Now the story tells how the Handsome Monkey King returned home in glory. Having wiped out the Monster of Havoc and carried off a great saber, day after day he drilled in the martial arts, setting the little monkeys to chop bamboo into pike-staves and whittle wood into swords, to make banners and pennants and blow signal-whistles, to advance and fall back, to pitch camp and raise the stockade — and so they sported for a good long while.
Then one day, sitting still in quiet thought, he reflected. “Here we all are at our games — but I fear our play may turn to earnest. We might alarm some king of men, or some King of Birds or King of Beasts might take it for a provocation and charge that we are drilling soldiers in revolt, and raise an army to come and destroy us. With your bamboo poles and wooden swords, how could you face such a foe? We must have keen swords and halberds for that. What is to be done now?”
Hearing this, the monkeys were each and all dismayed. “Your Majesty's foresight reaches far,” they said, “but there is simply nowhere to get such things.”
As they spoke, four old monkeys stepped forth — two were bare-rumped horse-apes, two were long-armed gibbons — and came before him. “Your Majesty,” they said, “if it is keen weapons you wish to procure, nothing is easier.”
“How is it easy?” said Wukong.
“Eastward from this mountain of ours,” said the four monkeys, “two hundred lǐ across the water, lies the realm of Aolai. Within that realm there is a throne, and the city teems with soldiers and subjects beyond number; there are bound to be smiths who work gold and silver, copper and iron. If Your Majesty goes there and either buys or has forged a stock of weapons, and then trains us in them to guard our mountain domain — that is truly what they call the plan for securing lasting peace.”
Hearing this, Wukong was filled with delight. “You amuse yourselves here,” he said. “Wait while I go and return.”
Now the Handsome Monkey King leapt onto his somersault cloud, and in a single instant had crossed the two hundred lǐ of water. Sure enough, there across the way stood a walled city — six avenues and three markets, ten thousand households and a thousand gates — with people coming and going, all abroad in the broad light of day.
“There must be ready-made weapons down there,” Wukong thought to himself. “I could go down and buy a few — but better still to work a bit of magic and simply spirit a few away.”
So he pinched his fingers into a spell, recited an incantation, drew in a breath toward the Xun quarter, and blew it out with a whoosh — and at once a wild gale arose, flinging sand and rolling stones, a fearsome thing indeed:
Where the cannon-clouds rise, they rock Heaven and Earth;
black fog and dark haze darken the wide world.
On river and sea the waves heave, and fish and crabs cower;
in mountain and forest the trees snap, and tigers and wolves flee.
In every trade there is no merchant left;
in every walk of life not a soul to be seen.
On his dais the sovereign withdraws to the inner court;
before the steps the civil and military men scatter to their offices.
The thousand-year throne is all blown over;
the five-phoenix tower is shaken to its roots.
Where the wind struck, it scattered the king of Aolai in panic, and through the three markets and six avenues every house shut its gates and bolted its doors — no one dared stir.
Only then did Wukong bring his cloud down, charge straight in through the palace gates, and make his way to the armory and the arsenal. He threw open the doors, and inside lay weapons beyond counting: sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, battle-axes, máo, sickles, whips, rakes, maces, truncheons, bows, crossbows, forks, and pikes — every kind ready to hand.
“How many can one man carry?” he said, delighted at the sight. “Better to use a body-dividing spell and haul them all off.”
So the Handsome Monkey King plucked a handful of his own hairs, chewed them to bits in his mouth, spat them out, recited the incantation, and cried, “Change!” They turned into a thousand-odd little monkeys, all snatching and grabbing at once: the strong ones took five or seven pieces, the weaker ones two or three, until they had cleaned the place out utterly. Then he trod his cloud, worked a fetching-spell, called the gale back round, led his little monkeys, and all returned to their own place.
Now the monkeys of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, big and small, were playing outside their cave-mouth when suddenly they heard the wind come roaring, and saw, filling the mid-air in forking, branching shapes, a boundless, shoreless host of monkey-sprites — and they took fright and bolted, scattering and hiding every which way.
Presently the Handsome Monkey King brought his cloud down, gathered in the mist, gave his body a shake, took back his hairs, and piled all the weapons in a heap before the mountain. “Little ones,” he called, “come and draw your arms!”
When the monkeys looked, they saw only Wukong standing alone on the open ground, and they all came running to kowtow and ask what had happened. He told them the whole business — how he had raised the gale and carried off the weapons — from start to finish. They finished their thanks and then fell to snatching sabers and seizing swords, grabbing axes and fighting over spears, pulling bows and drawing crossbows, hollering and whooping, and sported the whole day long.
The next day they drew up their ranks as before. Wukong mustered the whole troop of monkeys, and they came to over forty-seven thousand head.
Soon every wild beast on the mountain was roused — wolves and serpents, tigers and leopards; the jīng-deer, muntjac, and water-deer; the bā-sow; foxes, wildcats, badgers, and raccoon-dogs; lions and elephants, the lion-like suānní, orangutans, bears, deer, wild boar, mountain-oxen, antelopes, the blue-grey rhino-ox, the jiǎo-beast, and the divine mastiff — and more besides; demon-kings of every sort, seventy-two caves in all, who came to do homage and honor the Monkey King as their sovereign.
Each year they offered tribute, and at the four seasons they answered the roll. Some fell in with the ranks for drill, and some came at the appointed times to render their grain. All in good order, they made the single Mountain of Flowers and Fruit as tight as an iron cask, as strong as a city of metal. Demon-kings from every quarter, besides, came presenting gongs and drums, presenting bright banners, presenting helmets and armor; in milling throngs, day after day they trained in maneuvers and mustered for war.
The Handsome Monkey King was in the midst of his pleasure when suddenly he turned to the throng. “You are all well drilled with bow and crossbow and skilled in arms,” he said, “but this saber of mine is downright clumsy and unwieldy, and does not suit me. What is to be done?”
The four old monkeys stepped forward and submitted. “Your Majesty is an immortal sage, and common weapons will not serve. But we wonder — is Your Majesty able to go beneath the water?”
“Since I heard the Way,” said Wukong, “I have the power of the seventy-two transformations of the Earthly Fiends, and my somersault cloud has boundless magic; I am adept at hiding my form and vanishing my body, at raising spells and fetching-spells. To the heavens there is a road; into the earth there is a gate. I pass the sun and moon and cast no shadow; I enter metal and stone and meet no barrier; water cannot drown me, fire cannot burn me. What place could I not reach?”
“Since Your Majesty has such powers,” said the four monkeys, “beneath this iron-plank bridge of ours, the water runs through to the Dragon Palace of the Eastern Sea. If Your Majesty is willing to go down, seek out the old Dragon King and ask him for some weapon — would that not be just to your liking?”
Hearing this, Wukong was delighted. “Wait while I go and return.”
The Handsome Monkey King leapt to the bridge-head, worked a water-parting spell, pinched his fingers into the sign, and with a plunge bored down into the waves; he opened a path through the water and went straight to the floor of the Eastern Ocean.
As he went, he suddenly met a sea-patrolling yakṣa, who barred his way. “What divine sage is this, pushing the waters aside?” the yakṣa demanded. “Speak plainly, that I may announce you and receive you properly.”
“I am Sun Wukong,” said Wukong, “the heaven-born sage of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, your old Dragon King's near neighbor. How do you not know me?”
When the yakṣa heard this, he hurried back to the Crystal Palace to relay word. “Your Majesty, outside is one Sun Wukong, a heaven-born sage of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, who calls himself Your Majesty's near neighbor and is about to enter the palace.”
Ao Guang, Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, rose at once and, with his dragon-sons and dragon-grandsons, his shrimp-soldiers and crab-generals, came out of the palace to greet him. “Honored Immortal, pray enter, pray enter.”
They met within the palace, and when Wukong had been seated in the place of honor and tea had been presented, the Dragon King asked, “When did the Honored Immortal attain the Way? What immortal arts were you taught?”
“Ever since my birth I left home to cultivate myself,” said Wukong, “and won a body free of birth and death. Lately, because I am drilling my children and grandchildren and guarding our mountain cave, I find myself without a weapon. I have long heard that my worthy neighbor enjoys a jasper palace and halls of shell, where there must be spirit-arms to spare — so I have come expressly to beg one of you.”
Hearing this, the Dragon King could hardly refuse, and promptly ordered the Mandarin-fish Chief Officer to bring out a great long-handled saber and present it. “Old Sun does not know how to use a saber,” said Wukong. “Pray grant me something else.”
The Dragon King then ordered the Whitefish Marshal, leading the Eel Strongman, to haul out a nine-pronged fork. Wukong jumped down, took it in his hand, ran through a set of moves, and set it aside. “Light, light, light — and not to my hand either. Pray grant me another.”
“Honored Immortal, you have not looked closely,” the Dragon King laughed. “This fork weighs three thousand six hundred jīn.”
“Not to my hand,” said Wukong, “not to my hand.”
Fearful now, the Dragon King ordered the Bream Admiral and the Carp Commander to haul out a painted-shaft Sky-Square halberd. That halberd weighed seven thousand two hundred jīn. Seeing it, Wukong ran up, took it in his hand, threw a few stances and flourished a couple of passes, then planted it in the middle. “Still light — light, light.”
The old Dragon King was more frightened than ever. “Honored Immortal, in all my palace there is only this one halberd so heavy; there is no other weapon at all.”
“As the ancients said,” laughed Wukong, “'never fear that the Dragon King of the sea has no treasures!' Go and search again; if there is anything to my liking, I will pay for each piece.”
“Truly there is no more,” said the Dragon King.
Just as they were speaking, the Dragon Mother and the Dragon Daughter slipped out from behind. “Your Majesty, looking at this sage, he is no ordinary being. In our sea-treasury there is that piece of divine iron that fixes the bed of the River of Heaven, and these past few days its rosy radiance has blazed and its auspicious vapors have surged — might it not be that its hour to appear has come, now that this sage is here?”
“That,” said the Dragon King, “is the very gauge with which Yu the Great, in the days of taming the floods, fixed the depths of the rivers and seas — a piece of spirit-iron. What use could it be?”
“Never mind whether it is of use or not,” said the Dragon Mother. “Just give it to him, and let him remake it however he likes; only see him out the palace gate, and there's an end of it.”
The old Dragon King did as she said and told Wukong everything. “Bring it out and let me see,” said Wukong.
The Dragon King waved his hands. “It cannot be lifted, it cannot be carried — the Honored Immortal must go and look at it himself.”
“Where is it?” said Wukong. “Lead me there.”
The Dragon King duly guided him into the middle of the sea-treasury, where suddenly ten thousand rays of golden light appeared. “The thing giving off that light — that is it,” said the Dragon King, pointing.
Wukong tucked up his robe, stepped forward, and felt it with his hand: it was an iron pillar, about as thick as a peck-measure and more than two zhàng long. Putting out all his strength, he gripped it with both hands. “A bit too thick and too long — if it were a little shorter and thinner it would do.”
No sooner had he spoken than the treasure grew several chǐ shorter and one span thinner. Wukong hefted it again. “Thinner still would be better.”
And truly the treasure grew several fēn thinner again. Wukong was overjoyed, and carrying it out of the sea-treasury to look, he found that its two ends were two bands of gold, and the middle a length of black iron. Hard against one band was a line of engraved characters, which read: As-You-Will Gold-Banded Rod — weight thirteen thousand five hundred jīn.
“This treasure must answer to one's wishes,” he thought in secret delight.
As he walked, pondering in his mind and muttering aloud, he kept hefting it. “Shorter and thinner still would be finer yet.” By the time he brought it outside, it was only some two zhàng long and as thick as a bowl's mouth.
Watch him work his magic now — flourishing his passes, he came spinning back through the Crystal Palace. He frightened the old Dragon King out of his wits and scattered the souls of the little dragon-princes; the turtles, soft-shells, great tortoises, and river-lizards all drew in their necks, and the fish, shrimp, sea-turtles, and crabs all hid their heads.
Wukong held the treasure in his hand and sat down in the Crystal Palace hall. “Many thanks, worthy neighbor, for your kindness,” he said to the Dragon King with a smile.
“Don't mention it, don't mention it,” said the Dragon King.
“This piece of iron is fine to use,” said Wukong, “but there is one more thing.”
“What else does the Honored Immortal have to say?”
“Had there been no such iron just now, it would have been all right; but now that I have it in hand, I have no clothing to match it on my body. What is to be done? If you have any armor here, just give me a suit, and I'll thank you for the whole lot.”
“That I really do not have,” said the Dragon King.
“One guest does not trouble two hosts,” said Wukong. “If you have none, I simply will not leave by this gate.”
“May I trouble the Honored Immortal to go round to another sea — perhaps there is some there.”
“Going to three houses is not as good as sitting at one,” said Wukong again. “I beg you, by all means, for a suit.”
“Truly I have none; if I had, I would present it at once.”
“Truly none? Then I'll just try this iron out on you!”
“Honored Immortal, do not raise your hand, do not raise your hand!” said the Dragon King, panicking. “Let me see whether my brothers have any; I'll have a suit sent.”
“Where are these brothers of yours?” said Wukong.
“My younger brothers are Ao Qin, Dragon King of the Southern Sea; Ao Shun, Dragon King of the Northern Sea; and Ao Run, Dragon King of the Western Sea.”
“Old Sun will not go, will not go. As the saying goes, 'three on credit are no match for two in hand.' I only ask that you make do, high or low, and send me a suit, and there's an end of it.”
“There is no need for the Honored Immortal to go,” said the old Dragon. “I have here an iron drum and a golden bell; whenever there is an urgent matter, we beat the drum till it sounds and strike the bell till it rings, and my brothers arrive in an instant.”
“If that's so, go quickly and beat the drum and strike the bell.” Sure enough, the River-Lizard General went to strike the bell, and the Soft-shell Marshal came to beat the drum.
In a little while, where the bell and drum sounded, sure enough the three other Dragon Kings were roused, and in a moment they arrived and all gathered together outside.
“Eldest brother,” said Ao Qin, “what urgent matter is it, that you beat the drum and strike the bell?”
“Worthy brothers, it's hard to tell,” said the old Dragon. “There's some heaven-born sage from the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit who came this morning and claimed me for a neighbor. Then he demanded a weapon: I offered a steel fork — he scorned it as small; I presented a painted halberd — he scorned it as light; and that piece of divine iron that fixes the bed of the River of Heaven, he took up himself and ran through a few passes with it. Now he sits in the palace and demands armor besides. I have none here, so I sounded the bell and rang the drum to summon you, worthy brothers. Have any of you a suit of armor? Give him one, and let us pack him off out the gate, and there's an end of it.”
Ao Qin, hearing this, flew into a rage. “Brothers, shall we not muster our troops and seize him?”
“Don't speak of seizing him, don't speak of it,” said the old Dragon. “That piece of iron — grasp it the least bit and you die; knock against it the least bit and you perish; brush it and your skin splits; rub it and your very sinews are hurt.”
“Second brother must not come to blows with him,” said Ao Run, Dragon King of the Western Sea. “Just scrape together a suit of armor for him, pack him off out the gate, and then send up a memorial to High Heaven — Heaven will punish him itself.”
“Rightly said,” said Ao Shun, Dragon King of the Northern Sea. “I have here a pair of lotus-fiber cloud-stepping shoes.”
“I have brought along a suit of golden chain-mail,” said Ao Run, Dragon King of the Western Sea.
“And I have a phoenix-winged cap of purple gold,” said Ao Qin, Dragon King of the Southern Sea.
The old Dragon was overjoyed, led them in to meet Wukong in the Crystal Palace, and presented these to him. Wukong donned the gold cap, the golden armor, and the cloud-shoes, all properly arranged, set the As-You-Will Rod in motion, and fought his way out, calling to the assembled dragons, “Sorry to trouble you, sorry to trouble you!”
The four Dragon Kings were deeply aggrieved, and went off to confer about submitting a memorial — but of that, no more for now.
See how this Monkey King parted the water-path, went straight back to the iron-plank bridge-head, and shot up to the surface. There he saw the four old monkeys, leading the rest, all waiting at the bridge-side. Suddenly they saw Wukong leap out of the waves, not a drop of water on him, and come gleaming golden up onto the bridge. They were so awed that the monkeys all knelt down together. “Your Majesty, how splendid you look! How splendid!”
Wukong, his face beaming, mounted the throne and stood the iron rod upright in the middle. The monkeys, not knowing any better, all came to take hold of the treasure — but it was like dragonflies trying to shake an iron tree: they could not budge it a hair. One after another they bit their fingers and stuck out their tongues. “Grandfather! So heavy — however did you manage to bring it here!”
Wukong stepped up, opened his hand, and snatched it up in one grasp. “Everything has its rightful owner,” he said to them with a smile. “This treasure lay suppressing in the sea-treasury for who knows how many thousands of years, and it just so happened to give off its light this very year. The Dragon King took it for nothing but a lump of black iron, and called it the Spirit-Treasure that holds down the bed of the River of Heaven. None of those fellows could so much as lift or carry it, and they asked me to go fetch it myself. At that time this treasure was more than two zhàng long and thick as a peck-measure. When I had grasped it once and minded that it was too big, it shrank a good deal; I bade it smaller, and it shrank again; smaller still, and again it shrank. Looking quickly against the daylight, I found a line of characters on it that read: As-You-Will Gold-Banded Rod — thirteen thousand five hundred jīn. All of you stand back, and watch me make it transform once more.”
He hefted the treasure in his hand and cried, “Small! Small! Small!” — and at once it shrank to the likeness of an embroidery needle, small enough to tuck away inside his ear.
The monkeys were astonished and cried, “Your Majesty, bring it out and play with it some more!”
The Monkey King indeed took it out of his ear, set it on his palm, and cried, “Big! Big! Big!” — and at once it grew thick as a peck-measure again and two zhàng long.
Carried away with delight, he leapt onto the bridge and out of the cave, gripped the treasure in his hand, worked a Heaven-modeling, Earth-imaging transformation, bent his waist, and cried, “Grow!” At once he grew ten thousand zhàng tall — his head like Mount Tai, his waist like a steep ridge, his eyes like lightning, his mouth like a basin of blood, his teeth like swords and halberds; and the rod in his hand reached above to the Thirty-three Heavens and below to the eighteen layers of hell.
As for the tigers, leopards, wolves, and serpents, the mountain-full of monsters, and the demon-kings of the seventy-two caves — they were so terrified they kowtowed and bowed, trembling, their souls scattered and flown. In an instant he withdrew the magic form, changed the treasure back into an embroidery needle, hid it in his ear, and returned to his cave-dwelling. The demon-kings of the various caves, in their alarm, all came to pay homage and offer their congratulations.
At this he threw open a great display of flags and drums, set the bronze gongs ringing, laid out rare delicacies of a hundred flavors, and poured brimming cups of coconut-liquor and grape-wine; he feasted with the throng for a good while, and then drilled them as before.
The Monkey King enfeoffed the four old monkeys as Stalwart Generals; the two bare-rumped horse-apes he named the two Marshals Maliu, and the two long-armed gibbons the two Generals Bengba. All matters of pitching camp and raising the stockade, of reward and punishment, he handed over to the four Stalwart Generals to manage.
Now, his mind at ease, day after day he rode the clouds and drove the mist, roaming the four seas and taking his pleasure over the thousand mountains. He displayed his martial skills and sought out heroes everywhere; he worked his magic and made friends far and wide.
At this time he fell in with seven sworn brothers — the Bull Demon King, the Jiao-Dragon Demon King, the Roc Demon King, the Lion-Camel King, the Macaque King, and the Yu-Rong King — who, with his own Handsome Monkey King, made seven. Day after day they discoursed on letters and on arms, passed the winecups round, played strings and sang, piped and danced — off at dawn and back at dusk, and there was no kind of pleasure they did not taste. They counted the distance of ten thousand lǐ as no more than the path to one's own courtyard gate; as the saying goes, a nod of the head carried them straight past three thousand lǐ, a twist of the waist eight hundred lǐ and more.
One day, in his own cave, he charged the four Stalwart Generals to lay out a banquet and invited the six kings to drink; they slaughtered oxen and horses, made offerings to Heaven and Earth, had the monsters dance and sing, and all drank themselves dead drunk. When the six kings had been seen off, he rewarded his headmen, great and small, with a feast as well; then, leaning in the pine-shade by the iron-plank bridge, in a moment he fell asleep. The four Stalwart Generals led the others to guard around him, and dared not raise their voices.
Then, in his sleep, the Handsome Monkey King saw two men come up holding a warrant on which were the three characters 'Sun Wukong'; without a word of explanation they slipped a rope over him, lassoed the Monkey King's soul away, and dragged him staggering to the edge of a city. The Monkey King gradually felt himself sobering, and when he raised his head and looked, there was an iron placard on the city wall bearing three great characters: 'Land of Darkness.'
All at once the Handsome Monkey King understood. “The Land of Darkness is where King Yama dwells — why have I come here?”
“Your earthly span is due to end today,” said the two men, “and we two, holding the warrant, have come to summon you.”
“Old Sun has leapt clear of the Three Realms and stands outside the Five Phases,” said the Monkey King on hearing this. “I am no longer under his jurisdiction. How dare you, in your blindness, come to summon me?”
But the two death-fetchers only kept tugging and pulling, set on dragging him in. At this the Monkey King's temper flared; he drew the treasure from his ear, gave it a shake until it was thick as a bowl, and with a slight raise of his hand beat the two death-fetchers into a pulp. He freed himself from the rope, flung it aside, brandished the rod, and fought his way into the city. He so terrified the Ox-Head ghost that it dodged this way and hid that, and the Horse-Face ghost that it fled south and north.
The ghost-soldiers rushed up to the Hall of Darkness and reported, “Your Majesties — disaster! Disaster! Outside there's a hairy-faced Thunder God fighting his way in!”
In alarm the Ten Kings of the underworld hastily straightened their robes and came to look; seeing his fierce appearance, they at once drew themselves up in ranks and called out in chorus, “Honored Immortal, leave your name! Honored Immortal, leave your name!”
“Since you do not even know me,” said the Monkey King, “why did you send men to summon me?”
“We dare not, we dare not,” said the Ten Kings. “It must be that the men we sent were mistaken.”
“I am Sun Wukong, the heaven-born sage of the Water-Curtain Cave on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. And what offices are you?”
“We are the Sons of Heaven of the realm of shade, the Ten Kings of the underworld,” they said, bowing.
“Report your names at once,” said Wukong, “and spare yourselves a beating.”
“We are King Qinguang, King Chujiang, King Songdi, King Wuguan, King Yama, King Pingdeng, King Taishan, King Dushi, King Biancheng, and King Zhuanlun.”
“Since you hold royal rank, you are beings of numinous power and spirit-response — why do you not know better? Old Sun has cultivated immortality and attained the Way; my lifespan is equal to Heaven's; I have ascended beyond the Three Realms and leapt clear of the Five Phases. Why have you sent men to seize me?”
“Let the Honored Immortal calm his anger,” said the Ten Kings. “Throughout the world there are many of the same name and surname — could it be that the death-fetcher went to the wrong place?”
“Nonsense! Nonsense!” said Wukong. “As the common saying goes, 'the official may err and the clerk may err, but the man who comes does not err.' Quick — fetch me the register of life and death to look at!”
Hearing this, the Ten Kings at once invited him up to the hall to inspect it.
Wukong, gripping the As-You-Will rod, went straight up onto the Hall of Darkness and sat down facing south in the very center. The Ten Kings at once ordered the registrar-judge in charge of records to bring out the registers for inspection. Not daring to be remiss, the judge went into the records office and brought out five or six registers of documents along with the books of the ten classes.
He examined them one by one: the naked creatures, the furred, the feathered, the crawling, and the scaled-and-shelled and their kinds — none bore his name. Then he came to the monkey-kind, and it turned out that this monkey resembles humans yet is not entered among human names; resembles the naked creatures yet is not placed within any nation's bounds; resembles the running beasts yet is not under the unicorn's rule; resembles the flying birds yet is not under the phoenix's jurisdiction.
There was another register, which Wukong examined himself, down to entry one thousand three hundred and fifty under the character 'soul,' where Sun Wukong's name was at last recorded: Heaven-born Stone Monkey — allotted span three hundred and forty-two years, a natural death.
“I don't even keep count of how long my span is,” said Wukong. “I need only strike out the name and be done. Bring me a brush.”
The judge hurriedly took up a brush and dipped it full of rich ink. Wukong took the register and, for the whole monkey-kind, struck out every one that bore a name. He flung the register down. “Settled! Settled! This time I'm no longer under your rule!” And laying about with the rod all the way, he fought his way out of the Land of Darkness.
The Ten Kings dared not go near him; they all went to the Cuiyun Palace and together paid homage to the Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha, conferring about sending up a memorial to report the matter to High Heaven — but of that, no more for now.
As the Monkey King fought his way out of the city, he suddenly tripped on a tangled knot of grass, took a stumbling fall, and woke with a start — it had all been a mere dream. Just as he stretched himself awake, he heard the four Stalwart Generals and the other monkeys calling out, “Your Majesty! How much wine did you drink, that you've slept the whole night and still aren't awake?”
“The sleeping is a small matter,” said Wukong. “I dreamt that two men came to summon me, and took me to outside the city gate of the Land of Darkness — and only just now did I wake to it. There I worked my magic, shouted my way to the Hall of Darkness, and quarreled with the Ten Kings; I looked at our register of life and death, and every one of our names I struck out — so none of us is under that fellow's rule any longer.”
The monkeys kowtowed in thanks. From this time many of the mountain-monkeys never grew old, because their names were no longer in the registers of the shades.
When the Handsome Monkey King had finished telling the affair, the four Stalwart Generals reported it to the demon-kings of the various caves, who all came to offer congratulations. Within a few days the six sworn brothers came again to pay their respects, and as soon as they heard the reason — the striking-out of the names — every one of them was delighted; and they gathered in merriment day after day — but no more of this.
The tale now turns to that Supreme Sage of High Heaven, the Greatly Merciful and Benevolent One — the Jade Emperor, Great Celestial Worthy, High Sovereign of the Profound Vault — who one day sat enthroned in the Golden-Gated Cloud Palace, the Hall of Miraculous Mist, gathering his immortal officials civil and martial at the hour of morning audience.
Suddenly the Perfected One Qiu Hongji came forward and memorialized. “Your Majesty, outside the Hall of Comprehensive Brightness the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, Ao Guang, has come to submit a memorial and awaits your summons.”
“Have him summoned in,” the Jade Emperor decreed. Ao Guang was ushered to below the Hall of Miraculous Mist; his obeisance done, an usher-immortal at the side took up his memorial, and the Jade Emperor read it through from the start. The memorial said:
“From the water-element lower world, the East Pūrvavideha Continent, the Eastern Sea, your minister the little dragon Ao Guang respectfully memorializes the Great Celestial Holy Lord, High Sovereign of the Profound Vault:
“Recently, because of one Sun Wukong — a demon-immortal born on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, dwelling in the Water-Curtain Cave — who bullied this little dragon, forcibly occupied my watery dwelling, demanded a weapon, worked his spells and showed his might, demanded armor, and gave free rein to his ferocity and force; he alarmed and injured my water-tribe and scared off the turtles and tuo-alligators; the South Sea dragon trembled in terror, the West Sea dragon was wretched and grieving, and the North Sea dragon drew in his head and submitted.
“Your minister Ao Guang bent low in obeisance, presented the divine-treasure iron rod, the phoenix-wing golden cap, together with the chain-mail and cloud-stepping shoes, and saw him out with courtesy. Yet still he plied his martial arts and displayed his magic, saying only 'Pardon the trouble! Pardon the trouble!' — truly without rival, and exceedingly hard to control.
“Your minister now submits this memorial, humbly awaiting the sage judgment, and earnestly begs for celestial troops to capture this demon-spawn, that the seas and mountains may be at peace and the lower world secure. Respectfully submitted.”
The Holy Emperor finished reading and issued his decree. “Let the dragon-god return to his sea; We shall at once dispatch generals to seize him.” The old Dragon King kowtowed his thanks and withdrew.
Below, the Heavenly Master, Immortal Elder Ge, came forward and memorialized. “Your Majesty, King Qinguang of the underworld offices respectfully presents a memorial from the Lord of the Dark Realm, the Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha.”
Beside him a herald jade-maiden took up the memorial, and the Jade Emperor likewise read it through from the start. The memorial said:
“The realm of darkness is the shadow-office of the earth. Heaven has its gods and Earth its ghosts; yin and yang revolve in turn. Birds have their birth and beasts their death; male and female alternate again and again. Generation upon generation, transformation upon transformation, conceiving females and forming males — this is the order of nature, and it cannot be altered.
“Now there is one Sun Wukong, a Heaven-born demon-monkey of the Water-Curtain Cave on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, who indulges in evil and works violence and will not submit to summons. He worked his magic and killed off the ghost-runners of the Nine Shades; relying on his power, he terrified the Ten Merciful Kings; he raised an uproar in the Hall of Darkness and forcibly erased the names. Thereby he has caused the monkey-kind to go unbound and the macaque beasts to be long-lived, the cycle of birth-and-death extinguished, each of them without life or death.
“This humble monk submits this memorial, presuming to offend the celestial majesty, and humbly begs that divine troops be dispatched to subdue this demon, to set yin and yang in order and forever secure the nether courts. Respectfully submitted.”
The Jade Emperor finished reading and issued his decree. “Let the underworld lord return to the nether courts; We shall at once dispatch generals to seize him.” King Qinguang too kowtowed his thanks and withdrew.
The Great Celestial Worthy summoned the assembled immortal officials, civil and martial. “In what year was this demon-monkey born and bred,” he asked, “of what age its origin, that it should have attained the Way like this?”
Before the words were done, from the ranks darted forth the Thousand-Li Eye and the Wind-Following Ear. “This monkey is the Heaven-born Stone Monkey of three hundred years ago. At the time we thought nothing of it, and we know not where in these years he cultivated to immortality, subduing dragons and taming tigers, and has now forcibly erased the death-register.”
“Which divine general shall go down and subdue him?” said the Jade Emperor.
Before the words were done, from the ranks darted forth the Great White Star, Chang'geng, who prostrated himself and memorialized. “Supreme Sage, all in the Three Realms that possess the nine apertures may cultivate immortality. But this monkey is a body nurtured by Heaven and Earth, a form conceived by sun and moon; he too is crowned by Heaven and treads the Earth, drinks the dew and feeds on rosy mist. Now that he has attained the immortal Way and has the power to subdue dragons and tame tigers, how does he differ from a man?
“Your servant beseeches Your Majesty: bearing in mind the merciful grace of creation, send down an edict of amnesty, summon him to the upper world, grant him some office great or small, and enter his name in the rolls, to keep him bound here. If he accepts the celestial mandate, promote and reward him later; if he defies the mandate, then seize him on the spot. On the one hand, the host need not be mobilized nor the troops wearied; on the other, an immortal is won by proper means.”
The Jade Emperor was greatly pleased on hearing this. “As you propose.” He at once ordered the Star-Officer Wenqu to draft the edict, and the Great White Gold Star to carry the amnesty.
The Gold Star received the decree, went out beyond the Southern Heaven Gate, brought his auspicious cloud down, and came straight to the Water-Curtain Cave on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. “I am a heavenly envoy sent from Heaven,” he said to the little monkeys, “with an imperial decree here, inviting your great king to the upper world. Report it at once.”
The monkeys outside the cave passed the word layer by layer to the cave's inmost depths. “Your Majesty, outside there is an old man carrying a roll of documents, who says he is a heavenly envoy sent from Heaven above with a decree inviting you.”
The Handsome Monkey King was greatly pleased to hear it. “These last two days I have been minded to go up to Heaven for a look, and here a heavenly envoy comes to invite me!” He called, “Quickly, show him in.”
The Monkey King hastily straightened his cap and robe and went out the gate to receive him. The Gold Star walked straight to the center and stood facing south. “I am the Great White Gold Star of the West; bearing the Jade Emperor's edict of amnesty, I have come down to invite you up to Heaven to receive the immortal rolls.”
“I am much obliged to you, venerable Star, for descending here,” laughed Wukong, and bade his little ones lay out a banquet to entertain him.
“With the decree upon me, I dare not linger,” said the Gold Star. “Let the great king come along with me at once; after your glorious promotion, we may talk at our leisure.”
“Thank you for the honor of your visit — forgive my poor hospitality, forgive it,” said Wukong. He at once called the four Stalwart Generals and charged them, “Drill the children with care. When I have gone up to Heaven to spy out the road, it will be well for me to bring you all up to dwell there together.” The four Stalwart Generals assented.
Then the Monkey King and the Gold Star sent up their cloud-heads and rose into the void of the sky. It was just as the verse says:
Promoted on high to a rank among the celestial immortals,
his name set down within the cloud-ranks' precious rolls.
There is no telling, in the end, what office and title he was granted; listen to the explanation in the next chapter.