The Monkey King 孙悟空

The History of Monkey King The Monkey King is the main character of a popular novel from China called Journey to the West. In the book, he joins a monk named Xuanzang to save the Buddhist sutras from India. The Monkey King in China is known as Sun wukong( 孙悟空 ).

Powers of Monkey King He has an immense amount of strength. He can lift his 1,800 kg magical weapon. His weapon is able to shrink and fit right into his ear. He has super speed too, traveling 54,000 kg in one somersault. The Monkey King can also change into 72 different things. But he has trouble changing into different people because of his tail.

Early Life The Monkey King joined a clan of monkeys and made them his family. He earned their respect by finding a water-curtain cave behind a large, beautiful waterfall, They made it their new home. The other monkeys honored him by making him their king. He started calling himself Handsome Monkey King.

His Journey to India During his journey, The Monkey King had to battle many dangerous magical creatures and monsters. Later, Sun wukong defeated the Army of Heaven’s 100,000 armored warriors. Unfortunately, The Monkey King was captured by the Taoist and Buddhist forces, and was locked up in a cauldron. 49 days later, the cauldron exploded and Sun wukong jumped out, stronger than ever.

The Heavenly Kingdom The Jade emperor invited The Monkey King to Heaven, where he thought he was going to receive an honorable place as one of the gods. Instead he was made head of Heavenly stables to watch over the horses. When he knew he was not invited to a royal banquet that every other god and goddess was at, he was very angry. After he stole the “peaches of immortality”, the “pills of longevity”, and the Jade Emperors royal wine, he escaped back to his kingdom.

Celebrations and Festivals The Monkey King festival is held on the sixteenth day of the lunar month, on the Chinese calendar. Some of the features of the festival are recreations of his ordeals like, walking on a bed of coals and climbing a ladder of knives. In Hong Kong the festival is celebrated at the Buddhist temple, where there is a shrine of The Monkey King.

How he got his name His name was given to him by his first master, Patriarch Bodhi. The surname Sun was given like an in-joke about the monkey because monkeys are also called husun ( 湖猻 ). It can either mean a literal or a figurative “monkey”. The given name, wukong ( 悟空 ) means “awakened to emptiness”.

Other Information He is a skilled fighter, and he is capable of beating some of the best generals of heaven. He knows different spells and can command wind, water, freeze humans, and other similar things. Sun wukong was born from a magical rock by a powerful god. The rock was located on the mountain of flowers and fruit.

Thank You! 谢谢！