming and sends a boy to bring him in. He gives the monkey a surname. If you take the animal radical off the word for monkey, two characters remain. Subhuti rejects one because it suggests old age, and chooses Sun (孫), whose parts mean "child" and "lineage." Then he adds Wu (悟, "awaken"), the next generation character in his school's naming sequence. The full name is Sun Wukong, usually translated as "Awakened to Emptiness."
Three Taps on the Head and the Secret of Immortality
For six or seven years Wukong studies manners and scripture and does chores: sweeping, carrying water, chopping wood. One day the Patriarch offers to teach him several kinds of learning, including divination, scholarship, meditation and alchemy. Each time, Wukong asks the same question: "Will this let me live forever?" When the answer is no, he refuses. Subhuti pretends to lose his temper. He steps down from his seat, taps Wukong on the head three times with a ruler, puts his hands behind his back, walks inside, and shuts the middle door. The other disciples are furious with Wukong, but he just smiles.
He has understood the riddle. Three taps mean "come at the third watch of the night," around midnight. Hands behind the back mean "come inside, to my private rooms." The closed middle door means "use the back door." That night he finds the back door half open and kneels by his master's bed. Subhuti is pleased, recognizes him as a being born from heaven and earth, and secretly teaches him the method of long life in verse.
Three years later the Patriarch warns him that anyone who escapes death must face three disasters, one every five hundred years. To survive them, Wukong learns the 72 earthly transformations. He also learns the somersault cloud, which carries him 108,000 li in a single flip.
The Pine Tree and the Expulsion
One summer evening his fellow students beg him to show off, and Wukong turns himself into a pine tree. Everyone laughs and cheers, and the noise brings out the Patriarch. Subhuti explains the danger: if you show your powers in public, people will demand to be taught. If you refuse, they will resent you and try to harm you. He sends Wukong home. Wukong weeps and says he has not yet repaid his teacher. Subhuti replies that Wukong is sure to cause trouble after he leaves. He orders him never to tell anyone who his teacher was, and threatens terrible punishment for his soul if he ever does. Wukong promises, and one somersault takes him home.
At Flower-Fruit Mountain he finds his monkeys suffering under the Demon King of Confusion (Hunshi Mowang), a giant in black armor. The demon laughs at the small, unarmed monkey. Wukong turns some of his hairs into a swarm of little monkeys, grabs the demon's own sword, kills him with it, and brings the kidnapped monkeys home.
What the Story Means
This part of the novel blends Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism, a mix that was common in Ming-dynasty China. Subhuti's name belongs to a disciple of the Buddha who, in Buddhist tradition, was known for understanding emptiness, but in the novel he teaches Daoist methods for immortality. Many readers see the place names as wordplay: both "Lingtai Fangcun" and "Slanting Moon and Three Stars" can be read as riddles for the character 心, meaning heart or mind. On that reading, the quest for the master is really a journey inward. This is an interpretation, not something the text states directly.
The episode also introduces the hero's central contradiction. Wukong is clever enough to solve the riddle instantly, but too eager for praise to keep his gifts to himself. That flaw drives much of the rest of the novel. The author of the 1592 edition is not named. The novel is traditionally attributed to Wu Cheng'en, but scholars still debate this.
What the Manga Changes
The manga keeps the main events and their order: the long search, the naming, the refusals, the three taps, the midnight lesson, the transformations and cloud, the pine tree, the expulsion and warning, and the fight with the demon. Some parts are invented or expanded for comics. In the novel, the Monkey King's fear of death comes from sudden sorrow during a feast. The manga makes that fear more personal. The fellow disciples are an unnamed group in the original, but here they get names, faces and personalities, and their lines grow out of what the novel has them say. The layout of the cave halls and doors, Subhuti's looks, the woodcutter's design, and the training montages are also the manga's own work, since the novel covers those years in a few lines. The demon's face and his minions are new, but his armor and huge size follow the original.
Where to Read It
If you want to see the riddle of the three taps and the pine-tree scene drawn panel by panel, read Episode 2 of Journey to the West: The Great Sage Equal to Heaven here on Manga Portal. Every episode is free, and you don't need to sign up. For the original, look for a complete translation of the novel's first two chapters and compare it with the manga.
Characters in this episode
Sun Wukong (the Monkey King)
A monkey born from stone who leaves his kingdom to escape death and gets his famous name from his teacher.
Patriarch Subhuti
An all-knowing immortal master who tests Wukong with a silent riddle, teaches him in secret, and then expels him.
The Woodcutter
A kind man who stays home to care for his elderly mother and shows Wukong the way to Subhuti's cave.
The Fellow Disciples
Subhuti's other students, who scold Wukong, tease him, and then cheer for the pine-tree trick that gets him expelled.
The Demon King of Confusion (Hunshi Mowang)
A giant demon in black armor who bullies the monkeys of Flower-Fruit Mountain until Wukong comes home.
FAQ
Who gave Sun Wukong his name?
Patriarch Subhuti named him. He picked the surname Sun from the word for monkey and added Wu, a generation character in his school's naming sequence. Wukong is usually translated as "Awakened to Emptiness."
What did the three taps on Sun Wukong's head mean?
They were a secret message from Subhuti. Three taps meant "come at the third watch of the night." His hands behind his back meant "come to my private rooms," and the closed middle door meant "use the back door."
Why was Sun Wukong expelled by Subhuti?
He turned into a pine tree to show off for the other students, and they made a lot of noise. Subhuti warned that showing off powers draws envy and danger, and sent him home. He also made Wukong swear never to reveal who his teacher was.
How many transformations does Sun Wukong know?
He learns the 72 earthly transformations. Subhuti also offered a set of 36 heavenly ones, but Wukong chose the larger number. He also learns the somersault cloud, which covers 108,000 li in one flip.
Who is Subhuti in Journey to the West?
He is an immortal patriarch on the western continent who teaches Wukong the secret of long life. His name belongs to one of the Buddha's disciples, but in the novel he teaches Daoist methods, which shows how the book mixes traditions.
