And so the Buddha arranged for the Tang monk to pass by the mountain where Monkey King was trapped, and for Bodhisattva Guanyin to come down and release the fellow. He would need protection as he travels from the ancient Tang capital of Chang’an to what is now known as India. Monkey, in fact, had never left the Buddha’s palm.īuddha then trapped Monkey under a mountain, where he remained captive for 500 years.īy then it was China’s Tang Dynasty, and the time came for a Buddhist monk to go on a dangerous journey in search of sacred scriptures.

It turns out, though, that the Buddha had transformed his hand, and the pillars were actually his fingers. When Monkey flew to what he thought was the edge of the universe, he found five pillars and then urinated on them, just to mark the spot as evidence. Piece of cake for a Monkey who can travel tens of thousands of miles in one somersault, right? But the Monkey had met his match and could not overcome the Buddha’s divine powers.

In fact, the heat only serves to give him fiery eyes with supernatural penetrating vision.įinally, the Buddha challenges Sun Wukong to a dare-Monkey needs to get on the Buddha’s hand and then jump off it. The result? After 49 days in the searing flames of the most powerful crucible of Taoist alchemy, Monkey emerges sizzling, yet otherwise unscathed. Lord Lao-Tzu then casts Monkey into his Eight Trigram Furnace. Only the combined powers of the three-eyed deity Er Lang Shen and the great Taoist Lord Lao-Tzu (Laozi) capture him at last.īut the Monkey had already feasted on the peaches of eternal life and downed the elixir pills of immortality, and so neither fire nor axes nor lightning seem to affect him. This time, the Jade Emperor sends 100,000 heavenly warriors to arrest Monkey-to no avail. He then throws a tantrum, sabotages the festivities, and destroys the orchard. He sneaks into the palace, steals the peaches of eternal life, the imperial wine, and the elixir pills of immortality. The “Great Sage Equal to Heaven” is not on the guest list. One day, as the story plays out, the deities decide to throw a banquet for the Empress Queen Mother. But Sun Wukong, now calling himself “The Great Sage Equal to Heaven,” is as arrogant and unruly as ever. The Jade Emperor then again chooses appeasement and gives Monkey a new celestial post: Guardian of the Immortal Peach Orchard. Heavenly warriors are dispatched, yet prove no match for Monkey’s abilities. But when he discovers he’s nothing more than a horse groom, he revolts. Hoping to keep him from causing more mayhem, the Jade Emperor bestows upon Monkey the highfalutin title of Protector of the Horses in the Imperial Stables. Exasperated, the deities fly up to heaven to register a formal complaint with the Great Jade Emperor. He even goes down to the underworld and terrorizes the King of Hell. He disrupts the Dragon Palace of the Eastern Sea, demanding an armor and special weapon (which later became his signature magic cudgel). The Taoist names Monkey Sun Wukong, meaning-Awakened to Emptiness.Īfter leaving his master, Monkey, who was always rather mischievous, makes himself unpopular amongst the deities. He learns magical powers like the 72 Transformations, which allow him to become anything he wants, and the ability to fly 60 thousand miles in one somersault. Monkey quickly becomes the Taoist’s favorite disciple. He leaves the mountain and, disguising himself in human clothes, finds a Taoist Master. He becomes despondent and decides to give up everything to seek immortality. Soon he discovers mortality and realizes that, despite his life of luxury, one day he, too, will die. He spends his days in frolic and feast, but not for long. The other apes follow him into the cave and live there, crowning him their Monkey King. Suddenly, the rock bursts open, giving birth to … a monkey! At first, the monkey lives among the regular apes on Flower-Fruit Mountain, until one day he displays his courage and wisdom by jumping through a waterfall and discovering, behind it, a special cave. As eons came and went, the miraculous rock, ever so slowly, grew a stone egg bearing a supernormal spirit. Since the time of creation, the rock had collected the essence of heaven, earth, and the stars. There, on top of Flower-Fruit Mountain, rested a magical rock. The legend begins in the Eastern Continent, in a land known as Superior Body.

Ways to beat elixir of immortality