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I've previously written how Sun Wukong is described in chapters chapters 2 and 21 as being "less than 4 chi tall" (不滿四尺) (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 128 and 408). But I completely forgot that Chapter 37 gives a more precise measurement for his height. He first transforms into a “tiny monk about two cun tall” (二寸長的小和尚兒) (based on Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, p. 172). He shortly thereafter grows even bigger when a prince makes fun of him:
Tripitaka pulled open the box’s cover; Pilgrim [Monkey] leaped out and began to hobble all over the place. The prince said, “This little midget! What can he know?” When Pilgrim heard this remark about his size, he at once resorted to magic. Straightening up his torso, he grew about three chi and four or five cun instantly (emphasis added). “If he can grow that rapidly,” said the soldiers, highly startled, “it will only be a few days before he pierces the sky.” When Pilgrim reached his normal height, however, he stopped growing (emphasis added) (based on Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 2, pp. 174-175).
三藏扯開匣蓋兒,那行者跳將出來,呀的兩邊亂走。太子道:「這星星小人兒,能知甚事?」行者聞言嫌小,卻就使個神通,把腰伸一伸,就長了有三尺四五寸。眾軍士吃驚道:「若是這般快長,不消幾日,就撐破天也。」 行者長到原身,就不長了.
One chi (尺) is roughly 12.3 in or 31.8 cm, and one chi equals 10 cun (寸; a.k.a. “Chinese inches”) (Jiang, 2005, p. xxxi). One cun would be about 1.25 in or 3.18 cm. Two cun would therefore be 2.5 in or 6.36 cm. Growing the stated additional height would then put our hero at 3 chi and 6 or 7 cun, which is roughly 3.86 ft or 1.176 m. This closely agrees with the aforementioned estimate of “less than four chi tall.”
Sources:
Jiang, Y. (2005). The Great Ming Code / Da Ming Lu. Vancouver, Wa: University of Washington Press.
Wu, C., & Yu, A. C. (2012). The Journey to the West (Vols. 1-4) (Rev. ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.