The Missing Trial at Benbo Kingdom in Journey to the West

In Journey to the West, after passing through the Kingdom of Sacrifice, located to the west, the next destination should have been the Kingdom of Benbo (also called Bonpo or Pen-Puo).

The monks all knelt down again, and one of them said, “Holy Father, this city is called the Sacrifice Kingdom, and it is a major city in the Western Territories. In years past, barbaric tribes of all four quarters came to pay us tribute: to the south, the Yuetuo Kingdom, to the north, the Qoco Kingdom; to the east, the State of Western Liang; and to the west, the Benbo Kingdom. They brought annually fine jade and lustrous pearls, beautiful girls, and spirited horses. Without our use of arms or expeditionary forces, all of them would of their own accord venerate us as the superior state.”

— Journey to the West, Chapter 62

However, when the pilgrimage team finally reaches Vulture Peak, Guanyin Bodhisattva realizes that the pilgrims are missing one of the predetermined 81 trials or calamities.

After the Bodhisattva had read through the entire registry of ordeals, she said hurriedly, “Within our gate of Buddhism, nine times nine is the crucial means by which one returns to perfection. The sage monk has undergone eighty ordeals. Because one ordeal, therefore, is still lacking, the sacred number is not yet complete.”

— Journey to the West, Chapter 99

Could this missing tribulation have been intended to occur in the Kingdom of Benbo?

Bon religion against Buddhism

Benbo is a kingdom steeped in symbolism tied to the Tibetan Bon religion.

The name “Benbo” may be a transliteration of the term ‌”Bon”‌, referring to the indigenous Tibetan religion that worships nature and natural elements. During the Tang dynasty, there was intense conflict between Buddhism and the Bon religion in the Tibetan region. This struggle lasted over two centuries and involved violent clashes, including the assassinations of several kings including assassinations of kings who supported either faith.

In Journey to the West, the Kingdom of Benbo devises a cunning strategy to swiftly guide the Buddhist pilgrimage team across its borders. To avoid a potential invasion by Buddhist forces and prevent violent conflict, they ‌sacrificed several ancient tree spirits‌ — a symbolic act of appeasement. This reflects the Bon tradition’s reverence for nature and its desperate attempt to protect its autonomy against Buddhist expansion.

Key Points

• The missing tribulation hints at unresolved tensions between Buddhism and Bon traditions.
• Benbo’s sacrifice of tree spirits underscores the clash between spiritual ideologies.
• The episode mirrors historical religious conflicts in ancient Tibet.

The “disappearance” of the Benbo Kingdom encapsulates Journey to the West’s nuanced portrayal of religious conflict. By sidestepping a direct clash, the novel acknowledges Bon’s legacy while underscoring Buddhism’s ascendancy. This omission serves as a metaphor for the silent erasure of indigenous beliefs under the march of organized religion—a theme echoing far beyond Tibet into the broader human experience of cultural transformation.