青狮精獅駝洞大大王 · 48
Leaf 48 of the pilgrimage · 大大王 Eldest King of the Three
Blue Lion 青狮精
In Journey to the West 西遊記 (c. 1592) · a demon on the road west · nicknamed 大大王 “Eldest King of the Three”
His whole career is a snub. The Queen Mother left him off the peach banquet, so he swallowed the army sent to punish him, shut the Southern Heaven Gate and went home.
The great deeds 大事記
- ch. 74
Tally Seized from the Wind-Seeker
小鑽風Wukong killed a patrolling demon, took his gong, his tally and his title of Chief Wind-Seeker, and sat on a needle-shaped peak to interrogate the patrol about what the three kings could actually do.
- ch. 74
Swallowing a Hundred Thousand
吞十萬兵The patrol's own report: because the Queen Mother never sent an invitation, the eldest king grew to a mouth like a city gate and put a hundred thousand troops of heaven away without a fight, then closed the Southern Heaven Gate.
- ch. 75
Swallowed Whole on Purpose
故意生吞After Bajie was chased he let the lion have him deliberately; salt water to make him vomit failed, and the poisoned wine meant to kill him went down seven or eight cups at the demon's own throat, which had turned into a trumpet.
- ch. 75
Swinging on the Liver
肝上打鞦韆Inside, Wukong caught the liver in his fist and swung on it, made the lion beg, and would not come out until the monk was promised a carrying-litter and the ridge cleared.
- ch. 76
The King Flies a Kite
放風箏They tried to bite him on the way out and broke their king's teeth doing it, so he went up through the soft palate and out of the nostril with a sneeze, leaving a forty-zhang hair noose tied to the heart — and the little demons watched their king fly a kite before the spring festival.
- ch. 77
The Lotus on His Back
皈蓮臺At the end the Buddha told Wukong to lose on purpose, and when Manjusri's charm was said the eldest king threw down his spear, rolled over, and let a lotus seat be thrown onto his back.
結局 The ending
He is not killed and does not go back to an owner's stable in disgrace: Manjusri rides him home to Mount Wu with his ears thrown back, having eaten a hundred thousand immortal soldiers who were only doing a job. The book never says whether this is the same lion that wore a dead king's face at Wuji, and Manjusri is not asked; the ridge keeps two of its three kings for another afternoon.
The book itself: why the monkey was pinned, which translation — The 500 years · The translations · The 81 trials