Journey to the West Summary
Journey to the West is a long Chinese novel compiled during the Ming dynasty. It is best known as the story of the monk Tripitaka (Tang Sanzang), who travels to India to bring back Buddhist scriptures with his disciples Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing. But the first seven or so chapters tell a different story: how Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, was born and why he wreaked havoc in Heaven. This manga, The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, retells that opening part.
On the summit of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, in the land of Aolai on the Eastern Continent of Purvavideha, a magic stone splits open and a stone monkey is born. He discovers the Water Curtain Cave hidden behind a waterfall and becomes king of the monkeys, the Handsome Monkey King. In time, though, he grows afraid that one day he must die, and he sails across the sea. He becomes a disciple of Patriarch Subhuti, receives the name Sun Wukong, and masters the 72 transformations and the Somersault Cloud.
Back on his mountain, Wukong takes the As-You-Will Staff (the Ruyi Jingu Bang) from the Dragon Palace of the East Sea, then goes to the underworld and erases his own name, and those of his monkeys, from the Register of Life and Death. Troubled, Heaven invites him up to serve as an official, but the post he is given is the lowest one: Bimawen, keeper of the heavenly horses. Furious, Wukong declares himself the Great Sage Equal to Heaven and drives off Nezha and the other gods sent to defeat him.
Later, put in charge of guarding the Garden of Immortal Peaches, Wukong eats the magic peaches, gulps down the wine and food laid out for the Peach Banquet he was never invited to, and even swallows Laozi's elixir pills before fleeing home. Surrounded by a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers, he fights Erlang Shen in a battle of shape-shifting tricks, but in the end he is captured.
Story summary
Episode 1The Monkey Born of Stone Learns to Cry — Birth of Sun Wukong (Water Curtain Cave)
In the mangaA 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.
In the original mythJourney to the West opens with the universe, not with the monkey. The narrator borrows the cosmology of Shao Yong (Shao Kangjie), a Song-dynasty thinker, who said the world runs in great cycles of 129,600 years. In each cycle heaven opens, earth forms, and living beings appear. The world is then split into four great continents. The story begins on the eastern one, Purvavideha (Dongsheng Shenzhou).
Episode 2Three Taps on the Head. What Did They Mean? — Sun Wukong's Apprenticeship with Subhuti
In the mangaAfter 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.
In the original mythJourney 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…
Episode 3There's Just One Way to Never Die — The Ruyi Jingu Bang and the Book of Life and Death
In the mangaWukong 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.
In the original mythJourney to the West is a Chinese novel in 100 chapters. Its oldest complete surviving edition was printed in 1592 by the Shidetang publishing house in Nanjing. The book is traditionally credited to Wu Cheng'en, but that edition names no author, and scholars still debate who wrote it. Chapter 3 is where Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, stops being just a local hero and becomes a problem for the whole cosmos.
Episode 4Hired by Heaven, Stuck in the Stables — Great Sage Equal to Heaven
In the mangaInvited 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.
In the original mythChapter 4 of Journey to the West opens with a complaint. Sun Wukong, the Monkey King of Flower-Fruit Mountain, has already caused chaos in the Dragon King's undersea palace and in the underworld, and the Jade Emperor, ruler of Heaven, wants to send troops after him. Taibai Jinxing, a gentle elder star official, suggests something else: give the monkey a small post in Heaven. If he behaves, he can be promoted. If he…
Episode 5Not Invited? He Ate the Whole Feast — The Peach Banquet and the Elixir Pills
In the mangaMade 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.
In the original mythThis episode follows Chapter 5 of Journey to the West, a Chinese novel from the Ming dynasty. The oldest complete edition that survives is the Shidetang edition, printed in Nanjing in 1592. At the start of the chapter, Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, has just been given the grand title of Great Sage Equal to Heaven. The title comes with no real duties, and he doesn't care about rank or pay. He spends his days…
Episode 672 Disguises. One Hunter. No Escape? — Sun Wukong vs. Erlang Shen
In the mangaA hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers can't catch Sun Wukong, so Heaven calls in its greatest hunter: Erlang Shen. Sparrow? He becomes a hawk. Fish? He becomes the bird that eats fish. Whatever Wukong turns into, Erlang sees through it. Then, at the end of the shape-shifting duel, a blow nobody saw coming drops from Heaven's Gate.
In the original mythJourney to the West is one of the great classic novels of China. Its oldest complete surviving edition was printed by the Shidetang publishing house in 1592, during the Ming dynasty. The author is traditionally said to be Wu Cheng'en, but scholars still debate this. The first seven chapters tell how Sun Wukong, a stone-born monkey king, takes on the whole of Heaven. This happens long before he joins the monk on the…