User:Cornelius East/Journey to the West Altered

Article Revision

The following Synopsis and Characters section from the original Journey to the West page is altered, with information being completely replaced with a much more in-depth and descriptive rendition of the tellings of the novel.

Synopsis

18th-century Chinese illustration of a scene from *Journey to the West*

The novel has 100 chapters that can be divided into four unequal parts.

First Part

Chapters 1 through 7 present us the first unequal part of the novel, where the story of existence is explored and afterwards, the birth and early life of Tang Sanzang's senior disciple, Sun Wukong. After depictions of how the heavens and the earth came to be, the story focuses solely on a stone egg atop Flower Fruit Mountain that absorbs the elements of nature and the nurturing of yin and yang, giving birth to a stone monkey of adamantine skin. The Jade Emperor is alerted by this, as two bright beams of light pierce the skies into the heavens, originating from none other than the eyes of the stone monkey. After observing the lights gradually fade, the Jade Emperor dismisses the monkey and thinks nothing special of it, not more than any of the fantastical creatures that reside around the mountain. Stumbling upon a group of normal monkeys in the wild forests surrounding the mountain, the stone monkey invites himself to join the others along their exploits. Such led to a challenge of courage to determine a head to crown the king of the monkeys, requiring a volunteer to pass through a strong waterfall and come back. The stone monkey successfully completes this challenge, whilst discovering a place inside the waterfall for his tribe to reside. Upon the sight of one of his elderly monkeys dying from old age, the monkey king is motivated to uncover the secrets of longevity and immortality and embarks on a journey seeking a teacher. Now-named Sun Wukong, given to him by his Taoist teacher Patriarch Subhodi, finds the answer to his question and obtains a method of increasing his lifespan. This action angers the heavens, as they detest this method and send three calamties that take turns targeting Wukong regularly for 1500 years. Sun Wukong has to adapt and learns the 72 Heavenly Transformations to evade the calamities, and exponentially increases the potency of his techniques through the practice of Taoism. Sun Wukong returns home to his tribe and grants them stories of his adventures and teachings, as well as arming and teaching them the skills of combat.Despite this, the monkey king himself is unable to find a personal weapon equivalent to his caliber of strength, when he is given a tip by one of his advisors of a weapon of such magnitude within the realm of the oceans and the Four Dragon Gods of the Sea. Upon travelling here, Sun Wukong discovers a gold-banded staff that resonates with light as he approaches, signifying the staff has found its master, and under his will it's able to extend to great sizes and also inversely reduce to the minute size of a sewing needle. Adorned with a golden cuirass, a phoenix-feathered helm, and cloud-walking boots, Sun Wukong takes the treasures of the ocean and returns to his cavernous Kingdom. The Dragon Gods of the Four Seas complained to the Diyu and they attempted to claim Wukong's body and soul. Angered by this, Sun Wukong forces his way through the underworld and gains an audience with the Ten Kings of Hell and somehow managed to cross his and that of his entire monkey tribe's names out of the Book of Life and Death. Feeling released from his mortal shackles even more, Sun Wukong is advised by one of his demon disciples to self-proclaim himself the Sage Equal to Heaven, which he does in mockery of the heavens and this results in him obtaining a post in the heavens. When Sun Wukong discovers he's been played and given the responsibility to "guard the horses of heaven", which essentially means stable-boy, he becomes enraged, and in his tantrum manages to climb all 33 layers of heaven, consuming a celestial banquet of foods, drinks, and drugs that induced immortality. The heavens are troubled by this and send an army amassed of 100,000 celestial warriors, every constellation, and the Four Heavenly Kings, just to name some. Single-handedly defeating this entire crusade against him, Sun Wukong meets his rival when the nephew of the Jade Emperor, Erlang Shen joins in the battle against Wukong. Shen, possessing many of the same prowesses and affinities that Wukong has, notably the 72 Heavenly Transformations, is able to go toe-to-toe with the monkey king, eventually gaining the edge in their bout which leads to the capture and imprisonment of Sun Wukong. Many atttempts are made to execute the monkey king, of which none succeed, so Laozi decides to lock him in his furnace for 49 days in hopes of distilling Sun Wukong into a liquid to regain the elixir of his Pills of Immortality, which Wukong had previously consumed. After 49 days of burning in the samadhi flames, Sun Wukong surprises heaven yet again when he jumps out of the crucible unscathed, seemingly much stronger than he was before he entered, and destroys the furnace and wreaks further havoc in heaven. Ultimately, the Jade Emperor and Heaven request the assistance of Buddha himself, and he is able to strike an impossible bet with Wukong, who unknowingly accepts when teased with the reward of becoming the Jade Emperor himself if he wins. Wukong was given the challenge to jump out of the reach of Buddha's hands, which the cocky Wukong accepts, performing a somersault cloud that launches him all the way to the end of the universe and back. Thinking he won the bet, Buddha explains that the edge of the universe was merely his other hand, proclaiming everything in existence to be within the reach of the Buddha. Having lost the bet, Wukong attempts escape but to no avail, as he is captured and imprisoned by the Buddha. Sun Wukong is bound to the bottom of a mountain, which he cannot escape from without the seal being released by the heavens themselves, however 500 years later the Goddess of Mercy recruits the Monkey King to accompany the main protagonist, Tang Sanzang along his journey to the west.

Second Part

The second part (chapters 8–12) introduces Tang Sanzang through his early biography and the background to his great journey. Dismayed that "the land of the South (i.e. Tang China) knows only greed, hedonism, promiscuity, and sins," the Buddha instructs the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin) to search China for someone to take the Buddhist sutras of "transcendence and persuasion for good will" back. Part of this section also relates to how Tang Sanzang becomes a monk (as well as revealing his past life as a disciple of the Buddha named "Golden Cicada" (金蟬子 Jīn Chánzi) and comes about being sent on this pilgrimage by Emperor Taizong, who previously escaped death with the help of an official in the Underworld. In the story, Tang Sanzang is considered an allegorical representation of the human heart.

Third Part

The third and longest section of the work is chapters 13–99, an episodic adventure story in which Tang Sanzang sets out to bring back Buddhist scriptures from Leiyin Temple on Vulture Peak in India, but encounters various evils along the way. The section is set in the sparsely populated lands along the Silk Road between China and India. The geography described in the book is, however, almost entirely fantasy; once Tang Sanzang departs Chang'an, the Tang capital, and crosses the frontier (somewhere in Gansu province), he finds himself in a wilderness of deep gorges and tall mountains, inhabited by demons and animal spirits who regard him as a potential meal (since his flesh was believed to give immortality to whoever ate it), with the occasional hidden monastery or royal city-state amidst the harsh setting.

Episodes consist of 1–4 chapters and usually involve Tang Sanzang being captured and having his life threatened while his disciples try to find an ingenious (and often violent) way of liberating him. Although some of Tang Sanzang's predicaments are political and involve ordinary human beings, they more frequently consist of run-ins with various demons, many of whom turn out to be earthly manifestations of heavenly beings (whose sins will be negated by eating the flesh of Tang Sanzang) or animal-spirits with enough Taoist spiritual merit to assume semi-human forms.

Chapters 13–22 do not follow this structure precisely, as they introduce Tang Sanzang's disciples, who, inspired or goaded by Guanyin, meet and agree to serve him along the way in order to atone for their sins in their past lives.

The first is Sun Wukong, or the Monkey King (or just "Monkey"), whose given name loosely means "Monkey Awakened to Emptiness (Śūnyatā)", trapped under a mountain by the Buddha for defying Heaven. He appears right away in chapter 13. The most intelligent, the most powerful, and the most violent of the disciples, he is constantly reproved for his violence by Tang Sanzang. Ultimately, he can only be controlled by a magic gold ring that Guanyin has placed around his head, which causes him unbearable headaches when Tang Sanzang chants the Ring Tightening Mantra. In the story, Sun Wukong is an allegorical representation of the human mind and thought and impulse, and is often nicknamed the "Monkey mind".
The second, appearing in chapter 19, is Zhu Wuneng / Zhu Bajie, literally "Pig Awakened to Ability" and "Eight Precepts Pig," sometimes translated as Pigsy or just Pig. He was previously the Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy, a commander of Heaven's naval forces, and was banished to the mortal realm for harassing the moon goddess Chang'e. A reliable fighter, he is characterized by his insatiable appetites for food and women, and is constantly looking for a way out of his duties, which causes significant conflict with Sun Wukong. In the story, Zhu Bajie is an allegorical representation of base human nature (or the Id).
The third, appearing in chapter 22, is the river ogre Sha Wujing (literally "Sand Awakened to Purity"), also known as Friar Sand or Sandy. He was previously the celestial Curtain Lifting General, and was banished to the mortal realm for dropping (and shattering) a crystal goblet of the Queen Mother of the West. He is a quiet but generally dependable and hard-working character, who serves as the straight foil to the comic relief of Sun and Zhu. In the story, Sha Wujing is an allegorical representation of human obedience and conformity without thought.
The fourth is Bai Long Ma (literally "White Dragon Horse"), the third son of the Dragon King of the West Sea, who was sentenced to death for setting fire to his father's great pearl. He was saved by Guanyin from execution to stay and wait for his call of duty. He has almost no speaking role, as throughout the story he mainly appears as a horse that Tang Sanzang rides on. In the story, the White Dragon Horse is an allegorical representation of the human will.

Chapter 22, where Sha Wujing is introduced, also provides a geographical boundary, as the river that the travelers cross brings them into a new "continent." Chapters 23–86 take place in the wilderness, and consist of 24 episodes of varying length, each characterized by a different magical monster or evil magician. There are impassibly wide rivers, flaming mountains, a kingdom with an all-female population, a lair of seductive spider spirits, and many other scenarios. Throughout the journey, the four disciples have to fend off attacks on their master and teacher Tang Sanzang from various monsters and calamities.

It is strongly suggested that most of these calamities are engineered by fate and/or the Buddha, as, while the monsters who attack are vast in power and many in number, no real harm ever comes to the four travelers. Some of the monsters turn out to be escaped celestial beasts belonging to bodhisattvas or Taoist sages and deities. Towards the end of the book, there is a scene where the Buddha commands the fulfillment of the last disaster, because Tang Sanzang is one short of the 81 tribulations required before attaining Buddhahood.

In chapter 87, Tang Sanzang finally reaches the borderlands of India, and chapters 87–99 present magical adventures in a somewhat more mundane setting. At length, after a pilgrimage said to have taken fourteen years (the text actually only provides evidence for nine of those years, but presumably there was room to add additional episodes) they arrive at the half-real, half-legendary destination of Vulture Peak, where, in a scene simultaneously mystical and comic, Tang Sanzang receives the scriptures from the living Buddha.

Fourth part

Chapter 100, the final chapter, quickly describes the return journey to the Tang Empire, and the aftermath in which each traveller receives a reward in the form of posts in the bureaucracy of the heavens. Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang both achieve Buddhahood, Sha Wujing becomes an arhat, Bai Long Ma is made a nāga and Zhu Bajie, whose good deeds have always been tempered by his greed, is promoted to an altar cleanser (i.e. eater of excess offerings at altars).

Characters

Further information: List of Journey to the West characters

Sun Wukong / Monkey King

Main article: Monkey King

Guardian of the main protagonist, and seemingly the most powerful disciple of the pilgrimage,Sun Wukong (孫悟空) was originally born an unnamed stone monkey, but received his name upon meeting Master Bodhi, who entitles the surname "Sūn" (孫) (translates to "monkey") and "Wukong" (悟空) (translates to awakened state), meaning "Monkey Awakened to Emptiness" or "Awakened Monkey." His monkey tribe also refers to him as "Handsome Monkey King" or simply "Monkey King."

Origin of Sun Wukong (ch. 1 - 7)

Born from a divine stone reaching a height of 36 feet atop the Flower Fruit Mountain, nurtured by the yin (heaven) and the yang (earth), allowing the stone to develop a womb and conceive a stone ball egg which contains a stone monkey. One day when following a river current upstream with his monkey tribe, they encounter a large waterfall also known as the Water Curtain Cave, which the monkeys declare a challenge to determine who would be crowned king of the monkeys. Despite the excitement and enthusiam, not a single monkey was brave enough to step forward and walk through the waterfall and return, all but one. The stone monkey couragouesly sprang through the roaring wall of water and on the other side discovered a cavernous paradise, fit for the entirety of the monkey tribe. After passing back through the waterfall he was crowned the "Handsome Monkey King (美猴王, měi hóuwáng) by his tribe, and the cave becomes their home. The Monkey King witnesses one of his tribe members passing away from old age and asks his advisors where he might be able to seek an escape from the cycle of life and death, who then influence him to start his first quest of immortality where he would end up at the "Temple of the Slanted Moon and Three Stars", where his first master, Patriarch Subodhi or "Grand Master of Bodhi" (菩提祖師, pútí zǔshī), would bestow upon him his name as well as the gifts of Tao. The first of these gifts include the teachings of immortality which Wukong was able to use to extend his own lifespan by thousands of years, and with this he was faced with the three calamaties from heaven; thunder, fire and wind every 500 years. Surviving this divine punishment required the mastery of the 72 heavenly transformations and the powerful ability of the "somersault cloud", which Wukong uses to cover distances of up to 108,000 li, or roughly 34 thousand miles, in just a single instantaenous bound. Harboring internal ego and lack of true self-restraint, Sun Wukong was plagued by his intrusive thoughts of mischief and arrogance, which became evident to Bodhi, who cast the Monkey King out of his temple and ordered him to return to whence he came. Upon arrival of the Flower Fruit Cave, he reunites with his monkey tribe, whom he shares with stories of his adventures and the skills he learned. He trains his people with basic weapon skills and strategies of combat, so that they can defend themselves even when he's gone on a quest, which he promptly does seeking heightened divination. After a series of events, Sun Wukong declares himself the "Great Sage Equal to Heaven" (齊天大聖, qí tiān dàshèng) and immensely increases his immortality and abilities through certain methods which gain him a hostile audience with the Jade Emperor and Heaven.

Abilities

Sun Wukong possesses a grand multitude of abilities ranging from divine powers of immortality to enhanced physical prowess and cunningness. With these numerous and seemingly endless powers, Wukong is able to defeat all but the absolute strongest of demons along his Journey to the West.

Powers and Abilities	Description
Several overlapping Layers of Immortality	Training with Master Bodhi for seven years grants him a formula that extends his lifespan, and essentially immortality. After being taken to the Underworld, Wukong erases his name from the book of the dead and his entire tribe as well. Consuming nearly the entirety of the "Garden of the Celestial Peaches", in which each fruit granted eternal youth, the ability to fly and the lifespan of the sun and the moon. At the Banquet of the Queen Mother of the West from which Wukong is not allowed to indulge in, he sneaks in anyways and drinks the Celestial Wine which grants him another layer of immortality. Drunk from the Celestial Wine, he discovers the “The Immortals’ Greatest Treasure” within the alchemy lab of Lao Zi, which are the Pills of Immortality and consumes them, gaining his fifth layer of immortality. Placed in the eternal samadhi flames of the Furnace of Lao Zi, which he endures for 49 days, his remaining mortality is burned away, granting him yet another layer of immortality. Along his journey with Tang Sanzang, Wukong stumbles upon the extremely rare ginseng fruit, which grant 47,000 years of life for each of the 30 fruits that grow once every 10,000 years. Throughout the rest of the journey to reach enlightenment, Sun Wukong consumes yet again additional pills of immortality and eventually reaches Nirvana, granting him 9-fold layers of immortality by the end of the journey.
Mastery in most forms of armed combat and martial arts	Wukong has mastery proficiency in nearly every and any weapon, plain or divine, placed in his hands.
Art of Earthly Multitudes (地煞數; a.k.a. “72 changes,” 七十二般變化)	The 72 Heavenly Transformations allow Wukong to shape-shift into 72 animate and inanimate forms ranging from living organisms to natural elements like wind or fire, additionally all 72 transformations have to be slain before Wukong himself is slain.
Special Hair	Each strand of hair can turn into an exact clone of Wukong possessing all of the original's abilities, prowesses, and most notably, every layer of immortality; and their hairs can do the same, seemingly endlessly. Gifted three especially-stiff strands of hair, called the three life-saving hairs (三根救命的毫毛), by Guanyin that grant an escape out of even the most hopeless and fleeting of circumstances when plucked from his body.
Heightened senses	Able to hear up into the Heavens as well as into the Underworld His eyes can see minute details from 1,000 li/ 310.7 mi/ 500 km away and also see past the physical realm, determining if something is a lie or a truth, good or evil, pure or demonic, allowing him to see through shape-shifting and disguises of any caliber.
Astral Projection (身外身法; a.k.a. “magic of body division,” 分身法)	Possesses temporal astral projection capable of releasing a spiritual aura that can act equivalent to his physical body and able to transfer consciousness elsewhere, allowing for manual reincarnation.
Overwhelming physical strength and speed	Wukong is able to easily shoulder the weight of two large mountains while simultaneously sprinting. His somersault cloud (觔/筋斗雲) allows him to travel great distances (108,000 li/ 33,554 mi/54,000 km) nearly instantaneously.
Supernatural abilities enhanced by Taoist practices	Magic spell of immobilization (定身法) allows Wukong to freeze entities in place for up to an entire day Body concealment (隱身法) allows Sun to become practically invisible to humans and gods alike Immortal breath (仙氣) is an ability that allows the Monkey King to transform his own hair, staff, or even any inanimate object into any constructs of his choosing, whether it may be clones of himself and enemies, or even duplication of divine weapons. Divine resistance against physical and spiritual attacks, facilitated by the adamantine body he was born with and magic nullification of the highest degree, respectively. Magical speech allows him a variety of abilities ranging from persuasion, sleep-inducing speech, voice impersonation, to authority over animals and creatures of any divinity. Magic method of modeling heaven on earth (法天像(象)地) allows Sun Wukong to transform into a massively-enlarged form of himself, reaching up to 10,000 zhang (萬丈) or approximately 33,000 meters.
Tools and equipment	Able to freely control and manipulate the five elements; wood, fire, metal, water and earth, and even conquers the power of wind later on. Ruyi Jingu Bang, his iconic staff of acutely-controllable size, can shrink to the size of a needle and expand almost endlessly at will. Golden chainmail cuirass gifted by the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas, along with a phoenix-feathered helm and cloud walking boots.

After causing all the havoc in heaven, the Jade Emperor turns his attention to Sun Wukong, seeking to rid himself of the headache that is Wukong. The Monkey King defeats an army of 100,000 celestial troops, led by the Four Heavenly Kings, Erlang Shen, and Nezha. Eventually, the Jade Emperor appeals to the Buddha, who seals Wukong under a mountain called Five Elements Mountain after the latter loses a bet regarding whether he can leap out of the Buddha's hand in a single somersault. Sun Wukong is kept under the mountain for 500 years and cannot escape because of a seal that was placed on the mountain. He is later set free when Tang Sanzang comes upon him during his pilgrimage and accepts him as a disciple.

Sun's behavior is checked by a band placed around his head by Guanyin, which cannot be removed by Sun Wukong himself until the journey's end. Tang Sanzang can tighten this band by chanting the "Ring Tightening Mantra" (taught to him by Guanyin) whenever he needs to chastise him. The spell is referred to by Tang Sanzang's disciples as the "Headache Sutra". Tang Sanzang speaks this mantra quickly in repetition when Sun disobeys him.

Sun Wukong's childlike playfulness and often goofy impulsiveness is in contrast to his cunning mind. This, coupled with his great power, makes him a trickster hero. His antics present a lighter side in the long and dangerous trip into the unknown.

After completion of the journey, Sun is granted the title of Victorious Fighting Buddha (斗战胜佛; 鬥戰勝佛; dòu zhànshèng fó) and ascends to Buddhahood.

Tang Sanzang / Tripitaka

Main article: Tang Sanzang

The monk Tang Sanzang (唐三藏, meaning "Tripitaka Master of Tang," with Tang referring to the Tang dynasty and Sanzang referring to the Tripiṭaka, the main categories of texts in the Buddhist canon which is also used as an honorific for some Buddhist monks) is a Buddhist monk who had renounced his family to become a monk from childhood. He is just called "Tripitaka" in many English versions of the story. Originally a former disciple of Buddha known as the Golden Cicada, he was reincarnated with the surname Chen, but due to the circumstances of his birth, he was discovered floating down a river by a monastery and given the name Jiāng Liú (江流) meaning "river float" or floating down the river". Later, he gains his Dharma (Buddhist) name, Xuan Zang, which is formerly altered by the author of the novel to Tang Sanzang.

Introduction of Tang Sanzang (ch. 8 - 12)

The main protagonist of the novel is introduced initially as a Buddhist disciple known as the Golden Cicada, but was sentenced to ten-fold reincarnation in which he was to live every life in pious reverence to Buddha. When it came time for him to seek merit, he was born to Chen Guangrui (陳光蕊) and Yin Wenjiao (殷溫嬌), the former his father, who had recently been appointed to a high position of scholar-official. On their journey to Chen's newly-appointed occupation, a duo of bandits disguised as friendly ferrymen murdered Chen and threw his body over the side of the boat, from which they proceeded to impersonate him and his status. His wife and mother of Tang Sanzang, was pregnant at the time and upon birth, she tied her son to a wooden plank and left it adrift down the Yangtze River stream with a note attached to it detailing the events that had transpired and where to find the impersonators. Hence, when he was discovered by monks, they had given the boy the name Jiāng Liú (江流, "river float") and was raised into maturity, when the letter that his mother had written was revealed to him. Along his joruney, he sought help from his grandfather, a high-ranking official, who was enraged by the news and sent forces to apprehend the perpetrators. All along, the body and spirit of Chen Guangrui was kept hidden by the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas and was promptly reuinted with the rest of his family. Some time after, Emperor Taizong of Tang requests that a ceremony called the "Shui Lu Da Hui" (Shui Lu roughly translates to "waterside" and Da Hui means "great assembly") be conducted by Sanzang to honor the dead. At this ceremony, the Goddess of Mercy disguises themselves and approaches Sanzang, bestowing upon him a quest to embark in search of the Tripitaka, where he also recieves the staff and robes of a monk. He set off for Tianzhu Kingdom (天竺国, an appellation for India in ancient China) to retrieve original Buddhist scriptures for China. Although he is helpless in defending himself, the bodhisattva Guanyin, helps by finding him powerful disciples who aid and protect him on his journey. In return, the disciples will receive enlightenment and forgiveness for their sins once the journey is done. Along the way, they help the local inhabitants by defeating various monsters and demons who try to obtain immortality by consuming Tang Sanzang's flesh.

Abilities

With his primary objective centered around a mission bestowed upon him by his sworn brother, Emperor Taizong, to Tianzhu in search of the Tripitaka scriptures, Tang Sanzang does not possess much overwhelming strength or abilities beyond keeping Sun Wukong in check with a mantra.

Powers and Abilities	Description
Sun Wukong's jingu/golden headband (金箍 or 緊箍, "tight fillet")	Bodhisattva Guanyin bestows upon him a magical headband that reduces in diameter whenever Sanzang recites the True Words for Controlling the Mind ( 定心真言), or the Tight-Fillet spell, formerly known as the headband-tightening mantra. The band cannot be removed by the wearer and has no possible resistances or weaknesses, only releasing captivity of Sun Wukong's head when he reaches Nirvana in ch.100
Exceptional Memory	Tansang seemingly possesses eidetic, or nearly-eidetic, memory capable of completely memorizing entire scriptures or texts within consuming the information just a single time.
Extended Meditation	Being able to meditate for up to years on end, Tansang is able to remain in a state of deep spiritually-rooted meditation and avoid mortal limits such as eating, drinking, and sleeping, although this ability is never demonstrated in a useful manner along their quest.

Zhu Bajie / Pigsy

Main article: Zhu Bajie

Zhu Bajie (豬八戒, literally "Pig of the Eight Prohibitions") is also known as Zhu Wuneng ("Pig Awakened to Power"), and given the name "Monk Pig", "Piggy", "Pigsy", or just simply "Pig" in English.

Once an immortal who was the Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy commanding 100,000 naval soldiers of the Milky Way, he drank too much during a celebration of the gods and attempted to harass the moon goddess Chang'e, resulting in his banishment to the mortal world. He was supposed to be reborn as a human but ended up in the womb of a sow due to an error on the Reincarnation Wheel, which turned him into a half-man, half-pig humanoid-pig monster. Zhu Bajie was very greedy, and could not survive without eating ravenously. Staying within the Yunzhan Dong ("cloud-pathway cave"), he was commissioned by Guanyin to accompany Tang Sanzang to India and given the new name Zhu Wuneng.

However, Zhu Bajie's lust for women led him to the Gao Family Village, where he posed as a handsome young man and helped defeat a group of robbers who tried to abduct a maiden. Eventually, the family agreed to let Zhu Bajie marry the maiden. But during the day of the wedding, he drank too much alcohol and accidentally returned to his original form. Being extremely shocked, the villagers ran away, but Zhu Bajie wanted to keep his bride, so he told the bride's father that if after one month the family still did not agree to let him keep the bride, he would take her by force. He also locked the bride up in a separate building. At this point, Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong arrived at the Gao Family Village and helped defeat him. Renamed Zhu Bajie by Tang Sanzang, he consequently joined the pilgrimage to the West.

His weapon of choice is the jiuchidingpa ("nine-tooth iron rake"). He is also capable of 36 transformations and can travel on clouds, but not as fast as Sun Wukong. However, Zhu is noted for his fighting skills in the water, which he used to combat Sha Wujing, who later joined them on the journey. He is the second strongest member of the team.^{[citation needed]}

Pigsy's lust for women, extreme laziness, and greediness, made his spirituality the lowest in the group, with even the White Dragon Horse achieving more than him, and he remained on Earth and was granted the title "Cleaner of the Altars," with the duty of cleaning every altar at every Buddhist temple for eternity by eating excess offerings.

Sha Wujing / Sandy

Main article: Sha Wujing

Sha Wujing (沙悟淨, "Sand Awakened to Purity"), given the name "Friar Sand", "Sand Monk", "Sandman", "Sand Fairy", "Sand Orc", "Sand Ogre", "Sand Troll", "Sand Oni", "Sand Demon", "Sand Monster", "Sand Hulk", "Sand", or "Sandy" in English, was once a celestial Curtain Lifting General, who stood in attendance by the imperial chariot in the Hall of Miraculous Mist. He was exiled to the mortal world and made to look like a sandman, orc, ogre, troll, oni, demon, monster, or hulk because he accidentally smashed a crystal goblet belonging to the Queen Mother of the West during a Peach Banquet. The now-hideous immortal took up residence in the Flowing Sands River, terrorizing surrounding villages and travelers trying to cross the river. However, he was subdued by Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie when Tang Sanzang's party came across him. They consequently took him in, as part of the pilgrimage to the West.

Sha Wujing's weapon is a magic wooden staff wrapped in pearly threads, although artwork and adaptations depict him with a Monk's spade staff. He also knows 18 transformation methods and is highly effective in water combat. He is known to be the most obedient, logical, and polite of the three disciples, and always takes care of his master, seldom engaging in the bickering of his fellow disciples. He has no major faults nor any extraordinary characteristics. Due to this, he is sometimes seen as a minor character. He does however serve as the peacekeeper of the group, mediating between Wukong, Bajie, and even Tang Sanzang and others. He is also the person whom Tang Sanzang consults when faced with difficult decisions.

He eventually becomes an arhat at the end of the journey, giving him a higher level of exaltation than Zhu Bajie, who is relegated to cleaning altars, but lower spiritually than Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang, who are granted Buddhahood.

References / Bibliography

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