文殊菩萨五台山 · 18
Leaf 18 of the pilgrimage · 法王子 Dharma Prince
Manjusri 文殊菩萨
In Journey to the West 西遊記 (c. 1592) · a heaven-sent power who ends the fight · nicknamed 法王子 “Dharma Prince”
The bodhisattva of wisdom, whose lion was loosed on a king on the Buddha's account, and who arrives to collect it in the middle of a funeral.
The great deeds 大事記
- ch. 39
Explaining the Three-Year Well
推井He explains the case: the emperor of Wuji had held a Buddha's incarnation underwater for three days, so a lion was permitted to push him in the well for three years.
- ch. 39
The Lasso for the Lion
收獅He throws a lasso of sinew and gold, and the fake king shrinks into a four-footed beast before the sword comes down.
- ch. 77
Retrieving Another Blue Lion
再收一獅He has to come down again at Lion-Camel Ridge for another blue lion, and the novel never reconciles the two.
結局 The ending
He takes the lion home and lets the real king keep his throne, his queen and a life extended by a pill from Laojun. Wisdom, in this episode, consists of saying out loud whose fault it was.
The book itself: why the monkey was pinned, which translation — The 500 years · The translations · The 81 trials