Reading Notes: Wilhelm's The Monkey King, Part B

My favorite part about reading this story are the details that the author includes in every single chapter. Sun Wu Kung has gone on many different adventures and his bravery has only helped him with his success. One story that caught my eye was "The Lord of the Heavens" at the beginning of Part B of the reading. Unlike many fairytales. this book incorporates religion into the plot as well. When the Evening Star is trying to convince the Lord of the Heavens to let Sun Wu Kung into his realm, he talks to the Lord like he worships him. He sounds like someone praying to their god; and that was exactly what he was doing. The Evening Star begs the Lord to forgive the King for his sins and for him to be accepted into the Heavens. The Monkey King is then deemed knowledgeable and worthy of entering the Heavens.
When the author is describing floating on a cloud from the Heavens to the mountains, the story again has that familiar fairytale feel to it. I want to include the Monkey King floating on a colored cloud from the mountains to the entrance to the Heavens in my story. I like the idea of writing a story about someone going to heaven to "'look around there a little!'" Heaven is an ominous topic that not many people write about because there is no way to know what it is like in real life. There is also the controversy of if heaven even is real. Writing a story about a man going to visit heaven for a day could be very interesting and unique. It is important to write a story about something that not everyone else in the class is going to write about as well. The author of the original story introduces other characters in this story as well, such as the gate-keeper, stable-master and the Lord of the Heavens himself. I plan to make my own versions of these characters in my storytelling assignment for this week.


Painting on silk of the Jade Emperor, or the Lord of the Heavens; anonymous.

"The Monkey King" by Richard Wilhelm; link to reading online.