The patriarch said, “Once you go, nothing good can come of you. In all your violent troublemaking, I forbid you from saying that you are my disciple. I will know if you let even one word slip, and I will skin you and crush your bones. I will banish your spirit to the furthest reaches of hell and for ten thousand generations you will not even be able to turn in your grave!”1 Wukong said, “I wouldn’t dare mention Master’s name. I will just say I taught myself.”
师父 and 徒弟
You will often see 师父and 徒弟 in fantasy and wuxia stories to mean master and disciple, but in everyday conversation, they also mean master and apprentice, or even a teacher-student relationship that extends to personal mentorship.
Wukong thanked Master Puti one last time. Then he muttered the spell, pulled himself up, and summoned his somersault cloud, heading straight for the East Sea. Before two hours had passed, he saw Huaguo Mountain and Shuilian Cave in the distance. Pleased, the Handsome Monkey King said in a low voice to himself “How light the body seems without the burden of mortality! These mysteries reveal themselves to anyone with resolve, yet such resolve is so rarely found. When I last passed this way, the crossing was so arduous, yet now the journey is like nothing. The words of farewell are still ringing in my ears, and I can already see the East Sea.”2
Wukong bore down on the cloudhead3 and landed upon Huaguo Mountain. Finding the path, he heard cranes and monkeys calling. The calls of the cranes filled the air; the cries of monkeys were filled with sorrow. He called out in a loud voice, “My children, I’m back!”4 From cracks in the cliffs, from the grass, from the trees, thousands of monkeys large and small jumped out and surrounded the Handsome Monkey King, saying “Great King, what a relief! Why have you been gone so long? You have left us here to pine for you like a man dying of thirst. Recently a demon yao has been terrorizing us and threatening to seize our home.5 We have been fighting for our lives! Our things have been stolen and our children kidnapped. We cannot sleep at night for guarding our home. Thank goodness your majesty returned you did. If you had returned even one year later, there would be no home to return to!” Wukong was furious. “What manner of demon has such insolence? Describe him clearly, so I can take revenge on him!” The monkeys said, “He calls himself the Demon Lord of Mayhem and lives due north.”6 Wukong said “How far is it from here to there?” “He comes with clouds and leaves with fog, or wind, or rain, or thunder or lightning,” the monkeys replied. “We don’t know how far away it is.” “So that’s how it is,” Wukong said. “Don’t be afraid. Stay here and play, I will go find him and be right back.” The monkey king jumped up somersaulted northward. Looking down, he saw a precipitous mountain.
An inkbrush-straight summit pierced the heavens; a deep mountain stream ran crooked into the earth. To either side mystical grasses vied for attention; here and there, pines and bamboo competed in verdancy. On the left, dragons slumbered peacefully; on the right, tigers lazed in the undergrowth. Iron oxen plowed in streams; flower of gold bloomed everywhere. Beasts softly chattered; a single phoenix stood facing the sun. Rocks like crystal and water like glass made treacherous twisted paths. Countless mountains are known to the world where flowers bloom and wither. Where, though, is there a mountain untouched by age? Kanyuan Mountain is such a one, and within it, Viscera Cave.7
The monkey was admiring the scenery when the sound of speech interrupted him. He went downhill seeking the source of the sound and found, at the base of a steep cliff, Viscera Cave. Little yao were dancing impishly by the cave entrance; they made to leave when they saw Wukong. Wukong said, “Wait! Deliver a message for me. I am the lord of Shuilian Cave on Huaguo Mountain, directly south of here. Your so-called bastard Lord of Mayhem repeatedly terrorized my children, and I have come to challenge him.”
The imps hurried into the cave to report, “Great king! There’s trouble!” The demon king said, “What kind of trouble?” The imps said, “There’s a monkey outside who says he’s the master of Shuilian Cave on Huaguo Mountain. He said you terrorized his children and has come to challenge you!”
妖怪
妖怪(yao1guai4) is commonly translated as monster or demon. However, it’s more than that. 妖怪 are normal animals that, through spiritual discipline, gain human-like characteristics and magical powers. They are portrayed as evil or at least mischievous. In Journey to the West, you often see 小妖 (small imp-like yao), 妖怪 (human-sized yao), and 妖猴 (monkey yao, referring to Wukong).
The demon king laughed and said: “Those monkeys are always talking about this king of theirs who left to cultivate himself. That must be him. Tell me, how is he dressed? What weapons does he have?” The little yao said, “He doesn’t have any weapons. His head is bare, he’s wearing a red robe, a yellow sash, and black shoes. He doesn’t look like a monk or a Daoist. He’s just standing outside the cave emptyhanded, yelling.” “Fetch my armor and weapons!” the demon ordered. The imps hurried to fetch them. Dressed in his armor and armed with his dao, the demon king went out with all of his imps, calling, “Who is the master of Shuilian Cave?” 8 Wukong looked him over.
He wore a shining black-gold helm and a billowing black tunic. On his legs he wore plated armor securely tied with a leather strap. A general’s embroidered boots covered his feet. His waist was ten spans in circumference; he stood 30 feet tall. In his hand he held a gleaming dao. Indeed he was rightly called the Demon Lord of Mayhem.
The Monkey King called out, “What big eyes this Mayhem fucker has, yet he can’t see yours truly!”9 Mayhem laughed when he saw him. “You’re not even four feet tall and can’t be more than 30 years old. You have no weapons, and you dare challenge me?” Wukong swore and said, “You blind bastard! You peg me as small, but I could be big if I wanted. You peg me as weaponless, but my two hands can pull the moon from the sky! Don’t be afraid. Eat my fist!”
He jumped up, aiming a punch directly at the demon’s face. The demon blocked him, saying “You’re such a midget compared to me. If you use your fists and I use my knife, and I kill you, people will laugh at me. Let me put down my knife, and I will box with you.” Wukong said, “That’s true. Good man! Come on then!”10 Mayhem dropped his weapon and attacked. Wukong dove in, meeting punch with punch. The two of them pummeled and kicked, colliding again and again. It turns out that it’s easy to miss when you have a long reach. Punches land more firmly from close quarters. Wukong jabbed at the demon’s ribs and walloped his crotch, landing solid hits. Mayhem dodged, and grabbing his giant steel dao, chopped at Wukong’s head. Wukong quickly backstepped, and the demon missed. Seeing this new vicious tactic, Wukong reached for his magic. Yanking out a handful of downy hairs from his body, he chewed them up, then spit them into the air, saying, “Change!” Two or three hundred little monkeys suddenly surrounded them.
It turns out that when one achieves immortality, one’s spirit can transform without limits. From the moment the Monkey King grasped the Way, the eighty-four thousand downy hairs on his body could each change shape according to his will. These little monkeys were too nimble to be cut with a knife or stabbed with a spear. They completely surrounded the demon king, squeezing him, pulling on him, crawling into his pants and grabbing at his legs. They yanked out his hair, gouged at his eyes, and pinched his nose in a chaotic muddle.
Wukong seized the dao and, parting the monkeys, cut directly at the demon’s head and split it in two. He led the army of monkey into the cave, slaughtered yaos large and small until they were all dead. Wukong shook himself, and the hairs returned back to his body. The monkeys that did not return were the ones that Mayhem had kidnapped from Shuilian Cave. There were almost 50 of them. Wukong said, “How did you all get here?” “Your Majesty had left to train. These last two years he has been harassing us and brought us here,” the monkeys said tearfully. “Isn’t that stuff from our cave? The stone bowls, and plates, he stole them all.”
Wukong said, “If it’s our stuff, then bring it all outside.” He set fire to the cave, leaving Viscera Cave a withered ruin. To the monkeys he said, “All of you, come back with me.” The monkeys said, “Your Majesty, when we came, we only heard the sound of the wind. We floated the whole way here, and don’t know the way back. How will we get home?” Wukong said, “This magic he worked, it isn’t hard! I know such tricks too, and hundreds more. Close your eyes and don’t be afraid!”
The monkey king muttered a spell and harnessed a wild wind. When they had landed once again, he said, “Children, open your eyes.” The monkeys stepped onto the ground, and recognizing their home, ran happily down the familiar path to the cave. The monkeys in the cave crowded around, fell into their ranks, and bowed to their king. Fruits and wine were brought for a celebratory feast, and they asked for the story of the conquest and daring rescue. From beginning to end, Wukong told the story in great detail. The monkeys praised him, saying, “Where did your majesty go, to learn such things!”
Wukong said, “All those years ago when I left you all, I drifted across the East Sea all the way to the Southern Continent. I learned to act like a human, wearing clothes and shoes, and walking on two feet. I wandered for eight or nine years and was no closer to finding the Way. I crossed the West Sea to the Western Continent, and after searching for a long time, I luckily came across an old master who taught me the Way to live as long as the heavens.” The monkeys congratulated him, saying, “What luck!” Wukong laughed and said, “Little ones! Another great thing – we have a family name!” “What is your Majesty’s name?” the monkeys asked. Wukong said, “My surname is Sun, and my religious name is Wukong.” The monkeys clapped and cheered, saying, “The King is Old Sun! We are all second Sun, third Sun, little Sun – a whole family of Suns, a whole nation of Suns, a den of Suns!”11 They all toasted Old Sun with bowls of coconut wine and grape wine, plates of mythical flowers and fruits. What a joyful family! For a surname connects the self back to the source, and the glory of the name can be recorded by heaven.
1 无可翻身 is a common phrase which literally means ‘to not be able to flip oneself over’. It means ‘unable to escape, utterly helpless’, which doesn’t exactly match this English phrase, but the imagery is similar so I went with it. ↩
2 This is a full-on poem! I wasn’t willing to put in the effort required to keep it poetic in English. ↩
3 Clouds as portrayed in Classical Chinese art clearly have a ‘head’ and a ‘tail’. ↩
4 The phrase I’m translating as ‘my children’ (孩儿们) is more familial and protective than ‘little ones’ (小子们). ↩
5 Remember that a yao is a magical being that gained his powers through religious study. This guy used to be some manner of animal. ↩
6 Professor Yu translates this guy’s name as ‘Monstrous King of Havoc’. ↩
7 Surprise, parallel structure poetic description. Professor Yu translates Viscera Cave very literally as Water-Bowel Cave (水脏洞). The Chinese word here 脏 is quite medical and in general Chinese people don’t find internal organs as disgusting as Americans do. The name of the cave is not meant to sound gross, which is why I went with Viscera Cave. ↩
8 A dao is a curved, single-bladed sword. This specific dao is on the shorter side. ↩
9 He actually calls him a ‘trash demon’, but this is the general feeling. ↩
10 lol ↩
11 Chinese culture has a lot of respect for older people. It’s very common to casually address an older person as Old [insert last name here]. A younger person would be Little [insert last name here]. Wukong often refers to himself in the third person as Old Sun (老孙) when speaking casually or trash-talking. ↩
Etymology Adventures 