On a sultry Sunday afternoon in July a group of us gathered in air-conditioned comfort to a delectable luncheon buffet and to listen to Ann Waltner, China specialist at UMN Department of History, talking to us about the true historical aspects of this Journey to the West (India is west of China) The Monkey King by a monk to bring back Buddhist scriptures for the growing flock of Buddhist adherents in China.  Ann also touched on how Monkey came to be one of his assistants.  As in the tradition of immediate and abiding artistic responses to Dream of the Red Chamber, Journal to the West also attracted numerous adaptations into opera, plays, paintings, etc.  San Francisco Opera’s new opera is a continuation of a time-honored tradition.

Birth of Monkey and his Early Exploits – he was born from a stone— a large stone split open, gave birth to a stone egg, which, when exposed to wind, was transformed into a stone monkey, who then came to life: a clue he was no ordinary monkey!  After having been king to a tribe of monkeys, he grew restless and, seeking a mentor, became a disciple of Subhuti.  Given the name Sun Wu Kung (孫悟空), he proceeded to steal “the creative powers of heaven and earth and invaded the dark mysteries of the sun and moon.” He wreaked havoc in both heaven (where he stole the peaches of immortality) and the underworld (where he blocked out the names of all monkeys in the book of death, thereby granting them immortality).  Finally, losing a bet with Buddha, he was imprisoned under the Buddha’s five fingers (the Five Fingered Mountain) for 500 years

San Francisco Opera’s production – Ann touched on the fact that San Francisco Opera’s production wisely includes only the first seven chapters out of the book’s 100 chapters where he learned his lessons in humility and finally deemed ready to accompany the monk on his journey west to seek the Buddhist scriptures.  In SF Opera’s production the Monkey will be portrayed by three artists —an opera singer, a dancer, and a puppet—. Well-known puppeteer Basil Twist will be the puppeteer.

Why is He a Monkey? – it opens up thinking about the human, the nonhuman, and the superhuman. None of the creatures assisting the monk on his journey is human.

Why is the Story so Popular? – Monkey is an endearing character.  He has skill and charm.  There are two ways of interpreting his misbehavior (which is real).  One is that it is a celebration of defiance—sometimes what seems like the correct thing to do is not in fact the correct thing.  This is an important part of the novel—Monkey is not bound by convention.  His unconventionality is partly due to the fact that he can see things no one else can see. His wild behavior is almost always for the benefit of the team going to get the scriptures.  He is wild, he is mischievous, but he is not evil.

Another way of reading the novel is that Monkey is finally subdued; his behavior is modified; the wildness has its use, but in the end he is a good Buddhist.

Ann suggested that the power of the novel is that both readings are possible—there is a complexity and richness (and even craziness) to it that has drawn readers and viewers in for centuries.

At the end of this informative and entertaining introduction to The Monkey King, we all sighed in eager anticipation to Ann’s next presentation, together with composer Huang Ruo, on September 6!

Acknowledgement  – many thanks to Ann Waltner for sharing a copy of her presentation.