In Journey to the West, Heavenly King Li Jing (also known as Devaraja Li, or Li Tianwang) is famously known for his three sons—Jinzha, Muzha, Nezha and the little daughter Zhen Ying. However, many readers are puzzled by the connection between Heavenly King Li Jing and his adopted daughter, the Mouse Demon.
Even Devaraja Li himself almost forgets his adopted daughter.
Abandoning his sword and kowtowing, Nezha(Nata) replied, “Father King, you do have a daughter at the Region Below.”
“Son,” said the devaraja, “I have had only the four of you. What other daughter do I have?”
“You have quite forgotten, Father King,” said Nezha. “That other daughter was originally a monster-spirit. Some three hundred years ago she became a fiend who stole and devoured the fragrant flowers and treasure candles of Tathagata at Spirit Mountain. Tathagata sent us, father and son, to lead an expedition against her.”
— Journey to the West, Chapter 83
Why Buddha Summoned Heavenly King Li to Subdue the Mouse Spirit?
Given that the Buddha Tathagata possesses immense divine power, why did he specifically task Heavenly King Li to capture the White-Spined Golden-Haired Mouse Demon? Additionally, Li Jing holds a position in the Celestial Court and is not explicitly tied to Buddhism.
This confusion arises because one of the inspirations for Heavenly King Li Jing’s character is Vaiśravana (one of the Four Heavenly Kings in Buddhism), who is traditionally depicted with a mouse as his sacred animal.
The plot in Journey to the West, where Buddha arranges for the White-Spined Golden-Haired Mouse Spirit to adopt Heavenly King Li as her symbolic father, highlights the author’s intentional and artful integration of religious lore with mythological storytelling.
When she was caught, she should have been beaten to death, but Tathagata gave us this instruction:
For fishes reared in the ponds you never fish;
For deer fed in the mountains long life’s your wish.At that time, therefore, we spared her life, and in gratitude she took you as her father and your child as her elder brother.
— Journey to the West, Chapter 83
The Buddha respects cosmic order and delegates tasks to maintain harmony between Buddhist and Daoist realms. Assigning Li Jing to capture the Mouse Demon acknowledges his symbolic link to Vaiśravana’s mouse, blending Buddhist lore with the novel’s Daoist framework.
Many events in Journey to the West are rooted in traditional history, folklore, and religious syncretism, which the author reimagines within the narrative. Thus, understanding these episodes requires looking beyond the novel itself and considering the broader cultural and mythological contexts that shaped its creation.
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