Black Myth: Wukong is a big hit! Is it true that the hometown of “Sun Wukong” is in Henan?

When it comes to the image of monkeys on the screen, we immediately think of the Monkey King in Journey to the West - Sun Wukong. In fact, there is more than just Journey to the West. Sun Wukong has undergone many changes on the screen, leaving behind a rich and varied image.

The cartoon "Princess Iron Fan" has a rebellious Monkey King; the color animated feature film "Havoc in Heaven" has a "lively" Monkey King; the 1986 CCTV version of "Journey to the West" has the most classic Monkey King; the movie "A Chinese Odyssey" has the most rebellious Monkey King; "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" has the most subversive Monkey King... and there is also the "Destiny Man" who became famous in the domestic game "Black Myth: Wukong" which is currently popular on the online platform.

The screen images of Sun Wukong over the years.

Black Myth: Wukong has allowed millions of "destined people" to revisit the journey to the West. On August 20, Black Myth: Wukong was officially released. In less than 24 hours, the peak number of online players on Steam exceeded 2.22 million, ranking second in the history of online players of all Steam games. According to statistics from the best-selling list of domestic games, Black Myth: Wukong has sold more than 3 million copies on Steam. Together with Wegame, Epic and PS platforms, the total sales volume has exceeded 4.5 million copies, with total sales exceeding 1.5 billion yuan.

Legendary origin - Sun Wukong may be from Henan.

In recent years, many cultural scholars have proposed the view that "Sun Wukong"'s home is in Henan. Supporting this view are historical records such as "Classic of Mountains and Seas" and "Lüshi Chunqiu", the research conclusions of literary masters Lu Xun and Hu Shi, the official and student experience of Wu Chengen, the author of "Journey to the West", highly consistent geographical names, and folk legends known as "living fossils".

In the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Dayu captured a monster named "Wuzhiqi" while controlling floods, and the place where it was captured was in Henan. The monster was "born as a divine monkey with flaming eyes and golden pupils" and was also suppressed under the Flower and Fruit Mountain for 500 years. Researchers believe that "Wuzhiqi" is one of the prototypes of Wukong.

"Wuzhiqi" in "Classic of Mountains and Seas".

The names of scenic spots in Tongbai County, such as Water Curtain Cave, Flower and Fruit Mountain, Tongtian River, Taibai Peak, Peach Blossom Cave, Horse Farm, Liusha River, Gaole Mountain, etc., are completely consistent or highly consistent with the words in Journey to the West. There are many Tongbai dialect slangs in Journey to the West, such as Pazha (crawl around), Fengfa (cold), Gulu (wrestling), etc. There are also many philosophical sayings in Tongbai County, such as "A big bladder has no weight, but a small weight can weigh a thousand pounds", "Farting can also add wind", "A victorious cat is as happy as a tiger", etc.

Therefore, scholars in Nanyang further proved that the "home" of "Sun Wukong" is at the source of the Huai River - Tongbai, Henan.

In addition, the monkey show in Xinye County, Nanyang has a great connection with "Journey to the West".

Xinye monkey show, commonly known as "monkey show", has a history of more than 2,000 years. Wu Cheng'en, the author of Journey to the West, served as the magistrate of Xinye for two years. During his tenure, he not only understood the folk customs of Xinye, but also transplanted many of them into Journey to the West.

In the portrayal of Sun Wukong, the protagonist of Journey to the West, Wu Cheng'en created the beloved and classic image of the Monkey King in his mythological masterpiece Journey to the West through his meticulous observation of the behaviors of monkeys in the Xinye Monkey Show.

Whenever we hear "The King sent me to patrol the mountain", we will smile happily. It is really gratifying to see Sun Wukong using his wisdom to trick the two demons, King Jinjiao and King Yinjiao. The location of this scene is Mount Jixia in Zhumadian, Henan.

Mount Jixia is located in Suiping County, Zhumadian. It is the remnant of the eastern edge of Mount Funiu. It is also known as Linglong Mountain and Stone Monkey Fairy Mountain. It has majestic mountains and numerous strange rocks. It has four characteristics of "strange, dangerous, mysterious and secluded". It enjoys the reputation of "Chinese Bonsai" and "Zhongzhou's unique beauty, Jiangbei Stone Forest".