From the picture above, you see 悟空 standing on his 筋斗雲with his unique weapon, 如意金箍棒(ru2 yi4 jin gu bang4) in his hand, which he got from the undersea palace of Dragon King of the East Sea 東海龍王(dong hai3 long2 wong2) after he messed up the palace. When the weapon is not in use, the monkey would shrink it to the size of a sewing needle and keep it in his ear.
With his supernatural abilities and the unparalleled weapon, this wild wily money had really rocked the world upside down. Aside from the undersea palace, he went to 地府(di4 fu3), the nether, or underground world of the dead, and robbed the 生死簿(sheng si3 bu4), Book of Life and Death, which is believe to be the record of everyone’s 壽命(shou4 ming4), longevity. He crossed out his name so that he could live forever.
The Dragon King of the East Sea and the Pluto 閻(羅)王(Yian2 luo2 wong2)went to the Emperor of the Gods, or Jade Emperor to tell on the monkey‘s misbehavior. The latter sent some divine corps to conquer the bold monkey, but in vain. To ease and coax the monkey, the Emperor of the Gods conferred the title of 弼馬溫(bi4 ma3 wun), the horse protector, the lowest rank among the heaven officials, upon him.
At first悟空 was happy with the title, but when he learned about the fact he turned furious and went back to 花果山(hwa guo3 shan), Mt. Flowers & Fruit. He conferred himself as 齊天大聖(qi2 tian da4 sheng4), Great Sage, Equal of Heaven.
To avoid any more casualties or havocs the monkey could cause, Jade of Emperor gave him the title齊天大聖 as he wished but endowed him with no substantial power. 悟空 thus came to heaven again, as the keeper of 蟠桃園(pan2 tao2 yuan2), Garden of Peaches of Immortality.
In the Bible, we have a story of Adam’s and Eve’s eating the forbidden fruit. In the Chinese literature, we have a story of the peaches of immortality taken illegally by the monkey, who, as the keeper of the garden, was supposed to keep them from stolen. He went further to the feast of the Gods, drinking the wine and taking the pills of immortality. Again he left himself with no other options but to run away.
When I was younger, whenever I went to a scenic spot in Taiwan, I would find many subscriptions carved on trees or stones that went as “xxx 到此一遊(dao4 zi3 yi4 you2),” meaning “xxx (someone’s name) paying a visit here.” This practice of marking one’s visit certainly comes from the story of悟空.
To capture the runaway monkey, 如來佛(ru2 lai2 fo2), the Buddha, was sent for. He offered a bet to 悟空 that if he could escape from his palm, he would ask Jade Emperor to step down and crowned him in replace. The monkey accepted it with delight and considered it a piece of cake with his筋斗雲.
大聖 took a great leap and ran to the other end of the world in a blink of an eye. He saw five flesh-red pillars and took them as pillars to hold the sky, surmising that he’d been to the end of the heaven. To mark his trace, he wrote on one of the pillars “齊天大聖到此一遊” with a brush pen. He even peed on one of them as a mark.
The triumphant monkey went back to the Buddha and asked him to fulfill his promise. To his surprise, the Buddha showed him the evidence that he’d never left his palm. The five fingers then were turned into five mountains with the names of 金(jin) gold、木(mu4) wood、水(shui3)water、火(huo3) fire、土(tu3) earth respectively, together as 五行山(wu3 xing2 shan). The monkey, who considered himself equal to heaven, was oppressed and imprisoned under the mountains.
That’s why we always say, you can’t escape from the Buddha’s palm. 逃不出如來佛掌心(tao2 bu4 chi ru2 l ai2 f o2 zhang3 xin), which has been part of our philosophy of life. Can you escape from the law of nature? The smug monkey thought he was insurmountable with the weapon and the jutsu. His 十萬八千里(shi2 wan4 ba qian li3) , a hundred and eight thousand li, after all has been proved to be within the palm of the Buddha.
Or, the Buddha’s palm could be that of a mean boss, a strict teacher, a tiger mom, a nagging wife, a violent husband . . . .
(TO BE CONTIUNED)
東海龍王=东海龙王
壽命=寿命
閻(羅)王=阎(罗)王
弼馬溫=弼马温
齊天大聖=齐天大圣
蟠桃園=蟠桃园
到此一遊=到此一游
如來佛=如来佛
觔斗雲=觔斗云
十萬八千里=十万八千里
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