Reading Notes: The Monkey King Reading A

 The Monkey King

When I retell this story, I might want to tell it from the perspective of either the dragon queen or one of the princes of death, because the two stories I found most interesting are "The Dragon-Queen" and "The Nether World."

The Dragon-Queen: 

• I found this story interesting because of the new weapon Sun Wu Kung acquires: a golden rod that can change shape as he desires. This reminded me a little bit of Percy Jackson's weapon in those books, which can shape-shift into a pen and different types of weapons.
• The iron bar has many interesting characteristics—it glows red or golden at the bottom of the sea, it was used as a measuring stick during the creation of seas and rivers, it has golden clamps on the ends, and it can change shapes.
• The weapon also seems to have the capacity to disturb things without touching them. In this story, it created large waves and made the castle of the Dragon-King shake.
• Sun Wu Kung is not a pleasant character to be around. He is very demanding, and seems to not care at all about anyone else. 

The Nether World: 

• This story reminded me of some stories I have read based on Egyptian myths where a person's spirit leaves their body in a dream. I think it gives a sense of creepiness and fear because the spirit is still a person's soul, but now it is without the protection of a body. 
• The setting of the underworld appears to be a large city, surrounded by a wall or fence with a gate. Later on, Sun Wu Kung calls it "Death's castle."
• The main character, Sun Wu Kung, shows some of his true colors of arrogance and fear of death in this story. He is violent and threatening, and he does not show any respect for the princes in the underworld or the Book of Life. This is the second time different characters must complain about him to heaven.
• Causing a whole group of apes not to die seems like it would have worse implications than Sun Wu Kung was expecting. I could write a prequel about what happens on an island of monkeys where none of them ever die.

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

Image Source: Illustration of Sun Wu Kung via Wikipedia.