60 Fun Facts About Sun Wukong (Monkey King)

According to Journey to the West, what is the Monkey King born from?

The stone develops a womb that breaks open to reveal a stone egg, and the wind turns the egg into a monkey.

How far can Sun Wukong travel in a single somersault?

That is roughly 54,000 km, and the trick needs a hand sign, a spell, a fist clench and a body shake.

How many Earthly Transformations does Sun Wukong master?

He was offered a choice between 36 heavenly changes and 72 earthly ones and picked the larger set.

Where does the Monkey King keep his staff when he is not using it?

He shrinks the weapon to the size of a needle first; only he is strong enough to wield it at full size.

How much does the Ruyi Jingu Bang weigh in the novel?

That is about 7,960 kilograms, and the staff can change size, extend, fly and attack on command.

Which Dragon King originally owned the staff Sun Wukong takes as his weapon?

The other Dragon Kings chip in a golden chain-mail shirt, a phoenix-feather cap and cloud-walking boots.

According to the novel, who originally used the iron pillar that became Wukong's staff, and for what?

The dragon queen suggests giving away the pillar because it had started glowing days before Monkey arrived.

How did translator Anthony C. Yu render the name of Wukong's staff, Ruyi Jingu Bang?

W. J. F. Jenner went with "As-You-Will Gold-Banded Cudgel" instead.

What lowly job is the Monkey King given when Heaven first invites him in?

Once he learns it is the lowest position in Heaven he frees the horses and storms home.

Why were monkeys traditionally kept in stables, the pun behind Wukong's title Bimawen?

His enemies keep using the title to mock him for the rest of the book.

What does Wukong's self-proclaimed title Qitian Dasheng mean?

Heaven grudgingly recognises the title and then attaches a real job to it: guarding the peach garden.

The peaches Wukong eats as garden guardian include a variety that blooms only every how many years?

Eating that variety makes one "eternal as heaven and earth, as long-lived as the sun and moon".

Which deity, the Jade Emperor's nephew, fights Wukong to a standstill during the Havoc in Heaven?

The two keep shape-shifting into stronger forms until a third party intervenes from behind.

Whose thrown Diamond Jade ring finally knocks Wukong senseless so he can be bound?

He had just single-handedly beaten 100,000 celestial warriors, all 28 constellations and the Four Heavenly Kings.

How many days is Wukong locked in the eight-trigram crucible to be distilled into elixir?

He survives by hiding in the corner marked by the wind trigram, where there is less fire.

What new power does the furnace's samadhi fire give the Monkey King?

His huoyan-jinjing let him see 1,000 li by day and see through magical disguises.

What does Wukong do at the five "pillars" he finds at what he thinks is the edge of the universe?

The pillars are the Buddha's fingers, and the hand becomes a mountain that pins him to earth.

For how long is the Monkey King imprisoned under the mountain?

Only his head and hands protrude from the base of the mountain.

What mantra is written on the paper talisman that seals Wukong under the mountain?

The Buddha writes it in gold letters before the monkey can lift the mountain off.

What is Wukong given to eat when hungry during his imprisonment?

When thirsty he gets molten copper, which is not much better.

What happens when Tang Sanzang chants a certain sutra at the magic band on Wukong's head?

Once he is tricked into putting the band on, it can never be removed.

How many tribulations do the pilgrims face before completing their mission?

Demons chase Tang Sanzang because eating his flesh is said to grant immortality.

What title does the Monkey King receive when he attains Buddhahood at the end of the novel?

The name still comes up in traditional Chinese Buddhist evening services during the eighty-eight Buddhas repentance.

What does the given name Wukong mean?

His first master, Patriarch Bodhi, chose the surname Sun as a pun on husun, a word for monkey.

The name Sun Wukong first appeared in a play by which writer?

In that play it is Guanyin who names him, in the same scene where a golden band is placed on his head.

In his earliest Song-dynasty prototype, the Monkey Pilgrim first approaches Xuanzang disguised as what?

In that 17-chapter text his weapon is a golden-ringed monk's staff rather than the famous rod.

Which Hindu deity did scholar Hu Shih suggest may have influenced Wu Cheng'en's Monkey King?

Lu Xun and most scholars countered that the Ramayana was not available in Chinese until the 20th century.

Which 9th-century Chinese deity did Lu Xun propose as the Monkey King's inspiration?

Older Yuan-dynasty stories even make that deity a sibling of Sun Wukong.

How many hairs can the Monkey King transform into clones and objects with the command "Change!"?

He boasts that a single hair can be multiplied into millions and even billions of copies.

The three life-saving hairs given to Wukong for his duties as guardian were made from what?

They are distinct from his own magic hairs and reserved for dire emergencies.

What does Wukong draw on the ground with his staff to protect Tang Sanzang from demons?

The ward is described as being as tough as an iron wall.

How many years of life does eating a single ginseng fruit grant, according to the novel?

Just smelling one adds 360 years, and only 30 grow on the tree every 10,000 years.

Which of these becomes one of Wukong's sworn brothers in the Seven Sages early in the novel?

The same demon later becomes an enemy when the pilgrims reach the Flaming Mountains.

Which antagonist is one of the four spiritual primates alongside Wukong, whose powers equal his own?

The other two, the Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey and the Long-Armed Ape Monkey, are only mentioned by the Buddha.

The c. 1640 satirical sequel Xiyoubu traps Wukong in a dream world created by a demon that embodies what?

Author Tong Yue wanted an opponent Wukong could not beat with strength or skill.

China's DAMPE space probe, nicknamed Wukong, was built to search for what?

The nickname works as a pun: Wukong can be read as "understand the void".

Sun Wukong Fossa, a trench named after the Monkey King's trip through the underworld, is on which world?

The name nods to Wukong's visit to the realm of King Yama, where he erased his own name from the book of the dead.

The earliest surviving edition of Journey to the West was published in 1592 in which city?

Two earlier editions were printed between 1522 and 1566, but no copies survive.

In what year was Arthur Waley's famous abridged English translation, Monkey, published?

Waley translated only 30 of the 100 chapters, but did those nearly in full.

How many of the novel's 100 chapters did Arthur Waley translate for his abridged version?

He also skipped some 750 poems structured into the narrative, to the regret of later scholars.

Wu Cheng'en, the novel's traditional author, was born in which Chinese province?

He sat the imperial examinations several times without passing and only entered the imperial university in middle age.

In what year did the monk Xuanzang, inspiration for Journey to the West, leave Chang'an?

He left in defiance of a Tang travel ban but was welcomed home warmly by the same emperor in 646.

Roughly how many Indian texts did the real Xuanzang bring back to China?

He managed to translate 75 distinct sections out of a total of 1,335 chapters.

Before his fall from Heaven, Zhu Bajie (Pigsy) held what post?

Bodhisattvas and heavenly beings still call him Tianpeng, while everyone else calls him "the idiot".

What did Sha Wujing (Sandy) break at a Heavenly Peach Festival, earning his exile to earth?

He was struck 800 times with a rod for it; in Japanese versions he is often drawn as a kappa.

Which member of China's pioneering animation family directed 1961's Havoc in Heaven?

All four Wan brothers worked on it; the second part was finished in 1964.

The Japanese TV series Monkey (1978-80), a cult hit in Britain and Australia, was filmed largely where?

Its theme song "Monkey Magic" led many viewers to call the show by that name.

Which Japanese band performed 'Monkey Magic' and 'Gandhara' for the TV series Monkey?

"Gandhara" reached number 56 on the UK singles chart in 1979 on the BBC Records label.

Dragon Ball's Son Goku, based on Sun Wukong, was created by which manga artist?

He gave Goku a monkey tail rather than making him fully simian so the character had a distinguishing feature.

Which studio developed the 2024 hit Black Myth: Wukong?

The Destined One's quest is to recover six relics corresponding to Sun Wukong's six senses.

How many units did Black Myth: Wukong sell in its first month?

That made it one of the fastest-selling games ever, on a reported budget of about US$70 million.

Which Hong Kong comedy star played the Monkey King in the 1995 film A Chinese Odyssey?

Donnie Yen later played the role in the 2014 film The Monkey King, which grossed almost US$200 million.

Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel American Born Chinese was adapted for which streaming service?

Daniel Wu played the Monkey King in the series.

Which Taoist master accepts the Monkey King as a pupil after he waits outside the temple for months?

The master gives him the religious name Sun Wukong and warns him not to show off his new skills.

What title does the stone-born hero take when he becomes ruler of Flower Fruit Mountain?

Two beams of golden light from his eyes had startled the Jade Emperor at the moment of his birth.

What does Sun Wukong erase from the Book of Life and Death in the underworld?

The kings of the underworld report the vandalism to the Jade Emperor.

Besides the staff, what three items do the Dragon Kings hand over to the Monkey King?

He is later sentenced to death for extorting the Dragon Kings.

Which heavenly adviser persuades the Jade Emperor to flatter the Monkey King rather than fight him?

He argued that failing to defeat the 'brash, rude, and impudent' monkey would damage Heaven's reputation.

How many layers does the heavenly palace have, at the top of which Wukong steals Laozi's pills?

Tipsy from the banquet wine, he also eats the Queen Mother's peaches before fleeing home.

Which Song-dynasty storyteller's prompt-book holds the earliest literary prototype of Sun Wukong?

In it the Monkey Pilgrim calls himself the Macaque King of the Eighty-Four Thousand Monkeys of Flower Fruit Mountain.