Monkey King

Monkey King
Sun Wukong
孫悟空
A 19th century illustration
In-universe information
SpeciesMonkey
GenderMale
ReligionBuddhism and Daoism (also known as Taoism)
BirthplaceFlowers and Fruit Mountain
SourceJourney to the West, c. 1592 (print)
AbilityImmortality, 72 Bian (Morphing Powers), Jin Dou Yun (Cloud Surfing), Jin Gang Bu Huai Zhi Shen (Superhuman Durability), Jin Jing Huo Yan (True Sight)
WeaponRuyi Jingu Bang/Ding Hai Shen Zhen
Height1.3m
Master/ShifuPatriarch Subodhi, Tang Sanzang
Sun Wukong
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese孫悟空
Simplified Chinese孙悟空
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinSūn Wùkōng
Bopomofoㄙㄨㄣ ㄨˋ ㄎㄨㄥ
Wade–GilesSun1 Wu4-k'ung1
IPA[swə́n û.kʰʊ́ŋ]
other Mandarin
Xiao'erjingصٌ ءُ کوْ
DunganСүн Вўкун
Wu
RomanizationShu'n-Wh'khong
Shanghainese
Romanization
Sen Ngu-khon
Gan
RomanizationSun¹ Ng⁵ kung¹
Hakka
RomanizationShu'n24 Whiu-khong2
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationSyūn Ngh-hūng
JyutpingSyun1 Ng6-hung1
IPA[syn˥ ŋ.hʊŋ˥]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJSun Ngō͘-khong
Tâi-lôSun Ngōo-khong
Middle Chinese
Middle ChineseSwon Ngu-kuwng
Burmese name
Burmeseမျောက်မင်း (စွန်းဝူခုန်း)
IPA[mjaʊʔ mí̃] (Myouk Minn)
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetTôn Ngộ Không
Chữ Hán孫悟空
Thai name
Thaiซุนหงอคง
RTGSSun Ngokhong
Korean name
Hangul손오공
Hanja孫悟空
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationSon O-gong
McCune–ReischauerSon Ogong
Japanese name
Kanji孫悟空
Hiraganaそん ごくう
Katakanaソンゴクウ
Transcriptions
RomanizationSon Gokū
Khmer name
Khmerស៊ុន អ៊ូខុង
UNGEGN: Sŭn Ukhŏng
ALA-LC: S′un ʿ′ūkhung
IPA: [sun ʔuːkʰoŋ]

Sun Wukong (Chinese: 孫悟空, Mandarin pronunciation: [swə́n ûkʰʊ́ŋ]), also known as the Monkey King, is a literary and religious figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West.[1] In the novel, Sun Wukong is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices. After rebelling against heaven, he is imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha. Five hundred years later, he accompanies the monk Tang Sanzang riding on the White Dragon Horse and two other disciples, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, on a journey to obtain Buddhist sutras, known as the West or Western Paradise, where Buddha and his followers dwell.[2]

Sun Wukong possesses many abilities. He has supernatural strength and is able to support the weight of two heavy mountains on his shoulders while running "with the speed of a meteor".[3] He is extremely fast, able to travel 108,000 li (54,000 km, 34,000 mi) in one somersault. He has vast memorization skills and can remember every monkey ever born. As king of the monkeys, it is his duty to keep track of and protect every monkey. Sun Wukong acquires the 72 Earthly Transformations, which allow him to access 72 unique powers, including the ability to transform into animals and objects. He is a skilled fighter, capable of defeating the best warriors of heaven. His hair has magical properties, capable of making copies of himself or transforming into various weapons, animals and other things. He has partial weather manipulation skills, can freeze people in place, and can become invisible.[4]

The supernatural abilities displayed by Wukong and some other characters were widely thought of as "magic powers" by readers at the time of Journey to the West's writing,[5] without much differentiation between them despite the various religious traditions that inspired them and their different and varied functions, and were often translated as such in non-Chinese versions of the book.

  1. ^ Shahar, Meir (2008). The Shaolin monastery: History, religion, and the Chinese martial arts. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. pp. 92–93. ISBN 9780824831103.
  2. ^ "Journey to the West | Author, Summary, Characters, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 21 August 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  3. ^ Wu Cheng'en and Anthony Yu. The Journey to the West: Vol. 2 (Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press), 108-109.
  4. ^ Wu Cheng'en (1500–1582), Journey to the West, Translated by Foreign Languages Press, Beijing 1993.
  5. ^ "Journey to the West". Encyclopedia Britannica. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2023.