Journey 028: Bones of Contention
San Zang and Sun Wukong have a disagreement over whether the latter is demon hunter extraordinaire or just a cold-blooded murder-happy fiend.
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Transcript
Welcome to the Chinese Lore Podcast, where I retell classic Chinese stories in English. This is episode 28 of Journey to the West.
Last time, while the pilgrims were crossing a desolate mountain, San Zang got all pissy at Sun Wukong for refusing to go beg for food because, hey, we’re in the middle of nowhere! But after some chiding from San Zang, Wukong went looking and spotted some peaches. So he flew off to pick them.
However, as the saying goes, “Tall mountains must harbor demons.” And that was indeed the case here. There WAS a demon on this mountain. When Sun Wukong took off, his jetstream startled her. She flew up into the sky on an ill wind and saw San Zang sitting on the ground.
“What great luck!” the demon rejoiced. “For the last several years, my minions have talked of the Tang monk from the East who’s going West to fetch scriptures. He is the 10th reincarnation of the Golden Cicada. If you can eat a piece of his flesh, you will enjoy long life and immortality. And now, he’s really here!”
But just as the demon prepared to pounce on San Zang, she hesitated. She saw that her prey was flanked by Zhu Bajie and Sha Zeng. Even though their fighting skills were just so-so, they were nonetheless former celestial generals and exuded an air befitting that status. So the demon decided to take a different tact.
A little bit later, while he sat, San Zang suddenly saw someone approach from the West. It was a beautiful young woman, with a clear complexion, white teeth, and ruby red lips. She carried a dark green clay jar in her left hand, and a green porcelain vase in her right.
“Look,” San Zang said to the two disciples by his side. “Wukong had just said that no one lived anywhere near here. But isn’t that a person coming toward us?”
“Master, sit here with Sha Zeng while I go take a look,” Zhu Bajie said. He then put down his rake, tidied up, and swaggered over toward the young woman, trying to look all refined. As she drew nearer, he could see that her skin was like ice over jade-like bones. Her blouse was open just enough to reveal a soft bosom. She had willow-shaped eyebrows and apricot-shaped eyes that sparkled like silver stars. Her charming face resembled the moon, her temperament was pure and clear, and her figure was slender like a swallow resting in the trees. She looked like a half-opened begonia basking in the morning sun and a fresh peony blooming under the spring skies.
Well, we know how Zhu Bajie was when it came to gorgeous women. He couldn’t help but call out, “Madam, where are you going? What are you carrying?”
The young woman replied, in a voice that sounded like a singing oriole, “Elder, my green jar contains fragrant rice, and the green bottle contains fried wheat strips. I came specifically to offer them to monks in order to fulfil a pledge I once made.”
That delighted Zhu Bajie, and he dashed back to San Zang and said excitedly, “Master! Truly heaven rewards the fortunate! You were hungry and sent elder brother to go find food. But who knows where that monkey ran off to to find peaches. Besides, eating too many peaches will make you feel bloated. But look, here comes someone to offer us food.”
“You idiot; stop your nonsense!” San Zang chided him. “We haven’t come across a single decent person this whole time on the mountain. Who’s going to give us food?”
“Look, she’s right there!” Bajie said as he pointed at the woman.
San Zang hurriedly leaped to his feet, pressed his palms together in front of his chest, and greeted the woman. “Madam, where do you live? What does your family do? How come you have such a kind heart to come offer food to monks?”
“Master, this is called White Tiger Ridge, and even serpents and wild beasts are afraid of it,” the young woman said. “My family lives at the foot of the western slope. My parents are still alive and are very devout readers of scripture and compassionate souls. They often offer food to monks from near and far. They didn’t have any sons, so they prayed to the gods. Instead, they had me. They thought about marrying me off, but they were worried they’d have no one to care for them in their old age. So they found me a husband who joined our household so that we could take care of them for the rest of their lives.”
But when San Zang heard her tale, instead of being grateful, he lectured her, “Madam, you’re mistaken. As the sage said, ‘If your parents are still alive, you must not travel far. If you do travel, you must have a purpose.’ Since your parents are still around, and they found you a husband, then you should ask him to fulfill your pledge. How can YOU walk on this mountain, alone no less?! That is not proper for a woman.”
The young woman smiled and said, “Master, my husband is in a canyon to the north, plowing a field with a few laborers. I cooked this food for their lunch. But the summer heat is sweltering, we have no helpers, and my parents are old, so I have to deliver it myself. But then I saw you three, and I thought of how generous my parents are, so I wanted to offer this food to you. If you don’t think it too meager, please help yourselves.”
“That is very admirable,” San Zang replied. “But one of my disciples has gone off to pick some fruits. He’ll be back soon, so I dare not eat your food. If we monks ate your food, your husband would scold you if he finds out. Then won’t that be our fault?”
“Oh master, my parents love to treat monks to food. This is nothing. Besides, my husband is also a kind man and he’s always doing good deeds. If he heard that I gave this food to you, he would love me even more.”
But San Zang continued to decline the food, which annoyed Zhu Bajie to no end. He grumbled, “There are countless monks in the world; who among them is as big a buzzkill as my old monk here. We could divide this free food three ways, but he refuses to eat it. When that monkey gets back, we would have to divide it four ways!”
In any case, he couldn’t control himself anymore. He knocked over the jar with his snout and was about to dig in, but just then, Sun Wukong darted onto the scene from the air, bristling with golden rod in hand, and charging at the woman. San Zang hurriedly grabbed him and asked, “Wukong, who are you trying to hit?”
“Master, that woman in front of you is not a good person. She’s a demon, trying to play you!”
“You monkey! You usually can see things clearly. How come you’re acting crazy today? This kind woman is so generous as to offer us this food. How can you call her a demon?”
Wukong laughed and retorted, “Master, how can you tell? Back when I was a demon at the Water Curtain Cave, whenever I wanted to eat human flesh, I would do the same: I would turn into gold or silver, or a fine house, or a drunk man, or a beautiful woman. And when some idiot falls in love with me, I would lure them to my cave and cook them the way I like and eat them. And we would dry the leftovers in the sun so that they don’t spoil.”
Uhhh, so this was a gruesome dark page from Sun Wukong’s past that kind of puts a different spin on the character. Needless to say, this part of his backstory did NOT make it into the classic TV adaptation of the novel, where he was more of a merry mischief maker than a devourer of men.
Anyway, Wukong continued, “If I had been a step late, you would have fallen into her trap and been killed!”
San Zang, however, refused to believe him and insisted that the woman was a good, upstanding individual. Wukong, however, teased him, “Master, I know what’s going on here. You must be moved by her looks. Well, if that’s your desire, then have Bajie go cut down a few trees, have Sha Zeng gather some grass, and I’ll play carpenter. We’ll build you a little love nest right here so you can marry her. And we’ll just break up the band. That’d save us the hassle of going to fetch scriptures.”
That little jab made San Zang flush with embarrassment. In that split second, Wukong raised his golden rod and smacked the woman on the head, and she fell dead to the ground.
“You wild ape!” a stunned San Zang exclaimed. “You refused my repeated pleas and killed her without cause!”
“Master, don’t fault me. Come take a look at these!”
Steadied by Sha Zeng, San Zeng stepped toward the knocked-over jar. Instead of fragrant rice as the woman had claimed, it was filled with maggots. And instead of fried wheat strips, the jade vase contained toads that were now hopping around.
This sight made San Zang start to believe what Wukong was telling him. But then, Zhu Bajie, still sore over his lost meal, piped up, “Master, that woman was a farmer’s wife. She was on her way to deliver food for her husband and ran into us. How can one claim that she’s a demon? Elder brother’s rod is so heavy that he accidentally killed her with one stroke. He must be afraid that you would recite the Band-Tightening Spell, so he used some magic to turn the food into these things to fool you.”
Alas, San Zang decided to believe dum-dum instead, so he indeed started to recite said spell, and Sun Wukong started crying out in pain, pleading, “My head hurts! Please stop! We can talk!”
“What is there to say?!” San Zang said angrily. “Monks are supposed to always do good deeds and never forget compassion. When we’re sweeping the ground, we are wary of harming an ant. And we pity the moths that fly into a lamp. How can you commit violence at every turn?! What’s the point of fetching scriptures if you kill innocents like this? You should go back!”
“Master, where would you have me go back to?” Wukong asked.
“I don’t want you as a disciple anymore.”
“If you don’t want me as a disciple, you might not make it to the West.”
“My life is in heaven’s hands. If some demon were to eat me, then that’s my destiny, not something you can save me from. Leave, now!”
“Master, I could go, but I haven’t repaid your kindness yet.”
“What kindness are you talking about?”
“I caused a ruckus in heaven that resulted in me being pinned under Twin Borders Mountain. Fortunately, the Bodhisattva Guanyin gave me the precepts, and then you rescued me. If I don’t accompany you to the West, then it would look like I’m an ungrateful wretch, and my name will be cursed forever.”
Well, San Zang was a softie at heart. When he heard Wukong pleading with such earnestness, he backed off and said, “In that case, I’ll spare you just this once. Don’t act up again. If you commit violence like before, I will recite the spell 20 times!”
“You can recite 30 times,” Wukong said. “But I won’t attack anyone again.”
With things patched up between them, Wukong now helped San Zang onto his horse and gave him the peaches that he had picked. San Zang ate a few to sate his hunger for the moment, and the party continued to cross the mountain.
But their troubles were only getting started. As it turns out, that demon wasn’t dead. She had some powers, and when she saw Wukong’s rod coming at her, she quickly cast a corpse-releasing spell, where she fled the scene but left behind a fake dead body. Now, she watched from the clouds and seethed, “I’ve heard about Sun Wukong’s skills. Turns out he really lives up to his reputation. That Tang monk didn’t recognize my true nature and was about to eat the food. As soon as he lowered his head to smell the food, I could’ve had him. But that monkey showed up and ruined my scheme. And I almost took a blow from his rod. If I spared that monk, I would have labored in vain. Let me go play another trick on him.”
As the pilgrims ventured deeper into the mountain, they suddenly heard the sound of someone crying. They looked and saw an old woman, maybe in her 80s, walking toward them with a cane and weeping with every step.
“Oh crap!” Zhu Bajie said with alarm. “Master, this is not good! That old woman has come looking.”
“For what?” San Zang asked.
“Elder brother must have killed her daughter! That must be the mother.”
“Brother, don’t spout nonsense,” Wukong scoffed. “That young woman was maybe 18. This old woman is in her 80s. How could she have given birth in her 60s? She must be an imposter. Let me go have a look.”
So he sprinted forward and sized up the old woman. She had ice-white hair on her temples. She walked slowly and feebly. Her wrinkled face resembled withered lotus leaves. Her cheekbones jutted upward, while her lips curved downward.
As soon as he got a good look at her with his fiery-golden eyes, Sun Wukong recognized that she was a demon. So he didn’t even bother with words. He charged forward and brought his rod down on her. In the blink of an eye, he was standing over another corpse on the side of the mountain path.
San Zang was so stunned that he fell off his horse. When he got up, he didn’t say a word to Wukong and instead just started reciting the Band-Tightening Spell. And true to his word, he repeated the spell 20 times. Sun Wukong was in such pain that he bent over like a crooked carrot, and rolled on the ground as he begged San Zang to stop.
“I have nothing to say to you,” San Zang scolded him. “Monks must listen to good advice to avoid going to hell. I’ve tried so hard to advise you, and yet you keep committing violence, killing one innocent after another. How can you justify it?”
“But she was a demon!” Wukong pleaded.
“You lying ape! How can there be so many demons?! You’re a villain without conscience, bent on murder. You should leave!”
“Master, you want me to leave again? Fine, I can go, but there’s just one thing that doesn’t sit right with me.”
“What is it?” San Zang asked.
Before Wukong could answer, Zhu Bajie cut in. “Master, he wants to divide up the luggage with you. He’s followed you these past few years, so how can he be willing to leave empty-handed? You should just give him a couple pieces of old clothing or hats from your bundle.”
Sun Wukong was incensed and leaped to his feet in anger. “You idiot and your damn mouth! I have always upheld Buddhist principles and harbor not the slightest bit of jealousy or greed. Why the hell would I want to divide up the luggage?”
“If you harbor no jealousy or greed, then why don’t you just go?!” San Zang said.
“Master, to tell you the truth, 500 years ago, I was such a hero on Flower and Fruit Mountain. I tamed demons from 72 caves and assembled a force of 47,000. I wore a purple gold headdress, a royal yellow cloak, blue belt, and cloud-striding boots while wielding my golden rod. How impressive I looked then. But since I committed my offense, I shaved my head and joined the Buddhist school and became your disciple. Then you put this golden band on my head. I’d be embarrassed to go back and be seen like this. If you don’t want me around, then please recite the band-loosening spell, so that I can remove this band from my head and return it to you. You can put it on someone else’s head, while I get to live carefree again. I did serve you all this time, after all, so you shouldn’t refuse this one request.”
Uhh, band … loosening spell? San Zang was dumbfounded. “Wukong, the Bodhisattva only taught me the Band-Tightening Spell. She didn’t teach me any Band-Loosening Spell.”
“Well, in that case, you’ll have to keep me around.”
Backed into a corner, San Zang had no choice. He told Wukong, “Get up. I’ll spare you this one last time. But you must never commit violence again.”
“I will never dare again. Never again,” Wukong said. He then helped San Zang back on his horse, and the party set out once more.
Unbeknownst to the pilgrims, the demon still wasn’t dead. When Wukong attacked her while she in the guise of the old woman, she had once again pulled her corpse-releasing trick, and she was now once again stalking the group from the air. She couldn’t help but compliment Sun Wukong, “What a monkey king. He has really sharp eyes, to be able to see through my disguise. These monks are traveling fast. If they leave the mountain and go West for another 10 miles, they’ll be out of my territory. If some other demons get their hands on them, I’d become a laughingstock. Let me have another go at them.”
And so, she descended to the slopes and transformed again, this time into an old man. He had white hair and a gray beard. He leaned on a dragon-headed cane and wore a crane-feather robe. In his hand he held a strand of prayer beads, and as he walked, he muttered Buddhist scripture.
When San Zang saw this old man approaching, he said happily, “What a holy place the West is! That old gentleman can barely walk, but he’s still reciting scripture.”
“Master, save your compliments,” Zhu Bajie said. “That’s trouble coming at us.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sun Wukong killed his daughter and his wife. He’s coming to look for them, and we’ve run right into him. Master, you’re going to be executed. I’m going to be exiled for being an accomplice, and Sha Zeng will be a criminal conscript. That monkey is going to run away and leave the three of us to pay for his crimes.”
“You idiot!” Wukong chided him. “Your nonsense is going to scare our master. Let me go take a look.”
This time, Wukong put away his golden rod and approached the old man.
“Old sir, where are you going? Why are you reciting scripture while you walk?” he asked.
This time, the demon thought she had Sun Wukong fooled. So she just replied, “Elder, I am a native of these parts. I have always done good deeds, welcomed monks, read scriptures, and followed Buddhist teachings. I have no sons and only one daughter, for whom I found a husband. This morning, she went out to deliver food to him. She must have run into a tiger. Then my wife went out to look for her, and also hadn’t come back. I don’t know where they are. So I have come to look for them. If they really did die, then I have no choice but to recover their remains and bury them.”
Sun Wukong chuckled, “I am the tiger’s ancestor. How can you try to fool me with this little gimmick? You may be able to fool others, but not me. I know you’re a demon!”
The demon was stunned and could say nothing. Sun Wukong now whipped out his golden rod, but he hesitated. “If I don’t kill him, he’s going to act like some big shot,” he thought to himself. “But I do kill him, master is going to recite that spell again.”
But then, he thought, “If I don’t kill him, he’s going to abduct my master, and then I’d have to waste time and effort to rescue him. Ah hell, let me kill him with one blow. Master might recite his spell, but as the saying goes, ‘Even a tiger won’t eat its own cub.’ I can talk my way back into his good graces.”
So Sun Wukong now muttered an incantation and summoned the local earth spirits and mountain gods. He told them, “This demon has tricked my master three times. This time, I’m going to kill him. You guys keep watch for me in the air. Don’t let him escape.”
The local spirits of course did not dare to disobey. With them watching from above, the demon had nowhere to go. And this time, when Sun Wukong’s rod landed, the demon truly fell dead to the ground.
But San Zang was shocked and speechless. Zhu Bajie, though, ran his big mouth.
“Damn monkey! He’s gone crazy! He killed three people in half a day!”
San Zang prepared to recite the Band-Tightening Spell again, but Wukong rushed over to him and said, “Master, don’t recite the spell! Come see this corpse.”
San Zang walked over to the body and was stunned to see that it had turned into a skeleton.
“Wukong, this man just died. How could he have turned into a skeleton already?” San Zang asked.
“It was a spirit lurking as a ghoul, tricking people and killing them. After I killed it, it revealed its true form. Look, on its spine is a column of characters. They say, ‘Lady White Bone.’ ”
San Zang was starting to come around to the truth, but just then, Zhu Bajie ran his mouth again. “Master, he killed that man and was afraid you would recite the spell, so he turned the corpse into bones to fool you.”
Dude, shut the hell up already! But alas, San Zang once again believed him and started to recite the dreaded spell. Sun Wukong’s head hurt so bad, that he fell to his knees and shouted, “Stop! Stop! Just talk!”
“Monkey, I have nothing to say,” San Zang said. “Good deeds by rustic folk are like the grasses in a spring garden: Their growth is unseen, yet each day they increase. Evil deeds are like a whetstone: Its wear is unseen, yet each day it diminishes. Out here in the wilderness, you’ve already killed three people, and no one has come after you. But if we were in a city with throngs of people and you start swinging that mourning stick around, you will cause a calamity. How would I escape the consequences? You must leave!”
“Master, you’re wrong! This was clearly a demon. She tried to harm you and I killed her to protect you, yet you don’t see it. Instead, you believed that idiot’s slander and tried to chase me away time and again. As the saying goes, ‘Three is the limit.’ If I still refuse to go, then how shameless would I be? Fine, fine. I’m leaving. But you’ll have no one to protect you.”
San Zang now grew angry. “You ape! You’re getting more and more disrespectful! Are you the only one who counts? What about Bajie and Sha Zeng?! Don’t they count?!”
When Wukong heard him mention the other two disciples, he couldn’t help but be overcome with sadness. He said to San Zang, “Alas, after you left the capital, you had the hunter who protected you. Then, at Twin Borders Mountain, you rescued me and I became your disciple. I have ventured into ancient caves and dark forests to capture demons and help you take in Bajie and Sha Zeng. How much suffering have I endured? Yet today, you refuse to see the truth and demand that I leave. This is what they mean by ‘When the birds are all gone, the bow is put away; when the rabbits are all dead, the hunting hound is cooked!’ Fine, fine, fine! But there’s still the matter of the Hoop-Tightening Spell.”
“I will never recite it again,” San Zang said.
“But who’s to say? You might run into some crisis where Bajie and Sha Zeng can’t save you. And then, you might think of me and you won’t be able to help yourself but to recite that spell. Then, no matter how far away I am, my head will hurt. Instead of making me come see you again then, maybe you should not send me away to begin with.”
Those words only served to further aggravate San Zang. He dismounted from the horse and told Sha Zeng to fetch paper, brush, and ink from his bundle. Using some water from a nearby stream, he ground up some ink on the inkstone and wrote a dismissal letter.
Handing the letter to Wukong, he said, “Monkey, let this be the proof! You’re no longer my disciple! If I ever meet with you again, may I end up in hell!”
Taking the letter, Wukong replied, “Master, no need to swear any oaths. I’m going.”
He then folded the letter and stashed it in his shirt. But then, he bowed slightly to San Zang and said, “Master, I was your pupil after all, and on the Bodhisattva’s instruction no less. Since I have to leave you midway today before we have achieved the fruits of our labor, please sit and accept a bow from me, so that I may leave with peace in my heart.”
But San Zang ignored him and turned away, muttering, “I’m a decent monk. I won’t accept a bow from a wicked villain like you!”
Wukong now plucked three hairs from behind his head and turned them into three doppelgangers of himself. The four Sun Wukongs surrounded San Zang and kowtowed to him simultaneously, leaving him no choice but to accept the bow.
This done, Wukong took back his three hairs. He then told Sha Zeng, “Brother, you’re a good man, but you must be on guard against Bajie’s slander and insinuations. Be vigilant. If a demon ever gets a hold of master, you can tell the demon that I am our master’s disciple. These two-bit demons of the West will not dare to harm master on account of my reputation.”
But San Zang interjected, “I am a good monk. I will NOT mention the name of a wretch like you. Leave!”
Resigned that there was no changing his former master’s mind, Wukong had no choice but to turn away, somersault into the air, and fly off toward the East. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
To see how San Zang will fare without his most capable protector, tune in to the next episode of the Chinese Lore Podcast. Thanks for listening!
Music in This Episode
- “Luỹ Tre Xanh Ngát Đầu Làng (Guzheng) – Vietnam BGM” by VPRODMUSIC_Asia_BGM
- “Dark Toys” by SYBS (from YouTube audio library)
- “The Quiet Aftermath by Sir Cubworth (from YouTube audio library)
- “Ravines” by Elphnt (from YouTube audio library)
- “Comfortable Mystery 3 – Film Noire” by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100536; Artist: http://incompetech.com/)
- “Slow Times Over Here” by Midnight North (from YouTube audio library)