Chapter 6

Guanyin Arrives at the Banquet and Asks What Happened; the Young Sage Displays His Power and Subdues the Great Sage

While the heavenly gods surrounded Mount Flower-Fruit and the Great Sage rested, the compassionate Bodhisattva Guanyin of Mount Potala in the Southern Sea, savior from suffering, arrived with her eldest disciple, Pilgrim Huian, at the Queen Mother's invitation. At the Jade Pool they found the tables in disarray and the place nearly empty. A few immortals stood talking instead of taking their seats. They told Guanyin what had happened. “There is no feast and no wine to share. Come with me to see the Jade Emperor.” They followed her to the Hall of Pervading Light. Four Celestial Masters and the Barefoot Immortal greeted her and explained that the Emperor was troubled and his army had not returned from its expedition against the monkey. “Please announce my visit,” Guanyin said. Master Qiu Hongji brought her before the Jade Emperor, who sat with the Supreme Lord Lao and the Queen Mother.

Guanyin and her companions bowed to the Emperor and greeted the Supreme Lord and Queen Mother. “What happened to the Peach Banquet?” she asked. “In other years our guests rejoiced. This year a demon monkey ruined it,” said the Emperor. “Where did he come from?” “A stone egg on Mount Flower-Fruit in Aolai, Eastern Superior Divine Continent. At birth his eyes shot golden beams to the Dipper. We paid no attention. He later acquired powers, overcame dragons and tigers, and erased his name from the register of the dead. The Dragon King and King Yama complained. I meant to arrest him, but the Gold Star of Venus said anyone with nine openings can become immortal. I summoned him to heaven, gave him the office of Bimawen, Keeper of the Heavenly Horses, and tried to nurture his talent. He disdained the post and rebelled. Heavenly King Li and Nezha fought him; afterward I called him back and made him Great Sage Equal to Heaven, a title without salary. Having no duties he wandered about, so I gave him the Peach Garden. He ate its ripe fruit and, finding himself uninvited to the banquet, deceived the Barefoot Immortal and went in his guise to steal the dishes and wine. He stole Lao's elixir as well and carried more imperial wine down to his monkeys. I sent a hundred thousand soldiers with nets to seize him, but no news has come.” Guanyin told Huian: “Go to Mount Flower-Fruit and learn what happened. Help in battle if you can and report accurately.”

Huian took an iron staff and flew down to the mountain. Heavenly nets surrounded it thickly, with guards calling the watches at every gate. “Please report that I am Muzha, second son of Heavenly King Li, Guanyin's eldest disciple Huian, here for news of the campaign.” The mountain gods relayed the message through the mansions of Void-Rat, Hairy-Head Rooster, Star-Horse, and Chamber-Rabbit. Li ordered an opening made in the nets. At dawn Huian entered, bowed to his father and the Four Heavenly Kings, and explained: “The Bodhisattva found the banquet ruined and asked the Jade Emperor what had happened. He told her you had gone to capture the monkey but had sent no report. She sent me to investigate.” Li said: “Yesterday the Nine Luminaries challenged him but lost. Then our army fought his troops until evening; his doubles drove us back. We captured beasts, not one monkey. We haven't fought today.”

A messenger appeared: “The Great Sage and his monkeys challenge us!” Li, Nezha, and the Four Heavenly Kings discussed an attack. Huian said: “My master sent me to investigate and help if battle arose. Let me see what this Great Sage can do.” Li warned his son to be careful.

Staff in both hands, Huian stepped from the camp. “Which of you is Great Sage Equal to Heaven?” “I am. Who are you?” “Muzha, Heavenly King Li's second son, Guanyin's disciple and guardian of her teaching, named Huian.” “Why leave your practice in the Southern Sea to come here?” “My master sent me for news. Seeing your rebellion, I've come to seize you.” “Then take this blow!” The Great Sage swung his staff, and Huian met it with his own. Their battle outside the camp on the mountain slope was fierce:

Staff met staff, but the irons differed; warrior met warrior, but they were not alike. One was a Supreme Unity immortal called Great Sage, the other Guanyin's disciple, a true dragon of the primal source. Huian's solid iron staff had been forged by a thousand blows and empowered by the Six Ding and Six Jia; Wukong's As-You-Will Staff once anchored the Milky Way and held the sea in place. Matched in battle, their strokes seemed endless. Huian's sweeping blows whistled around his waist like wind; Wukong's thrusts met each one, defending right and left. Banners flashed above one army; crocodile-hide drums boomed in the other. Ten thousand celestial soldiers encircled the battlefield; monkeys thronged around their cave. Dark mist and clouds covered the underworld; smoke and violence rose toward heaven. Yesterday's battle was fierce, but today's was fiercer still. What skill the Monkey King displayed! Huian lost and fled alive.

After fifty or sixty exchanges, Huian's arms ached too badly to continue. He feinted and retreated. Wukong withdrew his monkeys to the cave. Heavenly soldiers ushered Huian back to the Four Heavenly Kings, Li, and Nezha. Still panting, he said: “That Great Sage has immense power! I could not defeat him.” Alarmed, Li wrote a petition for aid and sent Huian and the Mighty Ghost King to heaven.

They flew through the nets to the Hall of Pervading Light. The Celestial Masters brought them before the Emperor with their petition. Huian greeted Guanyin. “What did you learn?” “My father told me yesterday they fought the Monkey King and captured tigers, leopards, lions, and elephants, but no monkeys. Then Wukong challenged them again. I fought him fifty or sixty rounds with my iron staff but was defeated. My father sent us to ask for aid.” Guanyin considered.

The Jade Emperor read the request. “How can one monkey withstand a hundred thousand soldiers? What reinforcements can I send?” Guanyin joined her palms. “Do not worry. I know one god who can capture him: your nephew, the Illustrious Sage True Lord Erlang, who lives at the mouth of the Guan River and receives offerings from the world below. He once subdued six monsters and commands his sworn brothers of Mount Mei and 1,200 divine troops. He answers a call to arms, though not an ordinary summons. Send him an order to assist.” The Emperor gave the order to the Mighty Ghost King.

Within half an hour the messenger reached Erlang's shrine at the Guan River's mouth. Gatekeepers announced the edict. Erlang and his brothers welcomed the envoy, lit incense, and read it:

“The demon monkey Great Sage Equal to Heaven has rebelled on Mount Flower-Fruit. He stole peaches, wine, and elixir and disrupted the Peach Banquet. A hundred thousand soldiers and eighteen heavenly nets have surrounded his mountain without success. We command our worthy nephew and his sworn brothers to aid in his defeat. Success will bring promotion and generous rewards.”

“Tell the Emperor we leave at once to help,” Erlang said. The messenger returned to report.

Erlang summoned his six brothers of Mount Mei—Officers Kang, Zhang, Yao, and Li, and Generals Guo Shen and Zhi Jian. They willingly mustered their divine troops, readied hawks, dogs, bows, and crossbows, and crossed the Eastern Sea on a fierce wind. At Mount Flower-Fruit Erlang called through the nets: “I am the Illustrious Sage True Lord Erlang, ordered here by the Emperor. Let me in.” Heavenly King Li and the Four Heavenly Kings welcomed him and described their defeats. “I will contest his transformations. Keep the nets tightly around the sides but open above for our fight. My brothers will help me if I lose and secure him if I win. Heavenly King Li, hold your demon-revealing mirror overhead. If he flees, track him so he cannot escape.” The army took positions on all sides.

Erlang and his six brothers marched to Water Curtain Cave, leaving troops, hawks, and hounds at the camp. The monkeys stood in a coiled-dragon formation beneath a banner reading “Great Sage Equal to Heaven.” “What right has that wretch to call himself heaven's equal?” Erlang asked. “Challenge him and see,” his brothers replied. A monkey ran inside. The Monkey King came out wearing his golden armor, cloud shoes, and purple-gold crown, staff in hand. Erlang looked handsome and dignified:

A fine, stately face and shining eyes; long ears reached his shoulders.A three-peaked phoenix cap on his head, a pale yellow robe upon his body.Gold-embroidered boots above dragon-patterned socks; a jade belt set with eight treasures.A new-moon slingshot at his waist, a three-pointed double-edged spear in his hand.He split Peach Mountain with an ax to rescue his mother and shot two phoenixes with his pellets.Famed for overcoming eight monsters, he joined the seven sages of Mount Mei in brotherhood.Too proud to claim kinship with heaven, he returned to his shrine at the Guan River.Brilliant in sacred grace, limitless in manifestations: Erlang.

“What young general dares challenge me?” asked the Great Sage. “Blind fool! I am Erlang, the Jade Emperor's nephew, whom he titled the Brilliant and Gracious Sacred King. I have come to arrest the rebellious Bimawen.” “Ah, you're the boy born when the Emperor's sister descended to wed a mortal named Yang—the one who split Peach Mountain to save his mother. I might curse you, but we've no quarrel; or strike you, but your death would be a pity. Run along and send me the Four Heavenly Kings.” Furious, Erlang swung his spear. Wukong dodged and struck back. They fought:

Erlang of Brilliant Grace and Sun Wukong, Great Sage Equal to Heaven: the Monkey King stood proud, the handsome True Lord determined to subdue him. Meeting for the first time, each tested the other's strength. The iron staff flew like a dragon, the divine blade like a phoenix. They struck and blocked, advanced and withdrew. Erlang's six brothers cheered him on; Wukong's four commanders called their orders. Banners waved, drums beat, voices shouted, and gongs rang. Spear and staff met without a gap. The gold-banded staff was a treasure of the sea, potent in flight and transformation. A moment's delay meant death; a single misstep, defeat.

They fought more than three hundred rounds without a victor. Erlang invoked his power, grew ten thousand zhang tall, blue-faced, red-haired, and fanged, and swung his towering spear like a peak of Mount Hua. Wukong grew just as tall and faced him with the gold-banded staff, like a sky-propping pillar atop Kunlun. Marshals Ma and Liu trembled too much to wave their banners; Generals Beng and Ba could not raise their swords. Erlang's brothers sent their 1,200 troops with hawks, dogs, bows, and crossbows against Water Curtain Cave. They scattered the four commanders and captured two or three thousand creatures. Monkeys dropped their armor and weapons, some fleeing up the mountain, some into the cave, like roosting birds startled at night and stars scattering across the sky.

Seeing his monkeys scatter, the Great Sage lost heart, shrank back to his usual form, and fled. Erlang pursued. “Surrender and I'll spare you!” Near the cave Erlang's six brothers blocked his path. Wukong made his staff into a needle, tucked it in his ear, and changed into a sparrow perched on a treetop. The six searched in vain. “The monkey's escaped!”

Erlang arrived. His keen eyes spotted the sparrow. He changed into a sparrowhawk and swooped. Wukong became a great cormorant and soared upward. Erlang became a great sea crane and pursued into the clouds. Wukong plunged into a stream as a fish. Erlang reasoned that he had become an aquatic creature, and changed into a fish hawk hovering above the current. The fish saw a bird that resembled a harrier but lacked blue feathers, an egret without a crest, or a stork without red legs. “That must be Erlang!” It turned and swam away. Erlang saw a fish that resembled a carp without its red tail, a mandarin fish without spotted scales, a snakehead without a mark on its head, or a bream without spikes beside its gills. “Why turn away at sight of me? It must be the monkey!” He swooped, but Wukong sprang from the water as a water snake and slipped into the grass. Erlang became a gray crane with a crimson crest, thrusting its beak like iron tongs. Wukong changed into a clumsy florican standing in the reeds. Erlang would not touch so disreputable a bird; he resumed his shape and knocked it staggering with a pellet from his slingshot.

The Great Sage rolled down a cliff and changed into a little earth-god shrine. His open mouth became the doorway, teeth the doors, tongue an idol, eyes the windows; unable to hide his tail, he made it a flagpole behind the building. Erlang found no florican, only a little shrine, and noticed the flagpole. “No shrine has a flagpole in back! He means to swallow me if I enter. I'll smash the windows and kick down the doors.” “My eyes and teeth!” Wukong thought, and leaped away in alarm.

Erlang's brothers arrived. “Have you caught him?” “He changed into a shrine. I was about to break its windows when he vanished.” Erlang told them to search while he rose on a cloud to Li and Nezha, who held the demon-revealing mirror above. “Have you seen the monkey?” “He hasn't come up. The mirror still tracks him.” Erlang explained the transformations. Li swept the mirror across the horizons and laughed: “He has slipped invisibly past our lines and is heading to your shrine at the Guan River!” Erlang hurried home.

Wukong had reached the shrine first, disguised as Erlang. The ghost judges bowed and showed him the offerings and petitions: Li Hu's sacrifice of three animals, Zhang Long's vow for safety, Zhao Jia's prayer for a son, Qian Bing's wish for recovery from illness. Then a servant cried: “Our lord has come again!” The judges were startled. Erlang asked: “Has the Great Sage Equal to Heaven come here?” “No, but our lord is inside examining the offerings.” Erlang burst in. Wukong assumed his own form. “No need to shout, young man. The shrine belongs to Sun now!” Erlang struck with his spear. Wukong dodged and drew and enlarged his staff. Fighting out of the shrine, they traveled through cloud and mist back to Mount Flower-Fruit. The Four Heavenly Kings tightened their guard, and the six brothers joined Erlang to encircle the Monkey King.

Meanwhile the Mighty Ghost King had reported Erlang's departure to heaven. As the Jade Emperor spoke with Guanyin, the Queen Mother, and his ministers, Guanyin suggested: “Let us go to the Southern Gate and see how he fares.” They went with the Supreme Lord Lao. Through the opened gate they saw heavenly nets around the mountain, Li and Nezha holding the mirror in the sky, and Erlang's men surrounding the Great Sage in combat.

“Erlang has trapped him, though not yet caught him,” Guanyin told the Supreme Lord Lao. “I'll throw my willow vase and strike the monkey's head, or at least knock him down for Erlang.” “Your vase is porcelain. If it strikes his iron staff, it may break. Let me help instead.” Lao removed a ring from his left arm. “This diamond snare is forged of fine steel and perfected with the elixir. Filled with vital spirit, it changes form, resists water and fire, and can capture anything. I relied on it when passing through Hangu Pass and converting the people of Hu into Buddhists. It guards me day and night. I'll strike him with it.”

From heaven's gate Lao hurled the ring. It spun down to the mountain and struck the Monkey King's crown as he fought the seven brothers. Staggering, Wukong fell and tried to flee, but Erlang's hound bit his calf and pulled him down again. “Wretched dog! Why bite me instead of your master?” he cursed. Before he could rise the seven brothers pinned him, tied him with ropes, and pierced his shoulder blades with hooked blades, preventing his transformations.

Lao reclaimed his ring and returned to the Hall of Divine Mists with the Jade Emperor, Guanyin, Queen Mother, and immortals. The heavenly commanders struck camp and congratulated Erlang. “The victory belongs to the Emperor's fortune and the gods' strength, not mine,” he said. His brothers urged him to take the prisoner to heaven. “You are not enrolled there and may not appear before the Emperor. Let the armored gods escort him while I report with the heavenly kings. Search the mountain, then return to the Guan River; I'll bring our rewards home.” They agreed. The victorious gods flew singing to the Hall of Pervading Light. The Celestial Master announced: “The Four Heavenly Kings and their companions have captured the demon monkey Great Sage Equal to Heaven.” The Jade Emperor ordered the Mighty Ghost King and heavenly guards to take him to the Demon-Execution Terrace and cut his body to pieces. Ah:

His deceit now meets the bitter law; his heroic spirit faces its end.

What became of the Monkey King? Listen to the next chapter to find out.

Guanyin Goes to the Feast and Asks the Cause; the Young Sage Shows His Power and Subdues the Great Sage

Let us leave the gods encircling the mountain and the Great Sage resting. The story turns now to the Bodhisattva Guanyin of Mount Potalaka in the Southern Sea, the merciful one, the rescuer from suffering, the numinous responder, who had been invited by the Queen Mother to the grand Peach Banquet. With her eldest disciple, Huian the Pilgrim, she came up to the precious pavilion by the Jade Pool and found it bare and desolate, the feast tables strewn and spoiled. A few heavenly immortals were there, but none would sit; they all stood about in a huddle, talking over what had happened. When the Bodhisattva had greeted the immortals, they told her the whole story. She said: "If there is to be no feast and no cups going round, come with me, your poor monk, to see the Jade Emperor." The immortals went with her gladly. Before the Hall of Bright Passing they were met by the four great celestial masters, the Barefoot Immortal, and the rest, who told her at once of the Jade Emperor's trouble: he had sent out the heavenly troops to seize the monster and had no word back. The Bodhisattva said: "I must see the Jade Emperor. Please carry my request in." The Celestial Master Qiu Hongji went into the Hall of Divine Mist, told him, and brought her in. The Supreme Lord Lao was there above, and the Queen Mother behind.

The Bodhisattva led them all inside, paid her respects to the Jade Emperor, greeted the old lord and the Queen Mother, and everyone sat down. She asked: "How comes it that the grand Peach Banquet is spoiled?" The Jade Emperor said: "Every year the invitations go out and all is joy. This year the demon monkey raised havoc, and the feast has come to nothing." The Bodhisattva asked: "Where does this demon monkey come from?" The Jade Emperor said: "The demon monkey was hatched from a stone egg on Mount Flower-Fruit, in the country of Aolai, in the East Victory Divine Continent. The moment he was born, golden light shot from his eyes up at the palace of the Dipper. At first we thought nothing of it; then he became a spirit who tames dragons and treads down tigers, and struck his own name from the death rolls. The Dragon King and King Yama reported it. I wanted to seize him, but the Gold Star of Venus said: 'In the three realms, any creature with nine openings can become an immortal.' So I took pity and educated him, summoned him up to heaven, and made him Bimawen, Keeper of the Heavenly Horses in the Imperial Stable. The fellow scorned the office as too small and turned against the Heavenly Palace. I sent Heavenly King Li and prince Nezha to subdue him; then I issued an edict of peace instead, called him up, and gave him the title Great Sage Equal to Heaven — an office with no pay. With nothing to manage he roamed east and west, and I feared fresh mischief, so I put him in charge of the Peach Garden. He would not keep the law even then: he stole and ate the big peaches from the old trees. When the feast was set, he was a man without pay and was not invited, so he schemed to fool the Barefoot Immortal, took the immortal's own shape, and went into the feast himself. He stole and ate all the immortal dishes and immortal wine; he stole the old lord's elixir; he stole quantities of the imperial wine and carried it off to feast the monkeys of his mountain. That is the trouble that weighs on me. I have sent 100,000 heavenly soldiers and the net of heaven and earth to take him, and this whole day there has been no word back. I do not know how it stands." The Bodhisattva heard and ordered Huian the Pilgrim: "Go down from the Heavenly Palace quickly to Mount Flower-Fruit and find how the campaign goes. If you come on a fight, lend a hand and win some merit. Be sure to come back and tell me the truth."

Huian the Pilgrim straightened his robes, took up an iron rod, and rode the clouds away from the palace gates, straight to the mountain. He saw the net of heaven and earth drawn thick, layer on layer; every camp gate rang its bell and cried its watch-word, and the mountain was fenced so tight that water could not leak through. Huian stopped and called: "Heavenly soldiers at the camp gate, I beg you to carry in a report: I am Huian, the second son of Heavenly King Li — Muzha, eldest disciple of Guanyin of the Southern Sea — come to find how the campaign stands." The god soldiers of the five peaks passed the word in through the central gate, and soon Xu the Sun Rat, Mao the Sun Rooster, Xing the Sun Horse, and Fang the Sun Hare carried the message to the tent of the central army. Heavenly King Li sent out his order flag, had the net of heaven and earth opened, and let him in. It was just daybreak in the east. Huian came in behind the flag, bowed to the Four Great Heavenly Kings and to Heavenly King Li, and when the bows were done the Heavenly King said: "My child, from over there you come?" Huian said: "Your son went with the Bodhisattva to the Peach Banquet. Seeing the great feast laid waste and the Jade Pool empty, she led the immortals and your son to see the Jade Emperor. He told her all about you, Father King, coming down to subdue the demon monkey, with no word back for a day, and no one knowing how the fight had gone. So the Bodhisattva sent your son here to learn the truth." Heavenly King Li said: "We pitched camp here yesterday and sent the nine Luminaries to offer battle. That fellow showed such power that all nine fled back beaten. Then we led the troops out in person, and he drew up his lines too. Our 100,000 heavenly soldiers fought him in a wild melee till dark, and he drove us off with his art of the divided body. When we mustered and counted, we had taken nothing but wolves, serpents, tigers, and leopards — not half a demon monkey. Today the fight has not yet opened."

Before he finished, someone came running to the central gate with a report: "That Great Sage has brought a troop of monkey spirits out and is calling for battle." While the Four Great Heavenly Kings, Heavenly King Li, and the prince were still deciding whether to march out, Muzha said: "Father King, the Bodhisattva sent your son down to find out the news, and told me that if I met a battle I should help win some merit. Unworthy as I am, I ask to go, and see what sort of Great Sage this is." The Heavenly King said: "My child, you have trained under the Bodhisattva all these years, so you must have some power of your own. Only be careful."

Brave prince: iron rod swung in both hands, his embroidered gown gathered and tied, he leaped out the central gate and called: "Which of you is the Great Sage Equal to Heaven?" The Great Sage straightened his As-You-Will staff and answered: "Old Sun is he. Who are you, that you dare question me?" Muzha said: "I am Muzha, second son of Heavenly King Li, now a disciple before the throne of the Bodhisattva Guanyin, guarding her teaching; my religious name is Huian." The Great Sage said: "If you are not cultivating in the Southern Sea, what do you want with me here?" Muzha said: "My master sent me to find how the war stands. Seeing how wildly you carry on, I have come to take you." The Great Sage said: "You dare talk so big! Do not run — take Old Sun's staff." Muzha was not afraid at all; he met the blow with his iron rod. The two of them stood there on the mountainside, outside the central gate, and what a fight it was:

Rod against rod, but the iron in each is not the same; weapon crossed with weapon, but the men are not the same kind. One is a scattered immortal of the Great One, called the Great Sage; one is Guanyin's disciple, the true primal dragon. The plain iron rod was forged under a thousand hammers, its spirit-work driven by the six Dings and six Jias; the As-You-Will staff was the pin of the River of Heaven, the treasure that anchors the sea, huge in its power. The two meeting are true opponents; their strokes come and go without end. This one's low-hold rod is a thousand dangers, whipping round the waist like a binding rope, swift as wind; that one's spear-trapping staff never strikes air, blocking left and warding right, leaving no room at all. On this side the banners flash; on that side the alligator drums roll and roll. Ten thousand heavenly generals wheel in a ring; a caveful of demon monkeys crowd in a knot. Strange fog and grieving cloud spread over the courts of the dead; wolf-smoke and killing breath shoot at the Heavenly Palace. Yesterday's melee was bad enough; today's struggle is fiercer yet. Praise the Monkey King and his real skill: Muzha is beaten again and runs for his life.

The Great Sage and Huian fought fifty or sixty rounds, until Huian's arms ached and burned and he could fight no more. He made a feint and fled the field. The Great Sage also called in his monkey troops and camped them outside the cave gate. At the heavenly king's camp gate the soldiers big and little met the prince, cleared the road, and let him straight into the central gate, where, gasping for breath before the four heavenly kings, Li the Pagoda Bearer, and Nezha, he cried: "What a Great Sage, what a Great Sage! His power is vast past telling. Your child could not stand against him, and has lost the field again!" Heavenly King Li's heart lurched. He ordered a memorial drawn asking for help, and sent the Mighty Ghost King and prince Muzha up to heaven with it.

The two of them did not linger. They burst out of the net of heaven and earth and rode up on clouds of lucky vapor, and in a moment stood below the Hall of Bright Passing. They saw the four great celestial masters, who led them into the Hall of Divine Mist and presented the memorial. Huian bowed to the Bodhisattva. She asked: "What did you find?" Huian said: "When I first reached Mount Flower-Fruit and had the gate of the net opened, I saw my father and told him my master's errand. Father King said: 'We fought that Monkey King yesterday and took nothing but his tigers, leopards, lions, and elephants — not one monkey spirit.' While we spoke, he came out demanding battle again. Your disciple fought him fifty or sixty rounds with the iron rod, could not win, and fled back to camp. So Father King sent the Mighty Ghost King and me up to ask for help." The Bodhisattva bent her head and thought.

Now the Jade Emperor opened the memorial, read the plea for help, and laughed: "Confound this monkey spirit — how much skill can he have, that he dares stand up to 100,000 heavenly soldiers? And now Heavenly King Li comes asking for help. Which troops of ours shall we send him?" Before the words were done, Guanyin put her palms together and said: "Set your mind at rest, your Majesty. Your poor monk can name a god who can take this monkey." The Jade Emperor asked: "Which god?" The Bodhisattva said: "Your Majesty's own nephew, the Illustrious Sage True Lord Erlang. He lives at the mouth of the Guan River in Guanzhou, receiving the incense of the world below. He once killed six monsters by his own strength, and he has the Meishan brothers and twelve hundred grass-cap gods before his tent, and his power is vast. Only he will take an order to march, but not a summons to appear. Let your Majesty send down an edict ordering him to move with his troops, and he will help — and the monkey can be taken." The Jade Emperor heard and passed the order at once, and sent the Mighty Ghost King off with it.

The Ghost King took the edict, rode his cloud, and went straight to the mouth of the Guan River. In less than half a watch he stood before the True Lord's temple. The demon clerks at the door ran the word inside: "An envoy of heaven is here with an edict in his hands." Erlang came out at once with his brothers to receive the edict, burned incense, and read it open. It said:

The demon monkey of Mount Flower-Fruit, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, has raised rebellion: he stole peaches, stole wine, and stole elixir in the palace, and wrecked the grand Peach Banquet. With 100,000 heavenly soldiers and eighteen layers of the net of heaven and earth laid around his mountain to subdue him, we have not won. Now we call on our worthy nephew and his sworn brothers to go to Mount Flower-Fruit at once and help destroy him. When the work is done, promotion and rich reward await.

The True Lord was delighted: "Envoy, go back. I will pull my blade out at once and help." The Ghost King went back to report — but no more of that.

The True Lord called his six brothers of Meishan — the four commanders Kang, Zhang, Yao, and Li, and the two generals Guo Shen and Zhi Jian — and gathered them before the hall: "The Jade Emperor has just ordered us to Mount Flower-Fruit to take the surrender of the demon monkey. Come along, all of you." The brothers were all glad to go. He mustered his own divine troops, took his hawk and his hound, strung crossbows and bent bows, rode a roaring gale, and in a flash crossed the great Eastern Ocean, straight to Mount Flower-Fruit. There the net of heaven and earth lay thick, layer on layer, and they could not get through, so he called: "Divine generals of the net of heaven and earth, hear me: I am the Illustrious Sage True Lord Erlang, sent by the Jade Emperor to take the demon monkey. Open the camp gates and let me pass." From rank to rank the word passed in, and the Four Great Heavenly Kings and Heavenly King Li came out the central gate to meet him. Greetings done, they asked how the fighting stood, and the Heavenly King told the whole story. The True Lord laughed: "Since this young saint has come, I must fight him a bout of changes. My lords, do not close the net overhead; only keep the four sides tight, and leave the contest to me. If I lose to him, you need not help: I have my brothers to hold me up. If I beat him, you need not bind him: my brothers will do the work. I ask only that the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King hold up the demon-revealing mirror with me, standing in the air. If in a moment he loses the field and bolts for some other quarter, keep the light on him clearly, and let him not get away." The heavenly kings took their four corners, and the soldiers drew up rank by rank.

The True Lord led the four commanders and two generals — himself the seventh of the brothers — out of camp to offer battle. He told the rest of the officers to hold the camp tight and brought the hawk and hound to heel. The grass-cap gods took their orders. The True Lord came to outside Water Curtain Cave and saw the troop of monkeys drawn up neat and trim in the coiled-dragon formation. In the center stood a pole with the four characters "Great Sage Equal to Heaven" written on a flag. The True Lord said: "How can that brazen demon claim an office that equals heaven?" The six Meishan brothers said: "Save your admiration. Go and call him out." The little monkeys at the camp mouth saw the True Lord and ran to report. The Monkey King whipped out the gold-banded staff, buckled the golden mail, stepped into the cloud boots, pressed down the purple-gold cap, leaped out the camp gate, opened his eyes wide and looked: the True Lord's face was indeed striking, and his dress was fine and trim. Truly:

A clear, handsome face and a noble frame; two ears down to his shoulders, eyes full of light.On his head the three-mountain cap with flying phoenix; on his body a gown of pale gosling yellow.Gold-stitched boots over dragon-coiled stockings; jade belt wound with flowers, dressed in eight treasures.At his waist hangs a pellet bow shaped like the new moon; in his hand the three-pointed, double-edged lance.With an axe he split Peach Mountain to save his mother; with a pellet he brought down the twin phoenixes of Shanluo.By his strength he killed eight monsters, and his name rang far; by right he swore brotherhood with the seven saints of Meishan.His heart too high to own the kin of heaven; his temper too proud — a god returned to live on the Guan River.A holy spirit of Zhaohui, shining past Red Wall; boundless in his changes, he is called Erlang.

The Great Sage saw him and grinned, swept up the gold-banded staff, and called: "What little general are you, and from where, that you dare come here so boldly and offer battle?" The True Lord shouted: "You there, with eyes and no pupils in them — do you not know me? I am Erlang, the Jade Emperor's own nephew, sealed by edict the Numinous Illustrious King Zhaohui. Today I bear the command from above, come to take you, you Keeper of Horses, you monkey who turned against the Heavenly Palace — and still you do not know death when it stares at you." The Great Sage said: "I remember that the Jade Emperor's sister once longed for the world below, came down, took a Mr. Yang for her mate, and bore a son — the one who split Peach Mountain with an axe. Are you he? I could curse you a few times, but we have no real quarrel; I could give you a blow of my staff, but it would be a pity of your life. Go back quickly, young sir, and fetch the Four Great Heavenly Kings out." The True Lord heard and burned with rage: "Brazen monkey! None of your rudeness — take my blade." The Great Sage twisted aside and dodged it, then swung up the gold-banded staff in haste and answered blow for blow. What a fight the two of them made:

The True Lord Erlang of Zhaohui; the Great Sage Sun, equal to heaven. This one's heart is high enough to scorn his foe, the beautiful Monkey King; that one's face is unknown, yet he subdues the true mainstay. The two have just met, and each stakes his pride on the bout. Neither knew the other's depth or shallows before; only today do they learn each light blow from heavy. The iron staff vies with a flying dragon; the divine blade dances like a phoenix. Warding left, striking right; meeting in front, answering behind. On this side the six brothers of Meishan cheer him on; on that side the marshals Ma and Liu pass the orders. Banners shake and drums beat, every heart the same; shouts and gongs ring out to liven the fight. The two steel blades watch for an opening; coming and going, not a seam between. The gold-banded staff is the treasure of the sea; in flight and change it carries the day. If the body is slow, the doom is fixed; one slip of the foot and down he goes.

The True Lord and the Great Sage fought more than three hundred rounds, and neither had the better of it. Then the True Lord braced all his divine power, shook himself, and changed: he grew ten thousand zhang tall, both hands raising the three-pointed, double-edged divine blade like a peak on top of Mount Hua, blue-faced, with tusked jaws and vermillion hair, and hacked down at the Great Sage's head in fury. The Great Sage answered with his own power, changing to a body the very size of Erlang's, the very same face, lifting the As-You-Will Gold-Banded Staff like the pillar that holds up the sky on top of Mount Kunlun, and blocking the god. The marshals Ma and Liu shook with fear and could not wave their banners; the two generals Beng and Ba went weak and could not wield their swords. On that side Kang, Zhang, Yao, Li, Guo Shen, and Zhi Jian passed the word, turned loose the grass-cap gods, and swept down together on the monkeys outside Water Curtain Cave with hawk and hound loosed, crossbows strung and bows bent. Pitiful: the demon monkeys' four valiant captains were scattered, and two or three thousand numinous creatures taken. The monkeys threw away arms and armor, dropped sword and spear; some ran, some screamed, some up the mountain, some back to the cave. They were like owls flushing roosting birds — a skyful of stars flung wide. The brothers had their victory — but no more of that.

Now, while the True Lord and the Great Sage fought on in their shapes like heaven and earth, the Great Sage suddenly saw his monkey troops scattered in panic at the camp, and his own heart wavered. He folded away the giant shape, whipped out his staff, and bolted. The True Lord saw him break and strode after him, calling: "Where will you run? Surrender now, and I will spare your life." The Great Sage did not care to fight on and simply ran for it. Near the cave mouth he ran straight into the four commanders Kang, Zhang, Yao, and Li, and the two generals Guo Shen and Zhi Jian, who barred the way with all their men, crying: "Brazen monkey! Where will you run?" The Great Sage's hands went to fluster: he squeezed the gold-banded staff into an embroidery needle and hid it in his ear, shook himself, and changed into a sparrow, flying up to pin himself on a treetop. The six brothers ran to and fro in a fluster, searching and finding nothing, and all shouted together: "The monkey spirit has escaped! The monkey spirit has escaped!"

In the middle of the shouting the True Lord came up and asked: "Brothers, where did you lose him?" The gods said: "We had him surrounded just here, and then he was gone." Erlang's phoenix eyes opened round and wide and looked, and he saw the Great Sage changed into a sparrow, pinned on the tree. He folded away his own giant shape, dropped the divine blade, unslung the pellet bow, shook himself, and changed into a sparrowhawk, flaring his wings and flying in to strike. The Great Sage saw him come and whoosh — one wingbeat and he was away, changed into a big cormorant, shooting up into the sky. Erlang saw it, shook his feathers in haste, changed into a great sea crane, and knifed up into the clouds to snap at him. The Great Sage folded his body down into the ravine, changed into a fish, and dived into the water. Erlang chased to the ravine's edge and saw no trace. He thought to himself: "That monkey must have gone into the water. He is sure to have changed into a fish or a shrimp. Let me change once more and take him." So he changed, and became a fish-hawk, drifting on the downstream water, waiting a while. The Great Sage, swimming down with the current as a fish, suddenly saw a bird overhead: like a kestrel, but its feathers not blue; like an egret, but with no crest on its head; like an old stork, but its legs not red. "Erlang must have changed and be waiting for me!" He whipped his head around, splashed a somersault of spray, and darted off. Erlang saw and said: "A fish that splashes and turns: like a carp, but its tail is not red; like a mandarin fish, but no flower scales show; like a snakehead, but no star on its head; like a bream, but no needle on its gills. Why does he turn and go the moment he sees me? It must be the monkey changed." He hurried after and snapped with his beak — swish. The Great Sage shot out of the water, changed again, and became a water snake, swam to the bank, and slid into the grass. Erlang, missing his snap, saw the water splash and a snake dart out, and knew it for the Great Sage. He turned in haste and changed into a gray crane with a vermilion-crested head, stretched out his long beak — sharp as an iron pincer — and came straight to eat the water snake. The snake jumped once more and changed into a bustard, drab and dowdy, standing on the knotgrass shoal. Erlang saw what a base thing he had become (the bustard is the cheapest and most lecherous of birds; luan, phoenix, hawk, or crow, any of them will flock with it), and so he would not come near it. He showed his true body, walked up, took the pellet bow, drew it full, and one pellet knocked the bird head over heels.

The Great Sage took his chance, rolled down the cliff, crouched there, and changed again — into a little earth-god temple: mouth stretched wide for the temple door; teeth turned into the door leaves; tongue into the Bodhisattva; eyes into the lattice windows. Only the tail was hard to manage: it stood up behind and turned into a flagpole. The True Lord chased to the cliff base and found no fallen bustard, only a small temple. His phoenix eyes snapped open and looked carefully: the flagpole stood behind the building, and he laughed: "It is the monkey again, fooling me once more. I have seen temples in my day, but never one with a flagpole standing at the back. It must be this beast's trick. If I let him fool me inside, he will bite down with that mouth. Do you think I will go in? Let me smash the window lattices first with my fist, then kick in the door leaves." The Great Sage heard and his heart went cold: "Fierce, fierce! The door leaves are my teeth and the lattices are my eyes. If he knocks out my teeth and stabs my eyes, what then?" With a flying leap he shot up into the air again and was gone.

The True Lord hunted wild, back and forth, when the four commanders and two generals came crowding up: "Elder brother, have you got the Great Sage?" The True Lord laughed: "That monkey just changed into a temple to fool me. Just as I was going to smash his window lattices and kick in his doors, he jumped once more and vanished without a trace. Strange, strange!" They all stood staring; look where they would, there was not a shape or shadow anywhere. The True Lord said: "Brothers, keep watch and patrol here. I will go up and look for him." He rose on his cloud in haste, up into mid-air, and there was Heavenly King Li holding the demon-revealing mirror high, with Nezha standing on the clouds beside him. The True Lord said: "Heavenly King, have you seen that Monkey King?" The Heavenly King said: "He has not come up this far. I have him in the mirror here." The True Lord told the whole story of the contest of changes, the display of power, and the taking of the monkey troops, and ended: "He changed into a temple, and just as I was about to strike, he was gone." At this Heavenly King Li turned the mirror to the four quarters, looked, and laughed out loud: "True Lord, go quickly, go quickly! The monkey used the hiding art, slipped out past the encirclement, and is off to your own mouth of the Guan River!" Erlang heard, snatched up his divine blade, and hurried back to the Guan River mouth in pursuit.

Now the Great Sage had already reached the mouth of the Guan River. He shook himself, changed into the very likeness of old Lord Erlang, brought his cloud down, and walked straight into the temple. The demon clerks could not tell the difference, and knocked their heads one by one to welcome him. He sat in the middle and audited the incense: there were the three animals Li Hu had vowed and brought back, the blessing Zhang Long had promised, the paper Zhao Jia had filed asking for a son, and the good vow Qian Bing had made for his illness. While he was looking, someone reported: "Another old lord has come." The demon clerks looked out in haste, and every heart jumped. The True Lord called: "Is there some Great Sage Equal to Heaven or other, just arrived here?" The clerks said: "We have seen no Great Sage. There is only one old lord inside, taking stock." The True Lord barged in the door, the Great Sage dropped his disguise, and cried: "Young sir, no need to shout. The temple is surnamed Sun now." The True Lord swung up the three-pointed, double-edged divine blade at once and chopped at his face. The Monkey King used a shift of body, let the blade slide past, whipped out the embroidery needle, shook it to a bowl's thickness, caught up, and answered face to face. The two of them shouting and brawling, they fought out the temple door, half in fog, half in cloud, moving and striking all the while, and fought their way back to Mount Flower-Fruit. The Four Great Heavenly Kings and the rest tightened their guard in alarm. The commanders Kang and Zhang and the others went to meet the True Lord, and with one heart and all their strength they hemmed in the Handsome Monkey King — but no more of that.

The story now: after the Mighty Ghost King had dispatched the True Lord and his six brothers to march out and take the demon, he went up to heaven to report. The Jade Emperor, with the Bodhisattva Guanyin, the Queen Mother, and the immortal ministers, was talking in the Hall of Divine Mist: "Erlang has gone to the fight, and still this whole day no word has come back." Guanyin put her palms together: "I beg your Majesty to go with the Ancestor of the Way outside the South Gate of Heaven and see the truth for yourself. What do you say?" The Jade Emperor said: "That is well said." He ordered his carriage, and with the Ancestor, Guanyin, the Queen Mother, and the ministers went to the South Gate. Soldiers and grooms met them, and the gates were thrown open for them to look out from far off. They saw the soldiers spreading the net on every side, fencing the place in; Heavenly King Li and Nezha standing in the air holding up the demon-revealing mirror; and the True Lord and the Great Sage shut up together in the middle, slugging it out blow on blow.

The Bodhisattva said to the old lord: "What does your poor monk's choice look like now — this god Erlang? His power is real. He has the Great Sage hemmed in already; only the capture itself is wanting. Let me lend a hand and win some merit, and he is certain to be taken." The old lord said: "What weapon will the Bodhisattva throw, and how will you help?" The Bodhisattva said: "I will throw down my vase of willow and strike that monkey head. Even if it does not kill him, it will knock him down, and young lord Erlang can take him." The old lord said: "Your vase is porcelain. If it lands on him, well and good; but if it misses his head and hits that iron staff instead, will it not be smashed? Do not move yet. Let old Lao lend the hand instead." The Bodhisattva asked: "And what weapon have you?" The old lord said: "I have one, I have one." He pushed up his sleeve and took from his left arm a ring, and said: "This weapon was tempered of pure kun steel and finished by my own hand with the elixir of return. I have raised it in living spirit; it can change at will, water and fire cannot touch it, and it can snare anything. It is called the Diamond Snare, and also the Diamond Band. In the old days, when I passed the Hangu Pass and turned the western tribes to the Buddha's law, it served me well; and it is the surest guard, early and late. Wait while I throw it down and strike him one blow."

With that he flung it down from the gate of heaven. Spinning as it fell, it landed right in the camp on Mount Flower-Fruit and caught the Monkey King a crack square on the crown of the head. The Monkey King was giving all his mind to his bitter fight with the seven saints, and did not know a weapon had fallen from heaven; the blow caught his skull, his feet would not hold, and he pitched headlong. He scrambled up and ran, but Erlang's fine hound caught him and fastened its teeth in his calf, and down he went again. Lying on the ground he cursed: "You cursed cur! Do you not go worry your own master, and come bite Old Sun!" He rolled over in haste but could not rise. The seven saints rushed him and held him down; the ropes came out and lashed him fast, and a hooked knife was passed through the pipa bones of his shoulders, so that he could not change shape any more.

The old lord took back the Diamond Snare, and he asked the Jade Emperor to return with Guanyin, the Queen Mother, and the immortals, all together to the Hall of Divine Mist. Below, the Four Great Heavenly Kings and Heavenly King Li and the gods called off the troops, pulled down the camps, and came near to congratulate the young saint. They all said: "This is the young saint's doing." The young saint said: "It is the sovereign's great good fortune and the power of all the gods. What merit is mine?" Kang, Zhang, Yao, and Li said: "Elder brother, no more words. Take this fellow up to heaven and let the Jade Emperor pronounce his sentence." The True Lord said: "Worthy brothers, you have not received the roll of heaven and may not stand before the Jade Emperor. Let the armored soldiers of heaven escort him. I will go up with the Heavenly King and the rest to report. You lead the men in a sweep of the mountain, and when it is cleaned out, go back to the Guan mouth. When I have had my reward and my merit entered, I will come back and we will make merry together." The four commanders and two generals agreed. Then the True Lord and the rest rose on the clouds singing the victory song, off to heaven with the day. In a little while they stood outside the Hall of Bright Passing, and the celestial master reported: "The Four Great Heavenly Kings and the rest have taken the demon monkey, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, and have brought him here to await your word." The Jade Emperor passed the order that the Mighty Ghost King and the soldiers of heaven escort him to the Demon-Executing Platform and hack this fellow's body to pieces. Ah! Truly:

The cheat and the braggart meets the torture of the law today; the hero's swagger ends in a moment.

What would become of the Monkey King's life? Listen to the next chapter to find out.