READING NOTES: THE APE SUN WU KUNG (READING B)

Photo Credits: Yun Huang Yong

Reading B:

The Lord of the Heavens:
So the ape gets a second chance at redemption. I wonder why there were no charges. He was almost sent to death for what he did and then he was let off to work in the stables. I could write in the perspective of the northern star how it spoke for the ape and then wasn’t very grateful for it.
The Great Saint:
He is very ungrateful for what he has now knowing that his position isn’t as highly ranked as he would have hoped because of his former title of king. I could write about the way he exited heaven from the perspective of someone in heaven watching. Interesting that he trusted devil-king leaders. Maybe there could be more to the robe…that it held some sort of evil magic.
Notscha, Son of Li Dsing:
I could write this like the ape is the son and the heavenly king is his father. He tries to make him humble but fails and his teachings make the ape rebellious and a brat. I don’t know why the star is trying to help him.

The Queen-Mother of the West:
So he acts like a brat and gets what he wants and more. This story doesn’t seem to have good life lessons. Essentially it is saying take what you want and don’t let anyone stand in your way because you were born better than everyone else. The trees would go nicely in a rhyme.

Laotzse:
I could write about the feast or the preparation of the feast. He knows he did something wrong so all he knows to do now is run. He got away with everything before, why not now?

Guan Yin:
I could write about Yang Oerlang or his parent’s love story.

Yang Oerlang:
I could write a poem about all of the different forms they took when fighting each other.

Buddha:
It would not be fun to be sentenced to death by oven. 

The Destiny of Sun Wu Kung:
It wasn’t by force but by the way of Buddha that the ape was finally tamed. I wonder why he was not called in the first place.

Journey to the West (synopsis):
This was the overview of the story.
Journey to the West (conclusion):
Other endings to the story.

Bibliography: "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).