THE DRAGONS IN JOURNEY TO THE WEST (REVISED 2025)
The Dragons in Journey to the West is one of the Four Major
Classical Novels of Chinese literature written in the 16th century during
the Ming Dynasty. Its authorship was attributed to Wu Cheng’en. The novel is a
fictionalized account of the legendary pilgrimage to the "Western Regions”
by the Buddhist monk Xuanzang to obtain sacred Buddhist texts called
sutras.
In real life, Xuanzang (c. 602 – 664) was a monk at Jingtu who actually travelled to India during the Tang Dynast. He left Changan in 629, seeking to attain better transcripts of Buddhist scriptures despite the fact that the borders were closed because of the ongoing war with the Göktürks. Xuanzang’s determination and persistence paid off and helped by sympathetic Buddhists, he travelled via Gansu and Qinghai to Kumul (Hami), then onto Tian Shan Mountains to Turpan. His journey led him across to what are today Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Gandhara and finally (in 630) to India.
In the fictional version pilgrimage took about fourteen years
to complete, the actual records however provide evidence of only nine years.
After reaching his destination during the subsequent thirteen years Xuanzang
travelled throughout the Indian subcontinent visiting important Buddhist
pilgrimage sites and studying at the ancient university at Nalanda. Xuanzang
left India in 643 and arrived back in Chang'an in 646 to a warm reception by
Emperor Taizong of Tang.
Monk Xuanzang had subsequently joined Da Ci'en, where he led the building of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in order to store the scriptures and icons he had brought back from India. In the following years he recorded his journey in the book Great Tang Records of the Western Regions. With the support of the emperor, he also established an institute at Yuhua Gong monastery dedicated to translating the scriptures he had brought back into Chinese. His translation and commentary work established him as the founder of the Dharma character school of Buddhism. Xuanzang died on March 7, 664. In 669 the Xingjiao Monastery was established to house his ashes.
Suffice to say popular stories of Xuanzang's journey were in
existence long before Journey to the West was written. In these versions,
dating as far back as the Southern Song Dynasty, a monkey character was already
a primary protagonist. Before the Yuan and early Ming dynasties, elements of
the Monkey story were already in existence.
This enduringly popular epic adventure story is full of
spiritual insight and an extended allegory in which the group of pilgrims
journeying toward India represented individuals journeying towards
enlightenment.
The brief account of the story is this: The bodhisattva
Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin), on instruction from the Buddha, gave this task to the
monk and his three protectors in the form of disciples — namely Sun Wukong, Zhu
Bajie and Sha Wujing — together with a dragon prince who became as Xuanzang's
steed, a white horse. The four disciples agreed to do this in order to atone
for past sins.
Sun Wukong, the first disciple is the most interesting character, taking equal billing to Xuanzang.
The first disciple of the Monk, Sun Wukong, was born from a
stone and nourished by the Five Elements. Earlier on he’d learned the art of
the Tao, 72 polymorphic transformations, combat, and secrets of immortality and
through guile and force made a name for himself, "Great Sage Equal to
Heaven". Sun Wukong’s had in his possession the greatest of weapons, a
staff called, "Ruyi Jingu Bang”.
This, as well as his previous consumption of the peaches of
immortality, three jars of elixir, and his time spent being tempered in Laozi's
Eight-Trigram Furnace (that far from being burned to death, gave him a
steel-hard body and fiery golden eyes that could detect from then on any
demon or disguise) made Wukong a most powerful protector.
Besides these abilities, he could also pluck hairs from his body and blow on them to convert them into whatever he wished (usually clones of himself to gain a numerical advantage in battle). Although he was master of the 72 methods of transformation into animals such as a bee, fly, or bird, which would give him the ability to fly, he could use his "somersault cloud" to travel vast distances in a single leap. The Monkey, nimble and quick-witted, used these skills to defeat all but the most powerful of demons on the journey. Sun Wukong's childlike playfulness was a huge contrast to his cunning mind. This, coupled with his great power, made him a trickster hero. His antics presented a lighter side in what proposed to be a long and dangerous trip into the unknown. Such a being would be impossible to handle but Sun's behavior was checked by a band placed around his head by Guanyin, which could not be removed by Sun Wukong himself until the journey's end. Xuanzang was given the ability to tighten this band by chanting the "Ring Tightening Mantra" (taught to him by Guanyin) whenever he needed to chastise Wukong. The spell was referred to by Xuanzang's disciples as the "Headache Sutra", which was the Buddhist mantra "oṃ maṇipadme hūṃ". Xuanzang speaks this mantra quickly in repetition.
In Journey to the West, the events and adventures are both imaginative and colourful, set against the impassably wide rivers, flaming mountains, various magical kingdoms, a nation of females, a lair of seductive spider spirits just to mention a few. Throughout the epic story, Xuanzang and his disciples were forced to fend off attacks from monsters targeting Xuanzang, often wanting to devour him in order to attain immortality. These manifest monsters occasionally turned out to be an escaped celestial beast belonging to bodhisattvas or Taoist sages and deities. Then there were the calamities that were either due to obstructive fate or were a test of Buddha.
At the conclusion, each disciple was rewarded in the form of posts in the bureaucracy of the heavens. Sun Wukong and Xuanzang for instance achieved Buddhahood, Sha Wujing became an Arhat, the dragon horse was made a nāga, and Zhu Bajie, whose good deeds had always been tempered by his greed, was promoted to an altar cleanser (the eater of excess offerings left at altars).
In Journey to The West, there were also many exciting and
colourful references to Dragons. Water Dragons in general were believed to be
the rulers of moving bodies of water, such as waterfalls, rivers, or seas. They
sometimes showed themselves as waterspouts (tornados or waterspouts). As divine
rulers of water and weather they were more anthropomorphic in form and were
often depicted as a humanoid, dressed in a king's costume, with a dragon head
and wearing a king's headdress.
They had also the ability to shape shift entirely into human
form. In this epic story the Dragon Kings were periodically depicted as living
underwater in magnificent crystal palaces. They had of course their own royal
court and commanded an army comprising various marine creatures. Apart from
presiding over aquatic life, the Dragon Kings could also manipulate the weather
and bring rainfall. In this fiction the four Dragon Kings of the Four Seas are:
Ao Guang- The Dragon King of the South Sea; Ao Qin, Dragon King of the South
Sea; Ao Run, Dragon King of the West Sea and Ao Shun, Dragon King of the North
Sea.
Here are the examples of three such incidences where Dragons had manifested:
First Incident: Obtaining the Magic Staff:
This staff was Wukong’s primary weapon, the "Ruyi Jingu Bang", which
he could shrink down to the size of a needle and keep in his ear or, when
warranted, be expanded to gigantic proportions.
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Needing a powerful weapon befitting his strength and skill, Wukong visited the Dragon palace and accosted the Dragon King Ao Guang. It is here the Monkey king obtained Ruyi Jingu Bang, his powerful, magically expanding, gold ringed iron cudgel after trying and rejecting many other heavenly weapons. According to the legend, Ruyi Jingu Bang had once been a pole used for measuring sea water depth by Da Yu in his flood control and treatment efforts. After Da Yu left, it remained in the sea and became the stabilizer known as "Pillar Holding Down the Sea". As soon as Wukong neared this massive pillar it began to glow, signifying that the monkey king was its true owner. The 18,000-pound rod obediently listened to Wukong’s command and shrunk to a manageable size to be wielded easily.
In addition to the magic staff, Wukong also obtained a golden chain mail, a phoenix-feather cap, and cloud-walking boots from Ao Guang.
Second Incident: Introduction to Fourth Disciple Yulong:
Third Incident: Is the contest for making rain:
Here, the skill of Monk Xuanzang is pitted against evil spirits posing as
Taoist monks. The nation he passed through had long suffered a severe drought.
In order to obtain safe passage through this nation Xuanzang engaged in a
contest to summon rain. In order to bring this about Sun Wukong utilizes the
Dragons of the sky to assist his master.
There is vast array of supernatural entities, evil spirits, goblins, demons and many more incredible adventures throughout this incredible time-honoured novel, Journey to the West. Book has also been made into movie more than once. If interested, check it out on YouTube.
THE END
