In the classic novel Journey to the West, the Jade Emperor mockingly appoints the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, as the “Bimawen” (also translates to “BanHorsePlague”, or “epidemic-avoiding monkey”) to oversee heavenly horses.
In Journey to the West, the tales of immortals, demons, mortals, and ghosts unfold across the three realms (Heavenly, Mortal, and Underworld), which reflects the Daoist cosmology.
In the novel Journey to the West, Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, learned several crucial skills and knowledge from his first master, Subhuti. Key highlights include:
The Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches were a system used in ancient China to mark years, months, days, and hours. In Journey to the West, the universe is divided into 12 cyclical periods, each named after the Earthly Branches. Similarly, ancient Chinese divided the day into 12 segments, also named after these branches. For…
In Journey to the West, how did the Monkey King measure time on Lingtai Fangcun Mountain without clocks or calendars?
After bestowing the name “Wukong” (悟空, “Awakened to Emptiness”) upon the Monkey King, Master Subhuti declared the following words, which carry profound Taoist and Buddhist connotations: