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I know these edits are probably going to start a flame/edit war, but the article really did need to be re-written. I removed most of the Trivia relating to Journey to the West (put that stuff in the Journey to the West Article.) I mixed some of the obscure anime trivia if it was poorly written. Obviously, the character is a major inspiration for various video game and anime characters. Maybe someone should make a list article or something, so it doesn't clutter up the page as much. Keep in mind that this is supposed to be an encyclopedia article, not a fansite. Its about a character in Journey to the West, not the story itself. I moved the political section to a more sensible place. I scrapped some of the fan art. Cleaned up a few things, etc. The article still needs a whole lot of work, though...I didn't even touch two large sections. Vorago 07:29, 29 July 2006 (UTC)
The entire section "making trouble in heaven" is chock full of odd language. This sentence especially "He proved to be an incorrigible monkey, however, after Jade Emperor looked down at him and didn't invite him to a royal banquet, he was scarfing down the Empress's Peaches of Immortality and popping Lord Lao Tzu's Pills of Indestructibility like they were Tic Tacs. Feeling guilty, but not that guilty, he became the biggest headache for everybody in heaven." I don't think the expression "popping them like tic-tacs" is considered good form. Any thoughts? -- Akajune 03:42, 18 October 2005 (UTC)
I'm not entirely happy about linking the Tang priest to the article about his historical model; it seems like a situation ripe for confusion.
Incidentally, in all the English-language versions of the story I've encountered, the Tang priest has been called Tripitaka. Has anyone else
-- Paul A 14:43 22 May 2003 (UTC)
To the author(s) of this piece: the article has the same breezy, energetic style of its subject, and is informative to boot. --Italo Svevo
In the Chinese novel, he ate the peaches, not pears. Can someone clarify the difference between the English version and the Chinese original?
I thought he became indestructible, along with his discernment eyes, after they put him in Lao Tzu's furnace not after eating the elixir.
The wikilink to cudgel says it is a short cone shaped club. Sun's weapon was actually a pillar he robbed from the dragon king's palace. It is supposed to be cylindrical shape so it should be called a staff instead of a cudgel. -- Kowloonese 19:05, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC)
We would translate it as a pole over here in Singapore. It was used for beating out the heavens (and people's heads). Staff has connotations of being used as a support of some sort - something he's never done.
Slow —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.78.12.21 ( talk) 08:54, August 22, 2007 (UTC)
sandbox, I needed some place to compare characters I found on chinese text.
Can someone provide the English meaning to the Taiwanese and Cantonese names? My friends in yau ma tei pronounce it "how ze wong" and used characters similar to the ones in this section title. Difference?
I made some corrections regarding some of the figures and i want to see if anyone can verify them
There are some dodgy bits of style and grammar, some incorrect Wiki-formatting, and the general organisation of the article isn't clear. I placed the tag not to much to get others to do the work as to mark the fact that I intend to do it (but others are free to pitch in). -- Mel Etitis ( Μελ Ετητης) 09:53, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
Another suggestion: cut off all the different names of Xuanzang in the opening paragraph, it's not really necessary in an article devoted to Sun Wukong, and that info can be transferred to his section in Journey to the West article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.146.175.13 ( talk) 09:19, 29 June 2006
The first sentence of the article says that Sun Wukong is also known as "surn vukorn"? What is the origin of this pronounciation? There's nothing to indicate this. -- Hong Qi Gong 16:26, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
I'm also seeing a lot of parallel to the current anime/manga, "Inuyasha."
Nkuzmik 00:01, 30 April 2006 (UTC)
It's not from any comic, manhua, or manga that I'm aware of.
Frankly this article is appalling. I was quite disappointed with the journey to the west article but there is so much wrong with this article that it probably needs rewritten. The article is messy, there are random modern images and more traditional images and no justification of their relevance.
The more fundamental problem is that there is little content that relates to any areas of academic interest in the character. In total all I noticed in the article was the sentence "Some scholars believe he is based upon the legend of Hanuman, the Indian monkey hero from the ancient Ramayana epic." While an appealing theorey it is one which has a lot of flaws. The introduction to Anthoney C. Yu's translation sites Glen Dudbrigde's book "The Hsi-Yu-Chi : A Study of Antecedents to the Sixteenth-Century Chinese Novel" saying that the later half of the book is almost entirely about the origin of the Wukong character and summarising some of the arguments. In contrast to the scantness of reference to such issues a lot of space is dedicated to what is basically trivia, in fact with the exception some of the first paragraph the entire article is trivia.
I have no intention to rewrite any part of this article; I know enough to know that this is not my field of expertise. I'm leaving this comment mainly as a warning to anyone using the article.
I think we should have a picture of him in The Forbidden Kingdom. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.170.191.92 ( talk) 23:59, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
According to the foreword to the translation I have by Anthony Yu, there are no clear known antecendents to Sun Wukong, and certainly none before the Buddhist period, which contradicts the claim that "In spite of its popularity (or perhaps because of it) legends regarding Sun Wukong have changed with the ebb and flow that is Chinese culture. The tale with Buddha and the "Pillars" is a prime example, and did not appear until Buddhism was introduced to China during the Han Dynasty. Various legends concerning Sun Wukong date back to before written Chinese history. They tend to change and adapt to the most popular Chinese religion of a given era." Unless someone can cite a source for this, I suggest it gets deleted.
Hi, I just saw the entry on Hanuman in the Britannica Online Encyclopedia ( http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/254649/Hanuman). This states as follows: "Hanuman is also a popular deity in Tibet, Southeast Asia, Japan, and China, and throughout this area many temples are erected for his worship and districts of towns bear his name.... Outside India, rather different tales are told of himHe has been identified as the inspiration for the monkey hero of the great Chinese poem Xiyouji (“Journey to the West”)". Kalhanajunior ( talk) 10:21, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
The article says "Xingzhe (行者): Meaning "traveller", a common name for a travelling monk in the old days." I thought a 行者 is a monk who works in a temple doing chores, and who does not have to have his head shaved? (see eg. zh:佛教制度) The word must have come not from traveling (旅行) but from training/practices (修行). -- LittleTree 22:50, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
Someone had changed the adjective "largely" to "partially" describing the influence of this character on that of Goku of Dragon Ball fame. I changed it back, and added a bit more test expounding on that. There is much more info to back it up, but most of it is more related to "Journey to the West" in general and not so much on Monkey King in particular. For example, the initial story arc of DB was conceived as a loose retelling of JttW, with Bulma in the priests role on a quest for the Dragon Balls instead of the sutras, and the roles of Pigsy and the Sandy Priest filled by Oolong and Yamcha respectively. -- Reverend Loki 18:39, 25 September 2006 (UTC)
I'm surprised to find this article here in Wikipedia. I have problem with the fact that I never knew that this article existed. The main reason's because Sun Wukong is known to people of other nationalities as well, such as Koreans and Japanese.
I'm assuming that the correct pronunciation in Chinese is Saun Woo Kong. Right? I'll create more redirects according to that combination.
And as for Korean and Japanese pronunciations, Korean: Son Oh Gong. Japanese: Goku.
( Wikimachine 00:31, 30 September 2006 (UTC))
I read the story and saw that Xuanzhang useully forced Sun Wukong to leave when he killed brigands and demons disguised as man(useully women). Do we need this infomation in this article?
Hi just noticed that other manga's not mentioned are Orion by Masamune Shirow. This book contains a Monkey deity known as Songoku - who fights Susano. Also in the Naruto Manga/Anime the third Hokage has a indestructable staff Enma that can transform into a monkey king.
Peace
Jayrei —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.30.13.91 ( talk) 14:31, 11 March 2007 (UTC).
i know he's a fictional character, but the same as probably every god in the chinese culture, there's a birthday associated with the god so people could celebrate it's birth. There's many websites that indicates his birthday, such as http://www.wrsn.com.tw/a1-1.htm . His birthday is said to be Chinese calendar's Oct 12th. Z3u2 23:02, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
The pop culture and media section of this article has been become so long that I suggest a split from the main article, such as Sun Wukong in poular culture. Votes on this? 71.57.98.227 15:01, 5 June 2007 (UTC) Chris G.
Do it, please.I say we leave two or three of the most notable ones, though. Vorago
Please see [1] where a discussion of what to do with the redirect for Son Goku, which currently redirects to Sun Wukong, is occuring. Kyaa the Catlord 14:00, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
The article states:
It was from him that Houwang received the Buddhist name Sun Wukong (Wukong meaning aware of emptiness).
AND
The given name Wùkōng means "awakened to emptiness".
according to WFJ Jenner's translation it's awakened to emptiness but I'm not fluent in Chinese so I cannot say for sure (at the Swedish Sun Wukong page I've used awakened referering to Jenner since that is what is known) -- TheOddOne2 00:22, 26 August 2007 (UTC)
According to the entry for Li (unit), the unit has had many values, and some of the oldest were approximately 400 meters rather than half a kilometer. For example, the Han/South Korean value of 392.72 meters would make 108,000 li equal to 42413 kilometers, about 6% larger than the circumference of the Earth. Knowledge of the spherical Earth may have been available to the people of Vedic India through Yajnavalkya in the 9th century BC, so it is plausible that those telling this story had access to the idea, and quite accurate measurements had been made by the Greeks by the time of Eratosthenes. This context seems to enrich the story of Sun Wukong's challenge to Buddha: given the power to leap 108,000 li in any direction, he inevitably lands in the spot where he started! (given the approximation of a spherical Earth, of course) Mike Serfas 20:57, 27 August 2007 (UTC)
Image:MonkeyKingTraditionalPoster.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.
BetacommandBot ( talk) 22:34, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
Image:The monkey king.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.
BetacommandBot ( talk) 02:43, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
It is not clear to me from reading this article whether Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, originated in Journey To The West, or is a figure from Chinese folklore that was incorporated into that story.
The article introduces him as a character in a novel, but in the Miscellaneous section under Influence it is stated that legends concerning Sun Wukong date back to before written Chinese history.
Could this be clarified? I think if he is a character from prehistoric folklore this should be mentioned in the introduction. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.241.220.197 ( talk) 01:14, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
I don't know if Sun Wukong's teacher is, in fact, Subhuti. I know that some translations may have translated 普提祖师 (Puti Zushi) as Patriarch Subhuti, but there are a number of problems with this translation. First of all, even though 普提 or Bodhi is a Buddhist term, 祖师 or patriarch is almost an exclusively Taoist title. Secondly, Puti Zushi never attended Gautama Buddha in the novel, unlike most of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas -- in fact, he was consistantly absent from the court of the Buddha, which would be most uncharacteristic for Subhuti, who was a disciple of Gautama. Thirdly, Puti Zushi taught a mixture of both Buddhist AND Taoist scriptures. His temple carried a clearly Taoist flavor, and the powers he taught to Sun Wukong was almost definitely Taoist as well. As such, I have changes all Subhuti (which refers to a specific historical person) to Bodhi (which is a direct translation from the original language without making any assumptions). mean ( talk) 19:05, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
I have removed a large chunk of the section to the talk page until sources are found to support the claims. People are ignoring the "needs sources" tag at the top, and, by adding this stuff, are making the article worse. Sun is such a beloved character that I am appalled that the article is not above a GA status. I would like to improve it, but I don't have the time. I hope what I'm doing here is the first step towards bettering the page:
Animation and comics
In anime, Sun Wukong appears in various guises, usually with some variant of the name Son Goku. He also features in the Japanese manga/ anime Saiyuki, which is based on the original Journey to the West legend. The main character Son Goku from Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball is based on Sun Wukong, and many other major characters in the series are also originally based on characters from the Monkey King/Journey West story (though they all diverge from the original source material as the series progresses).
In the anime series Starzinger, he was the inspiration for Jan Kugo, who wields a similar-looking weapon.
In the anime series Naruto, he is depicted as a summon named Enma and is used by the Third Hokage. When summoned, Enma is even capable of trasforming into a weapon similar-looking to the Ruyi Jingu Bang.
He is one of the central characters in Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese graphic novel, as a story revolves around his origins.
In the Read or Die OVA, the I-Jin duplicate of Genjo Sanzo has powers similar to Sun Wukong, having an extensible staff which can control the sea and riding on a flying cloud.
Shinzo, known as Mushrambo (マシュランボー Mashuranbō?) in Japan, is an anime based on Journey to the West. Mushra who protects Yakumo on her 'journey to the west' in search of the last human city, Shinzo, is similar to the Monkey King with how he loves to fight, wields a staff, and wears a golden headband.
Video games
SonSon is a 1984 Capcom video game loosely based on Journey to the West. In this game, the player assumes the role of the titular character, which is a monkey boy based on Sun Wukong. A second player assumes the role of TonTon, who is based on Zhu Wuneng. The granddaughter of SonSon, who shares his name, is a playable character in a later Capcom game, the fighting game crossover Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. The original SonSon is also featured in Pocket Fighter, flying across the stage from time to time; he drops various items when hit.
In DotA All-Stars (a custom scenario for Blizzard Entertainment's real-time strategy computer game Warcraft III), players can obtain an Item named The Monkey King Bar, which contains great power.
Sun Wukong is confirmed as a playable character in Warriors Orochi 2 [1], the sequel to a video game crossover of Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors, all made by Koei. However instead being portrayed as a good guy he is one of the new officers of Orochi's army, since it is Taira no Kiyomori who frees him, not Xuanzang.
Also, the design of the Pokemon Infernape, is based on Sun WuKong. The gold elements in his design seem to indicate this, and his name can also be linked to Japanese interpretations of the character (e.g. Son Goku).
Also in Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII there is a pole weapon called the Gokuu Rod that is a reference to Sun Wukong's signature weapon.
Also, in various Shin Megami Tensei games, such as Digital Devil Saga and Persona, Wukong, under the name Seiten Taisei, often appears as an enemy or (in the case of the Persona series) as a Persona for the use of the characters. In nearly every single such game, Wukong is either high level or low level but very useful for that level.
-- Ghostexorcist ( talk) 15:27, 25 July 2008 (UTC)
The article has need of sources, can someone PLEASE tell me why Journey to the West is not a source? It has the entire legend of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong. Stop getting idiots who only know of anime refernces to edit this article (I mean, I know a couple too like a cameo in the latter part of Gokudo but at least I've read Journey to the West), and start recruiting Chinese myth experts to help this article. Essentially, I just added Journey to the West as a source for anything in book, and left it at that, but seriously... Bulmabriefs144 ( talk) 21:26, 1 August 2008 (UTC)
Oh and yes, my tranlation copy says Subhuti. He was a Taoist teacher, so Bodhi doesn't jive. Bulmabriefs144 ( talk) 21:36, 1 August 2008 (UTC)
Why is Havoc in Heaven not in the Film and Television section, but in the Appearances in other media section, where it is only given a single line? To quote the article on it, "many consider this 1964 iteration to be the most original, fitting and memorable." Why does the Indiana Jones script for a film that was never shot, and Dragonball, get more mention? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.60.2.229 ( talk) 09:55, 28 June 2009 (UTC)
It doesn't belong here, as there is no indication it has particular importance to a general understanding of the character. ?It is located at the IPC article linked in the See also section, which suffices. Mintrick ( talk) 17:19, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
Near the end of the article it translates the Chinese characters as "monkey imp." Don't they rather say something like "keeper of the horses?" This was also a taunt used by his enemies as this was his original post in the heavenly bureaucuracy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.35.88.110 ( talk) 00:43, 28 August 2009 (UTC)
There is a character by the name of Sun Wukong in the new The Last Airbender prequel manga "Zuko's Story" and he's apparently the Red Spirit. Is this character inspired by this figure? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.105.36.88 ( talk) 08:16, 3 June 2010 (UTC)
I don't understand why there should be an article on things like the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit and Water Curtain Cave? It seems really obscure. Homunculus ( duihua) 00:45, 15 June 2010 (UTC)
I thought there were enough references in the article, and that the big tag was neither necessary nor aesthetically pleasing. If you disagree with this action, please list your reasons. Homunculus ( duihua) 03:19, 4 November 2010 (UTC)
I have reverted the recent addition of File:Sun Wukong.jpg to the info box because you can barely even tell what it is. His back is turned around and the majority of the picture is wrinkled clothing. The only inkling that it is Sun is the small part of his arm, head, and cudgel that is visible. I doubt even a person knowledgeable about Xiyouji would be able to tell what it is at first glance without some sort of prompting. The original 19th century picture is a better representation because, instead of an extreme close up of his back, Sun's whole body is clearly visible and facing towards the eye.
I have no problems with the picture gracing the page, just not in the lead. -- Ghostexorcist ( talk) 19:42, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
When i typed in monkey king into the wikipedia search engine, this article came up. If Hanuman is also known as the monkey king and the most likely influence on this character then why is the search directed here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.161.202.38 ( talk) 17:56, 29 April 2011 (UTC)
Would Wu-Kong qualify as a Golum, since he's basically living stone? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:8:B580:80B:A1C8:D0CF:C789:E6D3 ( talk) 05:15, 14 November 2013 (UTC)
I believe that it is highly unlikely that Arthur Waley's translation into English influenced the Japanese Monkey (TV series) given that they had their own Japanese and Chinese sources. A citation is needed if this is to remain. Michitaro ( talk) 08:42, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
The title Wukong 悟空 was given by the Tang Emperor Dezong to a monk of Tuoba origin who spent 40 years in travels after the scriptures and relics. Any mention of this in the professional literature on the Travel to the West? My source was zh:釋悟空.-- Shanghainese.ua ( talk) 19:09, 12 March 2016 (UTC)
I have rewritten the majority of the article's Background section and believe the in-universe tag can now be removed. I will do so in a few days if no major disputes. Laranesight ( talk) 16:51, 22 March 2016 (UTC)
![]() | This page is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
I know these edits are probably going to start a flame/edit war, but the article really did need to be re-written. I removed most of the Trivia relating to Journey to the West (put that stuff in the Journey to the West Article.) I mixed some of the obscure anime trivia if it was poorly written. Obviously, the character is a major inspiration for various video game and anime characters. Maybe someone should make a list article or something, so it doesn't clutter up the page as much. Keep in mind that this is supposed to be an encyclopedia article, not a fansite. Its about a character in Journey to the West, not the story itself. I moved the political section to a more sensible place. I scrapped some of the fan art. Cleaned up a few things, etc. The article still needs a whole lot of work, though...I didn't even touch two large sections. Vorago 07:29, 29 July 2006 (UTC)
The entire section "making trouble in heaven" is chock full of odd language. This sentence especially "He proved to be an incorrigible monkey, however, after Jade Emperor looked down at him and didn't invite him to a royal banquet, he was scarfing down the Empress's Peaches of Immortality and popping Lord Lao Tzu's Pills of Indestructibility like they were Tic Tacs. Feeling guilty, but not that guilty, he became the biggest headache for everybody in heaven." I don't think the expression "popping them like tic-tacs" is considered good form. Any thoughts? -- Akajune 03:42, 18 October 2005 (UTC)
I'm not entirely happy about linking the Tang priest to the article about his historical model; it seems like a situation ripe for confusion.
Incidentally, in all the English-language versions of the story I've encountered, the Tang priest has been called Tripitaka. Has anyone else
-- Paul A 14:43 22 May 2003 (UTC)
To the author(s) of this piece: the article has the same breezy, energetic style of its subject, and is informative to boot. --Italo Svevo
In the Chinese novel, he ate the peaches, not pears. Can someone clarify the difference between the English version and the Chinese original?
I thought he became indestructible, along with his discernment eyes, after they put him in Lao Tzu's furnace not after eating the elixir.
The wikilink to cudgel says it is a short cone shaped club. Sun's weapon was actually a pillar he robbed from the dragon king's palace. It is supposed to be cylindrical shape so it should be called a staff instead of a cudgel. -- Kowloonese 19:05, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC)
We would translate it as a pole over here in Singapore. It was used for beating out the heavens (and people's heads). Staff has connotations of being used as a support of some sort - something he's never done.
Slow —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.78.12.21 ( talk) 08:54, August 22, 2007 (UTC)
sandbox, I needed some place to compare characters I found on chinese text.
Can someone provide the English meaning to the Taiwanese and Cantonese names? My friends in yau ma tei pronounce it "how ze wong" and used characters similar to the ones in this section title. Difference?
I made some corrections regarding some of the figures and i want to see if anyone can verify them
There are some dodgy bits of style and grammar, some incorrect Wiki-formatting, and the general organisation of the article isn't clear. I placed the tag not to much to get others to do the work as to mark the fact that I intend to do it (but others are free to pitch in). -- Mel Etitis ( Μελ Ετητης) 09:53, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
Another suggestion: cut off all the different names of Xuanzang in the opening paragraph, it's not really necessary in an article devoted to Sun Wukong, and that info can be transferred to his section in Journey to the West article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.146.175.13 ( talk) 09:19, 29 June 2006
The first sentence of the article says that Sun Wukong is also known as "surn vukorn"? What is the origin of this pronounciation? There's nothing to indicate this. -- Hong Qi Gong 16:26, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
I'm also seeing a lot of parallel to the current anime/manga, "Inuyasha."
Nkuzmik 00:01, 30 April 2006 (UTC)
It's not from any comic, manhua, or manga that I'm aware of.
Frankly this article is appalling. I was quite disappointed with the journey to the west article but there is so much wrong with this article that it probably needs rewritten. The article is messy, there are random modern images and more traditional images and no justification of their relevance.
The more fundamental problem is that there is little content that relates to any areas of academic interest in the character. In total all I noticed in the article was the sentence "Some scholars believe he is based upon the legend of Hanuman, the Indian monkey hero from the ancient Ramayana epic." While an appealing theorey it is one which has a lot of flaws. The introduction to Anthoney C. Yu's translation sites Glen Dudbrigde's book "The Hsi-Yu-Chi : A Study of Antecedents to the Sixteenth-Century Chinese Novel" saying that the later half of the book is almost entirely about the origin of the Wukong character and summarising some of the arguments. In contrast to the scantness of reference to such issues a lot of space is dedicated to what is basically trivia, in fact with the exception some of the first paragraph the entire article is trivia.
I have no intention to rewrite any part of this article; I know enough to know that this is not my field of expertise. I'm leaving this comment mainly as a warning to anyone using the article.
I think we should have a picture of him in The Forbidden Kingdom. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.170.191.92 ( talk) 23:59, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
According to the foreword to the translation I have by Anthony Yu, there are no clear known antecendents to Sun Wukong, and certainly none before the Buddhist period, which contradicts the claim that "In spite of its popularity (or perhaps because of it) legends regarding Sun Wukong have changed with the ebb and flow that is Chinese culture. The tale with Buddha and the "Pillars" is a prime example, and did not appear until Buddhism was introduced to China during the Han Dynasty. Various legends concerning Sun Wukong date back to before written Chinese history. They tend to change and adapt to the most popular Chinese religion of a given era." Unless someone can cite a source for this, I suggest it gets deleted.
Hi, I just saw the entry on Hanuman in the Britannica Online Encyclopedia ( http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/254649/Hanuman). This states as follows: "Hanuman is also a popular deity in Tibet, Southeast Asia, Japan, and China, and throughout this area many temples are erected for his worship and districts of towns bear his name.... Outside India, rather different tales are told of himHe has been identified as the inspiration for the monkey hero of the great Chinese poem Xiyouji (“Journey to the West”)". Kalhanajunior ( talk) 10:21, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
The article says "Xingzhe (行者): Meaning "traveller", a common name for a travelling monk in the old days." I thought a 行者 is a monk who works in a temple doing chores, and who does not have to have his head shaved? (see eg. zh:佛教制度) The word must have come not from traveling (旅行) but from training/practices (修行). -- LittleTree 22:50, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
Someone had changed the adjective "largely" to "partially" describing the influence of this character on that of Goku of Dragon Ball fame. I changed it back, and added a bit more test expounding on that. There is much more info to back it up, but most of it is more related to "Journey to the West" in general and not so much on Monkey King in particular. For example, the initial story arc of DB was conceived as a loose retelling of JttW, with Bulma in the priests role on a quest for the Dragon Balls instead of the sutras, and the roles of Pigsy and the Sandy Priest filled by Oolong and Yamcha respectively. -- Reverend Loki 18:39, 25 September 2006 (UTC)
I'm surprised to find this article here in Wikipedia. I have problem with the fact that I never knew that this article existed. The main reason's because Sun Wukong is known to people of other nationalities as well, such as Koreans and Japanese.
I'm assuming that the correct pronunciation in Chinese is Saun Woo Kong. Right? I'll create more redirects according to that combination.
And as for Korean and Japanese pronunciations, Korean: Son Oh Gong. Japanese: Goku.
( Wikimachine 00:31, 30 September 2006 (UTC))
I read the story and saw that Xuanzhang useully forced Sun Wukong to leave when he killed brigands and demons disguised as man(useully women). Do we need this infomation in this article?
Hi just noticed that other manga's not mentioned are Orion by Masamune Shirow. This book contains a Monkey deity known as Songoku - who fights Susano. Also in the Naruto Manga/Anime the third Hokage has a indestructable staff Enma that can transform into a monkey king.
Peace
Jayrei —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.30.13.91 ( talk) 14:31, 11 March 2007 (UTC).
i know he's a fictional character, but the same as probably every god in the chinese culture, there's a birthday associated with the god so people could celebrate it's birth. There's many websites that indicates his birthday, such as http://www.wrsn.com.tw/a1-1.htm . His birthday is said to be Chinese calendar's Oct 12th. Z3u2 23:02, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
The pop culture and media section of this article has been become so long that I suggest a split from the main article, such as Sun Wukong in poular culture. Votes on this? 71.57.98.227 15:01, 5 June 2007 (UTC) Chris G.
Do it, please.I say we leave two or three of the most notable ones, though. Vorago
Please see [1] where a discussion of what to do with the redirect for Son Goku, which currently redirects to Sun Wukong, is occuring. Kyaa the Catlord 14:00, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
The article states:
It was from him that Houwang received the Buddhist name Sun Wukong (Wukong meaning aware of emptiness).
AND
The given name Wùkōng means "awakened to emptiness".
according to WFJ Jenner's translation it's awakened to emptiness but I'm not fluent in Chinese so I cannot say for sure (at the Swedish Sun Wukong page I've used awakened referering to Jenner since that is what is known) -- TheOddOne2 00:22, 26 August 2007 (UTC)
According to the entry for Li (unit), the unit has had many values, and some of the oldest were approximately 400 meters rather than half a kilometer. For example, the Han/South Korean value of 392.72 meters would make 108,000 li equal to 42413 kilometers, about 6% larger than the circumference of the Earth. Knowledge of the spherical Earth may have been available to the people of Vedic India through Yajnavalkya in the 9th century BC, so it is plausible that those telling this story had access to the idea, and quite accurate measurements had been made by the Greeks by the time of Eratosthenes. This context seems to enrich the story of Sun Wukong's challenge to Buddha: given the power to leap 108,000 li in any direction, he inevitably lands in the spot where he started! (given the approximation of a spherical Earth, of course) Mike Serfas 20:57, 27 August 2007 (UTC)
Image:MonkeyKingTraditionalPoster.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.
BetacommandBot ( talk) 22:34, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
Image:The monkey king.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.
BetacommandBot ( talk) 02:43, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
It is not clear to me from reading this article whether Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, originated in Journey To The West, or is a figure from Chinese folklore that was incorporated into that story.
The article introduces him as a character in a novel, but in the Miscellaneous section under Influence it is stated that legends concerning Sun Wukong date back to before written Chinese history.
Could this be clarified? I think if he is a character from prehistoric folklore this should be mentioned in the introduction. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.241.220.197 ( talk) 01:14, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
I don't know if Sun Wukong's teacher is, in fact, Subhuti. I know that some translations may have translated 普提祖师 (Puti Zushi) as Patriarch Subhuti, but there are a number of problems with this translation. First of all, even though 普提 or Bodhi is a Buddhist term, 祖师 or patriarch is almost an exclusively Taoist title. Secondly, Puti Zushi never attended Gautama Buddha in the novel, unlike most of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas -- in fact, he was consistantly absent from the court of the Buddha, which would be most uncharacteristic for Subhuti, who was a disciple of Gautama. Thirdly, Puti Zushi taught a mixture of both Buddhist AND Taoist scriptures. His temple carried a clearly Taoist flavor, and the powers he taught to Sun Wukong was almost definitely Taoist as well. As such, I have changes all Subhuti (which refers to a specific historical person) to Bodhi (which is a direct translation from the original language without making any assumptions). mean ( talk) 19:05, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
I have removed a large chunk of the section to the talk page until sources are found to support the claims. People are ignoring the "needs sources" tag at the top, and, by adding this stuff, are making the article worse. Sun is such a beloved character that I am appalled that the article is not above a GA status. I would like to improve it, but I don't have the time. I hope what I'm doing here is the first step towards bettering the page:
Animation and comics
In anime, Sun Wukong appears in various guises, usually with some variant of the name Son Goku. He also features in the Japanese manga/ anime Saiyuki, which is based on the original Journey to the West legend. The main character Son Goku from Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball is based on Sun Wukong, and many other major characters in the series are also originally based on characters from the Monkey King/Journey West story (though they all diverge from the original source material as the series progresses).
In the anime series Starzinger, he was the inspiration for Jan Kugo, who wields a similar-looking weapon.
In the anime series Naruto, he is depicted as a summon named Enma and is used by the Third Hokage. When summoned, Enma is even capable of trasforming into a weapon similar-looking to the Ruyi Jingu Bang.
He is one of the central characters in Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese graphic novel, as a story revolves around his origins.
In the Read or Die OVA, the I-Jin duplicate of Genjo Sanzo has powers similar to Sun Wukong, having an extensible staff which can control the sea and riding on a flying cloud.
Shinzo, known as Mushrambo (マシュランボー Mashuranbō?) in Japan, is an anime based on Journey to the West. Mushra who protects Yakumo on her 'journey to the west' in search of the last human city, Shinzo, is similar to the Monkey King with how he loves to fight, wields a staff, and wears a golden headband.
Video games
SonSon is a 1984 Capcom video game loosely based on Journey to the West. In this game, the player assumes the role of the titular character, which is a monkey boy based on Sun Wukong. A second player assumes the role of TonTon, who is based on Zhu Wuneng. The granddaughter of SonSon, who shares his name, is a playable character in a later Capcom game, the fighting game crossover Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. The original SonSon is also featured in Pocket Fighter, flying across the stage from time to time; he drops various items when hit.
In DotA All-Stars (a custom scenario for Blizzard Entertainment's real-time strategy computer game Warcraft III), players can obtain an Item named The Monkey King Bar, which contains great power.
Sun Wukong is confirmed as a playable character in Warriors Orochi 2 [1], the sequel to a video game crossover of Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors, all made by Koei. However instead being portrayed as a good guy he is one of the new officers of Orochi's army, since it is Taira no Kiyomori who frees him, not Xuanzang.
Also, the design of the Pokemon Infernape, is based on Sun WuKong. The gold elements in his design seem to indicate this, and his name can also be linked to Japanese interpretations of the character (e.g. Son Goku).
Also in Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII there is a pole weapon called the Gokuu Rod that is a reference to Sun Wukong's signature weapon.
Also, in various Shin Megami Tensei games, such as Digital Devil Saga and Persona, Wukong, under the name Seiten Taisei, often appears as an enemy or (in the case of the Persona series) as a Persona for the use of the characters. In nearly every single such game, Wukong is either high level or low level but very useful for that level.
-- Ghostexorcist ( talk) 15:27, 25 July 2008 (UTC)
The article has need of sources, can someone PLEASE tell me why Journey to the West is not a source? It has the entire legend of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong. Stop getting idiots who only know of anime refernces to edit this article (I mean, I know a couple too like a cameo in the latter part of Gokudo but at least I've read Journey to the West), and start recruiting Chinese myth experts to help this article. Essentially, I just added Journey to the West as a source for anything in book, and left it at that, but seriously... Bulmabriefs144 ( talk) 21:26, 1 August 2008 (UTC)
Oh and yes, my tranlation copy says Subhuti. He was a Taoist teacher, so Bodhi doesn't jive. Bulmabriefs144 ( talk) 21:36, 1 August 2008 (UTC)
Why is Havoc in Heaven not in the Film and Television section, but in the Appearances in other media section, where it is only given a single line? To quote the article on it, "many consider this 1964 iteration to be the most original, fitting and memorable." Why does the Indiana Jones script for a film that was never shot, and Dragonball, get more mention? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.60.2.229 ( talk) 09:55, 28 June 2009 (UTC)
It doesn't belong here, as there is no indication it has particular importance to a general understanding of the character. ?It is located at the IPC article linked in the See also section, which suffices. Mintrick ( talk) 17:19, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
Near the end of the article it translates the Chinese characters as "monkey imp." Don't they rather say something like "keeper of the horses?" This was also a taunt used by his enemies as this was his original post in the heavenly bureaucuracy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.35.88.110 ( talk) 00:43, 28 August 2009 (UTC)
There is a character by the name of Sun Wukong in the new The Last Airbender prequel manga "Zuko's Story" and he's apparently the Red Spirit. Is this character inspired by this figure? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.105.36.88 ( talk) 08:16, 3 June 2010 (UTC)
I don't understand why there should be an article on things like the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit and Water Curtain Cave? It seems really obscure. Homunculus ( duihua) 00:45, 15 June 2010 (UTC)
I thought there were enough references in the article, and that the big tag was neither necessary nor aesthetically pleasing. If you disagree with this action, please list your reasons. Homunculus ( duihua) 03:19, 4 November 2010 (UTC)
I have reverted the recent addition of File:Sun Wukong.jpg to the info box because you can barely even tell what it is. His back is turned around and the majority of the picture is wrinkled clothing. The only inkling that it is Sun is the small part of his arm, head, and cudgel that is visible. I doubt even a person knowledgeable about Xiyouji would be able to tell what it is at first glance without some sort of prompting. The original 19th century picture is a better representation because, instead of an extreme close up of his back, Sun's whole body is clearly visible and facing towards the eye.
I have no problems with the picture gracing the page, just not in the lead. -- Ghostexorcist ( talk) 19:42, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
When i typed in monkey king into the wikipedia search engine, this article came up. If Hanuman is also known as the monkey king and the most likely influence on this character then why is the search directed here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.161.202.38 ( talk) 17:56, 29 April 2011 (UTC)
Would Wu-Kong qualify as a Golum, since he's basically living stone? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:8:B580:80B:A1C8:D0CF:C789:E6D3 ( talk) 05:15, 14 November 2013 (UTC)
I believe that it is highly unlikely that Arthur Waley's translation into English influenced the Japanese Monkey (TV series) given that they had their own Japanese and Chinese sources. A citation is needed if this is to remain. Michitaro ( talk) 08:42, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
The title Wukong 悟空 was given by the Tang Emperor Dezong to a monk of Tuoba origin who spent 40 years in travels after the scriptures and relics. Any mention of this in the professional literature on the Travel to the West? My source was zh:釋悟空.-- Shanghainese.ua ( talk) 19:09, 12 March 2016 (UTC)
I have rewritten the majority of the article's Background section and believe the in-universe tag can now be removed. I will do so in a few days if no major disputes. Laranesight ( talk) 16:51, 22 March 2016 (UTC)