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

The Pilgrim Characters
White Dragon Horse (Prince Dragonhorse)

The first of Guanyin’s appointed helpers that Tripitaka and Monkey together encounter ( Ch. 15), the white dragon is the son of Ao Run, the Dragon King of the Western Sea. His father reported him to Heaven as a rebel because he burned the bright pearls in the palace. Guanyin secures his reprieve from execution and places him in a deep ravine to wait for the pilgrim. Emerging from the water, he consumes Tripitaka’s horse and saddle to sate his hunger. After a battle with Monkey, he learns that Tripitaka is the pilgrim; Guanyin turns him into a white horse to replace the one he had eaten.

Accoutrements: At the Temple of the Ward Altar in the land of Hami, the mountain god and the local deity of Potaraka Island, sent by Guanyin, give Monkey a saddle, bridle, saddle-cloth, saddle-pad, reins, and muzzle for the horse, as well as a whip with a rattan and leather handle and tiger-sinew thong.

Characteristics/Symbolism : The primary role of the White Dragon Horse is to carry the monk on the journey; he is quiet loyalty in all its simplicity, carrying burdens without complaint. Unlike the other pilgrims, he does not go beyond his original dragon identity. During the journey, he changes back into his dragon form only once, to try to save his master after Tripitaka had dismissed Monkey ( Ch. 30). Injured in his fight with the ogre who had turned Tripitaka into a captive tiger, he surprises Pig by speaking, asking him to find Monkey and bring him back to save the monk (which he does).
back to top