Monkey: A Folk Novel of China

Hsüan Tsang is a Buddhist priest who is given the name Tripitaka when he takes on Kuan-yin’s journey to retrieve scriptures from India. Kuan-yin chooses Tripitaka both for his piety and because she was involved in his upbringing, helping to bring him as a child to a temple where his impostor stepfather wouldn’t kill him. Kuan-yin selects him for her mission upon seeing him lead the Mass for the Dead arranged by the Emperor of T’ang.

Tripitaka “stands for the ordinary man, blundering anxiously through the difficulties of life” (8). He is pious and humble, and he consistently refuses all offers of money or goods, but he is a poor judge of other people, often trusting those he shouldn’t and unable to face any challenges or setbacks on his journey without weeping and falling into despair. Wu describes him as “being by nature pliable as water” (194). Tripitaka understands what being Buddhist means better than his disciples—catching on when a situation seems like it must involve karma or divine intervention, or knowing that Monkey’s vegetarian diet makes his breath pure where Pigsy’s isn’t—but he cannot fend for himself and must rely on others to protect him, guide him, and bring him to his goal. Needing others is not a bad quality, and it does not prevent Tripitaka from achieving Buddhahood, as his piety is enough for him to qualify. 

Pigsy is “a marshal of the hosts of Heaven” who gets drunk and behaves inappropriately with the Goddess of the Moon (81). The Jade Emperor banishes him to earth, where he is reborn from inside a pig, causing his pig-like appearance. Kuan-yin offers to convert Pigsy and save him. At first, he refuses, suggesting that as a Buddhist he would starve to death. He eventually relents, and Pigsy becomes one of Tripitaka’s disciples after a protracted fight with Monkey at the farm where he takes up residence. Pigsy “symbolizes the physical appetites, brute strength, and a kind of cumbrous patience” (8).

Pigsy shows the most reluctance to behave properly of Tripitaka’s disciples. He is frequently at odds with Monkey because he dislikes Monkey giving him orders and feels entitled to more than he receives as a disciple. While he does contribute his strength to many of the group’s encounters, Pigsy complains about their journey, doesn’t follow Buddhist practices as easily, and thinks more about the potential contingency plans if enlightenment doesn’t work out for them. He is all too eager to help when he thinks Monkey wants him to commit robbery and cares too much for money. While Tripitaka and Monkey are made into Buddhas at the end of their journey, Buddha says, “‘Green and lust are not yet utterly extinct in you” (303), he and gives Pigsy a lesser promotion than any of the other disciples because of his lack of refinement and understanding. 

Sandy is “a marshal of the hosts of Heaven, charged to wait upon the Jade Emperor when he rode in his Phoenix Chariot” (80). After accidentally breaking a crystal dish, Sandy is banished to earth and severely punished—first transformed into a monster and then also tortured every week. He has red hair and “his eyes were like two lanterns; at his neck were strung nine skulls” (159).

When Kuan-yin offers him the chance to recover his old life if he will convert and assist with the pilgrimage to India, Sandy readily agrees. He “represents sincerity” (8), though he is the least-defined character of the pilgrims in the story. Of Tripitaka’s three disciples, Sandy is the most levelheaded and quietest, and he occasionally helps calm down disagreements between Monkey and Pigsy. While Sandy does not achieve Buddhahood at the end of the journey, he is promoted to Arhat in recompense for his faithful service. 

Kuan-yin is the goddess of mercy and compassion and serves as a mother figure particularly in Chinese Buddhism. Her influence appears throughout the entire novel, starting with her stopping Monkey’s assault of Heaven and including helping Hsüan Tsang’s parents, securing disciples for Tripitaka’s journey, and helping Tripitaka along the way. While many of the other divine figures in the story are capricious, ineffective, or quick to anger, Kuan-yin provides a loving, steady hand guiding those around her towards the best possible outcomes. 

The Jade Emperor is the supreme god of Heaven. While he is revered as powerful, he is easily swayed by complaints, quick to demand retribution for even the smallest of slights, and not particularly effective as a ruler. Each of the creatures who end up following Tripitaka are punished by the Jade Emperor in some way before being rescued by the Faith. The Jade Emperor is a satire of heads of state on Earth.

A magician and the Jade Emperor’s nephew, Erh-lang finally defeats Monkey in battle after many others fail. Erh-lang’s success leads to Monkey’s imprisonment under a mountain from which Tripitaka eventually rescues him.