廟宇已姓孫了 The Temple Has Changed Its Name
卻說那大聖已至灌江口，搖身一變，變作二郎爺爺的模樣，按下雲頭，徑入廟裡。鬼判不能相認，一個個磕頭迎接。他坐中間，點查香火：見李虎拜還的三牲，張龍許下的保福，趙甲求子的文書，錢丙告病的良願。正看處，有人報：「又一個爺爺來了。」眾鬼判急急觀看，無不驚心。真君卻道：「有個甚麼齊天大聖，才來這裡否？」眾鬼判道：「不曾見甚麼大聖，只有一個爺爺在裡面查點哩。」真君撞進門，大聖見了，現出本相道：「郎君不消嚷，廟宇已姓孫了。」這真君即舉三尖兩刃神鋒，劈臉就砍。那猴王使個身法，讓過神鋒。掣出那繡花針兒，幌一幌，碗來粗細，趕到前，對面相還。兩個嚷嚷鬧鬧，打出廟門，半霧半雲，且行且戰，復打到花果山。慌得那四大天王等眾，隄防愈緊。這康、張太尉等迎著真君，合心努力，把那美猴王圍繞不題。却说那大圣已至灌江口，摇身一变，变作二郎爷爷的模样，按下云头，径入庙里。鬼判不能相认，一个个磕头迎接。他坐中间，点查香火：见李虎拜还的三牲，张龙许下的保福，赵甲求子的文书，钱丙告病的良愿。正看处，有人报：「又一个爷爷来了。」众鬼判急急观看，无不惊心。真君却道：「有个甚么齐天大圣，才来这里否？」众鬼判道：「不曾见甚么大圣，只有一个爷爷在里面查点哩。」真君撞进门，大圣见了，现出本相道：「郎君不消嚷，庙宇已姓孙了。」这真君即举三尖两刃神锋，劈脸就砍。那猴王使个身法，让过神锋。掣出那绣花针儿，幌一幌，碗来粗细，赶到前，对面相还。两个嚷嚷闹闹，打出庙门，半雾半云，且行且战，复打到花果山。慌得那四大天王等众，隄防愈紧。这康、张太尉等迎着真君，合心努力，把那美猴王围绕不题。
逐句解 Line by line
Now the Great Sage had already reached Guanjiang Mouth, where he shook himself, transformed into the very likeness of Lord Erlang, brought down his cloud, and walked straight into the temple.
二郎爺爺, His Lordship Erlang, is what the locals call him. And that is what the monkey turns into. He is fleeing to his pursuer's temple wearing his pursuer's face.
The ghost-judges could not tell the difference, and one by one kowtowed in welcome.
The 鬼判, the ghost-judges, are the temple's spirit staff. They cannot tell the difference, and kowtow to the impostor exactly as they would to their own god — which is either a tribute to the disguise or a comment on how closely temple staff look at anyone.
Seated in the middle, he reviewed the offerings: the three sacrifices Li Hu had pledged in thanks, the blessing Zhang Long had vowed, the petition Zhao Jia had made for a son, the prayer for recovery from illness submitted by Qian Bing.
A wonderfully concrete catalogue of village piety: 三牲, the three sacrifices, pledged in thanks; a vow of blessing; a petition for a son; a prayer for recovery from illness. And they are filed under deadpan generic names — 李虎 Li the Tiger, 張龍 Zhang the Dragon, 趙甲 Zhao the First, 錢丙 Qian the Third, the last two counted off by the heavenly stems like defendants A and B. Enthroned in a stolen face, the monkey plays the receiving god to the life.
Just as he was looking them over, someone reported, "Another Lordship has arrived!"
The comic pivot. There is a second Erlang at the gate, and the staff are about to meet two identical gods.
The ghost-judges hurried to look, and every one of them was alarmed.
無不驚心, not one of them but was startled. Their panic is the engine of the scene, and entirely reasonable.
But the True Lord asked, "Has some so-called Great Sage Equal to Heaven just come here?"
The real Erlang, arriving, asks after the Great Sage — not yet aware that the Great Sage is sitting on his chair, wearing his face, going through his accounts.
The ghost-judges said, "We've seen no Great Sage — there's only a Lordship inside, going over the accounts."
查點 is checking the accounts. The staff's literal-minded honesty is the funniest thing in the passage: there is indeed only one Lordship inside. It simply happens to be the wrong one.
The True Lord burst in; the Great Sage, seeing him, resumed his true form and said, "No need to shout, my lord — this temple has changed its name to Sun."
廟宇已姓孫了, the temple now bears the surname Sun — one of the most quoted lines in the chapter, and a perfect piece of squatter's cheek. Chinese temples and family properties are spoken of by the surname that holds them, so the claim is not that he has redecorated but that the deeds have changed hands. 本相 is his true form.
The True Lord at once raised his three-pointed, double-edged blade and slashed straight at his face.
Pleasantries over. Erlang attacks on the instant, and the duel resumes inside the shrine.
The Monkey King used a dodging move and slipped past the divine blade.
身法 is a body-technique, an evasive move — footwork, in effect. Whatever else the chase has cost him, the monkey's agility is untouched.
He whipped out the embroidery needle, gave it a shake until it was as thick as a bowl, rushed forward, and struck back face to face.
幌一幌, gave it a shake; 碗來粗細, as thick as a bowl. The embroidery needle is a cudgel again. 相還, struck back (相 is xiāng, 還 is huán).
The two of them, shouting and brawling, fought out the temple gate, half in mist and half in cloud, fighting as they went, and battled all the way back to Flower-Fruit Mountain.
且行且戰, fighting as they went (行 is xíng). The running battle carries them from Guanjiang all the way back to Flower-Fruit Mountain, where the entire heavenly host is waiting.
This threw the Four Heavenly Kings and the rest into alarm, and they tightened their guard all the more.
隄防 (dī fáng) is to guard against, to be on watch. The sudden return of the two combatants startles the besiegers into pulling their ranks tight.
The Marshals Kang and Zhang and the others met the True Lord, and joining their strength, surrounded the Handsome Monkey King — of which no more for now.
迎著, came to meet (著 is zhe). 不題 closes the thread and lifts the narrative away from the surrounded monkey to the gods watching from above — where the chapter's ending is about to be decided without him.
This is one of the most beloved comic episodes in the novel, and its premise is pure effrontery: the fleeing monkey takes refuge in his pursuer's own temple, disguised as the pursuer himself. Seated on Erlang's altar in Erlang's likeness, he receives the kowtows of the ghost-clerks and gravely reviews the parishioners' offerings — a catalogue of village piety, sacrifices pledged, sons prayed for, illnesses to be cured, filed under the deadpan generic names Li the Tiger, Zhang the Dragon, Zhao the First, Qian the Third. The humour is in the perfect calm of the imposture: the Great Sage, hunted across earth and sky, sits playing the receiving god as though he had all the time in the world, and the joke crystallises in his greeting to the real Erlang — 廟宇已姓孫了, this temple has changed its name to Sun. Squatter's insolence raised to an art.
The episode is also a small masterpiece of the double, a motif Wú Chéng'ēn handles with relish. For a moment there are two identical Erlangs, and the temple staff — honest and literal-minded — cannot tell god from impostor; their flat report that there is only a Lordship inside going over the accounts is funny precisely because it is true. The comedy of indistinguishable doubles has a long life in world literature, but here it carries a particular charge: the monkey has become so complete a master of transformation that he can wear his enemy's identity. Yet the disguise, unlike the shrine, is not a trap but a taunt — he does not try to ambush Erlang, only to occupy his seat and enjoy his discomfiture. When the real Erlang bursts in, the monkey drops the pretence at once and the duel resumes, fought out the temple gate and all the way back to Flower-Fruit Mountain.
Beneath the comedy the chapter is quietly gathering its forces for the end. The running battle returns the monkey to his home mountain, where Heaven's full strength is arrayed — the Four Heavenly Kings, Heavenly King Li with his mirror, the encircling net of celestial troops — and the narrative, with its closing 不題, lifts away from the surrounded fugitive to the watching gods above. The stage is being set for the intervention the chase alone could never accomplish: the monkey cannot be outfought or outrun, and even the mirror only pins down his location. What remains is for a higher power to strike from outside the contest entirely — and in the next passages Guanyin and Laozi, watching from the South Heaven Gate, will debate which of them is to do it. The temple episode is the last moment of the monkey fully in his element, unsubdued and irrepressible, before the descent of Laozi's ring brings the long chase to a close. (On the cult of Erlang at Guanjiang and his temple's ghost-clerks, see the notes on popular religion; the surnames Li, Zhang, Zhao and Qian are the conventional Chinese equivalents of Tom, Dick and Harry.)