Buddhism in the Classic Chinese Novel Journey to the West: Teaching Two Episodes
Roberta E. Adams

The Major Characters
Buddha

Venerable Sakyamuni Buddha in this text lives at Spirit Mountain in the Western Land of Perfect Bliss. (See http://www.exeas.org/resources/foundations-of-buddhism.html#Contents for information on the historical Buddha and rise of Buddhism throughout Asia.) In Journey to the West, only Buddha can subdue Monkey. Buddha makes a wager with Monkey that, if he can jump out of his palm in a single somersault, he can take the Jade Emperor’s place. Monkey jumps, finds pink pillars at the end of the world, writes “The Great Sage Equalling Heaven Was Here,” and urinates against the pillars. Of course, the pillars are actually Buddha’s fingers; he then turns his hand over and imprisons Monkey under Five Elements Mountain. Andrew Plaks notes, here “the overblown mind-monkey is reduced to finite proportions” (271). In the novel, Buddha’s power is his innate essence.

Works Cited:

Plaks, Andrew. The Four Masterworks of the Ming Novel. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987.

Yu, Anthony C., trans. and ed. The Journey to the West. 4 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977.