Journey to the West – Chapter 4.1

I am experimenting with narration style, so hopefully you’ll find that things are different in this chapter.

The Handsome Monkey King and old Gold Star Taibai¹ ascended their clouds bound for Heaven. Wukong’s somersault cloud was especially swift. He quickly left the Gold Star behind and arrived alone in front of the South Heavenly Gate, planted solidly upon the firmament of Heaven. Pillars like majestic trees fanned out from the great doors of polished viridian jade. Besides each pillar, Lord Zengzhang,² Heavenly King of the South, and his regiment stood at attention, armored in shining gold and clutching halberds, segmented whips,³ swords, and dao. Wukong jumped off his cloud eagerly, but the guards scowled and crossed their halberds with a clang, blocking his way. 

Wukong scowled too. “That two-faced old man. He invited me up here, so why are these guys blocking my way?” As he was grumbling, the Gold Star arrived. “Is this a trick, old man?” Wukong demanded. “Telling me the Jade Emperor has an appointment for me and then ordering these guards keep me out.” 

The Gold Star laughed. “Forgive me, my lord. This is your first time in Heaven and your name is unknown here. Heaven’s guards don’t know who you are, and they don’t have the authority to open the gate. Once you have received your appointment from the emperor and your name is listed in the immortal register, no one will stop you from coming and going as you please.” 

Wukong said, “If that’s the way it is, I’m not going.” 

The Gold Star stopped him. “Just come in with me.” He turned to the guards. “Guards of the Heavenly Palace, open the way! This is an immortal of the world below, summoned to Heaven by order of the Jade Emperor.” Lord Zengzhang and his soldiers immediately withdrew their weapons and stood aside to let them pass. Slightly mollified, Wukong followed the Gold Star into the palace compound.

Wispy clouds and dusky haze drifted lazily about, diffusing the golden evening sun and scattering rainbows everywhere. Golden pathways and long bridges traversed Heaven’s thirty-three Pavilions and seventy-two Palaces. Phoenixes spiraled overhead in courtship. Intricately painted golden-scaled and red-whiskered dragons curled around pillars. Golden beasts decorated every roof-ridge and jade qilin guarded every courtyard.⁴

They passed by the Platform of Longevity, where flowers that never wither and evergreen grasses lay beside Longevity’s Still.⁵ They stopped in front of Chaosheng Tower, where immortals clothed in rich purple satin shining with stars and shoes of pearl and adorned with splendid hibiscus caps and jade hairpins gathered, their golden seals swinging on purple cords. When the golden bell rang out, three classes of immortals brought reports to the imperial courtyard; when the drumbeat sounded, ten thousand immortal lords assembled before the emperor. 

They finally came to Lingxiao Palace. Past doors of jade punctuated by golden bolts, exquisitely carved open walkways wound through the palace grounds, their eaves carved with layers upon layers of phoenixes and dragons. Towering above it all was a shining dome in the shape of a calabash gourd.⁶ Below, imperial consorts with fans peeking out from their sleeves and immortal maidens with sashes drifting behind them mingled with fierce generals and proud guardsmen. In the center of them all, a stained glass dish was filled with pearls of immortality.⁷ Next to it, an agate vase held twisting branches of coral. There were wonders everywhere Wukong looked,  incomparable to anything found on earth. Everything was precious gold and silver, even the blades of grass were jade and flower petals were jasper. 

Without waiting to be announced, the Gold Star led the Handsome Monkey King into the hall. Gold Star Taibai bowed deeply to the Emperor as he approached the throne. Wukong did not so much as nod in greeting, but stood by and looked on as the Gold Star made his report: “By order of imperial edict, I have brought the yao immortal here.” 

“Who is this yao immortal?” The Jade Emperor asked.

Wukong bowed. “That would be old Sun!”

The immortal officials in the hall turned pale, and murmured among themselves, “This barbaric monkey! First he doesn’t kneel before the Emperor and then he dares to answer in such a manner! He should be put to death for his insolence!” 

“Sun Wukong is a yao immortal of the lower realm and is new to his human body and unfamiliar with court etiquette. We shall forgive him this time,” the Jade Emperor decreed. 

“Your majesty is merciful,” the assembled immortals said in unison. The Monkey King saluted the Emperor loudly⁸ and folded his hands and bowed in the proper way. 

“Is there a position with a vacancy in Heaven, to which we may appoint the immortal Sun Wukong?” the Jade Emperor asked.

Wuqu, Star of Battle, stepped forward. “Your majesty, every position in Heaven in every Pavilion and Palace is filled. Only the Imperial Stable is lacking an overseer.”

“In that case,” the Jade Emperor decreed, “he shall be the Horses’ Fortune.⁹” The assembled court loudly praised the Emperor’s graciousness and generosity, while Wukong only bowed and gave a loud salute. The Emperor designated Master Wood Star¹⁰ to show Wukong to the Imperial Stables and to make the proper introductions. 

To be continued…

^{1 I am reneging on my previous translation choice and going with ‘Gold Star’ since we will be meeting ‘Wood Star’ later in this post. In Chinese the planets are all named after elements – gold for Venus. ↩}

^{2 His name literally means ‘growth and increase’. He is the Heavenly King who oversees crops and agriculture. ↩}

^{3 aka nunchucks ↩}

^{4 I have split this description into two parts, giving the readers half when Wukong first lands, and then the other half when they go through the gate. ↩}

^{5 This is actually an oven for alchemical distillations to produce the pearls of immortality. English speakers don’t really associate ovens with distillation, so I’ve translated it as a still. ↩}

^{6 aka a hulu gourd. Writing this post I learned that the streaming service Hulu is named after this plant, and I’m kind of pissed about it. It feels a bit cultural-appropriation-y. ↩}

^{7 Small balls of medicine. Sometimes translated as ‘pills’ or ‘tablets’, but those words don’t convey the right shape. ↩}

^{8 It’s not really clear from the text what kind of sound he actually makes. ↩}

^{9 This is a pun in Chinese, aka translator’s nightmare. Apparently, there is a superstition that monkeys can prevent illness in horses and that’s what this ‘position’ is referring to. Dr. Yu translates this job position as BanHorsePlague. ↩}

^{10 Wood Star is Jupiter. ↩}