Themonkeykingpaper

Claire Inda English 8-3 22 September 08 The Tale of the Monkey King The Monkey King is a story for the ages because it has survived the ages. According to Julie Kulik, Kaijia Guand, and David Patt for the Cornell University East Asia Program at its webpage “Journey to the West: The Monkey King (the story),” this fantasy adventure story was written by Wu Ch’eng in the 16th century. It centered on Sun WuKong, also known as The Monkey King. Born out of a rock, the Monkey King desired immortality and prepared for his life by learning magic tricks from a Taoist. He claimed himself a king, in defiance of the Great Emperor. After struggling with the Emperor for hundreds of years, he was rescued by a peaceful monk who required him to be his escort on his journey to obtain the Buddhist scriptures from the West. On Gene Yang’s webpage, “Characters from the Journey,” the peaceful monk is identified as Hsuan Tsang. He and the Monkey King were joined on their quest by Friar Sand, another monk with a mysterious personality, and Pigsy, who has a great appetite and a serious jealousy issue. On Yang’s webpage, “Who is the Monkey King?” he called the Monkey King the “Asian Mickey Mouse only without the squeaky voice and corporate sponsorship.” He is intelligent, reckless and carries a big cudgel with magical powers that he uses while performing Kung Fu moves. On the fourteen year journey, the four main characters have fantastic adventures in support of their important mission. Important life lessons are learned on the journey about loyalty, hard work, and different ways of attaining a common goal. When the mission is complete and the scriptures are returned, the Monkey King obtains his goal of immortality along with happiness. On the webpage “Who is the Monkey King?” Gene Yang sets forth current retellings of this ancient story that include several popular television series, television movies (//The Lost Empire),// video games and cartons appearing in many different countries. The popular Anime //Dragonball Z,// followed closely by my younger brother Tommy, is based on the tale of the Monkey King. I think the story has survived because of its common themes of the desire for immortality, the ability of people to get along to attain a common goal and the struggles that happen on the journey of life. It has obvious religious connections (monks, scriptures, immortality) and teaches lessons about morality. Five hundred years after this story was first told it remains a highly entertaining tale of fantasy and adventure.

Bibliography

Kulik, Julie, Kaijia Gu, and David Patt. “Journey to the West: The Monkey King (the story).” __Adventures in Chinese Culture: The Monkey King’s Guide Curriculum__ __Developed by the East Asia Program at Cornell University.__ 16 September 2008. http://www.einaudi.cornell.edu/curriculum/monkey/index.asp

Yang, Gene. __Humble Comics Presents Monkey Kingdom: A Tribute to Sun-Wukong, the__ __Monkey King__. 2001.16 September 2008 http://www.humblecomics.com/monkey/.