Leaving Wujing, Guanyin and Muzha continued East. After some time, they came to a high mountain blanketed in evil gloom. As they were about to fly over it on their clouds, for they could not climb it on foot, a wild wind arose and another demon appeared.
His nose was as an upturned lotus seed pod. Gleaming eyes peeked out between his fan-like ears. Short tusks jutted out like sharp spades. His open mouth red as a brazier. A gold helm fastened by each cheek. A silk waistband bound his armor tightly about python-like legs. He gripped a rake like a dragon’s claw. From his waist hung a bow of crescent-moon shape.
Without introduction, he charged toward the bodhisattva and raised his rake. Muzha blocked his strike with a shout of, “Insolent brute! Have a taste of my baton!”1
“This monk has no idea what’s coming to him,”2 the monster said. “Have a taste of my rake!”
The two collided at the base of the mountain. The monster was ferocious; Huian was mighty. The baton feinted left and right; the rake swung for his face. The dust they stirred up darkened the sky and frightened the spirits. The nine-toothed rake glistened brightly, with two hoops that rung like bells. The baton was black as night and flew in Hui’an’s hands. It was a Heavenly Lord’s son versus an Immortal Marshal. One a lawkeeper on Putuo, the other a demon in a mountain cave.
As these two were really going at it, Guanyin threw down a lotus flower from her midair vantage point. The flower floated down and separated the rake from the baton.
“Who are you, monk, and what trick are you trying to play with this flower?” the alarmed monster asked.
“Ignorant brute of mortal eyes!” Hui’an said. “I am the disciple of the Bodhisattva of the South Sea. This lotus flower was thrown by my master, and you don’t recognize it?”
“The South Sea Bodhisattva?” the monster said. “Do you mean the savior of three disasters and the rescuer of eight calamities, the goddess Guanyin?”
“Who else?” Hui’an spat.
The monster threw aside his rake and bowed, saying, “Brother, where is the she? Please, take me to see her.”
Hui’an pointed up and said, “She’s right there.”
The monster kowtowed in Guanyin’s direction and shouted out, “Bodhisattva, forgive me! Forgive me!”
Guanyin descended before them and asked, “Are you a wild boar that has awakened or an old swine that became a demon? Why do you block my way?”
The monster said, “I am neither a wild boar nor an old swine. I am actually the Marshal Tianpeng from the Heavenly River. But because I got drunk and teased Chang’e,3 the Jade Emperor had me beaten two thousand times and banished me to the Lower Realm. On the way to reincarnation, my spirit lost its way and ended up in the womb of a sow. That’s how I became this way. I killed the sow and the litter, claimed this mountain, and spend my days eating people. I didn’t expect to run into the bodhisattva. Please save me!”
“What is this mountain called?” the bodhisattva asked.
“This is Fuling Mountain,” the monster said. “There is a cave here called Yunzhan Cave. Originally, Madam Luan4 lived here. She saw I had some martial skill and so made me head of her house. After less than a year, she died, leaving the cave to me. In the years since, I have not had a way to provide for myself.”
The Bodhisattva said, “As they saying goes, “if you want a future, don’t act as if you have no future.” You already sinned against Heaven and still you haven’t repented from your violent ways. Is that not doubling your sin?”
“A future!” the monster said. “A future! Should I live off the wind? They also say, “If you follow the law, you’ll be beaten to death; if you follow the Buddha, you’ll starve to death!” Just leave me here! I’d rather catch passerby and eat their fat and juicy women. Forget about doubling sin, tripling sin, even multiplying sin by a thousand.”
The Bodhisattva said, “If man is compassionate, Heaven will respond. If you return to the right path, you will find yourself fed. The world has five grains to help with hunger, why must you eat people?”
When the monster heard this, it was as if he woke up from a dream. “I want to repent,” he said, “but how? I committed a sin against Heaven and Heaven doesn’t hear my prayers.”
“I am under the Buddha’s orders,” the Bodhisattva said, “to go East to find a scripture pilgrim. You can become his disciple and go with him to the Western Heaven. This task will atone for your sin and you will be delivered from your suffering.”
The monster whole-heartedly agreed. The Bodhisattva received his oaths, and taking a cue from his body, gave him the surname Zhu, which means pig, and the religious name Wu’neng. From that moment he returned to the Truth, ate only vegetarian foods, abstained from the five pungent foods,5 and three undesireable foods,6 and awaited the scripture pilgrim.
The Bodhisattva and Muzha left Wuneng and traveled forth on their clouds. As they were going, they saw a jade dragon hanging in midair, calling out. Guanyin approached and said, “Which dragon are you, and why are you being punished here?”
The dragon replied, “I am the son of the West Sea Dragon King, Aorun. Because I accidentally set fire to the Dragon Pearl above the palace, my father reported me to Heaven for disobeying my parents.7 The Jade Emperor had me hung here and beaten three hundred times, and I will be executed in a few days. I beg the Bodhisattva to save me.”
Hearing this, Guanyin and Muzha went up to the South Heavenly Gate. They were met by Marshals Qiu and Zhang, who asked, “Where are you headed?”
“This humble monk needs to see the Jade Emperor,” the Bodhisattva replied. The two marshals immediately went to report, and the Jade Emperor came out to receive her. The Bodhisattva paid her respects, then said, “This humble monk, by order of the Buddha, was headed East to search for a scripture pilgrim when I came across a sinful dragon hanging in midair. I cam especially to beg your Majesty to pardon him and give him to me, so that he can be a mount for the scripture pilgrim.”
The Jade Emperor immediately issued an edict of pardon and sent a general to free the dragon and deliver him to the bodhisattva. Guanyin sent the dragon to a deep mountain stream to await the pilgrim. When the time came, he was to become a white horse and lend his strength to the westward journey.
Guanyin and Muzha continued eastward past the mountain. Before long, they saw a thousand beams of golden light and ten thousand streams of auspicious mist.
“Master, that shining place is Five Elements Mountain,” Muzha said. “Look, the Awakened One’s card is stuck there.”
“This is the place that ruiner of the Immortal Peach Banquet, the wreaker of Havoc in Heaven, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, is being held?” the Bodhisattva said.
“Exactly,” Muzha said.
The master and disciple climbed up the mountain and saw the card, upon which was written six words of truth: “唵嘛呢叭咪吽.”8 The bodhisattva sighed and composed a poem:
A pity the monkey could not conform,
Who flaunted heroics in years gone by.
Who vainly disrupted the Fest of the Peach,
Who boldly stole in the Hall Doushai.
In ten thousand troops he found no match,
In the Ninth Heaven he displayed his might,
Trapped by the Buddha as he deserved,
When will his power again shine bright?
The exchange disturbed the Great Sage, and he called out from the base of the mountain, “Who is up there composing poetry about my faults?”
Hearing this, Guanyin came to the base of the mountain to look for the Great Sage. At the base of the cliff, the Tudi Spirit, the Mountain Spirit, the generals imprisoning the Great Sage all came to greet the bodhisattva and bring her to the Great Sage. It turns out that he was imprisoned in a stone box. He could speak but not move.
Guanyin said, “Master Sun, do you recognize me?”
The Great Sage opened his eyes of golden flame and nodded. In a loud voice, he said, “How could I not recognize you? You are the savior and rescuer, the Goddess of Mercy, Bodhisattva Guanyin of Mount Putuoluojia in the South Sea. Look at me! Look at me! Each day passes like a year here, and not one of my acquantances has ever come to see me. Where did you come from?”
“The Buddha has commanded me to go East in search of a scripture pilgrim,” the Bodhisattva said. “I was passing through and stopped to see you.”
“The Buddha tricked me, putting me under this mountain,” the Great Sage said. “It’s been over five hundred years and I can’t even stretch. I beg you to take a second and rescue me!”
“Your crimes are overwhelmingly great,” the Bodhisattva said. “I’m afraid if I rescue you you’ll go back to your violent ways and not return to good.”
“I’ve already repented,” the Great Sage said. “Please just point me toward the Way, and I’m willing to cultivate myself.”
Gladness filled the Bodhisattva’s heart at these words, and she said, “An reply will travel a thousand miles to answer a good word; retribution will travel a thousand miles to answer an evil word. If you truly feel that way, wait for me to go East to the Tang Kingdom9 to find a person to seek the scriptures. I will tell him to rescue you. Become his disciple, practice the teachings and hold the faith, convert to my sect, and cultivate righteousness. What do you say?”
The Great Sage said, “I’ll go, I’ll go!”
The Bodhisattva said, “If you returning to righteousness, let me give you a religious name.”
The Great Sage said, “I already have a name: Sun Wukong.”
The Bodhisattva said happily, “I had two before you who returned to the Truth, and they were both named under Wu. Now, you are also named under Wu, in accord with their names. Good, good! Then I won’t give you another. I shall go.”
She and Muzha left that place and arrived in the East. They came to the city of Chang’an,10 capital of the Great Tang Kingdom and recalled the cloud and mist. The master and disciple transformed into two leprous itinerant monks and walked into Chang’an. Evening crept up on them. They came upon a shrine of a Tudi Spirit and entered. The startled Tudi was so flustered at seeing the Bodhisattva that he prostrated himself before her. He hurried to inform the city’s Guardian Spirit and every shrine’s spirit to come pay their respects. “Forgive us for our tardiness in receiving you,” the spirits said to Guanyin.
“Do not let the news get out,” Guanyin told them. “I have come under the Buddha’s order to find a scripture pilgrim. I need to days here a few days while I look for a true believer. Then I will return.”
Each spirit returned to their own shrine, but the Tudi Spirit went to stay at the Guardian Spirit’s temple for the time being so that Guanyin and Muzha’s identities would not be revealed.
We don’t know who will be chosen to seek the scriptures. Let’s find out in the next chapter.
1 lit. Who is this brutish monster? Cease your insolence! Watch my baton! ↩
2 lit. The monk doesn’t know life from death. ↩
3 Anthony Yu writes ‘dallied with’, so I thought he like… had an affair with her or something. But my dictionary gives a much more innocent definition for this phrase, so I’m confused why his punishment was so harsh. ↩
4 Luan means egg, so Dr. Yu translates her as Egg Second Sister. ↩
5 Leek, scallion, garlic, rape (another allium), and coriander. These are thought to hinder the cultivation of oneself in Buddhism and Daoism. ↩
6 In Daoism, apparently, wild goose, dog, and black fish. But I thought he was already vegetarian? ↩
7 What? But remember, Confucianist values. ↩
8 Honestly, this phrase means nothing to me (it seems to be a Buddhist chant) and so it might as well look cool and not be in English! ↩
9 the Tang dynasty ↩
10 an old name for the city of Xi’an ↩
Etymology Adventures 
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