“The remedy comes from beyond the sea” is a Chinese proverb, meaning that to seek a miraculous cure, one must journey to the mythical immortal islands in the ocean.
In Journey to the West, when Sun Wukong destroys the Ginseng Fruit Tree in Wuzhuang Temple, he decides to travel to the immortal islands in the sea for a miraculous cure.
Pilgrim replied, “According to an old proverb, ‘The cure comes from the seas: I want to go now to the Great Eastern Ocean and make a complete tour of the Three Islands and the Ten Islets. I want to visit all the Immortals and Aged Sages to ask for a method of revivification that will revive the tree for him.”
— Journey to the West, Chapter 26
In Journey to the West, Sun Wukong traveled to the sea and visited several mystical islands, including Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou.
That’s how we came to a temporary truce. When I remembered the saying, ‘The cure comes from the seas,’ I decided to pay you three old Brothers a visit in this lovely place. If you have any formula to cure the tree, please pass it on to me at once so that I can rescue the Tang Monk from his ordeal.
— Journey to the West, Chapter 26
Ultimately, Guanyin revived the ginseng fruit tree using her Divine Nectar.
Historical Roots: Emperor Qin Shi Huang and Xu Fu
This Chinese proverb originates from the legend of Emperor Qin Shi Huang sending a sorcerer to search for the elixir of immortality in the ocean.
It is said that Qin Shi Huang went to great lengths to find a way to live forever. The sorcerer Xu Fu claimed that there were three mystical mountains in the sea—Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou—where immortal beings resided. In 219 BCE, Qin Shi Huang dispatched Xu Fu with 3,000 boys and girls, equipped with three years’ worth of supplies, clothing, medicine, and tools, to seek immortality across the ocean.
Sun Wukong’s Parallel Quest
It is worth noting that Sun Wukong also sought immortality. Both Sun Wukong and Qin Shi Huang, after being crowned kings, developed a deep fear of death, driving them to pursue the path of immortality. Wukong’s journey to Master Subhuti to learn immortality arts mirrors Xu Fu’s voyage.
From among the ranks a bareback monkey suddenly leaped forth and cried aloud, “If the Great King is so farsighted, it may well indicate the sprouting of his religious inclination. There are, among the five major divisions of all living creatures, only three species that are not subject to Yama, King of the Underworld.”
The Monkey King said, “Do you know who they are?”
The monkey said, “They are the Buddhas, the immortals, and the holy sages; these three alone can avoid the Wheel of Transmigration as well as the process of birth and destruction, and live as long as Heaven and Earth, the mountains and the streams.”
“Where do they live?” asked the Monkey King.
The monkey said, “They do not live beyond the world of the Jambūdvīpa, for they dwell within ancient caves on immortal mountains.”
When the Monkey King heard this, he was filled with delight, saying, “Tomorrow I shall take leave of you all and go down the mountain. Even if I have to wander with the clouds to the corners of the sea or journey to the distant edges of Heaven, I intend to find these three kinds of people. I will learn from them how to be young forever and escape the calamity inflicted by King Yama.”
— Journey to the West, Chapter 1
Wukong’s eventual submission to Guanyin and Buddha Tathagata reflects the novel’s message: true immortality lies not in elixirs or magic, but in ethical conduct and enlightenment.
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