Who Is the Old Gibbon (Tongbei Yuanhou)?
The old gibbon who urged the king to set out
Tongbei Yuanhou
The Old Gibbon (Tongbei Yuanhou) is a kind of ape living on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit in Journey to the West. At the start of the story, one of them inspires the Handsome Monkey King to set out on his journey.
Living happily with his monkeys, the king suddenly bursts into tears at a feast, lamenting that one day he will die and fall into the hands of King Yama. A gibbon then leaps out of the crowd and tells him that buddhas, immortals, and holy sages escape the cycle of rebirth, live as long as Heaven and Earth, and are not ruled by King Yama. Hearing this, the king sets off across the sea to learn the secret of long life.
After Wukong returns from his training, two gibbons are made the Marshals Beng and Ba and, together with two red-bottomed macaques, become the Four Mighty Generals of the mountain, leading the monkey army.
Episodes featuring this character5
NEWEpisode 1
The Monkey Born of Stone Learns to CryBirth of Sun Wukong (Water Curtain Cave)
A monkey born from a magic stone on Flower-Fruit Mountain finds the Water-Curtain Cave hidden behind a waterfall and becomes the Handsome Monkey King. Five hundred years later, at a feast, the king sees that his childhood friend has grown old. Afraid of the death that comes for everyone, he weeps. Then, refusing to let the end take his friends, he sets out alone across the sea on a small raft.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 2
Three Taps on the Head. What Did They Mean?Sun Wukong's Apprenticeship with Subhuti
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.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 3
There's Just One Way to Never DieThe Ruyi Jingu Bang and the Book of Life and Death
Wukong wants a weapon that can protect his friends, so he storms the Dragon Palace beneath the Eastern Sea. There, an iron pillar on the seabed becomes the Ruyi Staff, which grows and shrinks at his command. That same night, after drinking with his new sworn brothers, his soul is dragged to the Underworld, and he wipes his own name and his friends' names from the Ledger of Death.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 4
Hired by Heaven, Stuck in the StablesGreat Sage Equal to Heaven
Invited to Heaven, Wukong is made "Bimawen," keeper of the Heavenly Horses. He works day and night without sleep, then learns the job is so low it doesn't even have a rank. Furious, he goes home to Flower-Fruit Mountain and names himself the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. He drives off Heaven's army, and Nezha is the first to call him by that name. But what Heaven finally gives him is a rank with a big name and nothing else.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 5
Not Invited? He Ate the Whole FeastThe Peach Banquet and the Elixir Pills
Made guardian of Heaven's peach orchard, Sun Wukong secretly eats the immortal peaches. When he finds out he's the only one not invited to Heaven's grand banquet, he goes on a rampage. He devours the feast, gobbles up Laozi's golden elixir pills, and flees home to Flower-Fruit Mountain. Down on Earth, 110 years have already passed, and Heaven sends a hundred thousand soldiers after him.
19 pages