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Juan-Pablo Alba Dennis

Professor Huang
MLAL 3047 Chinese Culture:
Traditions and Modern Transformation
04/19/2016
Paper Abstract 1st Draft

In this paper we will be looking at an episode in Monkey in chapter 14 where Monkey on

his journey with Tripitaka encounters six bandits who try to rob them. From the middle of page
131 the episode begins at They rose early the next day, and the old man brought them washingwater and breakfast up until page 133 where Tripitaka says to himself gloomily Evidently it
is not my fate to have a disciples; so I must get on as best I can without one. We will challenge
the idea of peace vs. violence that is found in the way vs. Monkeys nature and how the idea of
the six bandits is a metaphorical conduit toward the literal nature of humans and what it takes
to guide them to enlightenment. Do we continue to function as humans if we suppress our innate
nature i.e. our senses and earthly desires? Does Monkey represent a true exaggerated image of
how we are or is he a representation of our broken selves who need to find our way back? How
natural is the path of enlightenment within human nature and where does it take us?

A Monkey Knows Which Tree to Climb

The monkey is a clever animal so close in appearance to the human that we are seemingly
forever curious about its nature, our nature and the similarities between them. Through the use of
monkey as a personified character in the novel Monkey Wu Chengen gets to play with and
blur the rigid lines of our ways, the way (Buddhism) and the hierarchy of worship and authority.
When we think of how one should act or be the question of integrity should arise. Are we just
behaving in certain ways because they are the right/natural way to be/exist in harmony with the
world, or are we prescribed a manuscript by the heavens, conveyed to us by people who teach us
the path to enlightenment? There seems to be a learned way of doing things, which staying true
to Buddhist teachings would be ideally let go of to attain enlightenment. The raft analogy that
Buddha teaches where by the dharma is like a raft and is useful for crossing over the river but not
for holding on to would seem like an aptly put example of this letting go. In this paper we will
look at the way that Monkeys journey with Tripitaka is held up by six bandits and how the
parallelisms that exist between the bandits and human nature can be looked at. We will
challenge the idea of peace vs. violence that is found in the way vs. Monkeys nature and how
the idea of the six bandits is a metaphorical conduit toward the literal nature of humans and
what it takes to guide them to enlightenment.
We encounter Monkey in chapter 14 on his journey with Tripitaka when they are held up
by a group of bandits:
We are robber kings, they said, mountain lords among the benevolent. Everyone
knows us. How comes it that you are so ignorant?... I, too, said Monkey, Am a great
hereditary king, and lord of a mountain for hundreds of years; yet I have never heard your

names. In that case, let us tell you, they said. The first of us is called Eye that Sees and
Delights; the second, Ear that Hears and is Angry; the third, Nose that Smells and Covets; the
fourth, Tongue that Tastes and Desires; the fifth, Mind that Conceives and Lusts; the sixth, Body
that Supports and suffers. Youre nothing but six hairy ruffians, said Monkey, laughing. We
priests are your lords and masters Monkey
In Buddhism the Six Bandits represent the six senses of the body that, when looked at
with a discerning eye can prevent one from attaining enlightenment. By killing them Monkey
shows how he is detached from the human senses, a freedom that his master does not get to
experience. But also by killing the bandits Monkey does the Buddhist which would be to kill the
senses, let go and not have them interfere with the way. What is curious is how much like the
bandits Monkey actually is yet how he can be detached from them, which seemingly presents the
battle of human nature vs. the enlightened state that one may want to obtain. The irony lies in the
fact that Monkey killed a band of Buddhist bandits, six senses, yet he is like the emotionally
driven person who lets his feelings dictate his actions, leaving the journey behind and fleeing,
like a gang of bandits stealing valuables.
Though Tripitaka is Buddhist, he is against killing the senses. Taoism would suggest
seeing without attachment to delight and tasting without desire etc. but Monkey hears and rages.
Thus Tripitaka is telling him to do the Taoist thing, to chase them away without killing them, he
goes on to tell Monkey because you had neither scruples nor self-control that you had to
undergo this ordeal of 500 years. therefore pointing out the purpose of the journey, to develop
scruples and self-control which are attached to primitive human nature.