Melon here! I caved in and made this blog, I have unfiltered thoughts on this book and it can't be contained in Discord anymore. I like talking about this book and making observations that many people have made before. I'll post irregularly.
UPDATED: 26/05/26
Journey to the West notes:
[1], [2],
General Analysis:
Speculation on the pilgrims' color-coded attires
Chapter 1's Chinese proverb
Character Analysis:
Master Subodhi/Patriarch Puti
Has Sun Wukong eaten humans?
Does Sha Wujing wear his nine skulls necklace throughout the journey? And surface level thoughts on the "Wujing ate Tripitaka's previous nine lives" headcanon
Chapter 14: How Wukong gets the fillet (1/3): [1],
Book dialogue highlights:
Chapter 22 - SWK doesn't do good with water
Chapter 23 - The pilgrims smoothly decline marriage
Chapter 36 - SWK's ugly appearance
Chapter 42 - SWK goes to Guanyin for help in extinguishing the Samadhi Fire
I have a very silly question that I could probably easily find the answer to by googling it or something, but I’m going to ask tumblr instead because I can. Please forgive me if this is extremely obvious I’m very tired at the moment and my brain is choosing to be baffled instead of helpful.
So if someone, let’s say a certain monkey for instance, is caring something extremely heavy, say… a multi-ton staff, and someone else picks up said monkey… are they now having to support the multiple tons of weight, or is monkey still doing all the lifting?
I debated this same problem for a scene I was writing and decided: there are definitely some physics-bending shenanigans going on with that staff. Because there are several different points in the book where Monkey is climbing trees or rooftops, or crossing a frozen lake, and he has his staff in his ear all those times. Since the trees and buildings in question did not immediately shatter to splinters & sawdust, and the ice doesn't break until (what else) a demon shows up to snatch Tripitaka, my only conclusion is that the staff's weight somehow Does Not Count when Monkey's holding it. (???)
I know the whole thing about the staff weighing 8+tons is a comedic reference/ spoof of previous Chinese heroic tales, but I still feel like all that weight can't just vanish, right? Like, it definitely counts when he's hitting people with it!
Maybe it truly is the Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod, and it just weighs whatever Monkey thinks it should weigh, in the same way that it's the size he tells it to be? That would explain all the various movie adaptations that portray the staff being noticeably heavier/ harder for Monkey to wield when it's huge, even though technically it's been that heavy this whole time and he's been spinning it around like the blades of an attack helicopter.
...Anyone else? Thoughts? Actual research instead of this rampant speculation? XD
If it’s the latter and Monkey is still doing all the lifting, if he decides to STOP holding up the weight does he just get to laugh as it crushes him into whoever picked him up?
Actually hold up, does the staff even retain its weight when Wukong shrinks it?"
I think the way SWK’s rod acts is kind of self-explanatory in its name as the “Compliant gold-hooped rod”:
It’s compliant to SWK; and SWK can carry it comfortably, so let’s register that he has it in his ear without any noticeable discomfort with the approach.
So SWK can hold over 7,965 kg comfortably, and seemingly w/o registering it.
So it’s basically a part of SWK now. The same way a lot of the other characters have a special weapon they wield—Bajie with his nine pronged rake, Wujing with his treasure staff. Those weapons are functionally an extension of them, you can’t really treat them like real-life objects. Bajie had reincarnated and still has his rake with him.
So SWK, with the rod in his ear, is still as light as he would be without the rod. We know this because he can cloud somersault without the worry of being heavy because he’s gained a lighter form after cultivating himself centuries ago.
The rod is only perceivable as heavy when it’s being consciously wielded, but because it’s bonded to SWK (who’s powerful enough to not be inconvenienced by the weight) it’s a non-issue. And otherwise, it’s dormantly weightless by proxy of simply serving SWK’s needs at the moment.
Furthermore, I think that one comic adaptation of JttW example above isn’t necessarily “accurate” but isn’t inaccurate either.
Firstly, it being used to lean and crush the stone wall is…selective in how that extreme weight in such a small distribution of area would react to the world environment realistically speaking. If this was to be realistic, it would’ve shot into the ground several hundred meters deep, I’d wager (take that estimate with copious amounts of salt).
But secondly, it’s not inaccurate in adaptation of its compliance and perhaps, understated sentience, because it does act as an extension of SWK’s will, so it complying with the impression SWK wanted to make on those people can reasonably fit with the delivered tone in that scene.
Honestly, to me, how the rod works is that if SWK left it in a precarious angle, it would fall over like an iron pole but not crash through several layers of earth because it’s not bound by physics (cause when has xianxia relied on physics). It falls over like a rod, but can be made into a mortifying weapon when wielded. For JttW’s themes, I believe the rod can’t accidentally kill someone unless the wielder is applying a certain threshold of force while holding it. If applied appropriately, the rod can be a lethal weapon, or creative tool. It’s only as heavy as the user’s fury.
Sth sth ‘great power, great responsibility’. If you don’t meet the threshold of power, you can’t wield the rod, but if you don’t take proper responsibility with how you wield it, the disasters you bring can’t be downplayed by magical technicalities.
Please bear in mind that Tripitaka thought it would take three years to get there and back. He had no way of knowing he'd get flown all the way home with a brief arbitrary detour to fall off a turtle. He thought he'd have to ride/ walk both ways.
Guanyin was way more realistic. She knew it would take him two or three years just to get to India.
having feelings that contradict your morals is soooo fucking annnoooooyyyiiingggggg. can the emotions and logic department get on the same page im tired of having to like strangle myself into being a tolerable person
This is a blog dedicated to Journey to the West, where anyone interested may join in and follow along in a journey through Wu Cheng’en’s classic.
This reading group will begin its second full read through of the journey starting with Chapter 1 on JUNE 28, 2026. It will be primarily based on the complete Anthony C. Yu English translation, which the ever-interesting and enlightening @journeytothewestresearch has helped provide completely free to download and read as pdfs! The link for these documents can be found below:
All that said, you should in no way, shape or form feel like you have to go with that translation. This second reading journey will be “officially” covering the entirety of Xiyouji’s 100 chapters, finishing one chapter every week, and you can choose whatever translation you might like best to do so.
The Sunday of every week once we began will be when I ask participants to submit any art, memes, thoughts, comments, critiques, really anything that you might be inspired to create based on your personal read-through! In the first reading pilgrimage, this groups received everything from simple doodles to full-blown polished art works to commentary on the differences between a variety of translations. So go forward with the understanding that Sunday is your chance to show everyone what form your particular pilgrimage is taking and how you want to express your thoughts! I’ve put an “official” reading schedule below.
All that said, there’s a very likely chance that things would happen and a number of participants might find themselves having to skip submitting a Sunday or two. It’s also possible that people who signed up for the last read-through but had to pause their journey, or who want to read Xiyouji with a group but also find themselves further ahead and don’t want to re-read everything they already have, would still want to join. So for this second read-through, this group is also going to add the categories “#jtjttw submission retrospect” (for chapters already covered) and “#jtjttw submission spoilers” (for chapters not yet “officially” reached). As such, you should be able to read and submit at the schedule you like without feeling that you’re disrupting the pace of this group.
So that said, if you want to read Journey to the West but feel unsure about starting, here’s a chance to join a book club that will hopefully give you the space to read it and enjoy! So start, read, and submit as the mood takes you!
Thank you and thank you again to everyone who has participated and who may still want to participate in this reading group, and to everyone who has already expressed so much enthusiasm and contributed so much to this! I’m very happy and excited to continue this literary pilgrimage with you all.
—
Journey to the West Book 1 Reading Schedule:
June 28: Chapter 1: The divine root conceives, its source revealed: Mind and nature nurtured, the Great Dao is born.
July 5: Chapter 2: Fully awoke to Bodhi’s wondrous truths; He cuts off Māra, returns to the root, and joins Primal Spirit.
July 12: Chapter 3: Four Seas and a Thousand Mountains all bow to submit; From Ninefold Darkness ten species’ names are removed.
July 19: Chapter 4: Appointed a BanHorse, could he be content? Named Equal to Heaven, he’s still not appeased.
July 26: Chapter 5: Disrupting the Peach Festival, the Great Sage steals elixir: with revolt in Heaven, many gods would seize the fiend.
August 2: Chapter 6: Guanyin, attending the banquet, inquires into the cause; the Little Sage, exerting his power, subdues the Great Sage.
August 9: Chapter 7: From the Eight Trigrams Brazier the Great Sage escapes; Beneath the Five Phases Mountain, Mind Monkey is still.
August 16: Chapter 8: Our Buddha makes scriptures to impart ultimate bliss; Guanyin receives the decree to go up to Chang'an
August 23: Chapter 9: Chen Guangrui, going to his post, meets disaster; Monk River Float, avenging his parents, repays his roots.
August 30: Chapter 10: The Old Dragon King’s foolish schemes transgress Heaven’s decrees; Prime Minister Wei’s letter seeks help from an official of the dead.
September 6: Chapter 11: Having toured the Underworld, Taizong returns to life; Having presented melons and fruits, Liu Quan marries again.
September 13: Chapter 12: The Tang emperor, firmly sincere, convenes a Grand Mass; Guanyin, in epiphany, converts Gold Cicada.
September 20: Chapter 13: In the den of tigers, the God Star brings deliverance; At Double-Fork Ridge, Boquin detains the monk.
September 27: Chapter 14: Mind Monkey returns to the Right; The Six Robbers vanish from sight.
October 4: Chapter 15: At Serpent Coil Mountain, the gods give secret protection; At Eagle Grief Stream, the Horse of the Will is reined.
October 11: Chapter 16: At Guanyin Hall the monks plot for the treasure; At Black Wind Mountain a monster steals the cassock.
October 18: Chapter 17: Pilgrim Sun greatly disturbs the Black Wind Mountain; Guanshiyin brings to submission the bear monster.
October 25: Chapter 18: At Guanyin Hall the Tang Monk leaves his ordeal; At Gao Village the Great Sage casts out the monster.
November 1: Chapter 19: At Cloudy Path Cave, Wukong takes in Eight Rules; At Pagoda Mountain, Tripitaka receives the Heart Sūtra.
November 8: Chapter 20: At Yellow Wind Ridge the Tang Monk meets adversity; In mid-mountain, Eight Rules strives to be first.
November 15: Chapter 21: The Vihārapālas prepare lodging for the Great Sage; Lingji of Sumeru crushes the wind demon.
November 22: Chapter 22: Eight Rules fights fiercely at the Flowing-Sand River; Mokșa by order receives Wujing’s submission.
November 29: Chapter 23: Tripitaka does not forget his origin; the Four Sages test the priestly mind.
December 6: Chapter 24: At Long Life Mountain the Great Immortal detains his old friend; At Five Villages Abbey, Pilgrim steals the ginseng fruit.
December 13: Chapter 25: The Zhenyuan Immortal gives chase to catch the scripture monk; Pilgrim Sun greatly disturbs Five Villages Abbey.
So I just learned that monkeys (as with most animals) raise their hackles when they are distressed or hostile, but pigs raise their hackles when they are happy and excited
Which has EXCELLENT potential for a communication breakdown between Wukong and Bajie in my eyes
Wukong’s great cuz he embodies a rare type of character I get to see. A very sexually and romantically uninvolved type who’s also a very possessive and wanting person. He’s so pathetically affectionate and pathetic for affection. But only in a very ultraspecific type of way, and from an ultraspecific person/set people.
I recently watched "Monkey King Reborn" and got inspired by the art style of its prologue! This is my attempt at replicating it for an idea I recently thought of: Sanzang's past incarnation, Jinchanzi (Golden Cicada), meeting a monkey demon and befriending it XD Sort of like a "past lives meet" thingie, but I imagine this monkey demon is mostly unrelated to Wukong loll
These attempt to be canon-compliant (characterisation wise), but let's be for real, a lot of this is self-indulgent! I'll update it if I realise discrepancies while reading the book, but this is to tide over the stress of my busy schedule.
In contrast to Wukong, Tripitaka has terrible balance and is the biggest klutz. This isn’t entirely coincidental—as a baby his left toe was bitten off, so I figure that’s directly impaired his balance in the long term. I also think he’s literally designed by fate itself to be so incompatible with long term outdoors—hence he’s impractically pale, burdened with allergies, and predisposed to depression (genetically speaking)
I think he wears a bamboo hat most of the time, and it ends up covering his expressions a lot. He has to wear it to fend off the intense heat during the summers. He’s quite sensitive to weather and temperature changes as well.
Longma’s a high-effort bare minimum worker. He knows how to get by barely meeting a standard without reaching the tipping point of triggering a punishment… most of the time. He’s particularly sore about his father sending him for execution because his dad had (in his mind) successfully duped him into a false sense of security in his status as a third prince
Longma was the kind of wilfully oblivious brat that tested the limits of one’s patience, and got smacked with the “disobedience” crime after pushing his dad over the limit to finally involve the Jade Emperor
Longma ends up spiritually severing his ties to his dragon family. Of course, he doesn’t say this but rather nurses this wound haphazardly—which deeply impacts his willingness to engage with the pilgrims throughout the journey.
Tripitaka doesn’t have a lick of a clue about Longma’s character, Wukong and Bajie are more aligned with knowing him (since they individually had canonically interacted with him one on one). Wukong kind of avoids pressing on a wound he thinks is very obvious—he knows about Longma burning his father’s pearls, and suspects that it was NOT wholly accidental. Bajie got frightened into awareness of Longma’s status as a “not horse” but reluctantly finds solidarity in their proclivity to mischief.
Longma relieves himself in human form (and is terribly pedantic about it). Wujing covers for him by taking the shifts to look after the horse—though Longma’s particular about being seen as not a horse by his fellow pilgrims, so Wujing’s never seen Longma outside of his horse form. The piss has magical properties, so Longma's method of disposing of it is a mystery no one will ever know.
Bajie likes to do the cooking—as in, he feels obliged to since he’s the one with any standards in knowing what good food tastes like at all. Wukong is fruit-brained, Tripitaka ate monk food (too humble for seasoning), Wujing was starved to the point of eating humans (so no cooking nor seasoning either), and the horse doesn’t contribute anything other than being good enough to sell.
Bajie only started learning how to cook in the midst of the pilgrimage. He was absolutely a bastard about it. He technically shares this responsibility with Wujing though (Wujing's consistent, Bajie's the cook when they manage to bag some good ingredients)
He also regularly jokes about how unfortunate it is that he can’t eat himself—considering how delicious pork is under the many seasonings he’s learned to use. Wukong’s TIRED of it, and Tripitaka yearns to be unfazed by the horrific imagery the remarks invoke in him.
Wujing gets pains from the memory of swords piercing his body routinely. He can’t rest during those days, so he opts to take night shifts to watch over the rest of the pilgrims. Sometimes he shares his nights with Wukong (who’s often awake and swinging about out of restlessness). They don’t really chat, but they know the other is up, and that seems to be content company enough.
Wujing’s senses are terribly distorted; like his sense of scale, strength, taste, sight. Even his own voice startles him at times. So he tries not to take up space as much as possible… he can’t even transform himself subtly to downplay the vast changes to his appearance.
He’s not verbal about his discomfort with his body, but he’s quite empathetic towards his fellow pilgrims when they express a shred of inadequacy within themselves. He doesn’t afford himself the same level of compassion.
Wukong has a lot of randomly acquired insights about the other pilgrims (even Guanyin) simply due to the sheer amount of involvement he has in solving (and yes, inciting) conflicts—but he doesn’t really know what to do with the knowledge. He’s partially confided in Guanyin’s disciples (Moksa, the dragon girl, the redeemed Black Bear spirit, and maybe Red Boy). But really Wukong can only confide in Tripitaka or Guanyin most organically. He doesn’t reveal the private stuff though
Wukong’s more comfortable revealing himself than these random trivia about his brothers—but the sheer amount of knowledge blends together that he ends up revealing his knowledge at unexpected moments anyhow
He accidentally revealed details of Longma’s human form, Wujing’s seeming fear of women and children, Bajie’s father-in-law issues, and the locations of Tripitaka’s moles on his body
Oh yeah, Wukong knows that Tripitaka has a missing toe.
Wukong's seen him naked during one of the many times Tripitaka was abducted by demons (I can't remember which event it was in the book rn), and Wukong has unnaturally good memory when it comes to people's appearances.
Wukong’s got a slouching posture, and idly picks at his own hair for rubble, bugs, and burs to questionable success. He doesn’t perform manners until it's for ceremonies. Even then, he'd have to feel personally inclined to.
He doesn't like wearing clothes for long periods if he doesn't have to. He's very ambivalent about nudity, and his little ones are no different. The material value and status they represent is what he likes about clothing. Otherwise, he's rather minimalistic.
Wukong's past title as heaven's stable keeper makes him sometimes care for Longma as a horse. He sneaks sugar cube-adjacent snacks from stalls to bring back to Longma. It's only after several years into the journey though, since he doesn't want to normalise being the default horse carer.
Longma (who isn’t really into being a horse for the most part) notices when Wukong spoils him as a horse and tries to find ways of subtly taking advantage of it.
Bajie regularly has to shave off his tusks to avoid the risk of them growing to stab him; on the bright side, they're actually pretty good to sell.
Wukong regularly shaves Wujing’s hair bald; great times for chatting. Wujing and Tripitaka are the only ones maintaining their baldness.
Bajie routinely jokes about selling Longma when Longma’s in hearing range.
Wukong’s perception that Tripitaka favors Bajie is not unfounded; early years!Tripitaka is frightened of Wukong, and intimidated by Wujing (he smells like metal and death). So by process of elimination, Bajie is the least threatening to him. Also, Tripitaka clocks Bajie’s stupidity, but is blind to the concept of weaponised incompetence.
Tripitaka took the lesson of "looks can be deceiving" in his first year with the small, unassuming height of Wukong, and went the whole nine yards with Bajie
Wukong is the type to spoil his grandkids. What constitutes ‘grandkids’ usually is limited to his little ones, but he also redevelops a fondness for horses—so he likes to perform a doting persona on Longma (to additionally annoy him). Tripitaka usually doesn’t condone Wukong’s attempts at annoyance, but finds the underlying affection too sweet to reprimand
Of the three disciples, Wukong is the most resistant to horse caretaking, Wujing is considerate but not uniquely attached, and Bajie really likes horse caretaking (or at least fantasising ways of generating revenue with the horse)
Hello fellow pilgrims! Happy Monkey King Monday to those who celebrate, and here is some hopefully good news.
It has now been a good long while since the first pilgrimage through Xiyouji came to an end. Since that time, I have watched with pleasure as the follower count on this blog continued to rise, and am as such left wondering if there is interest among some of you to start a new reading journey.
I did, as such, want to send out a tentative ask to see how many current followers might want to embark on a brand-new reading pilgrimage, and if so, in what form. If there is sufficient interest, I am thinking of organizing either:
A) a repeat of the first reading journey, i.e. asking participants to read a chapter every week and then submit their thoughts, comments, memes, art, etc. about that chapter on the Sunday of that week, or
B) hosting a more informal reading space, i.e. letting participants mosy along the journey at their own pace, and submit their responses to the journey from art to memes to everything in between to this blog at any time they please, OR
C) A combination of the two, so that reading pilgrims of both paces can enjoy Xiyouji in the way they like best.
I also want to note that thanks to the archival work and research of the ever-helpful @journeytothewestresearch, we not only have digital copies of Journey to the West in multiple languages, but have both the abridged and the full copy of the Anthony C. Yu English translation. As such, I would like to also see if you folks would prefer for this next tentative reading journey to be based on the full Yu translation, the abridged copy, or for this journey to be more of a come-as-you-will sort of affair. Remember that there is no wrong answer! At this stage I just want to get a general sense of how people are feeling so as to best organize the next potential read-through.
So let me know what you're thinking, what you're feeling, and here's hoping that this reading group can embark on another pilgrimage soon!
Unfortunately of the two seasons of "The Furious Yama!", only season 1 and the first episode of season 2 is accessible to non-members on youtube. So, as a consolation, I'll compile my favorite trivia from all the available episodes I watched! (Some information requires rewatching, so I'll update this post if there's more things I notice)
Spoilers below:
The name of the daughter of the previous King Yama, Yan Xiaoluo 阎小罗 is supposed to follow the basic naming conventions of the people in the underworld. Yan is Yama, Xiao is little--Yan Xiaoluo is basically little Yama. (She protests that she's technically queen, not Yama, but Mengpo then calls her Yama Queen instead)
This naming scheme is explained in Mengpo (Granny Jiang)'s episode (s1 e7) where the recently deceased and deified guardian, Zhan Xiaogui 战小癸, thinks Mengpo somehow knew her name--when in actuality, Xiaogui's name is a phonetic pun on xiao 小(little) and gui 鬼(ghost).
Heibai Wuchang are functionally Xiaoluo's stand-in fathers. Though they're fashioned as her royal advisors, they can get sad when she avoids them or reacts to them in fear, and they want the best for her as a promising ruler
Lord Black (or Black Impermanance) is more of the strict, "practical one", while Lord White (White Impermanence) is more passive to the whims of his young majesty
SWK's the reason she gained a cowardly disposition after crashing through the doors she was peeking through when she was a little girl. The scare seemed to deeply traumatise her.
She also gained a catharsis in shooting up images of him in her adulthood. By then, he's already the Buddha of Victorious Strife
SWK is very chilled down, he seems to hold a human form for Yan Xiaoluo during their mission together (though Xiaoluo can see through the disguise passively). And he gives off a very grand-uncle vibe "You're the new 'job title'? How are you? How's your father?"
He doesn't live in Water Curtain Cave anymore, it's been 2000 years since he went to the underworld, and what he actually did was extend his kingdom's life expectancy to 1000 years then
His old strategist was the last monkey in that cave and his immortality didn't let him reincarnate, instead it made him an undying shadow of his former self
His advisor was so far gone, yet he never could fathom his king ever threatening to kill him; so he says "You are a fraud aren't you. My king will never betray us". The episode is self-contained and only 7 mins but the writing establishes the depth of SWK's well-intentioned devotion to his subjects pretty well
The advisor also says "You are a pet of heaven!" so his last contact with SWK might have been during the time SWK lost against Erlang Shen and his sworn brothers
After realising who Xiaoluo is (the little girl he spooked back then), and after she proved herself resourceful and bold, I think he takes her as his student offscreen and they train in-between episodes
He taught her bilocation, then taught her how to transform her own appearance. From what little shown, they got a pretty cute master-student relationship
The Heavenly King, Li Jing, seems to have been replaced by his first son, Jinzha, or in this donghua, Li Junzha.
It's such an interesting adaptational choice--the pagoda is no longer functionally to subjugate Nezha; when Jinzha loses it, Nezha's pretty indifferent to it.
The pagoda's context in Nezha's most famous origin, Investiture of the Gods, was that it's Li Jing's possession in order to ensure Nezha won't commit patricide. Yet in this story, it's been misplaced, and Nezha doesn't care--he and Jinzha get along. What an uplifting development. What happened to Li Jing?
Nezha's played Diablo
Hell tokens exist, and I've no clue how they're supposed to work
This girl's a fan of the Great Sage
Nezha and Erlang Shen are not on amiable terms--rather they are aware of each other formally. It seems Nezha is gungho to pick fights with him, while Erlang regards him as crazy
Bai Longma (here he's called Lord Guang Li) seems to be living his best life
Somehow, he already knows Yan Xiaoluo is SWK's apprentice
The Western Dragon Kingdom remember SWK's encounter with Ao Guang for armor, so when someone else asks them for armor to borrow, they get flashbacks and immediately bent down in fear.
JttW Chapter 14: How Wukong gets the fillet pt 1/3
Personal tangent before textual analysis below:
A fly landed on my sticky note padded copy of JttW. I plucked it out of that forest of strips and killed it. I wonder if Tripitaka would be unhappy with my instinctual violence towards flies. He preached to
Keep ants out of harm's way when we sweep the floor,
And put shades on lamps for the love of moths.
Which is a really ideal sentiment, and upholds the idea that all life holds value... but also that fly had it coming. Life is fleeting, and it chose to approach my field of vision, so I guess it wanted to advance to the next one! It didn't even dodge my nails!
There's so much to pick apart with Tripitaka and Wukong's first vivid conflict.
Tripitaka's points against Wukong are that:
the law wouldn't have dealt a death sentence
their religion wouldn't advocate for needless killing
Wukong hadn't bothered to make fair judgment weighing their faults and virtues
that this habitual display of violence could compromise Tripitaka himself
That last one must be emphasized: Tripitaka isn't angry because he doesn't want to get the blame; he's established in his intro chapter to be a good argumentor, so he's addressing the many angles for why he opposes Wukong's actions. Tripitaka is terribly withdrawn when it comes to imposing himself--just a chapter ago, he couldn't admit to his rescuer, Liu Boqin, hunter and avid meat eater, that he had a strictly vegetarian diet until the last minute.
So Tripitaka's arguments defer to the law system, the ethics from their religion, moral judgement, and pragmatism; from those angles, Wukong did wrong by enacting the killing of these six robbers. Allegorically speaking, the six robbers themselves are following the Buddhist concept, Āyatana, meant to embody the six senses: sight, hearing, smelling, tasting, body-cognition, and mind-cognition.
Wukong candidly dismisses them, toys around with them, and draws out a chase sequence like a prowling predator before killing, declothing, and robbing them. Such a disrespect to a life--from Tripitaka's principles, his life holds no greater value than others.
Tripitaka was furious and told Wukong his wickedness and insistence on practicing violence made him unworthy to be a Buddhist monk and unworthy to go to the Western Heaven. But as Wukong ditches him, Tripitaka shakes his head and sighs,
Despite Tripitaka's elaborate dressing down of Wukong, he was still willing to have him as his disciple. And since he had been travelling with company for majority of his journey, it would be demoralising to confront having to go alone, especially after losing his previous disciples violently.
Considering that Tripitaka only had Wukong for a few days at this point, and Wukong had the supernatural sense to know Tripitaka had arrived as Tripitaka was begging for Boqin to escort him--Wukong was knowingly leaving Tripitaka in a precarious position out of pettiness at the start of winter.
Wukong's reaction to the six senses-- was to sever them, and then he went ahead and abandoned his teacher in a huff. Tripitaka's patience was tested, but instead of wishing misfortune on his disloyal disciple, he accepted his circumstances and made off.
---
For the next part, I will cover the disguised Guanyin's interaction with Tripitaka, and Wukong's conversation with the Dragon King!
JttW Chapter 1: Deep Dive into an innocuous old saying
I wanted to figure out what this phrase from Chapter 1 meant in the context of the immediate story:
Fowls have their fowl speech,
And beasts have their beast language
The following is my unfiltered exploration into Chinese proverb research. It's very dense, and Chinese-involved sites have been machine translated to english by my browser extension, so take those with a grain of salt.
Initially, I tried to search this phrase online to find a meaning for it since it didn't really click with me why the group of monkeys congregating together produced this old saying--it felt like a non-sequitor.
However, the search results hadn't satisfied my query. So I deferred to the original chinese text:
禽有禽言，獸有獸語。
From my findings, I found that the phrase had a whole exam question revolved around it, but that can of worms aside, according to this site, the original phrase is a legitimate Chinese phrase from "Qilitan" Part 4 by Gong Dayong (or Gong Tianting) in the Yuan Dynasty.
Here's what the (google translated) webpage reads:
Annotated text from the screenshot:
Birds have their language, and beasts have theirs.
"Birds have their own language, and beasts have their own speech" is a Chinese proverb referring to the natural phenomenon of birds and beasts communicating through specific sounds. It is frequently found in Journey to the West. Ming and Qing dynasty novels such as [1] [3]
This proverb emphasizes that different animals have unique ways of communicating, such as the description in the first chapter of "Journey to the West" of the monkeys discussing how to find the source of the stream by calling out. [1] [3-4] Its extended meaning can refer to the existence of specific communication patterns among different groups. [2]
The proverb's expression remains stable in classical texts, with no significant changes to its core content. The first chapter of Journey to the West directly notes "Ancient saying," indicating it is a quote from a traditional proverb. Ming and Qing dynasty literary works have maintained the original meaning when using this expression.
Definition: This refers to the natural phenomenon of animals transmitting information through specific sounds.
Explain: It refers to the sounds that animals can make to express their meaning and convey information. By extension, it is used to describe how different groups have their own methods of communication and understanding.
Further research on what "Qilitan" is led me to this site that elaborates:
Annotated text from the screenshot:
Qilitan / Fishing in Qilitan /
Entry author: Chen Jianping
A Yuan Dynasty Chinese zaju (a type of Chinese opera). Also known as "Diaoyutai" (Fishing Terrace), its full name is "Yan Ziling Fishing Terrace".
English name: Fishing in Qilitan
Also known as: Diaoyutai
Full Name: Yan Ziling Fishing at Qili Beach or Yan Ziling Fishing Platform
Creators: Gong Tianting
Types of works: Yuan Dynasty Zaju
Written by Gong Tianting. Recorded in Lu Gui Bu, Taihe Zhengyin Pu, and Yuanqu Xuanmu. The extant edition is Thirty Yuan Dynasty Zaju Plays. Other Yuan Dynasty editions include Zheng Qian's Annotated Thirty Yuan Dynasty Zaju Plays, Xu Qinjun's Newly Annotated Thirty Yuan Dynasty Zaju Plays, and Ning Xiyuan's Newly Annotated Thirty Yuan Dynasty Zaju Plays. Additionally, there are editions in Sui Shusen's Selected Yuan Dynasty Plays (Supplementary Edition) and Wang Jisi's Complete Yuan Dynasty Drama.
The play consists of four acts. The final act features Yan Ziling as the protagonist. The story is based on the Biographies of Recluses in the Book of the Later Han. The play depicts Yan Guang, a recluse from the Eastern Han Dynasty, who made a living fishing at Qilitan on the Fuchun River. Liu Xiu, who had been on good terms with Yan Guang before his uprising, summoned Yan Guang to court after becoming emperor, but Yan Guang refused. Liu Xiu wrote again to invite him, and Yan Guang, wanting to visit a friend, finally decided to go. Liu Xiu welcomed him with a grand banquet. Yan Guang initially planned to return to the next day, but Liu Xiu then hosted another banquet for him. After the banquet, despite Liu Xiu's repeated attempts to persuade him to stay, Yan Guang insisted on returning to Qilitan.
The script has a simple plot, lacks dramatic conflict, and is rich in lyricism, focusing on expressing the joy of seclusion. By contrasting the carefree life of living in the mountains with the fleeting fortunes of officialdom, the author expresses a detached, otherworldly philosophy of avoiding worldly troubles. While the attitude of being indifferent to right and wrong and detached from worldly affairs may seem passive, the play's unyielding spirit--unmoved by wealth and power--is rare and admirable. The play's language is sharp, vigorous, and powerful. The Taihe Zhengyin Pu praises Gong Tianting's lyrics in his zaju plays as "like strong wings soaring through the sky, looking down upon the forests, making foxes and rabbits shrink back in the thickets." Wang Guowei, in his Song Yuan Xiqu Kao, belieevs that among the Yuan dynasty playwrights, "only Gong Dayong's lean and forceful style is truly divine, standing out uniquely." The Peking opera Fuchun Jiang depicts this story.
So, JttW's quote was pulling from a Yuan Dynasty Chinese zaju. Yuan Dynasty is long after the Tang Dynasty, but it precedes the Ming Dynasty where the novel edition comes from. There's already a precedent of the novel taking cues from Chinese operas, so this seems to make sense to me.
In conclusion, the phrase's origin places emphasis on the idea that species are naturally predisposed to segregation due to their own unique methods of communication and understanding. I conclude that the reason the quote was invoked within the context of Chapter 1 of Journey to the West was to indicate a change in Wukong's approach to socialisation, and a sign of developmental maturation.
At first, he indiscriminately involves himself with animals of any kind, then one day he interacts and plays with other monkeys and seems to discover true community--this could be why an elaborate poem is constructed to emphasize the exploits the monkeys go on together.
"Fowls have their fowl speech, And beasts have their beast language" is supposed to be a satisfactory statement that as nature seems to suggest, the new monkey has found his flock. From this point onward, Wukong deepens his connection to these monkeys by jumping through the waterfall and becoming their king. And afterwards, he no longer mingled with other animals for several centuries. In a sense, his ability to segregate aligns with Confucianism's emphasis on hierarchies, so this is a sign of progress.
A Brief speculation on the JttW pilgrims' color-coded attires in the book
To my fascination, and slight distress, I have a theory I don't think I've seen discussed on this site and it involves the colors of the pilgrims' robes. I didn't want to compose an ambitious post about this finding since I've already had some longer posts in the works--this was initialy just a passing observation I made while trying to design the pilgrims slightly closer to their book descriptions. So I'll keep things "relatively short."
For clarity, I do all my analysis using the Anthony C. Yu translations of the book.
In China, there is the concept of "Wuxing"--a chinese philosophy used in a lot of traditional Chinese fields of study to explain many phenomena. Wuxing works with a five elements structure to embody metaphors, medicinal concepts; it often is applied conceptually as a shorthand for an assortment of symbollic imagery and ideas built into Chinese culture. Even cardinal directions coordinate with the five elements (North, South, East, West, Center).
The Four Dragon Kings of the Sea in Chinese myths can be artistically depicted to correspond to the colors related to their cardinal directions. By this logic, the Dragon King of the West is white, the Dragon King of the East is azure, the Dragon King of the North is black, and the Dragon King of the South is red. Though, this isn't all encompassing--many designs for the dragon kings will color them however they want, this is just an example of applying Wuxing for potential design purposes! Unless it's explicitly stated, I don't think there's a "canon" color for the dragon kings.
But, here's where the pilgrims come in.
The pilgrims are given specific elements in the chapter titles.
Specifically Wukong (Metal), Bajie (Wood), and Wujing (Earth)
And guess what colors these three pilgrims are explicitly said to wear at least once in the entire novel[1][2][3][4][5].
Wukong gets a white shirt (it gets replaced with a nondescript shirt that comes with the fillet), Bajie gets an azure shirt (later chapters say it's black but he hadn't explicitly changed his attire between that), and Wujing gets a yellow shirt.
white = metal, azure = wood, yellow = earth.
And if we apply this philosophy to Tripitaka and Bai Longma, we can actually conclude on what remaining elements belong to who since there's no explicit application made in text.
Do you know what Tripitaka's robe is?
It doesn't get mentioned often, but from chapter 23, we have this excerpt from an old woman[6] who tries to get the pilgrims to marry into her household.
The woman is directly addressing Tripitaka here, so I think this speaks mostly to him than it does to the rest of the pilgrims--who hadn't been said to change into these clothes when they became Tripitaka's disciples. Tripitaka is consistently said to wear a robe, sandals, and a coir hat[7].
To clarify on the second image, a Bodhidharma gown is a gown closely associated with the legendary founder of Chan Buddhism of the same namesake. One of the accounts describing him that I've found states him to put on the black robe of a monk:
So, Tripitaka's wearing a black monk robe, and black is the color associated with the element of water--so, in theory, Tripitaka's element is water, and should it surprise anyone? His nickname was "River Float", many of his life's greatest conflicts were associated with water and he brings this up while trapped within a stone box underwater[8]:
And chapters prior, when Wukong took off after being exiled, it was hearing the roar of water and seeing the Great Eastern Ocean that made him think of Tripitaka[9]. I find Wukong's apparent aversion to dealing with water ironic with this interpretation in mind.
Bai Longma and his association with fire is pretty minor aside from the most obvious correlation:
Honorable mentions are the excerpts about the "fire leaping/leaping up in his heart". They're honorable mentions because I think it's neat, but not specific to Longma since Wukong, Wujing, Bajie, Red Boy, Bull King, etc. get this phrase also used to describe a surge in passion/anger.
Wukong is first described with this phrase when he got pissed off realising his title as Bimawan/BanHorsePlague was the lowest of the low ranks [10], and Longma gets provoked by Wukong cursing him out [11]. Dragons/horses were involved in the first two uses of this phrase in the novel! Isn't that a fun trivia?
Last notable trivia to do with Longma's association with fire is that in JttW works prior to the novel we're familiar with, one of them features a prototype for the character that refers to him as the "Third Prince Fire Dragon". That last trivia piece can be credited to Journey to the West Research's article about the dragon horse here.
So to close this post off, the pilgrims appear to be deliberately color-coded in relation to the five elements in Wuxing and aside from Bai Longma--whose attire doesn't get a colored decription--I think at the very least, Tripitaka's element is water, and Longma's is fire.
Is Sha Wujing still wearing his nine skulls necklace during the journey?
Me: why is it taking so long to nail down the pilgrims' designs?
Also me just now: …is Sha Wujing still wearing his nine skull necklace…?
For anyone who's curious, no, Wujing isn't wearing his nine skull necklace in the pilgrimage, it peaced out after serving as a dharma vessel:
One of the most interesting JttW headcanons I think abt is the idea that these nine skulls could've been the Golden Cicadas' previous lives; because they were strangely scripture pilgrims whose skulls alone--out of many other victims'--floated to the top. The reason they float to the top is not given any real answer, but this headcanon comes with the speculation that, should the scripture monk have always been Tripitaka in some form, then his holiness made the skulls stand out from any other mortal.
I read into this headcanon with the mindset that Sha Wujing's character--an earnest, most willingly devout Buddho-Daoist practitioner and disciple--had previously, in his fall from dignity, defiled himself by partaking in cannibalistic yao means out of desperation. And, he was so reduced to animalistic impulse, that the skulls were mere playthings to him to curb his ultimately bleak and painful existence.
So, he never gets the chance to have mental clarity to ponder the significance of the scripture monk's duty until he was enlisted to become the next scripture monk's disciple. And I think there's solid foundation to develop an internal story covering Wujing's regained rationality--only to have processed belatedly and unpleasantly that he might have been the very reason his master (who he obediently follows and respects) had lost his nine lives prior.
