The tale is well known, appearing in Hindu religious texts like the Mahabharata (4th-c. 5) who becomes pregnant from drinking ritual water. This episode shares similarities with a story about the ancient Indian King Yuvanasva (a.k.a. Bribes of silk, livestock, and alcohol can be seen at the immortal’s feet. The weapon is here depicted as a hooked sword. 4 – A drawing of the True Immortal Compliant holding his golden hook as he sits next to a well marked “Abortion Spring” ( larger version). In the end, the immortal is defeated but shown mercy, and the unwanted pregnancies are aborted, being dissolved and passed as fleshy lumps in bowel movements (Wu & Yu, 2012, pp. Wukong ultimately resorts to trickery by luring his foe into battle while Wujing obtains the water. Though weaker than Monkey, the immortal’s weapon, an “ As-you-wish” golden hook ( Ruyi jin gouzi, 如意金鉤子), proves hard to ward off while trying to retrieve the needed water. Wukong travels to the mountain but is forced to fight when the immortal, the Bull Demon King’s brother, attacks him to avenge Red Boy’s subjugation by Guanyin. 4), who lords over the Abortion Spring ( Luo tai quan, 落胎泉) in the Abbey of Immortal Assembly ( Ju xian an, 聚仙庵), formerly known as the Child Destruction Cave ( Po er dong, 破兒洞), on the Male-Undoing Mountain ( Jie yang shan, 解陽山). When asked for a cure, the old woman reveals that the only way to end the pregnancy is to bribe the True Immortal Compliant ( Ruyi zhen xian, 如意真仙) (fig. Monkey and Sha Wujing take the opportunity to tease Bajie, frightening him with the possibility of a painful, unnatural birth or some natal sickness that would threaten the baby. After hearing the news, both Tripitaka and Bajie panic. But she explains it won’t help, for they have drunk from the “Child-and-Mother River” ( Zimu he,子母河) in the Woman Kingdom of Western Liang ( Xiliang nuguo, 西梁女國), where the sole female inhabitants, according to custom, drink the water to become pregnant upon reaching their 20th year. Her jovial attitude changes, however, once an enraged Wukong grabs hold and offers to spare her life in exchange for some hot water to calm their stomachs. They seek help from an old woman at a nearby inn, but she simply laughs and calls her friends to come see the spectacle. Both drink from the river, but a short time later they experience horrible abdominal pain and their stomachs swell as if something was growing inside. Upon reaching the other side, Tripitaka takes note of the clear water and asks Zhu Bajie to fetch him a bowl full. Episode from the novelĪfter the defeat of the Rhinoceros demon, the pilgrims continue their journey to the west by taking a river ferry. 3 – The (beardless) Sha Wujing variant ( larger version). 2 – The Zhu Bajie variant ( larger version). 1 – The Monkey King 3 movie poster showing a pregnant Tripitaka and the Woman Kingdom queen ( larger version). I will also show that an early Gupta period list of Mahabharata parvas (books) discovered in Xinjiang, China names the parva containing the king’s story, suggesting the tale may have been present in the Middle Kingdom centuries prior to Journey to the West.įig. CE) likely influenced Journey to the West as other events from the Hindu epic appear in the Chinese novel. In this article, I describe the chapter and suggest that it is based on a story from Hindu religious literature in which an ancient king becomes pregnant from drinking ritual water. I will show that the version appearing in the Mahabharata (4th-c. This event from the movie is a very loose adaptation of chapter 53 of Journey to the West (1592). Despite this, he uses fixing magic to freeze them in place and gives them the water so that nothing will keep the pilgrims from their quest. However, upon his return, Monkey learns that they have decided to keep their babies. The queen of the Woman Kingdom sends Sun Wukong to retrieve magic water to abort the births from a cross-dressing immortal. Sometime later, all three pilgrims discover that they are pregnant due to drinking from the river (fig. The resulting splashes enter the mouth of Zhu Bajie sleeping nearby. At one point, Tripitaka jumps into a river to retrieve the scattered words of a sentient piece of paper with information revealing how they can escape this female land and in Sha Wujing’s attempt to save him, both inadvertently swallow water. 女兒國 lit: “Journey to the West: Woman Kingdom”) sees the pilgrims enter a magic portal to discover a hidden land peopled entirely by women.The 2018 film Monkey King 3 ( Xiyouji: Nu er guo, 西遊記
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