"The Monkey King known as Sun Wukong in Chinese first burst fully-formed out of a rock in the classic 1592 novel Journey to the West, widely attributed to the poet Wu Cheng'en. Steeped in Buddhist teachings and symbols, the story follows Sun Wukong's epic journey towards enlightenment. "He wants to be someone," Frank Djeng, a cultural historian who has written about the character, said in an interview with NPR. "So he sets out to learn how to become immortal and powerful.""
"The Monkey King isn't your typical square-jawed, noble superhero. Though he's on a quest for enlightenment, Monkey is also a loud-mouthed mischief-maker, whose antics include stealing magical peaches from a sacred garden that grant immortality to the person who eats them and then gobbling them down. "I think we loved the monkey because of his courage, his longing for freedom, and his defiance against the gods," said Chinese-Australian tenor Kang Wang,"
Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, originated in the 1592 Ming Dynasty novel Journey to the West and embodies Buddhist symbolism and a quest for enlightenment. The character gains immortality-seeking powers, including cloud-riding, cloning, and a magic telescoping staff, yet remains an outcast who rebels against the heavens. Monkey's mix of spiritual striving and chaotic mischief—stealing immortality-granting peaches and provoking gods—drives his narrative. Recent decades have seen extensive cross-media adaptations across Asia and rising visibility in America through a 2023 animated film, a major 2024 video game, and a sold-out San Francisco Opera production.
Read at www.npr.org
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