Week 7 Story: Sun Wu Kung: Troublemaker or Saint?

The Celestial Herald reporting on...

Sun Wu Kung: Troublemaker or Hero?

Details emerged just this week that the ape king Sun Wu Kung has achieved immortality for himself and his fellow apes--will he ever run out of luck?

Readers will remember how Sun Wu Kung, born from a rock, became king of his fellow apes after stumbling upon the heavenly cave. One of these apes, a witness to Sun's discovery, stated "He just dove right through the waterfall, landing in the cave behind it! None of us knew this cave existed before Sun discovered it. He was unanimously voted king of the apes that very day--long live King Sun Wu Kung!"

After rising to the position of king, Sun decided that immortality was the way to go and set out to look for the key to eternal life. Failing to learn the secret among humans, he turned to the one and only Discerner, who became his master and taught him several rather useful tricks, like leaping 18,000 miles in one bound and transforming 72 times. Unfortunately for the troublemaker Sun, his master grew tired of his antics and kicked him out unceremoniously! The Discerner remarked that "Sun was simply becoming a menace. As much as I liked the rambunctious primate, I couldn't have him disrupting my other students any more. I wish him luck on his travels."

In a shocking turn of events, upon returning home Sun was informed by his fellow apes that a devil-king had been kidnapping their companions and would surely strike again! Sun bravely (or perhaps foolishly) confronted the devil-king, defeating him in a fierce battle and freeing the frightened apes from their cave prison. One rescued ape noted that "Sun appeared completely confident in his abilities and defeated the evil devil-king in no time at all! We truly have the best king!"

But the wild Sun did not stop there! He continued on to find a dragon-king, from whom he demanded a weapon and armor. The dragon-king could not satisfy Sun, however, and eventually it was suggested by the dragon-queen that Sun take a great measuring rod from underwater. Sun attempted to lift up the rod, but found it extraordinarily heavy. He unwittingly cast a spell on the item, shrinking it considerably and allowing him to pick it up with ease--the things Sun can do! Sun left with his new weapon and armor, happy at last. The dragon-king said "I just wanted Sun to be gone. I have never had such a demanding fellow in my presence before and hope to never see him again!" 

Remarkably, the ape king's adventures continued even in his sleep! Sun dreamt that he was dragged down to the nether world where he greatly frightened the ten princes of death and convinced them to hand over the Book of Life to him, at which point the crazy ape marked his name and all of his fellow apes' names out, thereby earning them all eternal life with a few strokes of the pen! Sun himself stated "I look forward to spending the rest of my days without the fear of death hanging over my head. A great guy like me deserves immortality and now, through my own efforts, I have secured it 

for myself and my followers!" At this point, it is reported that Sun awoke and went to get a banana. 

That's it for this week's report on Sun Wu Kung's antics--join us next week when he takes up his duty to guard the Queen-Mother's precious peaches! Everyone is advised to steer clear of the ape and to not inform him about the Queen-Mother's banquet as Sun is not invited, for obvious reasons!

Photo of a brass statue of the monkey king, taken by oliverho. Source: Flickr

Author's Note:

I decided to cover most of the stories involving the monkey king Sun Wu Kung, as told in the Part A readings. I chose to tell the stories as a report from a heavenly news outlet as it seems natural that all of the celestial beings mentioned in the stories surrounding Sun would want to know about all of his crazy adventures and, perhaps, be forewarned about all of the new powers he has picked up along the way. I included some quotes to make the report more interesting and more realistic and tried to foreshadow the next episode in Sun's adventures at the end by mentioning the Queen-Mother, her peaches, and her banquet. Sun is a complicated character, at times acting the hero and at other times acting the troublemaker. I think this selection of stories shows both of these roles quite clearly. 

Bibliography: The Monkey King Sun Wu Kung, as told in The Chinese Fairy Book, edited by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).