Who is it and what does it mean?

Nearly four decades after the film Journey to the West (1986) premiered, information surrounding the characters and plot of the film still fascinates audiences.

Although it is a "childhood movie" associated with many generations of 8x and 9x, Journey to the West may still contain surprising elements that many people may not know about.

For example, if asked - which is the only character in the great masterpiece of Wu Cheng'en that has 7 different names and the meaning of each name - not many people can answer correctly.

So who is that character?

The main character of Journey to the West: Sun Wukong.

The meaning of the 7 names of Sun Wukong in Journey to the West

These 7 names do not include the name Sun Wukong. This name was given to him by the "monkey's" first master, Bodhidharma. Accordingly, "Sun" means monkey; "Wukong" means enlightened and proficient.

1. Stone Monkey

This is Sun Wukong's real name. Shi Hou means stone monkey, referring to the place where Sun Wukong was born from the rock that Nuwa used to patch the sky.

2. Monkey King

This is the name Sun Wukong gave himself when he was at Flower Fruit Mountain. He is the Monkey King with the most beautiful appearance of the group.

3. The Great Sage Equaling Heaven

Having mastered mystical powers, Sun Wukong believed that he could be on par with the heavens and was no longer afraid of anyone. He asked the Jade Emperor to bestow upon him the title of Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

4. Turn on the Warm Code

To appease Sun Wukong's unruly nature, the Jade Emperor bestowed upon him the position of Heaven's Horse Supervisor.

However, it was only later, when he witnessed himself being ridiculed by the people of Heaven, that Sun Wukong discovered that he had only received a very small position. This fact became the excuse for Wukong's uprising that shook all three realms, to the point that it took the Tathagata Buddha himself to "pacify" the monkey.

5. The Monkey King

After Sun Wukong caused trouble in Heaven, he was suppressed by Buddha Tathagata under the Five Elements Mountain for 500 years.

500 years later, Tang Seng passed by this place to get Buddhist scriptures and discovered Sun Wukong and saved the monkey. When Sun Wukong accepted Tang Seng as his master and decided to follow him to get the scriptures, Tang Seng gave him this name, meaning the monk with the surname Sun.

6. The Buddha of Victory

After escorting Tang Monk to retrieve the scriptures, and together experiencing 81 difficult ordeals, Wu Kong finally brought the scriptures back to the Tang Dynasty.

When he arrived at Linh Son to pay respect to Buddha Tathagata, Ton Ngo Khong attained Buddhahood and was given the title of Fighting Victory Buddha.

7. Great Holy Relics of the Buddha King

The Great Saint Xá Lợi Tôn Vương Tổ Phật is a title that did not appear in the 1986 film "Journey to the West".

It was only in the events that took place later in Journey to the West, when Sun Wukong defeated Wu Tian and saved the Three Realms, that Buddha Tathagata bestowed this noble title.

References: Sohu, Sina, Baidu

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