Journey 039: Tiny Truths
San Zang delivers a big bombshell in a small package to the prince of the Wuji Kingdom.
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Transcript
Welcome to the Chinese Lore Podcast, where I retell classic Chinese stories in English. This is episode 39 of Journey to the West.
Last time, the pilgrims were spending the night at a mountain monastery when San Zang got a visit from the ghost of a dead king of the nearby Wuji (1,1) Kingdom, or translated literally, the Kingdom of Black Chicken. The king told San Zang that a Daoist wizard had ingratiated himself at court by summoning rain to relieve a drought, but that wizard then chucked the king into a well three years ago and has been impersonating him on the throne ever since. The king begged San Zang to let Sun Wukong help him gain a measure of justice by taming the wizard.
San Zang said to the king’s ghost, “Well, my disciple isn’t good at other things, but taming demons and monsters is right up his alley. But your highness, even if he is capable of capturing the demon, it might be hard to justify.”
“How so?” the king asked.
“That demon is powerful and has assumed your likeness. Everyone at court and in the harem believes he is you. Even though my disciple has skills, he would not dare to act recklessly. If we get arrested and accused of regicide, that would be a capital crime and we would be doomed. Wouldn’t that backfire?”
The king told San Zang, “I still have someone at court.”
“Oh that’s great,” San Zang said. “I assume it’s one of your brothers or a high official that’s been sent to command a garrison somewhere?”
“No. It’s my son, the crown prince, who lives in my own palace.”
“But surely the demon must have banished the prince,” San Zang said.
“Not so. He spends his time in the throne hall or the Five Phoenix Tower, studying with scholars, or sitting by that demon at court. For the past three years, the demon has banned the prince from entering the queen’s palace, so he hasn’t been able to see his mother.”
“Why?”
“That’s the demon’s scheme. He’s worried that if mother and son meet and start talking, they might discover something is off. So he prevents them from meeting so that he can remain on the throne.”
San Zang now told the king, “Your calamity must have been sent by heaven, and it’s similar to mine. Once upon a time, my father was murdered by a pirate, who then forced himself on my mother. After three months, she gave birth to me. I escaped with my life on the river, and the abbot of Golden Mountain Monastery saved me and raised me. I remember growing up as an orphan. And your prince has also lost both his parents. What a pity!”
He then asked the king, “Since your prince is at court, how can I meet him?”
“Why wouldn’t you be able to?”
“If the demon has the prince under his thumb and won’t even let him see his mother, how can I, a mere monk, see him?”
“The prince will be away from court tomorrow,” the king said.
“What will he be doing?”
“Tomorrow morning, he will lead 3,000 attendants out hunting. You’ll get to see him then. When you do, tell him everything I’ve told you, and he will believe you.”
“But he’s a mortal and has been deceived by the demon. He calls that demon father a few times a day. How would he be willing to believe me?”
“In that case, I’ll leave you with an object as proof.”
“What is it?”
The king handed over the white jade scepter he had been holding. San Zang asked what it was, and the king explained, “That wizard may have taken my form, but he’s missing this. He has told people in the palace that it was stolen by the wizard who had summoned the rain. This object has been missing for three years. If my son sees this, he will remember me, and this injustice will be avenged for sure.”
“Alright, then I’ll keep it and have my disciple handle this matter for you,” San Zang said. “Where will you wait for us?”
“I do not dare to wait. I will have the Night Patroller sweep me away on another wind, and deliver me into the palace. I shall appear to my queen in her dreams and get her and my son on the same page, so that they can help you.”
San Zang nodded and agreed to the king’s request. The king’s spirit kowtowed and took his leave. San Zang got up to see him out, but tripped and fell. In that moment, he startled awake. It was all a dream, except, of course, we know that in this novel, no dream is ever just a dream.
San Zang hurriedly lit his lamp and called out to his disciples. A groggy Zhu Bajie grumbled, “Why are you calling us? Back in the day, when I was living on human flesh, I always ate my fill and lived carefree. But then I had to follow you and become a Buddhist and protect you on your journey. I was told I was becoming a monk, but I’ve become a slave instead. During the day I have to carry the luggage and lead the horse. At night I have to take out your chamber pot and warm your feet. You never let me get any sleep. Why are you calling me now?”
Ignoring his gripes, San Zang said, “Disciples, I dozed off on the desk just now and had a strange dream.”
Sun Wukong leaped to his feet and said, “Master, dreams come from thoughts. Before you ascended this mountain, you first worried about demons, and then lamented about how far we are from the Thunderclap Temple, and you were missing the Tang capital and wondering when we’ll make it back. Too many thoughts lead to too many dreams. Whereas I am solely focused on going to the West to see the Buddha, so I have no dreams at all.”
“Disciple, my dream just now wasn’t about home,” San Zang said. He then recounted everything the king’s ghost told him. After listening to the whole story, Wukong chuckled, “No need to say more. He must have visited you in your dream to send me some business. A demon must have usurped his throne, and he wants me to sort it out for him. Well, when that demon meets my rod, all will be taken care of.”
“But he said that demon is quite powerful,” San Zang cautioned.
“Oh whatever. As soon as he sees me, he’ll have nowhere to run.”
“I also remember that the king left a treasure as proof,” San Zang said.
But Bajie grumbled again, “Oh master, stop it. A dream is a dream; it’s not real.”
But Sha Zeng chimed in, “As the saying goes, ‘Don’t trust what seems to be straighter than straight, and beware that kindness might really be unkindness.’ Let’s open the door and take a look.”
So Wukong opened the door to the meditation hall that they were sleeping in. The group looked outside, and sure enough, lying there on the steps under the moonlight was a golden-embroidered white jade scepter.
“Brother, what’s this thing?” Zhu Bajie asked as he picked it up.
“It’s the treasure that a king holds in his hands,” Wukong explained. “Master, since this is here, then this matter must be true. Alright, I’ll handle that demon tomorrow. But there are three things you must endure for me.”
Bajie cut in and said, “Oh great! Master, why did you have to tell him about your dream? He’s a trickster. And now, he’s asking you to endure three things.”
Stepping back inside, San Zang asked Wukong what the three things were. Wukong told him, “Tomorrow, you’ll have to suffer, be put upon, and catch a fever.”
Bajie laughed, “Even one of those would be hard enough, much less three.”
But San Zang sensed Wukong had something in mind, so he asked why. But Wukong said, “No need to explain, but let me give you two things first.”
He now pulled a hair off himself, blew on it, and shouted, “Change!” It turned into a red and gold lacquer box. He put the scepter inside and told San Zang, “Carry this in your hands. When dawn comes, put on your golden cassock and go sit down in the main hall and recite scripture. Meanwhile, I’ll go check out that kingdom. If there really is a demon, I’ll kill him and do something good for this area. If it turns out to be fake, then we wouldn’t need to run toward that trouble. And if that prince does leave the city, I’ll lead him to you for sure.”
“How should I greet him when I see him?” San Zang asked.
“I will let you know in advance if he’s coming. Then, you just open that box, and I’ll turn into a two-inch tall tiny monk and crouch in there while you carry the box. When the prince comes into the monastery, he will no doubt go pay homage to the Buddha. No matter how he bows, you just ignore him. When he sees that, he will no doubt order his men to arrest you. You just let them do whatever.”
“What?! But what if he orders them to execute me?”
“No problem. I’ll be around. When the time comes, I’ll naturally protect you. If he asks, you just tell him that you’re a monk sent from the East to go West to see the Buddha, fetch scripture, and present treasures. He’ll ask what kind of treasures. You can tell him about your cassock and tell him that’s just the third-tier treasure and that you have a second-tier treasure and a top-tier treasure as well. You can tell him that in your box, there’s a treasure that knows 1,500 years of past, present, and future. Then, you let me out, and I will relay what the king told you to that prince. If he believes us, then we’ll go capture that demon to avenge his father and make a name for ourselves. If he doesn’t believe us, then you can show him the white jade scepter. I just worry that he’s too young to recognize it.”
“That’s a brilliant idea!” San Zang said excitedly. “But as for these treasures, one is called the golden cassock and the other is the white jade scepter. What should I call the treasure that you’ll turn into?”
“Just call it the Kingmaker,” Wukong said.
San Zang agreed. By now, no one in the party could sleep a lick. They eagerly waited for daybreak. When the sun rose, Wukong told Bajie and Sha Zeng, “Don’t disturb the monks or wander around aimlessly. Once I have accomplished this mission, we’ll travel together.”
He then took his leave of San Zang and did a somersault into the sky. He looked westward and saw a city about 15 miles away. He flew closer and saw the city enveloped in a demonic air. He sighed and said, “If a true king was sitting on the throne, there would be auspicious clouds. But because a demon has usurped the throne, the gates are cloaked in dark air.”
Just then, he heard the sound of a canon blast. The east gate opened, and an army came out. This was the prince’s hunting party, looking quite stout. They headed east and soon started heading toward higher ground. In the center of the party was a young general, clad in armor, wielding a blue-edged sword, riding on a yellow steed, and wearing a bow and quiver around his waist.
“That must be the prince,” Wukong thought to himself. “Let me play a little trick on him.”
So he descended from the clouds, turned into a white rabbit, and darted out in front of the prince’s horse. The prince saw the bunny and quickly raised his bow and let fly an arrow. The arrow struck the rabbit, but don’t worry, Sun Wukong was fine. He just let the prince hit him on purpose. When the arrow got near, he snatched the arrow out of the air and took off with it. The prince saw his prey running away with the arrow and galloped after it.
Before long, the prince had followed Wukong to the monastery. Before the prince caught up, Wukong turned back into his true form, stuck the arrow on the monastery door, and rushed inside to tell San Zang that the prince was on his way. He then turned into a two-inch tall little monk and hid inside the small red box he had given San Zang.
Momentarily, the prince showed up at the front door of the monastery. He didn’t see any sign of the rabbit, but saw his arrow on the door.
“This is bizarre!” the surprised prince said to himself. “I clearly hit the rabbit, but where did it go, and how did my arrow end up on the door? That rabbit must be a demon.”
He plucked his arrow off the door, looked up, and saw the name of the monastery on the plaque overhead. “Hey, I know this place,” he said. “I remember my father used to send officials to deliver some gold and cloth for the monks here to renovate their Buddha hall and idol. I didn’t expect to be here today, but as they say, ‘To hear the monk’s words when you pass a shrine is half a day’s rest from the vanity of life.’ Let me go in and have a look.”
So he hopped off his horse and was about to go in when his 3,000-strong entourage caught up. They all followed him in, which greatly startled the monks inside and they hurriedly came to kowtow and welcome their visitors. After paying homage to the Buddha’s idol, the prince was about to tour the rest of the monastery, but he looked up and saw San Zang sitting in the middle of the hall.
“That monk is too rude!” the prince said angrily. “I’m the prince, after all. The monks didn’t get a royal decree about my coming, so they didn’t have to go out to welcome me. But now that I’m here, this monk should at least get up. How come he didn’t even bother to move? Men, arrest him!”
So the guards rushed forward and seized San Zang and tried to tie him up. But Sun Wukong muttered an incantation from inside his box, saying, “Heavenly protectors, I’m using my powers to tame a demon. This prince is ignorant and wants to tie up my master. You all should’ve already been protecting him. If he actually gets tied up, then you’ll all be punished!”
That little threat did the trick. The gaggle of gods protecting San Zang did their job, and the officers couldn’t even lay a hand on him. It was as if there was an invisible wall between him and them.
The prince now asked San Zang, “Where are you from? How did you use such magic to tease me?”
San Zang bowed and said, “I have no magic. I am a monk from the Tang kingdom in the East, heading to the Thunderclap Temple to offer treasures to the Buddha and request scriptures.”
“Oh? Your land may be the central kingdom, but it’s extraordinarily poor,” the prince said. “What treasures could you have? Tell me.”
“This cassock I’m wearing is a third-tier treasure,” San Zang said. “But I also have a first-tier and a second-tier treasure.”
“Your clothes expose half your shoulder, so how much could that be worth?” the prince scoffed. “How can you even dare to call that thing a treasure?”
“Even though this cassock does not cover my whole body, you should hear these few lines of verse,” San Zang retorted.
“The Buddha’s robe, worn with one shoulder bare, needs no explanation:
Within it is hidden True Suchness, free from the dust of the mundane world.
With ten thousand threads and countless stitches, it perfects true fruition;
With nine pearls and eight treasures, it unites the primal spirit.
Immortal maidens and holy women reverently fashioned it,
Bestowing it upon a monk to quiet defilement and cleanse the body.
Failing to greet royalty might still be forgiven—
But if your father’s injustice remains unavenged, you are unworthy to be called human!”
So San Zang was going at this guy pretty hard, and the prince did not appreciate it. He fumed, “You crazy monk and your nonsense! You have only half a piece of clothing, but you’ve got a slick tongue. What do you mean my father’s injustice is unavenged? Tell me!”
San Zang took a step forward, pressed his palms together, and asked, “Your highness, how many kindnesses must there be for a person to come into existence in the world?”
“Four,” the prince said.
“And what are they?”
“The kindness of heaven and earth in sheltering him. The kindness of the sun and the moon in giving him light. The kindness of his monarch in giving him land and water. The kindness of his father and mother in raising and instructing him.”
“Your highness is mistaken,” San Zang said with a smile. “One only receives kindness from heaven and earth, the sun and the moon, and his monarch. What kindness does he receive from his parents?”
“Monk, you’re a food-scrounging tramp and rebel!” the prince said with anger. “Where would people come from without parents to rear them?”
“Your highness, I don’t know the answer, but in this red box there’s a treasure called the King-maker. He knows what has happened or will happen, from 500 years in the past to 500 years in the present era to 500 years in the future. He can tell us all about not knowing the kindness of one’s parents. He instructed me to wait for you here.”
“Really?! Show me!”
San Zang opened the box, and Wukong leaped out and pranced around the prince.
“What can this tiny little person know?” the prince said.
Hearing that, Wukong stretched and immediately sprouted a few feet. All the prince’s soldiers were stunned and said, “If he keeps growing at that pace, he will poke a hole in the sky within a few days.”
But no worries. Wukong simply grew back to his regular proportions. The prince now asked him, “Kingmaker, this old monk said you can tell the past and future. Do you use tortoise shells for divination, or do you just read lines from books?”
“I don’t need any of that,” Wukong said. “I just rely on my tongue, and I know all.”
“That’s nonsense too!” the prince scoffed again. “Ever since ancient times, the Book of Changes has been the gold standard for divinations. It can predict fortune and calamity, and allow people to know what to avoid. It says use tortoise shell or yarrow for divinations. So what are you basing your statement on? You’re just lying and stirring up trouble!”
“Your highness, no need to be impatient; listen to me. You are the prince of the Wuji Kingdom. Five years ago, your kingdom endured a prolonged drought and all the people suffered. Your king and his officials prayed sincerely. At the height of the drought, a Daoist priest from Zhongnan (1,2) Mountain showed up. He was skilled at summoning the wind and rain, and turning stone into gold. Your king adored him and became sworn brothers with him. Right?”
“Right, right! Keep going!”
“Then, three years later, the priest disappeared. But who is that sitting on the throne?” Wukong asked.
“Yes, there was indeed a Daoist priest. My father became sworn brothers with him and they were really close. Three years ago, they were in the royal garden when he used a gust of magic wind to seize the white jade scepter from my father’s hands and carried it back to Zhongnan Mountain. My father still thinks about him to this day. Since the priest vanished, my father has not had any desire to enjoy the garden, so he had it locked up tight for the last three years. As for who’s on the throne, that’s my father. Who else could it be?”
Wukong started laughing nonstop. The prince pressed him for an explanation, but he just kept laughing. The prince got mad again.
“This scoundrel refuses to answer and just keeps laughing! Why?!”
“Oh I’ve got plenty more to say,” Wukong told him. “But there are too many people here; it’s not the place to say them.”
Seeing there’s reason in his words, the prince waved his men off and sent all 3,000 of them outside the monastery. All the monks of the monastery also left. Only the prince, San Zang, and Wukong remained in the hall. Wukong now approached the prince and said seriously, “Your highness, the one who left with the wind was your real father. The one sitting on the throne is that Daoist priest.”
“Nonsense! Nonsense! Ever since that priest left, my father has had good weather, a strong kingdom, and peaceful people. And yet you claim that’s not my father. I’m young, so I’ll let you slide. But if my father heard you say that, he would cut you to pieces!”
As the prince raged, Wukong turned to San Zang and said, “See? I told you he won’t believe me! Let’s just show him the treasure, get our passport, and keep heading West.”
San Zang now handed the red box back to Wukong, who did a little shimmy, turned that box back into a hair and retracted it onto his body. Then, San Zang presented the jade white scepter to the prince with both hands.
As soon as the prince recognized what it was, however, he fumed, “Damn monk! You are that priest from five years ago who came to steal our family’s treasure. And now you’re posing as a monk and presenting this back to me?! Men, arrest him!”
That sent San Zang into a tizzy. Trembling, he pointed at Wukong and said, “You stable monkey! You always cause trouble and bring me down with you!”
But Wukong stepped forth, told them both to chill, and said, “Stop your shouting. Don’t let others hear! I’m not called Kingmaker. I have a real name.”
“Fine! Tell me your real name, so I can bring you to justice!” the prince said.
“I’m that monk’s senior disciple. My name is Sun Wukong. I was following my master to the West for scriptures. We stayed here last night. My master was reading scriptures when he had a dream in the middle of the night. He dreamed that he met your father, who said that he had been murdered by that Daoist wizard and buried in the octagon well in the royal garden. That wizard assumed his likeness. No one at court knows, and you’re young and ignorant. He banned you from entering the palace and closed off the garden to keep the truth from getting out. Your father came last night to ask me to tame that demon. I was worried that it wasn’t a demon, so I checked it out from the air. Turns out, it’s really a demon. I was just about to capture him, but then I saw you leave the city to go hunting. That rabbit you shot was none other than me. I lured you here to see my master so he can tell you the truth. Every word he said was true. You can recognize that white jade scepter, and yet you can’t remember your father’s kindness in raising you? You can’t avenge your father?”
Those words stabbed at the prince’s heart. He thought to himself, “I don’t want to believe these words, and yet they do have a ring of truth to them. But if I believe them, how can I face my father at court?”
As he was wrestling with those thoughts, Wukong stepped toward him and said, “Your highness, no need to be suspicious. Go back to your kingdom and ask your mother, the queen. Ask her how her relationship with her husband is, compared three years ago. That will tell you the truth.”
“You’re right! I’ll go ask my mother!” the prince said as he leaped up, stashed the jade scepter in his sleeve, and headed out. Wukong, however, pulled him back and said, “If you head back with your entire entourage, word is going to leak out, and that’ll foil my plan. You must go into the city alone, without any fanfare. Don’t go in through the front gates of the palace. Go in through the back door. When you see your mother in the palace, don’t talk too loud. Keep your voices down. That demon might have great powers. If word gets out, both you and your mother’s lives might be in danger.”
The prince took his instructions to heart. He went outside the monastery and ordered his entourage to pitch camp there while he went to take care of something quick. Then, he rode off. When he got back to the city, he indeed went into the palace through the back door. There were only a few eunuchs there, and they did not dare to stop the prince. So he went inside and made his way to the pagoda where the queen was sitting, accompanied by dozens of concubines who fanned her. As she leaned against the railing, the queen wept.
So, the queen was crying because she had a dream late last night. She could only remember half of it. As she sat and pondered that dream, the prince rode up, dismounted, kneeled at the foot of the pagoda, and called out, “Mother!”
The queen’s face immediately lit up, and she called out, “My son! What great joy this is! These last three years, you have been accompanying your father and we haven’t seen each other. How did you get to come here today to see me? This is great joy! But why do you sound so sad? Your father is getting up there in age. One day, when he passes on, you will inherit the throne. What’s there to trouble you?”
To see what this mother-son reunion will stir up, 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
- “Ravines” by Elphnt (from YouTube audio library)