This is a fresh, complete English translation of Wu Cheng’en’s public-domain one-hundred-chapter novel, produced with GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark assistance. It is an AI-assisted first edition, not a reproduction of an existing translation.

Ask the gate of Chan and seek it to the limit of numberless effort, and often one turns old and hollow at the end. Bricks are ground into mirrors, piled snow kept as grain; years of youth are lost in confusion. A single hair swallows the sea; a mustard seed takes in Mount Sumeru, while the golden ascetic only smiles. When awakening rose beyond the tenth stage of the Three Vehicles, it still stagnated in the four lives and six realms. Who hears this? Before the Cliff of Perfect Emptiness, under a tree without shade, the call of a cuckoo sounds the spring dawn. The way to Caoxi is perilous, Eagle Ridge is deep in cloud, and the voices of old friends from here are already vanished. A thousand-zhang ice precipice, five-petalled lotus in bloom, ancient shrine curtains hanging, incense coils swirling fragrantly. At that hour, when the source-flow is seen through, one sees the Dragon King’s Three Jewels.

This verse is named “Suwu Man.” The Buddha Tathagata has spoken: having parted from the Jade Emperor, he returned to the Precious Thunder-Sound Monastery in Vulture Peak Heaven. There he saw the three thousand Buddhas, five hundred arhats, eight great vajra-heroes, and boundless bodhisattvas, each carrying streamers, banners, precious canopies, strange celestial flowers, all arrayed beneath the twin sala trees in the heavenly realm of Lingshan to receive him. The Tathagata mounted an auspicious cloud and told the assembly: “With penetrating prajñā I behold all three realms. The root nature is original and finally quiescent, all in common with empty space, owning nothing at all. The unruly monkey I subdued is a thing not understood. It was he who gave rise to life and death; such is the mark of Dharma.” After he spoke, he released śarīra light; forty-two white rainbows filled the sky, linked north and south. The assembly saw this and bowed in full obeisance. After a short while clouds of rejoicing gathered and drifted in mist; he ascended the Lotus Terrace of merit and sat upright and still. Then those three thousand Buddhas, the five hundred arhats, eight vajra heroes, and four bodhisattvas came near with joined palms, offered bows, and asked: “Who was the monster in Heaven’s Court that disturbed the peaches?” The Tathagata said: “That brute was a demonic monkey born on Flower-Fruit Mountain, crime beyond measure and beyond words. The heavenly commanders all failed to subdue him. Though Erlang did seize him, and though the Great Lord of Old Masterhood forged him in fire, he still could not be harmed. When I arrived, he was flaunting his strength among the thunder generals, showing off his spirit. I checked his arms and warlike fury and asked his true origin. He said he had divine powers, could transform himself, and riding a jiddou cloud could go eighty thousand li at one bound. We made a wager; he could not slip from my grasp, and I took him by the arm and by thought transformed the Five-Element Mountain, sealing him there beneath its weight. The Jade Emperor then opened the golden mansions of Jiaoqu and invited me to the head seat, convened the Great Peace Assembly of Heaven, and thanked me there before I turned back and returned.” The assembly rejoiced to hear this and praised him without reserve.

When thanks were done, all withdrew by their assigned ranks, each keeping to his post, rejoicing in the joy of heaven. It truly was:

A blessed fog spread over Zhutu, and rainbow light embraced the World Honored One. In the western realm he is named the foremost, the gate of the Formless Dharma King. One constantly sees dark apes offering fruit and elk plucking flowers in their mouths; the green pheasant whirls, the variegated phoenix sings; the sacred turtle presents longevity, and the immortal crane carries cinnabar. He delights in the Pure Land garden and partakes of the Dharma realm of the Dragon Palace. Every day flowers open, every moment fruit ripens. By practicing stillness one returns to truth; to meditate on Chan yields the true fruit. Neither ceasing nor arising, neither increasing nor diminishing. Mist and rosy clouds drift about in light and shadow, moving this way and that; heat and cold never invade, and no one can count the years.

The verse runs:

To come and go in freedom, to roam at ease; there is no fear, no sorrow. In the land of Utmost Bliss all is even and level; in the billionfold world there is no spring and no autumn.

The Buddha dwelt between the Great Thunder-Sound and the Precious Monastery on Lingshan. One day he summoned all Buddhas, arhats, jieti, bodhisattvas, vajra-holders, monks, and nuns and said: “Ever since I subdued the errant ape and pacified the sky, I have known not years and months; in mortal reckoning it must be more than five hundred and fifty. Now it is the mid-autumn full-moon day. I possess a precious basin in which are arranged one hundred kinds of strange flowers and a thousand kinds of rare fruit and gifts. I invite you all to share this Ullambana feast—how do you receive it?” The whole assembly joined palms and bowed three times to the Buddha in acknowledgment. The Tathagata then had A-hua hold the basin’s offerings and had Kāśyapa spread them out. The assembly, deeply grateful, each offered a poem of thanks.

Blessing Poem:

The star of blessing shines before the World Honored One; good fortune enters and deepens endlessly. Merit without boundary lasts as long as earth itself; auspicious affinity links with Heaven. The field of blessing is widely sown and grows year on year; the sea of blessing is vast and profound, ever firm year after year. Good fortune fills heaven and earth with its protecting shade; as blessings increase without bound, fulfillment grows complete for all time.

Poem on Rank and Emolument:

Emolument is heavy as a mountain; the jewelled phoenix sings. Fortune follows auspicious time and blesses with unwithering good favor. Emolument adds ten thousand measures to health and strength; emolument gives a thousand toasts in a peaceful age. Emolument and stipend stand level with heaven and endure forever; its honor is clearer than the sea. Its kindness continues far into the distance, revered by multitudes to behold; the rank-cup, without limit, is honored by ten thousand kingdoms.

Poem on Longevity:

The Star of Longevity offers its splendid light to the Buddha Tathagata; from this the realm of long life opens in radiance. The platter of life-fruits is full, sending forth auspicious vapors; fresh life-flowers newly gathered stand upon the Lotus Terrace. This poem on longevity is pure, elegant, and full of wonders; its tune of longevity, with refined cadence, is exquisitely apt. Lifespan is extended like sun and moon; life as long as mountains and seas is even more enduring.

After all bodhisattvas had offered their gifts, they asked the Buddha to reveal the root and explain the source-flow. The Tathagata slightly opened his benevolent mouth and expounded the Great Dharma, proclaiming the true fruit, speaking of the wondrous scriptures of the Three Vehicles and the Śūraṅgama teaching on the five skandhas. As he taught, heaven and dragons encircled, and rain of flowers fell in profusion. It was truly so:

The Chan mind shines clear like moonlight on a thousand rivers; true nature, pure and deep, reflects the sky for ten thousand li.

After the Buddha had finished speaking, he said to the assembly: “I have observed the four continents: sentient beings’ good and evil are not alike. On Dongsheng Continent, they honor Heaven and revere Earth; heart clear and breath calm. On Beiju Continent they like killing, though only for a livelihood; they are blunt by nature, detached in feeling, and do little in true cultivation. On my Xiniuhe Continent they are not greedy and do not kill; they nourish their vital energies and conceal hidden spirit. Though there is no supreme truth among them, they each enjoy durable life. But on Nanshanbu Continent, greed and lust are delighted in, calamity is loved, slaughter and strife are many; it is rightly called a field of sharp tongues, an ocean of wrong and contention. Now I have a Tripiṭaka of true teachings with which I can exhort people to do good.” When the bodhisattvas heard this, they joined palms, took refuge, and before the Buddha asked: “Buddha, what is this Tripiṭaka of true teachings?” The Buddha replied: “I have three classes of the Tripiṭaka: one Dharma-basket discoursing on heaven, one treatise-basket explaining earth, one sūtra-basket that saves spirits. Altogether there are thirty-five sections, totaling fifteen thousand one hundred forty-four fascicles, the scriptures for cultivating truth and the gate of right goodness. I intend to send them to the Eastern land. I cannot endure the foolishness of those beings there, who revile true words, do not know the intent of my Dharma gate, and neglect the true orthodox lineage of Yogācāra. How can one find one with spiritual ability who will go eastward, seek a worthy faithful one, make him endure thousands of mountains and ask about scripture through ten thousand waters, come here to receive the true texts, and then pass them on forever in the East, teaching sentient beings? This is a great blessing of mountain size and an ocean-deep good fortune. Who would go on such a journey?” At that moment Guanyin came near the Lotus Terrace and, after bowing three times to the Buddha, said: “This disciple lacks talent; I wish to go to the Eastern land and find one who may fetch the scripture.” The assembly raised their eyes to behold that bodhisattva:

Perfect in principle and complete in all four virtues, wisdom fills his golden form. Strings of hanging green jewels trail from his tassels, and the fragrant circles tied with jewels shine with light. Black-cloud-like locks are artfully coiled into dragon knots; embroidered girdle and fluttering sash bear plumes of painted phoenix. Jade-green pin, plain gauze robe, and auspicious radiance enclose him; brocade-satin skirt, gold chains falling, lucky vapors meeting and receiving. His brows are like small moons, his eyes like paired stars. The jade face is born with joy; the vermilion lips show a single red spot. The pure vial of nectar overflows year after year; he inserts his hair once, and the drooping willow stays green each spring. He relieves the eight hardships, ferries multitudes of beings, and bears great compassion and mercy: he abides at Tai mountain and in the Southern Sea, and where suffering is sought he responds, ten thousand by ten thousand, a thousand sages a thousand spirits. He delights in the heart of orchid and purple bamboo, loves fragrant vines and sweet-hued creepers. He is the compassionate lord upon Lojia Mountain, the living Guanyin in the Resonant-Voice Cave.

The Tathagata, seeing him, rejoiced inwardly and said: “No other can go. It must be the Venerable Guanyin; only she, with vast spiritual powers, can accomplish this.” The bodhisattva asked: “What words of instruction does the Master leave for me on this journey eastward?” The Tathagata said: “On this departure, keep your eyes on the way and do not travel through the sky roads. Let half-cloud, half-mist be your way, watching mountains and waters, and carefully reckoning distances. Warn that scripture-seeker about the course. Since this may be difficult for one of good faith, I give you five precious treasures.” Then he ordered A-hua and Kāśyapa to bring out a single silk cassock with brocade hem. “This cassock and the Golden-Hooped Staff may be given for that scripture-seeker’s use. If he holds fast in heart and comes here, if he wears my cassock he will avoid falling back into Saṃsāra; if he holds my staff, he will not be harmed by poisons.” The bodhisattva bowed and received them. The Tathagata then took out three Tightening Headbands and handed them over: “These are called the Tightening Headband and are three alike in shape but differ in use. I have three spells for the Tightening Headband. If on the road you meet a demon of great powers, first you must persuade him to settle down and make him a disciple of the scripture-seeker. If he does not submit to your summons, place one of these rings on his head; flesh will rise and root at once. Recite the appropriate spell once—his eyes will bulge, his head will ache, the top of his skull will split, and he will be brought under my gate.”

Hearing this, the bodhisattva joyfully saluted and withdrew. He then called on Huian the pilgrim-helper to accompany him. Huian wielded an iron cudgel, weighing about one thousand jin, and stood at her side as a mighty demon-subduing champion. The bodhisattva made a bundle from the brocaded cassock and had him bear it on his back. She hid away the Tightening Headband, took up the Golden-Hooped Staff, and hastened down from Lingshan. For this departure there is a verse:

The Buddha’s disciple returns to complete the Buddha-cause; Elder Jinchan wraps sandalwood perfume.

At the mountain foot the bodhisattva was met by Yuzhen, the Immortal Gold-Capped Master of the Jade-True Hall, at the gate of the retreat, and was offered tea. The bodhisattva did not dare linger: “Now I bear the Buddha’s command; I am going to the East to seek one who can fetch the scripture.” The immortal said: “When, then, will this scripture-seeker arrive?” The bodhisattva said: “It is not fixed. In perhaps two or three years, he may come.” So she took leave, moving in half cloud and half mist, keeping the route in mind. This is attested by a poem:

I seek him over ten thousand li and cannot tell him in advance; yet who can gain fortune and keep full understanding? To seek one person so utterly as this—was my whole life truly a mere chance? To transmit the Way by skill can turn into vain rumor; to explain and be disbelieved is but hollow report. I would empty my own liver and heart-kidney in search of a true counterpart; surely ahead there must be destined affinity.

As the master and disciple were walking, they suddenly came upon the Three Thousand Li of the Weak Water, which was the border of the River of Flowing Sand. The Bodhisattva said, 「Disciple, this place is hard to cross. A seeker of the scriptures is a turbid, ordinary, mortal body—how can such a person pass here?」 Hui'an said, 「Master, how far across is this river?」 The Bodhisattva stood still and watched with cloud-steps, and then saw this:

East it connects to the sand flats, west to the lands of the tribes, south to Wuge, north to the Tartars. Straight across it runs some eight hundred li, with ten thousand li above and below beyond reckoning. The current seems like the earth flipping over; the surging waves roll as though mountains were heaving up their backs. Vast and magnificent, dim and boundless, one hears the mighty rush from ten li away as if it were ten thousand zhang deep. Not even a celestial skiff can reach this place, and no lotus leaf can float here. Withered grasses drift in the slanting sun along the winding bays, yellow clouds and shadows darken the long banks. Where could merchants or travelers ever come here? Not once has there been a fisherman to dwell on this shore. On the bare sands no wild geese alight, while on a far bank a monkey cries. Only the red smartweed and white duckweed seem to know the scene, and the fine scent of white water-plants clings lingeringly.

The Bodhisattva was still looking intently when there came a sharp splashing sound, and from the water waves a demon leapt out, terribly ugly indeed. He had this appearance:

Neither blue nor black, the face was an evil, inauspicious shade;\n> Neither tall nor short, a sinewy body with bare red feet.\n> Eyes flashed, like two little lamps beneath a hearth;\n> The split corners of his mouth were like a butcher’s fire basin.\n> His tusks jutted out sharp as sword edges, his red hair flew in a wild, tangled tangle.\n> One shout of challenge roared like thunder, and his two feet ran as if a rolling wind.

The monster held a precious magic staff in one hand. Stepping up to the bank, he tried to seize the Bodhisattva, but Hui'an blocked him with a heavy iron staff and shouted, 「Do not run!」 The monster then raised his staff to meet him. Between them, on the bank of the Flowing-Sand River, began a ferocious and savage killing struggle—truly astonishing.

Mu Zha’s heavy iron club displayed its divine power as a Dharma guardian;\n> the demon’s magic-slaying staff strained with all its force to show heroism.\n> Two silver snakes danced by the riverbank, while two divine monks surged up on the shore.\n> That one used his strength to crush the Flowing Sands; this one, to protect Guanyin, won great merit.\n> That one heaved up waves and leapt through them; this one belched out mist and blasted wind.\n> When waves were raised and leapt, heaven and earth darkened; when mist and wind were cast forth, sun and moon dimmed.\n> The demon-slaying staff seemed like a white tiger descending the mountain;\n> this heavy iron cudgel was like a yellow dragon lying low on the road.\n> That one moved to seize snakes and push aside grasses; this one hurled it wide, like a hawk striking apart a pine.\n> It was so killing that everything was dark and hazy, while the stars still flashed brightly;\n> the mist rose in rising columns, and heaven and earth were veiled.\n> He who had long stayed in Weak Water was fierce indeed; this was the first great deed of the one newly departed from Ling Mountain.

They went to and fro, trading dozens of rounds, with no decisive victor. The monster set aside his staff and demanded, 「What monk are you, to dare oppose me?」 Mu Zha said, 「I am Mu Zha Hui'an, monk-disciple, the second prince of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King. I am guarding my master, who goes toward the Eastern Land to seek the one who carries the Tripitaka. Who are you, what kind of monster, to dare block the way so bold?」 Then the monster suddenly understood and said, 「I remember you practicing with the South Sea Guanyin in Purple Bamboo Grove. Why have you come here?」 Mu Zha said, 「Is not that my master on the bank?」

Hearing this, the monster bobbed his head repeatedly in assent and sheathed the precious staff. He let Mu Zha lead him before Guanyin, then knelt with his head to the ground and said, 「Bodhisattva, forgive my sins and let me explain. I am not a demon fiend. I am the Curtain-Pulling General serving the carriage in the Hall of Lingxiao in Heaven. Once, at the banquet of peaches, I clumsily shattered a glass cup; the Jade Emperor struck me eight hundred times and cast me down to the mortal realm, and thus I came to look in this state. Every seventh day he calls down a flying sword to pierce my chest and sides, and it has done so hundreds of times in return. So this is my great misery. There is no remedy: hunger and cold are unbearable, and every two or three days I must come among the waves to seek a traveler to eat. Without design, today I blundered into Great Compassion, your holiness.」 Guanyin said, 「You had guilt in Heaven, and after being cast down you still take lives and inflict pain—this is sin atop sin. I have received Buddha’s command to go eastward to seek the Tripitaka seekers. Why do you not enter my gate, turn toward right enlightenment, and become a disciple of that monk seeking scriptures on the road to the West? I will not have the flying sword come to pierce you then. By the time your merit is fulfilled, your sins will be lightened and your former station restored. What do you say?」 The monster said, 「I am willing to return to the true path.」 Again he said, 「Bodhisattva, in this place I have eaten countless passersby. Whenever a Tripitaka seeker has come, I have eaten them. I threw every eaten head into the Flowing Sand, yet they sank to the bottom. In this water even a goose feather cannot float. Only the skulls of nine Tripitaka seekers remained floating on the surface and never sank. Thinking them strange things, I hung them together with cords in one place and played with them idly in my free hours. Now I fear, if no Tripitaka seeker reaches this place, has this not ruined my future as well?」 Guanyin said, 「Can it be that they do not arrive? Hang those skulls at your throat and await the scripture pilgrims. They will yet be of use.」 The monster said, 「If so, I am willing to receive instruction.」 Guanyin then completed the ordination by touching his crown; she gave him the surname Sha, and with that he took the surname. She gave him the Dharma name Sha Wujing. In time he entered the monastic order, carried the Bodhisattva across the river, and having cleansed his heart and thoughts, he never harmed life again, waiting only for the Tripitaka seeker.

After taking leave of him, Guanyin hurried eastward with Mu Zha. After many miles they saw a tall mountain; evil miasma hung over it, and they could not step upon it. As they were about to ride above the clouds to pass over the mountain, a demon suddenly flashed out when a wild wind rose. He looked even more ferocious, and this is how he appeared:\n > The mouth drooped with a coiled bulge like a dangling lotus pod; his ears spread like paddles, revealing golden eyes.\n > His fangs were keen as steel choppers, his long muzzle open like a fire basin.\n > A golden helmet bound tight at the cheek, and laced scale-like mail of silken cords about him.\n > In his hand he carried a barbed halberd with a clawed, dragon-like probe; at his waist hung a half-moon curved bow.\n > His fierce wind whirled and swelled, heaving against the Great Year-star; his proud spirit was high, as if pressing down even the heavenly gods.

He charged forward without pausing to see who was who and aimed his spiked halberd at the Bodhisattva. Mu Zha the monk interrupted him, and cried out, 「You brute, do not be insolent—watch your staff." The monster said, 「This monk does not know what death is. Try the halberd." The two collided at the foot of the mountain, shoulder to shoulder, fighting this way and that, wagering life and loss, and it was truly a fierce slaughter.

The demon was fierce, Hui'an mighty in power.\n> The iron staff split the heart, the spiked halberd cleft face-to-face.\n> Dust was cast and sand raised; heaven and earth grew dark, flying stone and grit shocked gods and ghosts.\n> The nine-edged halberd flashed with resplendent brilliance, twin rings rang out;\n> one staff, black and drifting, and both hands flew aloft.\n> This one is the prince of the Heavenly King; that one, a marshal spirit.\n> One keeps watch as Dharma protector on Mount Putuo, one dwells in caves to make a demon’s mischief.\n> In their meeting to test whose height was greater, none could tell which was losing and which was winning.

When they were in the midst of this fierce exchange, Guanyin dropped a lotus flower from midair and separated the halberd and staff. The monster saw it and was startled, asking, 「What monk are you to play this flower in front of me as a trick?」 Mu Zha said, 「You flesh-bodied brute whose eyes are still ordinary! I am the disciple of the South Sea Bodhisattva. This lotus was thrown by my master—how is it you do not recognize it?」 The monster said, 「South Sea Bodhisattva—Is he not Guanyin, who sweeps away the three disasters and saves from eight perils?」 Mu Zha replied, 「If not him, who is it?」 The monster dropped the barbed halberd and, with head lowered, offered respectful obeisance: 「Elder brother, where is the Bodhisattva? I beg you, kindly introduce me." Mu Zha pointed upward and said, 「Is it not there?」 The monster kowtowed toward the sky and cried in a loud voice, 「Bodhisattva, forgive my offense, forgive my offense."

Guanyin lowered her cloud-seat and asked, 「What wild boar spirit have you become, from where do you do your mischief as an old sow-beast, that you dare block me here?」 The monster said, 「I am not a wild boar, nor an old boar. I was in truth Tianpeng, marshal of the Heavenly River. For playfully intoxicated joking with Chang’e, the Jade Emperor struck me two thousand blows and banished me down to the dust and flesh. As one with a true spirit, I came to seize a vessel and be reborn, and by mischance lost my way and was cast into a sow’s womb, becoming this form. I bit my mother pig and killed the band of swine, and from then took this mountain ground, feeding myself by day on men. Yet I happened to collide with the Bodhisattva, and I beg for rescue upon rescue." Guanyin asked, 「What is the name of this mountain?」 The monster said, 「It is called Fuling Mountain. Inside there is a cave called Yunzhan Cave. In that cave there had already been an Elder Sister named Luan’er. Seeing I had some martial skill, she made me head of the household and called me Daocha Gate. Not even a year later, she died, and all the goods of that cave came wholly under my use. Since then years have passed; I have had no livelihood but to live by eating men. I beg you, Bodhisattva, forgive my sin." Guanyin said, 「The ancients said, ‘If you want a future, do not make yourself a life without a future.’ You violated heavenly law above, and now have not changed your ferocity, killing life and making evil—are these not two crimes with double punishment?」 The monster said, 「Future, future—if I should follow you, how is this? You would teach me to drink the wind? As the old saying goes, ‘If one kills by law, it is by legal sentence; if one dies by Dharma, by starving oneself.’ Go on, go on! I would rather catch a traveler and eat him, fat and rich, than care whether it is two crimes, three crimes, ten thousand crimes!" Guanyin said, 「‘If a person keeps a good vow, Heaven will carry it through.’ If you are willing to return to right fruit, there will be a place for your sustenance. In this world there are five grains to ease hunger. Why live by eating others?"

The monster, hearing those words, was as one waking from a dream. Facing the Bodhisattva, he said, 「I wish to follow the right path, but, alas, to have sinned against Heaven leaves one with nowhere to pray." Guanyin said, 「I have been given Buddha’s command to go east to seek the Tripitaka seeker. You may follow him as a disciple and go once toward the Western Paradise; in doing merit, your sins will be broken, and I will see to it that you are freed from disaster and doom." The monster said through his whole mouth, 「I am willing to follow, I am willing to follow." Guanyin then completed the head-touching precept-taking with him. She took his surname as Zhu, and he became named Zhu Wuneng. From then on, he received the command, returned to the true way, kept the fast, observed a pure vegetarian life, renounced the five pungent foods and three avoidances, and waited only for the Tripitaka seeker.

The Bodhisattva, having seen Wuneng off, came on with Mu Zha, half in drifting cloud and mist. As he walked, he saw a jade dragon in the heavens crying out. He drew near and asked, 「What dragon are you, and why are you punished here?」 The dragon replied, 「I am a son of Ao Run, king of the Western Sea. I set fire and burned the bright pearl in the hall; my father the Dragon King reported me to Heaven, denouncing my rebellion. The Jade Emperor has hung me in the air, flogged me three hundred times, and soon I am to be executed. I beg the Bodhisattva—save me, save me.」

Guanyin heard this and at once went with Mu Zha through the Gate of the Southern Heavens. Already the two heavenly teachers Qiu and Zhang were waiting for them, and asked, 「Where are you headed?」 Guanyin said, 「This poor monk must have one audience with the Jade Emperor.」 The two heavenly teachers immediately submitted it at once. The Jade Emperor therefore came down from the hall to receive them. When Guanyin had bowed and finished, she said, 「This poor monk has received Buddha’s command to go to the Eastern lands and seek a monk who can bring back the Scriptures. On the way I met this wicked dragon hanging in torment, so I come to petition for his life to be spared and be granted to me as aid, to serve the scripture-seeker.」 Hearing this, the Jade Emperor issued a pardon and ordered heavenly generals to release the dragon and deliver him to Guanyin. She thanked him and departed. The little dragon knelt and thanked her for restoring his life, then obeyed her instruction. Guanyin placed him in a deep ravine to await the arrival of the scripture-seeker, then made him transform into a white horse to do good in the West. The little dragon received the order and went in silence below the surface.

Guanyin led Mu Zha, the pilgrim’s monk, past this mountain and hastened again toward the Eastern lands. Not long into the journey, they suddenly saw ten thousand rays of golden light and a thousand strands of auspicious vapour. Mu Zha said, 「Master, this glowing place is Wuxing Mountain. I can see the Buddha’s restraining tablet there.」 Guanyin said, 「No, this is where the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who stirred up the Peach Banquet and caused uproar in Heaven, now lies subdued.」 Mu Zha answered, 「It is true, it is true。」 Both master and monk ascended the mountain and looked upon the tablet, which bore the six-character mantra 「唵嘛呢叭𠺗吽」. Guanyin, after looking, could not stop her regret and composed a poem.

A pity the demon monkey did not serve as one should, once wildly vain in false heroism. With deceitful mind he disturbed the Peach Banquet, and daringly raided Doushui Palace. Among ten thousand troops there was no hand to match him; in the Ninefold Heavens he once had commanding prestige. Now he is trapped by the Buddha Tathagata himself—when will he be freed to manifest his power again?

The master and disciple were still speaking when the Great Sage was roused. From the foot of the mountain he shouted, 「Who is that up there reciting verse and revealing my disgrace?」 Guanyin, hearing it, went down the mountain at once to look. Beneath the rock face were the Earth God, the mountain god, and the heavenly generals who had guarded him; they came to greet Guanyin and led her before the Great Sage. He was indeed trapped inside a stone chest, able to speak with his mouth but unable to move his body. Guanyin asked, 「Son of Sun, do you recognize me?」 The Great Sage opened his fiery golden eyes and with a nod cried out, 「How could I not recognize you—are you not Bodhisattva Guanyin of Great Mercy and Great Compassion, of Potalaka in Putuo, in the Southern Sea, who rescues all from suffering? Do show me your grace, do show me your compassion. I have spent my days here as years; none has come to see me. From where do you come?」 Guanyin replied, 「I bear Buddha’s order to go to the Eastern land of Great Tang to find a monk to fetch the scriptures. Passing this way, I have paused briefly to look upon you.」 The Great Sage said, 「The Tathagata tricked me and laid me beneath this mountain. It has been over five hundred years; I cannot even stir my limbs. Please, Bodhisattva, for the sake of a trick of kindness, come to save this old monkey once.」 Guanyin said, 「Your crimes are deeply laden in karma. If I free you now, you may again bring disaster, and that would not be fitting.」 The Great Sage answered, 「I have already acknowledged my fault. I only beg your Great Mercy to point out a path; I am willing to cultivate.」 Then these words came:

A thought born in the human heart is known by heaven and earth alike. If good and evil had no retribution, Heaven and Earth would surely become partial.

The Bodhisattva heard these words and was filled with joy. To the Great Sage she said, 「The Sacred Scripture says: 「When one speaks good, even one a thousand li away will respond; when one speaks evil, even one a thousand li away will refuse.」 Since you now hold such intent, I will go to the Eastern Great Tang and find a monk who will fetch the scriptures and tell him to save you. You can be his disciple, receive the Dharma instruction, and enter the Buddha’s gate to cultivate and complete the true fruit, does this suit you?」 The Great Sage answered repeatedly, 「I wish to go, I wish to go.」 Guanyin said, 「Since you have a good resolve, I will give you a Dharma name.」 The Great Sage said, 「I already have one: Sun Wukong.」 Guanyin rejoiced again, 「Before, I had already accepted two who came under the teachings, both with the character Wun in their names. You also bear the character Wun, so you match them all the better. How excellent, how excellent. So do not need further instructions—let me be gone.」 The Great Sage had at last seen the light of mind and returned it to Buddha’s teaching, and the Bodhisattva kept the matter in her heart as she left to seek out the holy monk.

He left this place with Mu Zha and kept going eastward. In no more than a few days they arrived at Chang’an in Great Tang. As the fog drew in and the clouds closed, the two master and disciple transformed into two diseased wandering monks and entered the city, and before they knew it, evening had come. Walking to the side of the Great Market Street, they saw an Earth-god temple and went straight inside. The Earth God grew frightened to his core, his ghost soldiers grew cold with alarm, and when he recognized Guanyin he knelt and received them. The Earth God then hurried to report to the City God and the village spirit, and all the temple deities throughout Chang’an likewise knew and came to pay respect, saying, 「Bodhisattva, forgive the gods for not receiving you sooner.」 Guanyin said, 「Do not let even a grain of this news leak out. I carry Buddha’s command, and have come here especially to seek the monk who will fetch the scriptures. Lend me your shrine and let me stay there for a few days for now; when I find the true monk, I will depart at once.」 The gods each returned to their own places, and left the Earth God to lodge temporarily in the City God’s shrine. The master and disciple then concealed their true forms.

By and by it was still unknown whether they had found that scripture-seeking monk. For now, wait for the next chapter to continue.