The Monkey King Festival (Chinese: 齊天大聖千秋) is celebrated in Hong Kong on the 16th day of the eighth Lunar month of the Chinese calendar, corresponding to September according to the Common era calendar, a day after the Mid Autumn Festival. The origin of the festival is traced to the epic 16th century novel Journey to the West (Xiyou Ji, 西遊記) written by the Chinese novelist Wu Cheng'en (1500–1582) during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).[1][2] The novel brings out the concept of immortality from Taoism and rebirth from Buddhism.[3] The monkey Sun Wukong, a character in the novel, is the featured figure of the festival.[1]
- ^ a b Melton 2011, p. 586.
- ^ "Monkey God". Chinatownalogy. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
- ^ Yuan 2006, p. 15.