Among so many monkeys, who is "Wukong"?

Recently, many netizens were instantly melted by the golden monkey Ruirui's turning head. His furry appearance resembles the "Monkey King". Netizens left messages one after another: No wonder Patriarch Bodhi loves him so much!

Recently, the game "Black Myth: Wukong" has swept the world. There are many different opinions on what kind of monkey Sun Wukong is. Some say that Sun Wukong is a golden monkey, some say that Sun Wukong is a macaque, and some say that Sun Wukong is an ape!

So what kind of monkey is our “Monkey King” Sun Wukong?

01What kind of monkey is Sun Wukong?

This question is very simple, because it has been clearly pointed out in the first chapter of the original work that Sun Wukong is a stone monkey:

...The immortal egg inside burst one day and produced a stone egg as big as a ball. When it saw the wind, it turned into a stone monkey with all five senses and four limbs. It then learned to crawl and walk, and bowed to the four directions. Its eyes emitted two golden rays that shot into the Dou Palace.

From the first chapter of Journey to the West

So Sun Wukong is not a real monkey at all. Ending of this post...

If you make a mistake, try again!

The images in literary works are usually derived from reality. Sun Wukong, as a highly symbolic character in Chinese culture, is no exception. Everyone has their own Sun Wukong in their hearts.

Next, the editor will throw out some ideas, combining the original work of "Journey to the West" and the image in film and television to discuss what kind of monkey Sun Wukong is~ That monkey can walk and jump in the mountains, eat grass and trees, drink stream water, pick mountain flowers, and look for tree fruits; he lives with wolves and insects, tigers and leopards, deer and monkeys; he sleeps under the cliffs at night and travels in the caves in the morning. It is true that "there is no year in the mountains, and the cold is over and you don't know the year." When the weather is hot, he and the monkeys will escape the heat and play under the shade of pines. From the first chapter of "Journey to the West", Sun Wukong "eats grass and trees, drinks stream water, picks mountain flowers, and looks for tree fruits" in Huaguo Mountain. Macaques mainly like to eat sweet and ripe fruits. When food is scarce, macaques also eat young branches, leaves, roots and bark of plants, which is similar to Sun Wukong's eating habits.

In addition, Sun Wukong lives in caves on cliffs and peaks, while macaques mainly live in dense forests or sparse forests on rocky mountains, cliffs, valleys beside streams and river banks; they live in groups, often dozens or hundreds of them, led by a monkey king, which is consistent with the scene when Sun Wukong served as the Monkey King in Huaguo Mountain. In terms of eating habits and living environment, Sun Wukong's image has many similarities with macaques.

But in the second chapter, the Bull Demon King mocked Sun Wukong: "You are less than four feet tall, less than thirty years old, and you have no weapons..." The "four feet" here became a symbolic number for Sun Wukong's height. According to the Ming Dynasty's measurement, one foot is about 32 centimeters, so Sun Wukong's height is about 1.3 meters. The body length of macaques is about 51-63 centimeters, so in terms of height, the image of macaques is still a little different from Sun Wukong~

02Is Sun Wukong a golden monkey?

In many people's minds, the prototype of Sun Wukong is more like a golden monkey, just like our Ruirui, who is covered with soft long hair like strands of golden silk in the sun, as if he is "wearing golden armor and shining golden crown", which best satisfies the public's imagination of the Monkey King. But Sun Wukong lacks some other characteristics of Sichuan golden monkeys~

The image of Sun Wukong in the 1986 version of Journey to the West

The Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey is a member of the genus Snub-nosed Monkey in the family Primates. They have a distinctive feature - an "upturned nose", which is also an important organ for their survival.

Sichuan golden monkey

However, in the film and television images, our Monkey King lacks this "cool" nose~

Not only that, in the 67th chapter of the original novel, there is also a description of Sun Wukong's nose: When the old man saw his ugly appearance, he twisted his mouth, sniffed in shock, and mustered up his courage to shout, using his rhubarb stick to point at him: "You bastard, with a bony face, a bumpy forehead, a collapsed nose, sunken cheeks, hairy eyes, a consumptive ghost, you don't know your place, and you have a pointed mouth, how dare you come and bump into me!" It seems that the only difference between our Monkey King and the Sichuan golden monkey is a nose!

However, as a highly symbolic character in Chinese culture, Sun Wukong's image has transcended specific biological classifications. Everyone has their own Monkey King in their hearts. No matter which one it is, Sun Wukong represents wisdom, courage, and an indomitable spirit, which are the qualities we have always pursued and yearned for. So in your heart, what kind of monkey is the "Monkey King" Sun Wukong? Quickly write down your image of the Monkey King in the comment section!