#JTtS

[journeytothewestresearch]

Buddhist Deities Exiled From the Western Heaven

My new article examines the reasons why three Buddhist deities from Ming-Qing vernacular Chinese literature are exiled from the Western Heaven.

Master Golden Cicada (Jinchan zi, 金蟬子) (a.k.a. Tripitaka, Tang Sanzang, 唐三藏) from Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592) - a Buddha disciple who is caught sleeping during the Tathagata's sermon.

Miao Jixiang (妙吉祥) from Journey to the South (Nanyouji, 南遊記, c. 1570s-1580s) - A Buddha disciple who kills a belligerent sage on the grounds of the Thunderclap Monastery.

 Great Peng, the Golden-Winged King of Illumination (Dapeng jinchi mingwang, 大鵬金翅明王) from The Complete Vernacular Biography of Yue Fei (Shuo Yue quanzhuan, 說岳全傳, 1684) - An avian dharma protector who kills a stellar-spirit for farting during the Tathagata's lecture.

The article analyzes them together and notes parallels, even with concepts from Greek philosophy.

The motif might serve as a good idea for writers wanting to create an OC with an interesting backstory. I have, for example, previously used it to suggest a fictional origin for Sun Wukong as a hot-tempered Bodhisattva (see the 06-16-23 update here).

[the-monkey-ruler]

So, all the children that swk has are 100% yaoguai monkeys, or are some of them human? I think King Paramiya and Yuebei Xing have human appearance? I mean the ancient writings, not books or adaptation of JTTW.

It’s hard to say as we don’t get a lot of information about them.

Paramita is easier to at least know what he could look like (however please keep in mind that this is a dream and that Paramita technically wouldn't have to follow any set rules due to being in a fantasy) as we know that his mother is Princess Iron Fan. He was not conceived in the traditional sense however as he was born when Wukong accidentally got Princess Iron Fan preggers when he jumped in her tummy. Funny enough he did this to like four other demons as well so... perhaps we know where Paramita's four unnamed brothers came from. Joking of course, it is said that Paramita's four other brothers are also Princess Iron Fans BUT THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN FUNNY.

The only description I can find in the book about Paramits is that he is "dashing" and this might cause he takes more after Princess Iron Fan. Sadly, looking like a monkey-yao was not considered "dashing" and therefore I think decreases his chances of being as such. Paramita would be half monkey yao and half Rākṣasī if he was real. There is few other pure yao children in mythos, the only one we really can compare him to is Red Boy (who doesn't exist in this fantasy dream) as he has a very human-looking appearance as well. I talked a bit about this, but it could be that since Wukong and Iron Fan are already very cultivated that their children would take on a human-like appearance to show this. In any case, Paramita wouldn't have any reason to look human since neither his parents are human, but still, he has powerful parents who have cultivated to a human form he would be able to have a human form as well.

Of course, there is a part in the Supplement JTTW where Wukong meets another version of himself but as an old man. Wukong is still a monkey but he sees another version of himself as well but as an old man that is his "true spirit" in Chapter 10. This is strange cause Wukong in his dream was he was called "only having a monkey face" but he wasn't Sun Wukong because he wasn't a Monkey Yaoguai. This could be saying that Wukong in his dream transcend his own monkey body and form and rather moving into a full human form. This would increase the chances of King Paramita's hypothetic form being seen as all-human if this was the case as well.

On the left is the White Ape Perfected Man that I think Wukong's "true spirit" would look like in Supplement. On the right is King Paramita from a modern Comic Strip published in 2021 as there is little to no other modern interpretations of King Paramita.

Yuebei Xing and her brother are a tad different and harder to pinpoint due to their mother being unknown. Certainly, they are half-monkey-yaoguai but as for mothers, it could range from another monkey yao to a mortal to an immortal to even Wukong using the baby river himself. Hard to say but there are possibilities.

If Yuebei Xing's mother was human than the chances of her and her siblings looking human increase greatly. However, if they are a yao then they COULD look human with some cultivation but that doesn't mean they would be born looking human guarantee. This is also a story that would be based more on the Xiyouji Zaju play Wukong where he kidnaps his human-wife in the introduction and doesn't reach Buddhahood by the end of the play so it would be within reason to believe that Wukong got another human-leaning wife whether that be mortal or immortal.

But unlike Paramita, Yuebei Xing DOES have a description!

"Monkey King had a daughter named Yuebei Xing. She had a crooked head with large eyes and a broad mouth, a wide waist, thick hands, and long feet with thunderous footsteps. Every time, she would utterly defeat her enemies. Yuebei Xing stepped forth, "I'm going too." "You were so ugly," the little Suns roared with laughter, "You will become a laughingstock in front of Huaguang.""

She is described as more outlandish in form and even called ugly, however, this could be that she simply takes more after her father's face as he was called ugly as well.... or maybe she is only ugly by monkey standards, it is hard to say. Despite this description, however, it does not say that she looks like a monkey or a human as while a detailed list of what she has, doesn't lean towards human or monkey either way.

I'm taking from @journeytothewestresearch page about his articles for Yuebei Xing but she is noted to have two forms from Secret Practice of the Primordial Lord Yuebei 元皇月孛祕法. So this is not from the same author as JTTS but can still provide some idea of what her past interpretations could have looked like.

"In the form of a celestial human, their hair is let down over their naked body. Their mass of black hair covers the navel. Red sandals. Their left hand holds the head of a drought demon. Their right hand holds a blade. They ride a jade dragon. In their modified form, [they display] a blue face with long fangs, a crimson garment and blade, while driving a bear." (Kotyk, 2017, p. 62).

It could be that in JTTS was learning more to her modified form as she is given more extravagant details to her description.

The left image is of Yuebei Xing in her celestial form with her sword in hand. On the right is where she is drawn as a man but still holding her sword and severed head.

However, these are descriptions based on Yuebei Xing outside of JTTS and therefore would not be considered to have any monkey relations to her. If that is the case then that could be as to why the author of JTTS didn't describe her celestial form or her modified form as he was creating a new original look for her NOW that she is half-monkey. It wouldn't be fair to say that she is one or the either considering that now her origins have not only changed but also are unknown who or what her other parent is either.

So overall I can't say that they can be 100% monkeys as King Paramita is half rākṣasī and Yuebei Xing (and possibly her brothers) are most likely not from a monkey-yao mother. But while Paramita wouldn't look monkey himself there could be hope for Yuebei Xing and her brothers since their origin has not only changed from her previous depictions but also that her mother is left to interpretations. So while the chances of her being 100% are low they are not impossible at the very least.

Take it as you will!

[wolflover10]

Screenshot edit of the Shadowpeach kids I designed with their parents.

[sketching-shark]

Now THAT'S what you call a comeback!

Playing around with ideas for how Sun Wukong and his children Jidu, Luohou, and Yuebei Xing function, and honestly one of my favorite things about more recent interpretations of everyone's favorite monkey king is the way "stone monkey" keeps getting translated as "lava monkey." So combining that & my love of body horror, here's a cheerful Luohou demonstrating how for a being that's technically an active volcano, even getting major pieces of your body blown away is nbd. You can just grow new ones <3

[cosmoshining]

Does anyone here play journey to the sun

Lorekeeper gijinka thingy idk

[soupiero]

journey to the sun (roblox) for anon 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 divider 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 ☀️

[loyaltykask]

I made a fanfic about the non-canon kids for Supplement JTTW, JTTS, and PJTTW!

I do wanna say that I started the chapters with Wukong being mostly inspired by 1996 Xiyouji dynamics and who Wukong is mostly based on. The first chapters are about Paramita and the four unnamed kids in Supplement! All named after paramitas in buddism.

I try to base each kid off one of Wukong's inspirations in media! I hope y'all enjoy!

I'm not the best artist but I did have fun trying to draw them

Pink - Jnana, fifth born

Red - Paramita, first born

Yellow - Bala, fourth born

Green - Pranidhana, thrid born

Blue - Upaya - second born

[thechildbesuffering]

lmk au that makes journey to the south canon to jttw

[apple-talk]

actually you know what. the rest of the aethyr 4 scholars as well pls. jaki velma maulwurf. friendies

REEHEHEHEHEH i love them all so much. the friends of all time. the arcanum members that deserve rights. (in order: velma, jaki, maulwurf)

[skyplayer9873]

U.N Owen Was An Angel's Chosen??

[journeytothewestresearch]

Yuebei Xing Video Game Character

I was looking for something regarding Yuebei xing (月孛星, “Moon Comet Star”), daughter of the Monkey King from Chinese vernacular fiction, when I came upon a video game character based on her.

“Sun Yuebei” (孫月孛) appears in the Japanese video game Touhou Monjusen ~ Bubbling Imaginary Treasures (東方門殊銭 ～ Bubbling Imaginary Treasures, 2021). She looks like a young, pink-haired human girl wearing red, femine clothing with a bright green bow and light, red armor. And like her old man, she wears the golden headband and tiger skin and wields the iron staff, along with her trademark magic skull.

Here is an example of the game play. Sun Yuebei appears around min. 3:34 as an opponent of the player character.

FLASHING LIGHT WARNING!!! (I'm 100% positive that the developers hate people with epilepsy...)

[the-monkey-ruler]

What’s your review on JTTS? If it’s like 100 chapters I do not have the energy unless it’s JTTW quality.

Well if you open the link then you can see it is about 18 chapters with around 100 pages. It's not that long but that doesn't take away from being more boring than usual. It follows Huaguang and how he seems to piss off someone in heaven, runs away, avoids capture, still gets reincarnated, and repeats the process about two more times. Some highlights in the book are seeing him marry Princess Iron Fan, fighting Thousand-Mile Eye and Fair-Wind Ear who turned to a life of crime and then turned to be his subordinates. There is also an interesting segment where he helped two demons escape a prison in one of his own escapes in a past life and just so happens that one of those demons becomes his mother in the next life.

Honestly, only the latter half of the book is all that interesting cause it follows his third and like most exciting life where he tries to save his demon mother from feeling the urge to eat humans. He goes to heaven to steal heavenly peaches to finally quell her hunger but he disguises himself as Sun Wukong to do so. That is where Wukong comes back into the story (he was in the first chapter and isn't seen until like the last two chapters) when Wukong has to arrest Huaguang to clear his own name. And his daughter Yuebie Xing comes along to help.

Overall I remember that there were more boring bits to slog through than exciting ones cause I wasn't really that engaged with Huaguang as a character, but I am glad that I read it at all, and honestly, it wasn't that long really. Huaguang does go on some fun adventures and maybe people can take enjoyment in that at least but I never felt he was that interesting, but he was quite funny when people pointed out his crimes and he would be offended as if HE DIDN'T COMMIT THOSE CRIMES HIMSELF. His audacity is something else. At least the end of seeing Yuebei Xing in action was well worth it to me.

[peculiar-shardscape]

Can you draw Sid from JTTS in a blender?

I want to see him b l e n d

I think a hydraulic press is more appropriate for his crimes (I forgot what he even does because I haven't touched jjts in ages)

[sketching-shark]

Sketchy idea of what Qidou and Luohou--Sun Wukong's sons from Journey to the South--might look like as adults. They are so silly, just like their old man <3

[toxicanonymity]

trouble master list (au)

Silence can never be bought, only rented (complete, 2023)

dbf!Joel x f!reader / non-outbreak

PREMISE: You come home one weekend and catch your rich family friend Joel in a compromising position. You want to hold it over him, but as you spend time together, you realize what you want more. And there's something going on with his mysterious job.

A/N: based on all the "I can't believe how much I liked this" comments, I guess I struggle with summaries lol. I would love it if you gave it a shot. It's not too dark and pretty different for a dad's-best-friend. He's been called the John Wick sugar daddy.

WARNINGS: major age gap (early 20s/50s), softdom!reader, various sexual activity, blackmail themes, criminal themes.

Halloween one-shot drabble (1k)

part 1. (1.3k) - Sick

part 2 (2.5k) - Trouble

part 3 (4.4k) - You really are

part 4 (3.1k) - Cargo

part 5 (5k) - HOG Barbecue

part 6 (4k) - The Contractor

Other (one shots, HCs etc.)

Ask: How they get away with it

IKEA Drabble

Birthday Strip Tease

Brothel - John Wick

back to Joel Miller master list.

[benedictusantonius]

Tom and Huck (1995) starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas as Tom Sawyer and Brad Renfro as Huckleberry Finn