The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 1

by Unknown

  Enfold all life supreme humaneness would

  And teach all things how become good they should.

  To know cyclic time’s work, if that’s your quest,

  Read Tale of Woes Dispelled on Journey West.2

  We heard that, in the order of Heaven and Earth, a single period consisted of 129,600 years. Dividing this period into twelve epochs were the twelve stems of Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, Yu, Xu, and Hai, with each epoch having 10,800 years. Considered as the horary circle, the sequence would be thus: the first sign of dawn appears in the hour of Zi, while at Chou the cock crows; daybreak occurs at Yin, and the sun rises at Mao; Chen comes after breakfast, and by Si everything is planned; at Wu the sun arrives at its meridian, and it declines westward by Wei; the evening meal comes during the hour of Shen, and the sun sinks completely at Yu; twilight sets in at Xu, and people rest by the hour of Hai. This sequence may also be understood macrocosmically. At the end of the epoch of Xu, Heaven and Earth were obscure and all things were indistinct. With the passing of 5,400 years, the beginning of Hai was the epoch of darkness. This moment was named Chaos, because there were neither human beings nor the two spheres. After another 5,400 years Hai ended, and as the creative force began to work after great perseverance, the epoch of Zi drew near and again brought gradual development. Shao Kangjie3 said:

  When to the middle of Zi winter moved,

  No change by Heaven’s mind had been approved.

  The male principle had but barely stirred,

  But the birth of all things was still deferred.

  At this point, the firmament first acquired its foundation. With another 5,400 years came the Zi epoch; the ethereal and the light rose up to form the four phenomena of the sun, the moon, the stars, and the Heavenly bodies. Hence it is said, the Heaven was created at Zi. This epoch came to its end in another 5,400 years, and the sky began to harden as the Chou epoch approached. The Classic of Change said:

  Great was the male principle;

  Supreme, the female!

  They made all things,

  In obedience to Heaven.

  At this point, the Earth became solidified. In another 5,400 years after the arrival of the Chou epoch, the heavy and the turbid condensed below and formed the five elements of water, fire, mountain, stone, and earth. Hence it is said, the Earth was created at Chou. With the passing of another 5,400 years, the Chou epoch came to its end and all things began to grow at the beginning of the Yin epoch. The Book of Calendar said:

  The Heavenly aura descended;

  The earthly aura rose up.

  Heaven and Earth copulated,

  And all things were born.

  At this point, Heaven and Earth were bright and fair; the yin had intercourse with the yang. In another 5,400 years, during the Yin epoch, humans, beasts, and fowls came into being, and thus the so-called three forces of Heaven, Earth, and Man were established. Hence it is said, man was born at Yin.

  Following Pan Gu’s construction of the universe, the rule of the Three August Ones, and the ordering of the relations by the Five Thearchs,4 the world was divided into four great continents. They were: the East Pūrvavideha Continent, the West Aparagodānīya Continent, the South Jambūdvīpa Continent, and the North Uttarakuru Continent. This book is solely concerned with the East Pūrvavideha Continent.5

  Beyond the ocean there was a country named Aolai. It was near a great ocean, in the midst of which was located the famous Flower-Fruit Mountain. This mountain, which constituted the chief range of the Ten Islets and formed the origin of the Three Islands,6 came into being after the creation of the world. As a testimonial to its magnificence, there is the following poetic rhapsody:

  Its majesty commands the wide ocean;

  Its splendor rules the jasper sea;

  Its majesty commands the wide ocean

  When, like silver mountains, the tide sweeps fishes into caves;

  Its splendor rules the jasper sea

  When snowlike billows send forth serpents from the deep.

  On the southwest side pile up tall plateaus;

  From the Eastern Sea arise soaring peaks.

  There are crimson ridges and portentous rocks,

  Precipitous cliffs and prodigious peaks.

  Atop the crimson ridges

  Phoenixes sing in pairs:

  Before precipitous cliffs

  The unicorn singly rests.

  At the summit is heard the cry of golden pheasants;

  In and out of stony caves are seen the strides of dragons:

  In the forest are long-lived deer and immortal foxes.

  On the trees are divine fowls and black cranes.

  Strange grass and flowers never wither:

  Green pines and cypresses always keep their spring.

  Immortal peaches are ever fruit-bearing;

  Lofty bamboos often detain the clouds.

  Within a single gorge the creeping vines are dense;

  The grass color of meadows all around is fresh.

  This is indeed the pillar of Heaven, where a hundred rivers meet—

  The Earth’s great axis, in ten thousand kalpas unchanged.

  There was on top of that very mountain an immortal stone, which measured thirty-six feet and five inches in height and twenty-four feet in circumference. The height of thirty-six feet and five inches corresponded to the three hundred and sixty-five cyclical degrees, while the circumference of twenty-four feet corresponded to the twenty-four solar terms of the calendar.7 On the stone were also nine perforations and eight holes, which corresponded to the Palaces of the Nine Constellations and the Eight Trigrams. Though it lacked the shade of trees on all sides, it was set off by epidendrums on the left and right. Since the creation of the world, it had been nourished for a long period by the seeds of Heaven and Earth and by the essences of the sun and the moon, until, quickened by divine inspiration, it became pregnant with a divine embryo. One day, it split open, giving birth to a stone egg about the size of a playing ball. Exposed to the wind, it was transformed into a stone monkey endowed with fully developed features and limbs. Having learned at once to climb and run, this monkey also bowed to the four quarters, while two beams of golden light flashed from his eyes to reach even the Palace of the Polestar. The light disturbed the Great Benevolent Sage of Heaven, the Celestial Jade Emperor of the Most Venerable Deva, who, attended by his divine ministers, was sitting in the Cloud Palace of the Golden Arches, in the Treasure Hall of the Divine Mists. Upon seeing the glimmer of the golden beams, he ordered Thousand-Mile Eye and Fair-Wind Ear to open the South Heaven Gate and to look out. At this command the two captains went out to the gate, and, having looked intently and listened clearly, they returned presently to report, “Your subjects, obeying your command to locate the beams, discovered that they came from the Flower-Fruit Mountain at the border of the small Aolai Country, which lies to the east of the East Pūrvavideha Continent. On this mountain is an immortal stone that has given birth to an egg. Exposed to the wind, it has been transformed into a monkey, who, when bowing to the four quarters, has flashed from his eyes those golden beams that reached the Palace of the Polestar. Now that he is taking some food and drink, the light is about to grow dim.” With compassionate mercy the Jade Emperor declared, “These creatures from the world below are born of the essences of Heaven and Earth, and they need not surprise us.”

  That monkey in the mountain was able to walk, run, and leap about; he fed on grass and shrubs, drank from the brooks and streams, gathered mountain flowers, and searched out fruits from trees. He made his companions the tiger and the lizard, the wolf and the leopard; he befriended the civet and the deer, and he called the gibbon and the baboon his kin. At night he slept beneath stony ridges, and in the morning he sauntered about the caves and the peaks. Truly,

  In the mountain there is no passing of time;

  The cold recedes, but one knows not the year.8

  One very hot morning, he was playing with a group of monkeys und
er the shade of some pine trees to escape the heat. Look at them, each amusing himself in his own way by

  Swinging from branches to branches,

  Searching for flowers and fruits;

  They played two games or three

  With pebbles and with pellets;

  They circled sandy pits;

  They built rare pagodas;

  They chased the dragonflies;

  They ran down small lizards;

  Bowing low to the sky,

  They worshiped Bodhisattvas;

  They pulled the creeping vines;

  They plaited mats with grass;

  They searched to catch the louse

  That they bit or sqeezed to death;

  They dressed their furry coats;

  They scraped their fingernails;

  Those leaning leaned;

  Those rubbing rubbed;

  Those pushing pushed;

  Those pressing pressed;

  Those pulling pulled;

  Those tugging tugged.

  Beneath the pine forest and free to play,

  They washed themselves in the green-water stream.

  So, after the monkeys had frolicked for a while, they went to bathe in the mountain stream and saw that its currents bounced and splashed like tumbling melons. As the old saying goes,

  Fowls have their fowl speech,

  And beasts have their beast language.

  The monkeys said to each other, “We don’t know where this water comes from. Since we have nothing to do today, let us follow the stream up to its source to have some fun.” With a shriek of joy, they dragged along males and females, calling out to brothers and sisters, and scrambled up the mountain alongside the stream. Reaching its source, they found a great waterfall. What they saw was

  A column of white rainbows rising,

  A thousand yards of snow-caps flying.

  The sea wind blows but cannot sever

  What a river moon lights up forever.

  Its cold breath divides the green glades;

  Its branches wet the verdant shades.

  This torrent named a waterfall

  Seems like a curtain hanging tall.

  All the monkeys clapped their hands in acclaim: “Marvelous water! Marvelous water! So this waterfall is distantly connected with the stream at the base of the mountain, and flows directly out, even to the great ocean.” They said also, “If any of us had the ability to penetrate the curtain and find out where the water comes from without hurting himself, we would honor him as king.” They gave the call three times, when suddenly the stone monkey leaped out from the crowd. He answered the challenge with a loud voice, “I’ll go in! I’ll go in!” What a monkey! For

  Today his fame will spread wide.

  His fortune the time does provide.

  He’s fated to live in this place,

  Sent by a king to god’s palace.

  Look at him! He closed his eyes, crouched low, and with one leap he jumped straight through the waterfall. Opening his eyes at once and raising his head to look around, he saw that there was neither water nor waves inside, only a gleaming, shining bridge. He paused to collect himself and looked more carefully again: it was a bridge made of sheet iron. The water beneath it surged through a hole in the rock to reach the outside, filling in all the space under the arch. With bent body he climbed on the bridge, looking about as he walked, and discovered a beautiful place that seemed to be some kind of residence. Then he saw

  Fresh mosses piling up indigo,

  White clouds like jade afloat,

  And luminous sheens of mist and smoke;

  Empty windows, quiet rooms,

  And carved flowers growing smoothly on benches;

  Stalactites suspended in milky caves;

  Rare blossoms voluminous over the ground.

  Pans and stoves near the wall show traces of fire;

  Bottles and cups on the table contain left overs.

  The stone seats and beds were truly lovable;

  The stone pots and bowls were more praiseworthy.

  There were, furthermore, a stalk or two of tall bamboos,

  And three or five sprigs of plum flowers.

  With a few green pines always draped in rain,

  This whole place indeed resembled a home.

  After staring at the place for a long time, he jumped across the middle of the bridge and looked left and right. There in the middle was a stone tablet on which was inscribed in regular, large letters:

  The Blessed Land of Flower-Fruit Mountain,

  The Cave Heaven of Water-Curtain Cave.9

  Beside himself with delight, the stone monkey quickly turned around to go back out and, closing his eyes and crouching again, leaped out of the water. “A great stroke of luck,” he exclaimed with two loud guffaws, “a great stroke of luck!”

  The other monkeys surrounded him and asked, “How is it inside? How deep is the water?” The stone monkey replied, “There isn’t any water at all. There’s a sheet iron bridge, and beyond it is a piece of Heaven-sent property.”

  “What do you mean that there’s property in there?” asked the monkeys.

  Laughing, the stone monkey said, “This water splashes through a hole in the rock and fills the space under the bridge. Beside the bridge there is a stone mansion with trees and flowers. Inside are stone ovens and stoves, stone pots and pans, stone beds and benches. A stone tablet in the middle has the inscription,

  The Blessed Land of the Flower-Fruit Mountain,

  The Cave Heaven of the Water-Curtain Cave.

  This is truly the place for us to settle in. It is, moreover, very spacious inside and can hold thousands of the young and old. Let’s all go live in there, and spare ourselves from being subject to the whims of Heaven. For we have in there

  A retreat from the wind,

  A shelter from the rain.

  You fear no frost or snow;

  You hear no thunderclap.

  Mist and smoke are brightened,

  Warmed by a holy light—

  The pines are evergreen:

  Rare flowers, daily new.”

  When the monkeys heard that, they were delighted, saying, “You go in first and lead the way.” The stone monkey closed his eyes again, crouched low, and jumped inside. “All of you,” he cried, “Follow me in! Follow me in!” The braver of the monkeys leaped in at once, but the more timid ones stuck out their heads and then drew them back, scratched their ears, rubbed their jaws, and chattered noisily. After milling around for some time, they too bounded inside. Jumping across the bridge, they were all soon snatching dishes, clutching bowls, or fighting for stoves and beds—shoving and pushing things hither and thither. Befitting their stubbornly prankish nature, the monkeys could not keep still for a moment and stopped only when they were utterly exhausted.

  The stone monkey then solemnly took a seat above and spoke to them: “Gentlemen! ‘If a man lacks trustworthiness, it is difficult to know what he can accomplish!’10 You yourselves promised just now that whoever could get in here and leave again without hurting himself would be honored as king. Now that I have come in and gone out, gone out and come in, and have found for all of you this Heavenly grotto in which you may reside securely and enjoy the privilege of raising a family, why don’t you honor me as your king?” When the monkeys heard this, they all folded their hands on their breasts and obediently prostrated themselves. Each one of them then lined up according to rank and age, and, bowing reverently, they intoned, “Long live our great king!” From that moment, the stone monkey ascended the throne of kingship. He did away with the word “stone” in his name and assumed the title, Handsome Monkey King. There is a testimonial poem that says:

  Triple spring mated to beget all things.

  A divine stone quickened by the sun and moon

  Changed from egg to ape to reach the Great Way.

  Loanname and surname11 matched elixir made.

  Formless inside he yields no image known;

  His ou
tward guise coheres in action shown.

  In every age all persons will yield to him:

  Hailed a king, a sage, he is free to roam.

  The Handsome Monkey King thus led a flock of gibbons and baboons, some of whom were appointed by him as his officers and ministers. They toured the Flower-Fruit Mountain in the morning, and they lived in the Water-Curtain Cave by night. Living in concord and sympathy, they did not mingle with bird or beast but enjoyed their independence in perfect happiness. For such were their activities:

  In the spring they gathered flowers for food and drink.

  In the summer they went in quest of fruits for sustenance.

  In the autumn they amassed taros and chestnuts to ward off time.

  In the winter they searched for yellow-sperms12 to live out the year.

  The Handsome Monkey King had enjoyed this insouciant existence for three or four hundred years when one day, while feasting with the rest of the monkeys, he suddenly grew sad and shed a few tears. Alarmed, the monkeys surrounding him bowed down and asked, “What is disturbing the Great King?” The Monkey King replied, “Though I am very happy at the moment, I am a little concerned about the future. Hence I’m distressed.” The monkeys all laughed and said, “The Great King indeed does not know contentment! Here we daily have a banquet on an immortal mountain in a blessed land, in an ancient cave on a divine continent. We are not subject to the unicorn or the phoenix, nor are we governed by the rulers of mankind. Such independence and comfort are immeasurable blessings. Why, then, does he worry about the future?” The Monkey King said, “Though we are not subject to the laws of man today, nor need we be threatened by the rule of any bird or beast, old age and physical decay in the future will disclose the secret sovereignty of Yama, King of the Underworld. If we die, shall we not have lived in vain, not being able to rank forever among the Heavenly beings?”

  When the monkeys heard this, they all covered their faces and wept mournfully, each one troubled by his own impermanence. But look! 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,13 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.”