如意真仙解陽山落胎泉 · 36
Leaf 36 of the pilgrimage · 解陽山如意真仙 Ruyi Zhenxian of Jieyang Mountain
Ruyi Zhenxian 如意真仙
In Journey to the West 西遊記 (c. 1592) · a demon on the road west · nicknamed 解陽山如意真仙 “Ruyi Zhenxian of Jieyang Mountain”
A rent-seeker, not a man-eater: he fenced in the one spring in the Women's Kingdom that undoes a pregnancy, and charged pilgrims for a bowl.
The great deeds 大事記
- ch. 53
One Bowl for Silk and Wine
破兒洞改The 破兒洞 cave whose water was every woman's remedy in a kingdom of women has been taken over by a Taoist who will give none of it freely: bring silk, wine and fruit, and you may have one bowl.
- ch. 53
Revenge for a Ruined Nephew
為姪報仇He hears the name Tang Sanzang and flies into a rage — his nephew, he says, was ruined by Wukong, and he has nowhere to find him for revenge; the monk who came begging for water is the luck he asked for.
- ch. 53
The Keeper Lured from the Gate
調虎離山Wukong fights him out of the gate and up the hillside so that Sha Wujing can walk in with a bucket, and admits afterwards that the quarrel was only the distraction.
- ch. 53
The Arm Broken at the Well
打折臂膊At the well Sha breaks the Taoist's left arm and stops there, on the grounds that he is in human shape and Sha pities him; Wukong takes the hook, snaps it in two, then in four, and throws it down.
結局 The ending
Nothing is killed at Jieyang Mountain. Wukong's stated reason is legal rather than merciful: the man has broken no law, and killing is not as good as letting go — and there is his elder brother the Bull Demon King to consider. The immortal who fenced in a public spring keeps his life, loses his weapon, and is told that whoever comes next for water must not be hindered.
The book itself: why the monkey was pinned, which translation — The 500 years · The translations · The 81 trials