Monkey: A Folk Novel of China

Monkey: Folk Novel of China is a 1943 translation by Arthur Waley of Wu Ch’êng-ên’s novel originally written in Chinese in the 16th century. This summary refers to the American edition. Wu’s original novel is more typically translated as Journey to the West in modern scholarship, and Waley’s translation excises considerable portions of the original story. While he keeps most of the first two parts intact (Monkey’s story and the origins of Tripitaka), the actual journey to India is considerably shorter, with the original being around 85 chapters just for that portion.

Journey to the West is one of the most famous and influential novels in Chinese history and still holds influence in China today. Part fable, part allegory, Wu’s story combines historical events, existing mythological characters, invented stories, proverbs, lessons about religion, satire of government officials, and considerable humor. While at its core a heroic epic, Monkey is in many ways hard to classify in a single genre.

The first part of the novel tells the story of the stone Monkey, who becomes king of all monkeys before worrying about his mortality and seeking religion. Monkey learns magic and becomes enamored of his own power, believing himself the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven. Heaven attempts to placate Monkey by giving him a position but ultimately cannot control him, and Monkey causes havoc all over Heaven before returning to his Monkey subjects. Monkey is captured and punished for his sins by being imprisoned under a mountain for 500 years.

The second part of the novel explains how Hsüan Tsang—who later becomes Tripitaka—enters the world and becomes a priest, and how the Emperor of T’ang dies and comes back to life, holding a Mass for the Dead that Tripitaka leads. The Bodhisattva Kuan-yin offers to Buddha to find a pilgrim to retrieve scriptures from India and bring them to China, and having been involved in Tripitaka’s survival as a child, Kuan-yin chooses him to lead the pilgrimage.

The third and longest section of the novel tells of the journey to India taken by Tripitaka, Monkey, Pigsy, Sandy, and the horse. Pigsy and Sandy are former hosts of heaven who, for their sins, have been turned into monsters on earth. The horse is a dragon’s son who has misbehaved. Kuan-yin recruits them all, along with Monkey, and converts them to the Faith to act as disciples for Tripitaka. Tripitaka, though pious, has no skills other than religion, and his disciples, particularly Monkey, must take care of him at every turn. As the party travels onward, they come to understand each other and learn to work together.

The pilgrims first visit the Kingdom of Crow-cock, where they help bring back to life a king who was imprisoned in death in a well for three years because of his treatment of a Bodhisattva. In their second adventure, Monkey helps free the Kingdom of Cart Slow from the grip of three false Taoist Immortals who practice a twisted version of religion and have enslaved Buddhists. Monkey’s extraordinary powers allow him to overcome the Immortals, and they change back into normal animals as they die. In their third adventure, the pilgrims rescue the village by The River that leads to Heaven from the grip of a monster who demands child sacrifices. The monster is a goldfish belonging to Kuan-yin who, after stealing magic, escapes from her pond.

When the pilgrims arrive at Buddha’s temple, Tripitaka loses his earthly body. After much confusion and argument, Tripitaka receives the scriptures for which he came, and spirits begin transporting the pilgrims back to China. As they must suffer one last calamity on their journey to reach the holy number, the spirits drop Tripitaka and his disciples back at The River that leads to Heaven, where they are set upon by demons who want to steal the scriptures and villagers who want to trap Tripitaka in their town to keep him as their living Buddha.

Tripitaka and his disciples escape, and the spirits bring them to China, back to the Emperor of T’ang. They deliver the scriptures and are called away back to Paradise, where they are all promoted to heavenly ranks—Tripitaka and Monkey to Buddhahood, while Sandy becomes an Arhat, Pigsy the Cleanser of the Altar, and the dragon king’s son becomes a Heavenly Dragon.