Reading Notes: The Monkey King Sun Wu Kung Part B

-

This story is part of The Monkey King unit. "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).

In this part, I want to talk about some moral or ethical issues. At the beginning of this story, the lord of heaven blames Wu Kung's "wild, unmannerly behavior". Then, the following plots show his power: he could choose to punish Wu Kung or do not punish him without a doubt. The gods who live in heaven, they do not follow specific laws or rules, but they just think Wu Kung did wrong things. This is a traditional role of any kind of gods in mythology. For example, Zeus, the god in European mythology, also has this kind of power. I think they both like to force their value into other creatures, or other people in the story. 

In this part, the only reason for the lord of heaven who could tame Wu Kung is because he is related to Buddha. Since the existence of Buddha, so they could punish Wu Kung successfully. On the other hand, if Buddha also does not have enough power to tame Wu Kung, then, gods would never persuade that he is wrong. 

For me, it is an important factor that needs to be avoided in my own storybook. I do not want to express any specific group who represents the right side, or the one of justice. In my view, in the story of Wu Kung, the lord of heaven and Buddha also did something wrong. For instance, the story does not show any information about Buddha tried to understand or realize what had happened. He just chose to trust the lord of heaven and tame Wu Kung. 

Wu Kung. Web Source: Deviantart.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Taiwei Chang's Introduction

-
Image
Taiwei Chang's Introduction     I am a transfer student from China, and I always believe that go to study abroad is the best choice that I have ever made in my life. For now, I am an economics student, and this is the second year that I came to OU. In my opinion, there are lots of cool things in my major. For example, we need to learn the regularity of economic phenomena, the role of the government, businessman and citizens, and how to fix economic problems in our society.      I would also like to show you some of my favorite things. In terms of food, it is highly suggested that the Hot Pot in China. I am sure many foreigners who also indulge in Hot Pot. Then, I would like to recommend to you my favorite movie which is called Flipped. The movie tells a beautiful story between two young people. In the beginning, they dislike each other, and there are some contradictions between them. However, a good soul would always attract the other one.  Chinese Hot Pot. Web Source: I am a Food
Read more

Week 6 Story: The Wonderful Lamp

-
Image
One day, an environmentalist found the wonderful lamp coincidently. In the beginning, he did not know what it is. After he scrubbed the ashes on that lamp, an elf appeared in his view. "What do you want? I could fulfill one of your wishes, remember, just one."  After a period of thinking, the environmentalist said, "Could you clean all the pollutions that exist on the earth?"  The elf laughed, "Wow, such a noble spirit! I am so proud of you dude! But, I'm sorry. Although I can do that for sure, your wish cannot be realized."  "What? Wait! What is that mean? You just told me a paradox." The environmentalist felt confused.  Answered by the elf, "I would like to prove what I just said after I fulfill your wish. Now, let's do it!" The elf snapped its fingers, then, all pollutions on the earth disappeared.  The elf continued, "I have the power to time travel. It is time to show you what would happen on earth after your wish has
Read more