The Monkey King: An Immortal Nuisance

Hello all, and happy spring!

When I left off last week, the Monkey King, a hero of Chinese mythology, was making mischief. Sun Wukong had defeated many immortals in combat. In addition, he had traveled to the underworld and crossed out the name of every monkey from the register of the dead, giving hell no claim over him. Reports were reaching the Jade Emperor of the Monkey King's exploits, and something had to be done...
 

In point of fact, the Monkey King had already been causing an enormous headache for the Jade Emperor. When the emissaries from the underworld approached the chief deity to complain about Sun Wukong's latest exploits, it was the straw which broke the camel's back. The Jade Emperor sent out a summons for the Monkey King, asking him to come to heaven and appear before the Jade Emperor himself.

Sun Wukong leapt upon the opportunity to enter heaven. Once there, he was thrilled to be offered a position among the gods by the Jade Emperor himself! The Monkey King was gifted the title of “Keeper of the Heavenly Stables”, and asked to look after the heaven's horses. He took his responsibility very seriously (or, at least, as seriously as the Monkey King took anything).

 

 

However, the title was a sham. In truth, the Jade Emperor merely wished to keep the Monkey King in heaven where he was close at hand, and easier to keep an eye on. Though Sun Wukong imagined himself the equal of the gods with his new, fancy title, he was little more than a glorified stable boy.
 

Eventually, the Monkey King realized that his title counted for nothing. Enraged, he stormed into the Jade Emperor's court. Sun Wukong declared that he would no longer be the Keeper of the Heavenly Stables. Instead, he wanted a new title, one that made him the equal of the gods. The Monkey King declared himself the “Great Sage, Equal of Heaven”. When the Monkey King defeated several of heaven's greatest warriors in combat, the gods were forced to recognize his new title.

Still, the Jade Emperor tried to keep the Monkey King uninvolved with heavenly affairs. He tasked him with guarding the gardens in which grow the peaches of immortality.

In hindsight, this was not the wisest choice.

I don't know how many of you have fruit trees growing near you. I have a citrus tree in my backyard. When it blooms in the spring, as it's doing now, it smells absolutely divine. Almost as good as the flower blossoms are the ripe fruits sitting in the hot summer air. It's a tantalizing smell which makes me crave citrus. Most fresh fruits are the same: lemons, cherries...peaches.

You see where this is going?

The Monkey King was on duty guarding the gardens one day when the smell overwhelmed him. He couldn't resist; he just had to sink his teeth into a juicy peach. And why stop with just one? By the time Sun Wukong was beginning to feel sated, most of the ripe fruits had been devoured.

Unfortunately, this was about the time when a group of heavenly maidens appeared to harvest the fruits.

Great timing, right?

The women were infuriated that the stupid monkey had eaten the peaches of immortality. As they ranted at him, they unintentionally let slip that the peaches were needed for a fancy banquet taking place later that afternoon. All of the high-ranking gods had been invited...but the Monkey King had not received an invitation.

He wasn't too pleased about that. In fact, he was furious.

Sun Wukong incapacitated the heavenly maidens and immediately set out for the banquet. He arrived before the other guests and found all of the food laid out. The Monkey King set to work.

He ate the peaches of immortality. He swallowed the pills of longevity. He drank the Emperor's wine. The Monkey King worked his way up and down the banquet table, sampling anything and everything – whatever he felt like.

When the Jade Emperor saw the mess that Sun Wukong had made of the banquet, his patience was at an end. He commanded the armies of heaven to subdue the Monkey King. Though he was perfectly capable of defeating several opponents at once, Sun Wukong was hopelessly outnumbered.

But the Monkey King had some tricks up his sleeves (fur?). He plucked a hair from his tail, blew on it, and whispered a word. The hair immediately transformed into a copy of the monkey. He repeated this trick with a whole handful of hairs, and soon Sun Wukong himself was standing back, watching the armies of heaven fight his copies.

The battle went on for some time, but eventually a great Bodhisattva (the title for a prestigious follower of Buddha, one who has achieved enlightenment but has chosen to remain on earth rather than enter nirvana, in order to help guide others to enlightenment) was able to render him unconscious.

The Jade Emperor demanded that the Monkey King be killed, but that was impossible. Born from stone, his skin had already been tough. Between all of the peaches he had eaten and the pills of longevity he had consumed, Sun Wukong was pretty much invincible.

One of the gods suggested that Sun Wukong be locked in a cage and slowly burned. Fire would still be an effective tool against the monkey, and his ashes could be used to recreate the pills of longevity for the gods to consume. This plan was agreed to. However, Sun Wukong woke up partway through the process and escaped the cage. Thoroughly fed up with heaven, he made his escape.

By now the Jade Emperor was filled with wrath at the mere thought of the Monkey King. Something had to be done to stop him! However, his own forces had scarcely been enough to knock Sun Wukong unconscious the first time. In order to stop the monkey, he would need help from a force even more powerful...

To be continued! I'll see you guys next week.

 

The Monkey King: From Birth to "Death"

Hey guys! Today I'm going to begin a series of posts about the Monkey King. The Monkey King, also known as Sun Wukong, is one of the most beloved characters from Chinese mythology. His tale blends elements of classical mythology, Taoism, and Buddhism, along with a roaring good time and a fantastic sense of humor. The Monkey King is the Trickster of Chinese mythology, though he has more in common with the (usually) benevolent Hermes of the Greek mythos than he does with the nefarious Loki from the Norse myths. The full story of Sun Wukong can be found in the story Journey to the West, but I'll highlight some of his exploits for the next several weeks.

Shall we begin the story of the monkey?

Long ago, on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, there stood a great stone. The stone had rested on that mountain since the formation of the earth. One day, however, the stone changed: it grew a womb. Months later the stone cracked, revealing an egg inside. From this egg hatched a monkey – or, rather, a Monkey.

The Monkey wandered the mountain and eventually found a group of wild monkeys. They had many adventures, including one in which the Monkey found the tribe a home in a cave behind a waterfall. For this, he was named their king.

As time passed, the Monkey King grew skilled in the martial arts. He acquired a magical golden staff, which was able to grow or shrink to whatever size he desired. When not using it in combat, the Monkey King would shrink his staff to the size of a needle and tuck it behind his ear.

The Monkey King fought many demons and monsters, triumphing over them all. Eventually, however, a fight came which no mortal can triumph over. The forces of Hell came to claim the Monkey King, for the time had come for his death.

Of course, the Monkey King refused to go quietly. They had to drag him to Hell, and the Monkey King protested all the while. When they were within the underworld he grabbed the small needle which lay behind his ear, transforming it once more into his mighty staff. The Monkey King fought the forces of the underworld and triumphed, giving them a sound thrashing.

When his foes lay groaning at his feet, the Monkey King did the unexpected: he charged further into Hell. Your average person would want to escape the underworld, right? Well, not the Monkey King. He knew that his name was in the register of the dead. If he escaped, it would be only a matter of time before they came for him again. Besides, the Monkey King cared deeply about his tribe of monkeys. He didn't want death to claim them either.
 

So Sun Wukong charged into the courts of Hell and demanded to see the judges of the dead. They cowered before him as he ordered them to produce the register of the dead. Seeing his name within it, along with the names of all of the monkeys, the Monkey King flew into a rage. He seized a bottle of ink and a brush. All of the names were crossed out with broad strokes of the brush.

His work complete, the Monkey King stormed out of the underworld. He awoke back in his home with the other monkeys, who insisted that their king had been dreaming. But Sun Wukong knew the truth, and rested easily knowing that death no longer held sway over any of the monkeys.

But all was not well, for word had reached the Jade Emperor of the impertinent Monkey King. Complaints had already been trickling in for some time, for Sun Wukong had picked fights with many an immortal being. When the emissaries from the underworld came to the Jade Emperor to complain, he knew that something had to be done about the Monkey...

I'll end there for today, and I'll see you guys next week!

 

Anansi: Tricking His Way to Stories

There was a time before Anansi was the keeper of the stories. In fact, he had to undergo a series of trials in order to earn the role of storyteller. Let me tell you the tale:

In the beginning all of the stories of the world were kept by Nyame, the sky god. Anansi wanted to be able to tell stories, so he went to Nyame and asked to buy the stories from him. Nyame warned him that the price was steep, but Anansi still pushed for them. The sky god agreed that the stories would belong to Anansi if the spider could bring him a nest of hornets, a giant python, and a mighty leopard.

 

Anansi set out on his quest, confident in his abilities. He began with the hornets. First the spider found a hollow gourd and cut a small hole in it. He went to where the hornets lived and poured water all over the nearby trees and himself. Thoroughly soaked, Anansi incredulously asked the hornets why they were staying in the rain. He held up the gourd and offered it to them as shelter from the storm. The grateful hornets flew in one by one. When they had all filed in, Anansi plugged up the hole. He delivered the hornets to Nyame.

The next challenge was the python. Anansi greeted the enormous snake and struck up a conversation with him. The spider claimed that he and his wife had gotten into a debate – was the python larger or smaller than a pole which lay nearby? The snake obligingly offered to lay near the pole so that Anansi could measure him against it and see which was longer. The spider asked if he could tie the python to the pole, to make sure that both lay straight.

In the end, of course, the python was strapped to a pole. It was all too easy for Anansi to carry him off to Nyame.

The last animal needed was the leopard. Anansi dug a deep pit in the ground, then covered it with branches and leaves so that it was invisible. When the leopard walked over it, the branches gave way and he fell. Anansi “just so happened” to be walking along, and offered to help rescue the leopard.

The spider bent a tree over so that its top touched the ground, and tied it off. He tied another rope around the tree and dropped the other end into the hole with the leopard. The cat, thinking it would lead to his freedom, followed Anansi's instructions and tied the rope around his tail.

 

As soon as he had, Anansi cut the rope holding the tree to the ground. It sprang back into the air – and it took the leopard with it!

Anansi found the cat dangling from the tree by his tail. It was a simple matter then to capture him.

When he returned to Nyame with the leopard, the sky god could not deny that Anansi had met all of his terms. He gave all of his stories to Anansi.
 

That is the story of how the spider got his tales.

Alright, I promised you guys I'd take a look at some of the appearances of Anansi in pop culture. He appears in some of the works by author Neil Gaiman (who's absolutely brilliant and you should totally check out if you haven't!). The books American Gods and Anansi Boys both deal with the spider trickster.

It's been years since I've seen it, but the Gargoyles animated television show had a few episodes where a spider named Anansi appeared. I hadn't realized when I watched it, but Gargoyles actually draws a lot from various mythologies and folktales. Avalon and the character of Oberon (most well-known for his Shakespeare character) both make appearances in the show. I'll have to go back and watch it again to see what else does!

The last set I'll mention in this post is comics. Both DC and Marvel have incarnations of Anansi. The DC version interacts with the character of Vixen, and his actions are pretty fitting for a (mostly) benevolent trickster. The Marvel version appears a few more times, and his appearances are frequently tied into the Spider Man stories. Though I haven't read it myself, I'm told Anansi was actually the first Spider Man.

Thanks for reading, guys! And, since I neglected to mention it elsewhere in my post...Arrr, maties! Happy Talk Like a Pirate day! I hopes ye're havin' a good time, and doin' somethin' piratical and awesome! Avast!

I'll see you next week!

Anansi: Corn is Worth 100 Servants

Anansi is one of the most popular characters in African folktales. He appears throughout quite a few African cultures, and while the stories may differ, his personality remains the same. Anansi is a very wise and witty spider. He is the trickster of African mythology.

We've looked at several tricksters from other mythologies in previous posts. The Norse Loki is unquestionably evil, given his desire to bring about the end of world. The Japanese Susano can be nefarious, but he also has a lighter side. Out of all the tricksters I've talked about, Anansi is most similar to the Greek Hermes. Both are messengers, with Anansi frequently serving as a go-between for mankind and the gods. Their pranks tend to be light hearted in nature, instead of villainous.

Given the number of myths about Anansi, there are a lot of stories for me to cover – too many for just one post! I'm going to spend several weeks talking about Anansi, including one post taking a look at his portrayals in modern pop culture.

Today's story is one of my favorites, even though Anansi is pretty mean to the poor humans. It begins with a bet between Anansi and Nyame, one of the more powerful African gods.

Nyame possessed an ear of corn. Looking at it, Anansi asked to be gifted the corn. He boasted that he would trade that corn for 100 servants. Nyame was intrigued, but doubted that the clever spider could do as he said. Still, he gave Anansi the ear of corn.

Anansi then went to earth. He found a human village, where he was made welcome as an honored guest. The spider warned the humans that the corn he had with him was sacred – it belonged to Nyame himself! The villagers were all very awed and respectful.

That night, Anansi crept out while everyone was sleeping. He fed all of the corn to the chickens in the village. When the humans awoke the next day, Anansi flew into a rage. He accused them of letting their fowl eat the sacred corn!

The humans were completely apalled. Fearing the wrath of Nyame, they offered Anansi an entire bushel of corn to make up for the single ear he had lost. Anansi accepted their offering and set off down the road.

 

As he was traveling Anansi met a man with a chicken. He purchase the chicken for the bushel of corn. When he came to the next village, Anansi was again welcomed as a guest. He repeated his story, but this time it was the chicken who was sacred to Nyame.

Again, Anansi had a trick up his sleeve. That night he slaughtered the chicken and rubbed its blood and feathers all over the village. He railed against the villagers when they awoke – how dare they kill Nyame's sacred chicken!

The villagers gave Anansi ten sheep to placate him, and the spider set off on his way.

The sheep were exchanged for a corpse – Anansi's biggest trick yet. (I'd imagine the corpse-seller was quite happy with that bargain!)

Anansi carried the corpse into the final village, larger than all the others he had stayed in. He claimed that the body was the sleeping son of Nyame himself. He set the body in a hut, claiming that he was exhausted and needed his rest. Anansi enjoyed dinner, and then returned to the hut to "sleep".

 

The next morning, Anansi called some villagers into the hut to help him wake the son of the god.  Given that the "son" was dead, they were unable to do so. Anansi cried out that the man had been murdered! Who in the village would dare to kill the son of their god?!

The villagers were horrified, and greatly feared the wrath of Nyame. They desperately offered to send 100 of their finest young men to the god, hoping that their servititude would make up for the death of the god's son. Anansi gravely accepted their offer.

Nyame was very much surprised when Anansi marched into his court with 100 servants behind him. When the spider recounted his tale the god was amused.

And so it was that 100 servants were purchased for a single ear of corn.

What do you guys think? It always reminds me of that game where you start with something small – say, a paperclip – and see what you can trade it for.


I'll be back next week with a very special post, and then we'll return to African folktales the following week.

And, to all my fellow WoW players...have fun with Legion!!