太乙救苦天尊青華宮 · 21
Leaf 21 of the pilgrimage · 東極天尊 The Saviour from Every Painful Depth
Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun 太乙救苦天尊
In Journey to the West 西遊記 (c. 1592) · a heaven-sent power who ends the fight · nicknamed 東極天尊 “The Saviour from Every Painful Depth”
The deliverer of the suffering, whose own lion spent three years as the grandfather-demon of a whole mountain range.
The great deeds 大事記
- ch. 90
Nine Mouths Opened as One Door
九口開口He does not fight; he opens nine mouths and the monk, the prince, the king and three disciples leave the room inside him.
- ch. 90
The Saddle Takes Shape
獅奴He arrives in a cloud, beats his boy until the lion lies down with its head under his feet, and becomes a saddle again.
- ch. 90
Three Years Wearing a Royal Face
三載王面The lion had spent three years wearing a king's face and eating that king's family; the deliverer of the suffering arrives and the account is closed in a page.
結局 The ending
He takes the lion home, is begged by Wukong not to kill it, and lets the boy be beaten instead. Nine mouths, one foot, one nap — the rescue is the shortest scene in the book.
The book itself: why the monkey was pinned, which translation — The 500 years · The translations · The 81 trials