唐太宗貞觀天子 · 15
Leaf 15 of the pilgrimage · 文皇帝 The Civil Emperor
Emperor Taizong 唐太宗
In Journey to the West 西遊記 (c. 1592) · a heaven-sent power who ends the fight · nicknamed 文皇帝 “The Civil Emperor”
The emperor who starts the whole journey because he died for a night, lost an argument in the underworld, and came back owing a favour to the dead.
The great deeds 大事記
- ch. 10
The Promise to the Dragon King
鬼門關He promises the dragon king his life and says nothing when Wei Zheng kills it in a dream over a board of go.
- ch. 10
Borrowed Gold for the Hungry Dead
還魂He goes down to adjudicate, is asked what he brought for the hungry dead, and borrows treasure that is not his.
- ch. 12
The Mass for the Homeless Dead
水陸大會He holds the mass for the homeless dead and asks the room who among them can go and get the real scriptures.
- ch. 13
The Pinch of Home Earth
御弟He makes the monk his brother, gives him the name Sanzang, and a pinch of home earth to shake into his tea wherever he drinks water.
結局 The ending
He gets the twenty years added to his ledger, keeps his throne, and is remembered in the novel only for having asked the one question nobody else thought to ask: is there a better scripture than the one we are using?
The book itself: why the monkey was pinned, which translation — The 500 years · The translations · The 81 trials