221 Monkey and the Journey Back to Paradise Brian Mououcuney Joy ean bea second, To spin out The yuides to joy is to perform [Every operation in the book. The novel that lies at the heart of this paper, Xiyou jt HiM42, or Journey fo rbe Hest, is perhaps better known by the title Arthur Waley gave to his abridged and much-loved translation, Mongey. It was written in the 16% century, between the ‘wo great periods of translation activity and inter-cultural exchange in Chinese his- tory. Its origins lie in the period from the 3" to the 8" centuries when Buddhism, and Indian culture more generally, exerted a powerful influence over the Chinese ‘worlds. Its popularity also meant that it was soon translated into other languages, Japanese, but also Western languages, thus it was part of the tremendous inter- ‘cultural exchange that has been integral to Chinese modernity over the past few centuries? “The novel itself represents only one version of the multitude of stories surround ing what might be called the Monkey phenomenon. Itis a quest narrative, with a journey to the west at its heart: For most of Chinese history, the West has meant not Europe and America but inner and southem Asia, which was the main route for the transmission of Buddhism into China. The journey to the west that lies at the heart of the Monkey phenomenon is an imaginative response to the epic adventure of a Buddhist pilgrim of the seventh century. The transformation of that adventure into the journey of the novel was a gradual process, built as much through oral performance as textual development. The Monkey phenomenon has always been much greater than any one of its many manifestations. 1 begin this essay with the journey that provided the impetus for all that w: ‘tum to the transformation of the journey into literature. The essay ends with some reflections on the ways in which the Monkey phenomenon reflects Chinese ap- proaches to paradise to follow, then For Paradise is in India, and in Paradise is the living fountain In the third year of the zhenguan #8 era, 629 in our modern calendar, a Bud= hist pilgrim left Chang'an, the capital of China, the largest and most cosmopolitan Siripr & Prin: Buloin of the Bibliggraphical Society of Anstalio @ Now Zealand 29 (2005): 221-233 opp ot ut Tenet wine oral opt owner ae excep emits under te Copyright Ac 188, coping opt mata sri bout he permission of te caer tie esse open By wa sane To Capp Aste Led For aon ont ich cece cone Cog Ape aon (2) 700 ph ot SEED a)222 Seripe & Print: Bulletin of the Biblqgrapbieal Swit of Australia & Nowe Zealand city in the world, and headed out into the wilderness, on a journey to the west. ‘This pilgrim is now known by his Buddhist name, Xuanzang 3% (602-664). He crossed the great deserts of Inner Asia, the Gobi and dreaded Takla Makan, and climbed the passes that traverse the Tianshan and the Hindu Kush, travelling on down through Afghanistan and Pakis studying at the famous Buddhist university, Nalanda, improving his command of the scriptural languages, especially Sanskrit, and extending his understanding of Baddhist philosophy.* After 16 years Xuanzang returned to China (in Zhenguan #8 19, 645), with ‘more than 650 Buddhist texts. The emperor had a special pagoda built to house the texts, the White Goose Pagoda (which still stands in Xi'an today). He also funded 1 massive translation project to see these scriptures transformed into Chinese texts. into India. He lived there for many years, Xuanzang spent the last 20 years of his life at the head of this great translation project. Some have called Xwanzang the ‘greatest Chinese Buddhist translator and his translation of the 600-chapter Mohaprajhaparamita sutra KREBRE 83 is still considered the best-translated text in the whole of the 5,000 volume Buddhist canon. Withina short time these endeavours were being transformed into printed form. Ir has been suggested that Xuanzang himself was involved in the development of printing in China, having images of the Bodhisattva Somanta Bhadra printed from blocks onto paper. This print has not survived, so we eannot say if Xuanzang id indeed help initiate the new technology, but printing was certainly develop~ ing in conjunction with these translations projects during 7" and 8” centuries and ‘many of Xwanzang’s translations were the firs fll texts to be printed. The oldest surviving printed book in the world, the Vajracchedibe rajiaparanita (SeRURB Si FEE Diamand Sutra), dates from 829. Thus, very soon after Xuanzang returned from India, the scriptures he brought back were being translated inta the world’s first print culture, which was Chinese and Buddhist.” Xuanzang’s expedition to gather scriptures quickly caprured the Chinese im- agination, and even before he died stories about his miraculous journey began to circulate through monasteries and market places.* His exploits became folktales, part of'a growing ora tradition that increasingly incorporated elements from Chi- nese popular culture. Here the human world intersected with the world beyond, in both its angelic and demonic manifestations. Gods, ancestors, ghosts and demons all interacted with humans, particularly with those humans who ventured beyond the bounds of normal civilised life, Nuanzang’s journey was absorbed into and refashioned by this cultural matrix. It was perilous not just because of the natural hazards that he had to negotiate, but also because of the demons and monsters who tried to capture him and ‘was thought to confer immediate immortality.” te his fesh or semen — which, because of his puriParadise: Newe Worlds of Books & Reaers 23 ’ é ‘ Hl isk aay gtienaen ext, Ding ie quansiang Tang Sanson sgen shin SBALSABE = RP in Lucille Chi Prining Par Prof The Conmerin? « Publshrs of Fanyang, Fujian (14°-17" Centries) (Cambridge, Mass ‘Harvard University Press, 2002), 56, figure 10, a Figure 1. Sham These stories were part of popular culture long before they assumed textual form, ‘and when they were first written down it seems they were in the form of prompr books for storytellers. The textual history of this transformation in the representa- tion of Xuanzang’s journey is far from certain, but itis clear that the stories took a multitude of different forms before being shaped into the sixteenth-century novel that we are most familiar with today: Many of them ineorporate text and image, in the picture above, text below” (shang siozeen EGER) format that was used first for Buddhist texts during the Tang period (6"- 9 centuries; he time of Xuanzang) As non-religious printing began to flourish from the 10% century onward: used increasingly in works of popular literature aimed at readers with varying de- _grees of literacy.” Phe Xuanzang stories continued to have a life independent of the novel, even after it appeared, but increasingly the version of the stories sanctioned in the novel shaped all others. Thus, increasingly people came to know Xuanzang simply as one of the characters in the stories they heard in marketplaces or perbaps encountered in printed form. In these stories, and in the novel, Xuanaang is transformed from a scholar-transa~ tor into an earnest but somewhat naive monk, riding his trusty dragon-horse, and ‘accompanied by the earthy and passionate Pigsy, the stoic Sandy and, of course, mischievous Monkey. Due to the perils of the journey the pious Xuanzang needed224 Serpe & Prine: Bulletin ofthe Bibliographical Sovcty of Australia & Neve Zealand the protection of these fellow scripture pilgrims, all of whom were gods entrusted with the task of ensuring that he reached the Western Parudise (see Phite 12). In particulay, it was Monkey who protected Xuanzang, and, in doing so itis he who ‘commands our attention, and our enthusiasm; increasingly Xwanzang’s story had become Monkey's story." This transition is clearly evident in Xivou ji, the sixteenth-century novel. This ss one of the ‘Miraculous Four (sido gichn E0394), the four great novels that appeared during the late Ming period which masked a substantive transformation in the nature of the novel in Chinese literature. It is big book, 100 chapeers — four ‘volumes and around 2,000 pages in the standard English-language translations. The novel also masks a major transformation in the Monkey stories. New episodes were introduced into the journey, and the development of existing episodes reached a new level. The novel also interweaves poetry and prose; there ate over 750 poems in the novel. This novel aso set the tone for subsequent representations of the Monkey stories, whether in opera in plays, orn the street corner storytelling that remained the site for much Chinese literature down into the 20" century." Averil Mackenizie-Grieve caprures very well the enthusiasm and excitement generated by the Monkey stories in this depiction ofa street-corner theatre which she encountered in coastal south China, in Xiamen, in the 1920s. ‘The cowed was packed tight below the ste; sugarcane sellers, hot dumpling and bean-cake sellers, wondors of brilliant raspberry-pink and lime-yreen cordials generously ecked! with dead fis. The crowd ws eld ike meat in brawn, by a thick, eloying smell of sweat, fying and cheap tobacco: ghized over by the brazen assault ofthe sun, of the cymbals clappes, drums and elaionets (..) the troupe was playing Thr Monkey King (part of all repertoires) to an appreciative and certainly chiefly literate crowd, who, according to our Chinese companion, never missed a point. [...] The audience had sven and heard it all before, they condemned the same villains, applauded the same eather-decorated patriots, laughed t che same buffoons,a¢ generations of their ancestors had done.!* ‘The Monkey stories also colonised other media. They seem especially well suited to visual forms, to cartoons, film, television and the Intemet. Hearing and seeing have always been as important as reading in the reception of these stories." Thus, many people who know nothing of the sixteenth-century novel are familiar with the Japanese television series, which has become a cul classic throughout the world. And those who don't know the TV series may be fans of Dragon Ball Zee, ‘cartoon series based on the Japanese T'V version of Monkey (in particular, on the character of Son Goku 18482 or Monkey). Thus, while the imprint of the novel on this vast repertoire of Monkey stories was significant, thereby reinforcing the view that print culture does indeed colonise new worlds, its also the case thar text wasParadise: Now Worlds of Books @ Renders constantly shaped by spoken word and performance. There is no single, originary text behind all these manifestations of the Monkey stories. Indeed, the texts grow out of an oral and visual tradition, and constantly interact with that tradition sight up to and beyond the great sixteenth-century navel which now stands at the heart of the Monkey phenomenon. In China, the stories are so familiar thar they have become a form of extra-lin= _guistic coding, and thus have been used for all sorts of reasons, including poli propaganda, We can see this in an image from a picture book produced durin Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, Monkey Suaidues the White-Bone Demon (see Plate 13). In a one-Party state, particularly in a highly politicized one as China was during the Cultural Revolution, criticisms of the government had to be disguised. “The Monkey stories became a perfect vehicle for this, and both sides in the factional conflict the led up to the Cultural Revolution produced their own versions of the “Monkey stories in order to convey their own messages. Mao Zedong claimed to be a moder manifestation of Monkey, and the battles with the White Boned Demon ‘were meant to represent real-life battles with imperialists and capitalist-roaders. As the Cultural Revolution advanced, however, and its lunacy became more apparent, different readings were given to this story. Increasingly Monkey was seen to stand not for Mao but for the Chinese people, and the White Bone Demon symbolized not imperialism but Jiang Qing, Mao's wife and member of the Gang of Four, those blamed for the turmoil and anarchy that was the revolution.”* ‘Monkey's next manifestation will possibly be as mascot for the 2008 Olympics Games to be held in Beijing, and no doubt Xuanzang and the other seriprare pil= _gzims will earure prominently along with Monkey in the dramatic depiction of the glories of China that will dominate the opening ceremony for the games.” ‘The real is the aths of fiction, over which all novelists thirst. ‘The real i contour, aspiration, syrant. The nuvel covers reality, runs avsay with it and, as travelers will yearn to dirty their geography, runs from it, oo." Some have made the connection hetween Jonney tothe Hést, between Monkey, and other quest narratives like Pilgrims Pragress, Perhaps a better comparison is the story cycles beginning with The Odysey, which were then developed through Virgil (Aeneid), Dante (Commedia), James Joyce (Ulysses) and Derek Walcott (Omeres), and then, most recently, transformed onto the sereen in O Brother Where Ar Thou? Indeed, C Brother, with its collection of pilgsims (Ulysses Everett Grant, Delmer O'Donnell and Pete Hogwort), its comic episodes and its hints towards a greater purpose perhaps comes closest to giving an impression of the appeal of Monty toa226 Scrip & Prine: Burin ofthe BibicgrapbiealSoceny of Anstraia & Neve Zealand (Chinese audience. The Klu Klux Klan scene in O Brorber, which isa cross between Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and a Gang Show, with a touch of martial arts thrown in, reflects the humorous approach to more menacing and serious issues that we find in many of the episodes that make up the Journey to the Hext.® ‘The attraction of the Monkey stories lies not justin the universal appeal of the ‘quest narrative. The stories, and their central characters, all of whom are a mix of the human, the animal and the divine, also help us reflect on what itis that makes us human, As Felip Ferninde2-Armesto suggests in his recent book So You Think Youre Human? ‘Many of our favourite stories are anthropomorphic (,..] The sires of Aris= tophanes would not bite so deeply into the foibles of humans if they we disguised as birds or frogs. In children’s stories, personality traits which would soem shallow and uninteresting in human charseters g guises. The muppets would not be half so amusing if they were presented as Jhumans, rather than as fufly pigs and cuddly bears [...] Our imaginations blur and traverse the frontier berween hurmans snd other animals. charm from animal ‘There is, of course, a paradox here, and Femnindez-Armesto spends much of his book exploring the ways in which we have, for very good reasons, policed the frontier between the animal and the human, The transformation of the story of Xuanzang’s journey to the west into a quest narrative, with Paradise at its end and with a Monkey at its heart, reflects the way Chinese also have used animals in order to explore what it means 0 be human, ‘Translation is atthe very heart of all the various manifestations of the Monkey phenomenon. All involve translation: from one language to another, from one cultural context to another, from one genre to another. And, of course, the journey ang’ journey and it has motivated all those who wished to bring the stories to new au~ diences. What, then, does the Monkey phenomenon tell us about the narure and significance of translation? Much of the most interesting recent scholarship in stories have their origins in translation. It was the original pretext for Xu this area is about translation in the context of modemity, particularly with regurd to Christianity and colonialism. Some of this is highly polemical, bu the best is extremely sich and stimulating, such as Vicente L, Rafiel’s work on translation and conversion in Tagalog society under early Spanish role, Saurabh Dube’: similar ‘work on translation and Christian conversion in colonial India, and Naoki Sakais more theoretical discussion of the relationship between translation, nationalism and modemity:” Js the nature of translation completely different in a non-colonial situation, 38 vas the case with the translation of the Sanskrit Buddhist literarure into Chinese,Paradise: Now Worlds of Books & Renders 27 the work Xwanzang was £0 closely involved with? It is certainly true that Bud~ The schlaship about thi transformation of Xwanang’s journey ino trate i extensive. Hu Shi 8938 began modern ti of the topic with his ashe” Xiyou ji kaozheng «BUEE2-APEE in Me jan (211b- 8716 Centrrien)232. Serpe © Print Buen ofthe Bibliegoapbical Society of Australia & Neto Zealand Hu sbi eons BBLHE (Bajing Bang dase cans, 198), eae 3, 800538. This was vblshed in Dru sash EB BESS 6 (Febwncy 4, 1923) Hu Shi's suggestions were develped {Glen Durie in The Hr eb Sty ofthe Anton to th Sinton Contry Cine Ne] (Cambridge: Cambridge Unversity Pres, 1970), hich semains the best sadn chi pers. "The bes intdastion to she navel eta hy Anthoay C. Yi RDB) inhi rations see The Journ tothe Wet (Chie Univer of Chicago Pras, 1977-63) volume 1162 ‘ gvetl Mackenisie: Grieve, Re of Geen Ginger (Landon: Puna, 1959) 78. "Homer macs us Hest, and Ving ves ws Readers.” Alexandr Pope inthe introduction to his tanlainn ofthe id ited by Eagene Chen Eoyang in “Arif of Eternity”: Aun fr “Transaionsof Chinese Linear. 9 Th Tromporen Ev: Rfistianron Tran, Chive inne ‘and Compare Pst Hono: Usiversiy of Hawa Press, 1995) 63, "Rolf G. Wa ie Denn: Sry in PRC Mythos in is ‘ae Contemporary Chin Hiericl Drona: For Std (Berkey: University of California Pres, 1990), 139-235, "The other contender fr mist, pothape the more likly ons, the pangs "Janes Wood, Th Breton Bion: Erase on Litrorar an Bl (Landn: nathan Cape, 1999) xi ° Anthony Vu makes some imesting comparison berween Xiyoui and Western quest naraives in “Two Literary Examples of Religions Pagimage- The Command Th our te Hits Hitery ef Bogan 2,3 (Febuary, 1983), 202-230, and Zn Zn explores the snare with Rebels [in Carnivaination in Th Jom tre Hie Cutual Dake in Fictional Festiviny Chine Lite vas: Essay, titi, Revie V6 QA), 69-92. "Pape Fermindsr-Arcmat, So Yen Think Your noun? (Oster Oxkord Universiy Prt, 200), 8. = Vicente L. Rail, Conrnring Celonaton Tndaten and Chiian Conversion in Tage Sri ‘ty Under Early Sponsh Rae (Dasbaro S London: Dale University Press, 193), Saurabh Dube, “Conversvn 1 Transition: Canal Reyer of Vernacular Christianity Seah Atari Quart 101, 4 (ll, 2002), 807-857 and Naokd Sakai, Tween and Subject: On Japa and Cale Katenalon (Manca Universi of Minnesota Pres, 1997). 5 es Murry, Suspended Vessels Soman Rednct Pc (New Yorks Fae, Straus & Giro 1997)19. On Xuanang Boddhit scholarship see Christoph Havebmsicr Seon and Citation in Chia Tolume 7, Port 3 Langage an Lagi Cambie Cambridge University Press, 198), 300-402 and Fung Van 4 Hivory of Chines Philp, Weune 2 Th Pred of Clo! Leming eased by ‘Deve Bode (Prinston Preston Universi Press, 1983), 299-338, Ang forthe Indian contest or Xinanange thooght se TH. Stcherbstiy Babin Lei 2 vont (Delis Mtl Banari 1993) On Avaloitesara see Ya Ching Kuonevin: Th Chins Tinafrmationo eaeitercara New York: Columbia Universi Pats, 2003)ané Dans Y, aul anew in Budo ges ef Fine in Mayne Tradition (Berkey: Universi of California Press, 1979), pp.245-280, Once popular sffcton lor Amita ase Besta Grant Monn La Rewited: Bi tb Life nd Wing of St Shi (ous University of Haws Pres, 1994) 52-3 8 43. 2 There an eatensv iteriare om this, but te aor sil place so tars he recent hook by Li Glancheng Pion of he Enlightenment ancy tthe Met Te Toe of Myriad irre and The Dron off Rd Cham (Hola Universi of Hawa Press, 2004), Sex alo Jan Fontsin Th Pilgrimage of Sadhana: Sty of Genders Hhatraionsin China, Japen and Joon (The Hage & Pac Mewton, 1967} »'Sozanne E, Cahill, Trmcnaens and Divine Pasion: The Quorn Mother ofthe Mit in Mesos! Chin (Stor Stanford University Press, 1993) Wo Chengen SRB Vien? BMEEE (Hong Kong: Guano shujy, 2984), 1217, have usd Ihre Archur Wiley" wranalation: see Mente, 336 Erik Zacher,” Pence Nvnlight: Messnism and Eschatology in Early Medieval Chinese BhParadise: New World of Books & Readers 28: Ahisna! Teng Poo LXVIN, 1-5 (0982), 1-75, and David Ownky ‘Chinese Millenarin Taditions: ‘The Formative Aue, dimeritanbhirital Rviow V04, 8 (December, 1999), 1513-1830, On spirit poration see Edward L- Davis, Saiey and re Supernarnan Song China (Homob Universi of Hawai Poss, 2001). Fora sich eisnsing af monkey’ culs in China se Sawada Mi- ral 3 EBBRHB ‘Son Gols shin. FEE S248 in Chugotu no Min sinks ED RRS (Toko: Kosaku sh, 1982), 86-100, and the Gina Sage Equal Hvosen elt see Alan A. Elion, Chine Spirt-Mediner Cuts in Singapore (London: Londn School of Exonomics, 2955), 74-76, 8-109. 2B, | Ter Hate Th bite Lotus Toons in Cine Religions History (Leiden: EJ. Beil, 1992) Joseph LW, Eshericl, Tbe Origin of the Baser Uprising (Berkeley, University of California Press, 2987), 62, 294 $5289, snd Pail A, Cohen ivory iv Pree Kee The Besers as Event, Expoienc and Muth {New Vink: Columbia University Pes, 1997), 97-98, 105-9 & 228