Reading Notes: The Monkey King Sun Wu Kung (A)

Title: Sun Wu Kung Gets His Name
Author: R. Wilhelm and Frederick Martens
Link: Story link.

Plot:

• Though the tale of the Monkey King is technically continuous, I'll be focusing on the section where Sun Wu Kung is granted his name:
• Having discovered the heavenly cave, Sun Wu Kung and the other apes are unaffected by other beasts have no longer have any natural predators.
• However, the apes can still die of old age within the cave.
• This revelation is greatly distressing to Sun Wu Kung.
• Sun Wu Kung sets off on a raft to discover the three sets of people who are untouched by Death: Buddhas, blessed spirits and gods.
• On his journey, Sun Wu Kung hears a man's voice singing a hymn within a forest and he enters.
• He meets the source of the voice, a wood chopper, who tells him of a nearby saint who lives on the Mountain of the Heart.
• Sun Wu Kung comes to the dwelling of the saint (called "The Discerner") and prostrates himself before the wiseman. 
• The Discerner names him "Sun Wu Kung" (meaning "monkey awakened to emptiness" which is super zen) and acts as his master at the temple for just under a decade.

Setting:

• Asia, somewhere where Buddhism is prevalent. (Likely China)
• The heavenly cave: sacred, protected dwelling of the apes.
• Mountain of the Heart: home to an enlightened temple where Sun Wu Kung receives his name, his "awakening" and his training.

Characters:

The Monkey Wing, with his iconic staff. Source: Wikipedia Public Domain.

• Sun Wu Kung: "The Handsome King of the Apes," Sun Wu Kung is made entirely of stone and is exceptionally courageous. He was elected king of the apes after leaping through a waterfall and discovering a heavenly cave.
• He was magically hatched from a stone egg and his eye emit beams of golden radiance.
• Sun Wu Kung is definitely brave and handsome and many of the qualities we have come to expect of mythological kings, but he is not nearly as brash and arrogant. He humbles himself before The Discerner and acknowledges others that wield more power/knowledge than he himself does.
• The Discerner: Wise, zen, enlightened. Master to Sun Wu Kung and the man who names him.

Writing Style:

• Nothing stood out to me in particular about the writing style. We've got one continuous myth written in the third person omniscient in pretty traditional prose.