Thursday, May 26, 2005

SAIYUKI


A Slow Boat from China
Saiyuki is loosely based on the famous Chinese legend of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, a tale that was recorded and written into the novel Journey to the West (Xi You Ji) by scholar-official Wu Ch'eng-en (circa 1500-1582). Wu Ch'eng-en based Journey to the West on the life of a famous Chinese monk called Xuan Zang (602-664) who traveled on foot -- people walked in those days! -- to the birthplace of Buddhism (modern-day India) to seek the Sutra, the Buddhist holy book. (This was way before TOKYOPOP's online bookstore was around.) Upon his return to China, Xuan Zang translated the Sutra into Chinese, which helped the spread of Buddhism in China. So next time you hear that one man can't make a difference, think of Xuan Zang. And send that monk some foot cream!

Monkey See, Monkey Do
Journey to the West tells of the mischievous monkey Sun Wukong who is born out of a rock blessed by heaven. (Talk about labor pains!) Clever and rebellious, Sun Wukong learns kung fu from a master Taoist and is soon able to transform himself into seventy-two images (including a bird, a tree and a mosquito), use clouds as transportation and wield an iron rod that can expand and shrink at will. Unconfirmed rumors had it that he was a blast at parties, too! But after much monkey business, Sun Wukong is imprisoned under a mountain. Five hundred years later Buddha sends the Tang Monk Xuan Zang to dig out the Monkey King, give him a good bath and take him on his journey West. Buddha also assigns two others to join their quest: a drunken celestial general reincarnated into a pig for misbehaving and a sea monster, also an exiled celestial general. Thus, Xuan Zang and his three disciples journey West seeking the holy sutras. Can you guess who represents which characters in Saiyuki? And aren't you glad we didn't come out with the scratch-and-sniff version of the story?

The Sequel to the Sequel's Sequel Many movies, stories and even a TV series in China have been based on the legend of the Monkey King including Akira Toriyama's popular manga and anime series Dragonball. This legend's got a lot of legs. Learn it. Know it. Live it.
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