Monkey King III

He started a rebellion like the Satan did against Yahweh or Jehova. Though he was not supported by a third of all the deities in the Jade Emperor's court like the Satan who led a third of angels, Monkey was able to defeat all the loyal generals including Nezha the Enfant Terrible (挪吒).

Finally, the Jade Emperor had to ask the Buddha for help. The Tathagatha (如來佛) — another name of Gautama Buddha or Sakya Muni or Gautama Siddhartha — came to the emperor's help. The Buddha faced Monkey alone for a duel. He dared Monkey to get to the end of the universe.

If Monkey did and came back with evidence that he was there, the Buddha would concede defeat and ask the Jade Emperor to abdicate in favor of the winner of the duel.

Monkey somersaulted hundreds of times, each leap enabling him to travel 180,000 li thanks to his magic of jindouyun (筋斗雲) or cloud somersault. He saw five pillars at the end of the universe. So he wrote on one of the pillars his “been-there.” He returned triumphantly to the Buddha and claimed his right to succeed the Jade Emperor. The Buddha showed his palm. On the middle finger was written Monkey's “been-there.” Thereupon, the Buddha bound Monkey at rocky Mount Wu-xing (五星山). A talisman was posted atop the mountain to prevent Monkey from unbinding himself or escaping from his rocky mountain jail.

Five hundred years after Monkey's imprisonment at Mount Wu Xing, Tripitaka or Tang Sanzang (唐三藏), which literally means Three Baskets of the Tang (Dynasty), was given an imperial order to go to Tianzhu (天竺) or India to obtain holy Buddhist sutras. Incidentally, a Basket means a collection of Buddhist sutras.

Although he is helpless when it comes to defending himself, Avalokitesvara or the Goddess of Mercy helps him by providing three disciples on a pilgrimage to India. Monkey is his first disciple, the other two being Pigsy or Zhu Bajie (豬八戒) and Sandy or Sha Wujing (沙悟淨). Pigsy used to be Field Marshal commanding 100,000 soldiers of the Milky Way. He drank too much and attempted to flirt with Moon Goddess Chang-e or Chang-ngo (嫦娥). As a result, he was condemned to be reborn as a human but ended up in the womb of a sow due to an error at the Reincarnation Wheel, which turned him into a half-man half-pig monster.

Sandy was once a Heavenly General whose job was to stand in attendance by the imperial chariot.

He was exiled to the mortal world and made to look like a monster because he accidentally smashed a crystal goblet belonging to the Heavenly Queen Mother.

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