Journey 027: Clear Water Revival
Sun Wukong overlooks the most obvious solution in his quest for a magical cure to bring the ginseng fruit tree back to life.
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Transcript
Welcome to the Chinese Lore Podcast, where I retell classic Chinese stories in English. This is episode 27 of Journey to the West.
Last time, Sun Wukong stirred up a whole heap of trouble at Five Villages Abbey when, in a fit of anger, he uprooted the abbey’s sacred treasure, the ginseng fruit tree. Soon, he found himself having to answer to the tree’s owner, the powerful Daoist immortal Master Zhenyuan (4,2). After several rounds of trading barbs and magic against Zhenyuan, Wukong had to face up to the fact that this wasn’t a situation he could resolve with his powers or his guile. So he struck a deal with Zhenyuan: In exchange for Zhenyuan releasing his fellow pilgrims, Wukong would go find a magical cure to revive the dead ginseng fruit tree.
So while everyone else waited at the abbey, Wukong flew to the East Sea. Soon, he arrived at the sacred island of Penglai (2,2). There, outside the White Cloud Cave, he saw three old men playing the boardgame Weiqi (2,2), or Go. These were three immortals: The Blessings Star and the Wealth Star were playing, while the Longevity Star observed the game. These three deities represent three aspects of prosperity, and their likenesses are ubiquitous throughout China.
“Old friends, greetings!” Wukong called out as he approached.
The Three Stars put away their gameboard, returned his greetings, and asked what he was doing there.
“I came specifically to play with you guys,” he told them.
The Longevity Star said, “Great Sage, I heard that you had abandoned Daoism and followed Buddhism, and that you’re risking your life to protect the Tang monk to go West to fetch scriptures. You’re traveling every day, so how can you have free time to come play?”
“To tell you all the truth, I was heading west, but ran into a little snag on the way. So I came to ask a small favor. Are you willing to help?”
“Where did you get stuck? What’s the snag?” the Blessings Star asked. “Tell us and we’ll see if we can help.”
“I ran into a little trouble at Five Villages Abbey on Longevity Mountain.”
“That’s Master Zhenyuan’s sanctuary,” the Three Stars said with alarm. “Did you steal his ginseng fruit?”
“What’s the big deal with stealing a fruit?” Wukong chuckled.
“You monkey; you really don’t know any better,” the Three Stars chided him. “Even a whiff of that fruit would add 365 years to your life. If you eat one, it would add 47,000 years. It’s called the Life-Reviving Elixir. Our cultivation can’t match his. He gains his without effort and can match the longevity of heaven. We, on the other hand, have to keep nourishing our essence, refine our vital energy, and guard our spirit. We have to balance the opposing forces of dragon and tiger, and corral the water and complete the fire. It takes a lot of effort. How can you scoff at that ginseng fruit’s powers? It’s the only divine root in the universe!”
“Heh, divine root. I’ve turned it into a severed root,” Wukong scoffed.
“What do you mean, severed root?!” the Three Stars exclaimed, almost afraid to ask.
So Sun Wukong recounted the whole episode at Five Villages Abbey, and the Three Stars chided him, “You monkey! Didn’t you know who you were messing with?! That Master Zhenyuan is the patriarch of all Earth immortals. We are all his descendants. You may have obtained immortality, but you’re still just a rogue immortal and haven’t joined the genuine lineage of immortals. How can you slip away from him? If you had killed some animal or insect, then our millet elixir pills can bring them to life. But that ginseng fruit tree was a divine root. How can it be revived? We don’t have any cures!”
Hearing that, Wukong’s brows became furrowed. But the Blessings Star consoled him, “Great Sage, even though there’s no cure here, there might be one somewhere else. Why are you so troubled?”
“It’s easy enough to go elsewhere, and even if I have to go to every corner of the earth, that’s no problem. But my master is very strict. He only gave me three days. If I miss that deadline, he’s going to recite that Band-Tightening Spell.”
The Three Stars chuckled and said, “That’s great. If not for that thing keeping you in line, you’ll cause another ruckus in heaven.”
Then the Longevity Star said, “Great Sage, don’t worry, and don’t be troubled. Even though Master Zhenyuan is our senior, we are acquainted with him. We’re overdue for a visit, and we can do you a favor as well. The three of us will go to see him and plead on your behalf so that the Tang monk won’t recite the spell. Don’t worry about three or five days. We won’t leave until you come back with the cure.”
Wukong thanked them profusely and took his leave. Meanwhile, the Three Stars flew to Five Villages Abbey, with the squawks of their cranes announcing their arrival. Master Zhenyuan was in the midst of shooting the breeze with San Zang and his disciples when he got word that the Three Stars were paying him a call, so he went out to greet them.
When the Three Stars approached, Zhu Bajie saw the Longevity Star, who was a bald old man, he pulled the star closer and laughed, “Hey old baldy. I haven’t seen you in forever. You sure are acting carefree, not even wearing a hat.”
As he joked, Bajie took off his own Buddhist cap and plopped it on the Longevity Star’s head. Then he clapped and laughed, saying, “Great! Now you’ve been capped and promoted!”
The Longevity Star, however, was NOT amused. He ripped off the hat and tossed it to the ground, cursing Bajie, “You moron! Show some respect!”
“I’m no moron, you slave!”
“What?! You’re the moron. How dare you call me a slave?!”
“Well, if you aren’t slaves, then why are people always telling you, ‘Bring us long life; bring us blessings; bring us a good job?”
Anyway, filler patter aside, San Zang now told Bajie to fall back in line while he greeted the Three Stars. The Stars then paid their respects to Master Zhenyuan before everyone sat back down. The Blessing Star then said, “We have long revered you but have been amiss in paying our respects. Today, we have come because the Great Sage disturbed your mountain.”
“So Sun Wukong went to your island?” Zhenyuan asked.
“Indeed,” the Longevity Star said. “Because he damaged your sacred tree, he came to ask us for a cure. We didn’t have one, so he’s gone elsewhere to find it. But he was worried that his master, the sage monk, would recite the Band-Tightening Spell if he didn’t make the deadline of three days. So we have come to pay our respects and to ask for an extension.
Well, when three immortals show up to ask you to ease up on your deadline, San Zang wasn’t going to say no. Just as they were talking, Zhu Bajie again came running in, grabbed the Blessing Star, and demanded some fruit from him. He even started to feel around in the guy’s sleeves and rummage around his waist, pulling his clothes apart while searching him up and down.
“Umm, what … the heck are you doing?” a befuddled San Zang asked.
“I’m not being rude,” Bajie explained. “This is called ‘Blessings everywhere you look.’ ”
So basically, what’s happening here is that Zhu Bajie is making a play on a pun that means good luck in everything, or everything’s coming up roses. But like most pun jokes, this one was a groaner, and San Zang told him to get out of here. So Bajie stepped outside, but he kept glaring back at the Blessing Star without blinking.
“You moron! What did I do to you? Why do you spite me?” the Blessing Star asked.
“I’m not spiting you. This is called ‘Turn around and see blessings.’ ” said Bajie, pulling out another pun. And then he ran outside and saw an acolyte walking by with four teaspoons, on his way to fetch fruit and prepare tea. Bajie grabbed the spoons from him, ran back into the parlor, grabbed a chime, and started banging it nonstop with the spoons.
“This monk is getting ruder and ruder,” Master Zhenyuan said.
“No, I’m not being rude!” Bajie laughed. “This is called, ‘Ringing in happiness for all four seasons!’ ”
At this point, I can just imagine the Three Stars looking at each other like, “Did we really promise to stay here as long as it takes for Sun Wukong to find a cure?” Well, let’s leave Zhu Bajie annoying the entire abbey with his antics, and catch up with Wukong on his quest for a way to revive the ginseng fruit tree.
After leaving the Three Stars’ island, he flew to Mount Fangzhang (1,4). As he was traveling, he suddenly smelled a fragrant breeze and heard the call of cranes. He saw an immortal. This was a deity called the Lord Emperor of Eastern Glory. This guy was a deity in the Daoist pantheon. A couple episodes back, when San Zang asked Master Zhenyuan’s acolytes why they didn’t offer incense to figures such as the Three Purities or the Four Emperors, this guy was one of those Four Emperors.
Wukong went up and greeted this Lord Emperor, and he quickly returned the greetings and asked Wukong to sit down for tea. Hand in hand they entered his palace and sat down. From behind a screen came a young lad. When Wukong saw the boy, he chuckled and said, “So this little thief is hanging around here. But there are no peaches here for you to steal!”
The boy bowed to welcome Wukong, but shot back, “Old thief, what are you doing here? My master doesn’t have any magic pills for you to steal!”
So this boy was apparently some incarnation of a famous Han Dynasty official and scholar who was famous for his knowledge. But in this novel, his prepubescent incarnation is depicted as a peach thief. This came from a legend that while he was serving as a Han official, one day a black bird descended from the heavens and landed in front of the palace. The emperor asked this guy what this bird was, and he answered that it was the ride of the Golden Mother, and that the Golden Mother was on her way to wish the emperor a happy birthday. And sure enough, just then the Golden Mother showed up and gave the emperor a few branches of her immortal peaches. But she also pointed at this official and said, “He once stole my peaches three times.” So that’s why the novel added this little exchange between two characters who once stole immortal peaches from heaven.
Anyway, the Lord Emperor told the boy to behave and to bring tea for the guest. Once tea was served, Wukong explained why he had called. The Lord Emperor chided him, “You monkey! You stir up trouble wherever you go. That Master Zhenyuan has the moniker “Lord Equal to Heaven.” He’s the patriarch of all Earthly immortals. How could you offend him? And his ginseng tree is also called the Life Reviving Elixir. It’s offense enough that you stole its fruits, but you pushed the tree over?! How can he let that go?”
Wukong was like, well, he DIDN’T let it go; that’s why I’m here.
“I do have a pill of Ninefold Refined Great Transformation Elixir,” the Lord Emperor said. “But even though it can revive mortal beings, it cannot treat this tree. This tree was the essence of water and earth and was nourished by heaven and moistened by the earth. If we’re talking about an ordinary fruit tree, then maybe my pill can treat it. But Longevity Mountain is a primordial blessed land, and that Five Villages Abbey is a divine place. And the ginseng fruit tree is a divine root from the time when Heaven and Earth were created. How can it be revived? I have no way.”
Coming empty again, Wukong took his leave, declining his host’s insistence that he stay and drink a cup. Next, Wukong flew to the Yingzhou (2,1) Island, another otherworldly place, as described by this poem:
Jewel trees shimmer, reflecting purple mists;
Palatial halls of Yingzhou connect to the heavens.
Green hills and clear streams glow with radiant flowers;
Elixirs of jade and adamantine iron make the stone firm.
A five-colored jade rooster crows at the ocean sun;
A thousand-year crimson phoenix inhales vermilion smoke.
Worldly men fail to grasp the realm within the gourd;
Outside of appearances, spring light endures for eons.
When he arrived on the island, Wukong saw several immortals with white hair, snowy beards, youthful faces, and crane-like temples. They sat beneath gem-like trees beneath a crimson cliff, playing board games, drinking wine, and having a good ol’ time.
“Hey, let me play around for a bit!” Wukong called out to this group. When they saw him, they immediately welcomed him. Wukong recognized that they were the immortals known as the Nine Elders, and he laughed, “Old friends! Well, you’re certainly carefree!”
“Great Sage, if you hadn’t turned heaven upside down back in the day, you would be even more carefree than us,” the Nine Elders said. “But we heard that you’ve joined Buddhism and are going West to see the Buddha. How come you have time to come here?”
Wukong recounted the whole ginseng fruit debacle again, and the Nine Elders reacted pretty much like everyone else. “You really know how to cause trouble!” they exclaimed. “Well, we don’t have any cures.”
So Wukong turned to get back into the air. The Nine Elders asked him to sit and indulge in some divine refreshments. This time, he did chug a cup of celestial elixir and eat a piece of green lotus, but he did so while staying on his feet. He then immediately left and flew over the East Sea. This time, he landed on Mount Potalaka, the abode of the Bodhisattva Guanyin.
From a distance, Wukong saw that Guanyin was in her purple bamboo forest, delivering a lecture to her disciples and various gods. For her part, Guanyin also saw Wukong, so she ordered her Mountain Guardian God to go welcome him.
So this Mountain Guardian God, by the way, was none other than the Black Bear Demon from Black Wind Mountain who had stolen San Zang’s sacred cassock a few episodes back. Guanyin helped Wukong bring him to heel, but spared his life and made him her security guard.
The Black Bear Demon now emerged from the forest and shouted, “Sun Wukong, where are you going?!”
Wukong saw who it was and shot back, “Damn bear, how dare you call me by name? If I hadn’t spared your life, you would be a ghost on Black Wind Mountain now. Instead, you’re following the Bodhisattva, receiving a blessed reward, living on this sacred mountain, and listening to her lectures all the time. Shouldn’t you call me ‘Master’?”
Well, he had a point, so the Black Bear Demon put on a smile and said, “Great Sage, as the ancients said, ‘Gentlemen forget past wrongs.’ Let’s not mention that stuff anymore. The Bodhisattva instructed me to welcome you.”
So Wukong tidied up a bit and followed the Black Bear Demon into the purple bamboo forest to see Guanyin.
“Wukong, where is the Tang monk now?” Guanyin asked.
“On Longevity Mountain on the Western Continent,” Wukong answered.
“There is a Five Villages Abbey on that mountain. Have you met Master Zhenyuan?”
Umm, you could say that. Wukong sheepishly recounted their run-in with Zhenyuan. Now, Guanyin of course already knew all this, but she still chided him, “You delinquent ape! You really don’t know any better! That ginseng fruit tree is a divine root from the time when heaven and earth separated. And Master Zhenhuan is the patriarch of all Earth immortals. Even I show him deference. How could you damage his tree?”
“I really didn’t realize who he was,” Wukong said as he bowed. “That day, he wasn’t home. There were only a couple young acolytes tending to us. It was Zhu Bajie who found out about the fruits and wanted a taste. So I stole three, and my brothers and I ate it. When the acolytes found out, they cursed us nonstop. I got mad, so I pushed over his tree. The next day, he caught up to us and scooped us up in his sleeve. He flogged me for a day. Then we slipped away at night, but he caught up to us again and scooped us up again. We just couldn’t get away from him, so I promised to cure his tree. I searched across the sea and visited all three sacred islands, but none of the immortals and gods there could revive the tree. So I have come to you with the utmost sincerity and reverence, to humbly ask you to exercise your compassion and grant me a cure, so that I can save the Tang monk and continue West.”
Hearing this, Guanyin asked him, “Why didn’t you come see me earlier, instead of going to all the other islands?”
You know, that’s a darn good question. Why the heck DIDN’T he START with Guanyin, the person who initiated this mission, left numerous power-up packs for them along the way, and has already intervened on multiple occasions to help them get out of the pickle of the week? The answer, I guess, is that then all the chapters would be 2 pages long and that won’t make much of a novel.
Anyway, when Wukong heard that question, he secretly rejoiced, thinking to himself, “What great luck! She must have a cure!”
So he begged some more, and Guanyin told him, “The sweet dew water in my jade vase can cure the ginseng fruit tree.”
“Have you tried it?” Wukong asked.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Once upon a time, Laozi and I had a wager. He took my willow sprig and put it in the sacred cauldron he used to refine his magic pills. He turned the sprig into a dried branch and returned it to me. But I stuck it back in the bottle, and after one night, it grew green leaves again and looked just like before.”
“What great luck!” Wukong laughed. “If it can revive a plant even after it’s been roasted, surely it can revive a tree that’s merely been pushed over!”
Guanyin now instructed her crew to stay and watch her sanctuary, while she flew off with Wukong. When they approached the abbey, Wukong descended first and called out, “The Bodhisattva is here! Hurry and welcome her!”
Master Zhenyuan, the Three Stars, and San Zang all rushed out to welcome their esteemed visitor. Guanyin descended and greeted them all, and they sat down in the parlor. Wukong and his fellow pilgrims then came forward and paid their respects, as did Master Zhenyuan’s disciples.
“Master Zhenyuan, please don’t dawdle,” Wukong said to his host. “Hurry up and set up an incense table, and ask the Bodhisattva to go cure your tree.”
Bowing to Guanyin, Zhenyuan said, “How could I dare to trouble the Bodhisattva for such a trifle.”
“The Tang monk is my disciple,” Guanyin told him. “And Sun Wukong offended you, so it’s only right that I should give you back your sacred tree.”
The Three Stars now told them alright, enough with the polite modesty. Let’s go to the garden. So Zhenyuan ordered his disciples to prepare an incense table and to sweep the back garden. He then asked Guanyin to go first, followed by the rest of the party. When they got to the garden, they saw the ginseng fruit tree toppled on its side. Its roots were pulled out of the soil, while its leaves had all fallen and its branches had all withered.
“Wukong, give me your hand,” Guanyin said.
Wukong reached out with his left hand. Guanyin dipped her willow sprig in the sweet dew water in her vase, and then used the sprig to draw a revival charm on Wukong’s palm and told him to spread the water on the tree roots. Wukong walked over to the tree with his fist clenched, and put his hand under the roots. Within moments, a clear spring sprouted up.
“That water must not touch anything made from the five elements,” Guanyin instructed. “You must collect it with a jade ladle. Pull the tree back up, and pour the water down from the top of the tree, and it will heal itself and regrow leaves and fruits.”
“Hurry and bring me a jade ladle!” Wukong shouted to the disciples of the abbey.
Zhenyuan chimed in, “My mountain is remote and I’m a poor Daoist, so I don’t have any jade ladles. I only have jade tea cups and wine cups. Would that do?”
“As long as it’s jade and can hold water, it’ll do,” Guanyin told him.
So Zhenyuan ordered his acolytes to bring out about 30 jade tea cups and 50 wine cups. They used these to catch the clear spring water. Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Zeng, meanwhile, propped the tree back up straight and covered its roots with the soil. They then presented Guanyin with the jade cups, now all filled with the spring water. She used her willow sprig to sprinkle this water on the tree while muttering an incantation. Soon, the water was all gone, and the tree had grown back its thick, green canopy. More importantly, it had also grown back 23 ginseng fruits.
“Hey, when we counted them before, we only came up with 22,” said the acolytes Clear Wind and Bright Moon. “How come there’s one more this time?”
“As the saying goes, ‘With time, one’s true heart is revealed,’ ” Wukong said self-righteously. “A few days ago, I only stole three fruits. The fourth one landed on the ground. The earth spirit told me that this treasure submerges when it touches soil. And Zhu Bajie was accusing me of stashing the extra one, and that’s how word got out. Only now do we see the truth.”
Umm, yeah, that was such a grave injustice, for you to have been falsely accused of stealing four fruits instead of three. Anyway, Guanyin now explained that this was why she didn’t use anything made from the five basic elements, because the ginseng fruit was allergic to all of them. Master Zhenyuan, meanwhile, was ecstatic. He hurriedly retrieved his golden striker, the tool that you needed to use to harvest these fruits. He knocked down 10 fruits in all and took them back to the parlor and offered them to Guanyin, the Three Stars, and even the four scripture pilgrims. The abbey’s disciples set up the tables, and Guanyin was offered the seat of honor, with the Three Stars seated to her left, San Zang to her right, and Master Zhenyuan in the position of host.
Guanyin and the Three Stars each ate one of the fruits, and so did San Zang, now that he was finally convinced that hey, these were NOT three-day-old infants. Then Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Zeng each got one. So they really came out ahead on this, since they had now each consumed two of the ginseng fruits, adding 94,000 years to their lives. Master Zhenyuan ate one as well, and all the disciples in the abbey split the last one.
After this little feast, Wukong thanked Guanyin and saw her off, and then he said goodbye to the Three Stars, who went back to their own island. Master Zhenyuan now put on another feast and, true to his word, became sworn brothers with Sun Wukong. So all past enmities were now forgiven, and everyone celebrated late into the night before going to bed.
The next morning, the pilgrims were packing up to leave, but Zhenyuan couldn’t bear to let his new sworn brother go just yet, as he and Sun Wukong really hit it off. So Zhenyuan kept the pilgrims at his abbey for another five or six days. And as for San Zang, after he ate the ginseng fruit, he felt as if he had been reborn. His spirit was refreshed, and his body was strong and healthy. But his mind was still laser-focused on the scriptures waiting for him in the West, so after staying a few more days, he and his disciples took their leave and hit the road again.
After leaving Longevity Mountain and traveling along the main road for a bit, they saw another mountain up ahead.
“There’s a steep mountain up ahead,” San Zang said to his disciples. “The horse might not be able to make it up. Everyone, be careful.”
“No worries, master; we’ll take care of it,” Wukong reassured him. He then led the way, carrying his golden rod across his shoulder.
When they ascended a cliff, they saw overlapping peaks and cliffs, winding ravines and valleys. The mountainside was covered with brambles and pine trees. Tigers and wolves moved in formation, while deer traveled in herds. There were countless weasels, foxes, rabbits, and giant snakes.
San Zang was taken aback by this wild terrain ahead of him. But Sun Wukong twirled his rod, and let out a mighty roar that sent all the wild creatures scampering away. The pilgrims then ventured farther into the mountain.
As they were climbing up a craggy peak, San Zang said, “Wukong, I’m getting hungry. Why don’t you go find a place to beg for some food?”
Wukong chuckled, “Master, you really don’t know any better. We’re in the middle of a mountain. There are no villages or taverns anywhere near. Even if we had money, there’s no place to buy food. Where would you have me go to beg for a meal?”
San Zang was not pleased by that answer. He scolded Wukong, “You monkey. When you were pinned under Twin Borders Mountain, you could only run your mouth. You couldn’t even move. I saved you and took you in as my disciple. Why are you so lazy and refuse to be diligent?!”
“I’m plenty diligent! When have I ever been lazy?” Wukong protested.
“If you’re diligent, then why do you refuse to go find food for me? How can I travel if I’m starving? And with the mountain mists and sick miasma here, how can we make it to the Thunderclap Temple?”
You know, this honestly feels like an overreaction from San Zang, given all that Sun Wukong had done for him so far, including saving his life multiple times.
But Wukong said, “Master, don’t nag. I know that your noble nature is proud and unyielding. If I neglect you in any way, you’re going to recite the Band-Tightening Spell. Why don’t you come down off that horse and sit for a bit, while I go see where I might be able to beg for some food.”
So Wukong soared into the clouds and looked around. To the West, the road looked even more desolate, with no sign of any households, just thick, remote woods. After looking for a while, he spotted a high peak to the South. Where the peak faced the sun, he saw a spot of bright red.
Coming back down, Wukong told San Zang, “Master, I found food. There’s no one around here to beg food from, but the peak to the south has a spot of red. Those must be ripe peaches. Let me go pluck a few to sate your hunger.”
“Monks are lucky just to have peaches,” San Zang said. “Hurry and go.” So Wukong took the alms bowl and flew off.
But as he took off, he roused up a whole nest of trouble. To see what kind of trouble, 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
- “Loneliest Road in America (US 50)” by Jesse Gallagher (from YouTube audio library)