Mythology and Folklore Blog

“ The Monkey King Sun Wukong ” by Kubo Shunman 1757-1820. The Monkey King from Sun Wu Kung's POV I have always known I was different than the other apes. I was the only one who was born from an egg, while everyone else had a mother. It did not bother me that much because all of us were a family, but I still would wonder why I was so different. We all grew up together on the Island called the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits. We had everything we needed, from food to places to explore, but somehow I craved more.  One hot summer afternoon, me and the other apes wanted to find a nice, cool place to bathe. We wandered far off to the East of the island to see what we could find. Miraculously, we saw a waterfall that plunged down a very high cliff. Amazed, we all swam as close as we could to see it. "Whoever can go through this waterfall without injury can be our King!" one of the apes screamed. Some of the apes tried to go through the waterfall, but failed. As I watched the othe...

Sun Wu Kung, Monkey King: Source In the beginning of this story, Sun Wu Kung is proving his power to Buddha as he wants to become the King of the Heavens. He thinks he is ready to become the king but the Buddha is telling him that it takes a lot of perfecting of virtues. The Buddha told him if he was able to leave his hand, he would tell the King of the Heavens to make him King. Sun Wu Kung got too confident and was not able to leave his hand. Buddha sent him to lie on the mountain for hundreds of years so he could help the Monk fetch holy writings. A ring was giving to the ape which he could not take off, which made him obedient to his new master.  Bibliography: Story source: " The Ape Sun Wu Kung " in The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921)

The waterfall the ape went through. Source Handsome King of the Apes  In this story, there is a magical rock on the top of a mountain. Within this rock, it has all the seed power of heaven, earth, the moon, and the sun. One day, this magical rock burst and out came an egg! Out of this egg hatched an ape. One day the other apes said that whoever could go through the waterfall without injury would be the King of the Apes. The magical Ape had the power to go through the waterfall and informed the others of what was on the other side. They then made him the king.   Bibliography: "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).