Chapter 6: The Great Sage is Trapped at the Five Elements Mountain

Summary

In this chapter, Sun Wukong, the Great Sage, is captured and imprisoned by the Buddha after causing chaos in the Heavenly Palace. Despite his earlier victories over celestial beings, his rebellious actions lead to his downfall. The Buddha tricks Wukong into attempting to escape his grasp but instead traps him under the Five Elements Mountain for 500 years as punishment. During his imprisonment, Sun Wukong is denied food and drink. Eventually, the Buddha decides to release him as part of a larger plan to send a disciple on a journey to retrieve sacred scriptures. Wukong is freed by the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, who ensures his obedience through a magical ring. He joins the monk Xuánzàng in the quest to obtain the scriptures, marking the start of his path to redemption and enlightenment.

Content

The Supreme Lord took the Great Sage back to the Doushuai Palace, untied the ropes, and placed him into the Eight Trigrams Furnace. Inside the furnace, there were originally eight trigram positions: Qian, Kan, Gen, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kun, and Dui. The Great Sage hid in the Xun position, which had wind but no fire. The wind blew smoke into his eyes, turning them red, and thus he developed the "Fiery Golden Eyes." After being refined for forty-nine days, the Supreme Lord felt the fire had reached the right level, so he opened the furnace door to take out the elixir. However, unexpectedly, the Great Sage suddenly jumped out and kicked over the Eight Trigrams Furnace. The Taoists who were stoking the fire tried to capture him, but he knocked them all down one by one. The Supreme Lord himself tried to apprehend the Great Sage but was pushed over by the Great Sage and fell on his back. Seizing the opportunity, the Great Sage escaped the Doushuai Palace, wielded his golden cudgel, and began rampaging. The Nine Luminaries Stars and the Four Heavenly Kings fled in panic. The Great Sage fought all the way to the Lingxiao Hall, where King Linguan tried to stop him with a whip, and the True Lord Yousheng summoned thirty-six Thunder Generals to encircle the Great Sage. The Great Sage showed no fear, transformed into a figure with three heads and six arms, wielding three golden cudgels, and fought fiercely with the gods. The sound of the battle outside the hall alarmed the Jade Emperor, who quickly sent for the Buddha from the Western Paradise, the Tathagata.

Hearing of the havoc caused by the monkey demon from Flower-Fruit Mountain, the Tathagata and the two venerables, Anshuo and Jueye, arrived at the Lingxiao Hall. Seeing that the Thunder Generals were fighting with the Great Sage, the Tathagata issued an order to have the generals retreat. The Great Sage, seeing the gods retreat, took off his magical disguise and approached the Tathagata, shouting, "Who are you, a righteous person, daring to stop this fight?" The Tathagata replied, "I am the Venerable Shakyamuni from the Western Blissful World. I have heard of your rampant behavior, repeatedly violating the heavenly laws. You are just a small monkey demon, yet you dare to seize the Jade Emperor's position. Do you know that the Jade Emperor has practiced for 1,750 kalpas, each kalpa lasting 129,600 years? Just imagine how many years he has practiced to achieve this boundless great path?" The Great Sage responded, "As the saying goes, 'The emperor's term rotates, next year it will be my turn.' Although the Jade Emperor has practiced long, he should not hold this position forever. Tell him to move aside and give the heavenly palace to me, or I will make sure he will never have peace!" The Tathagata replied, "Apart from the arts of immortality and transformation, what skills do you have to occupy the heavenly realms?" The Great Sage replied, "I have many tricks! I can change into seventy-two forms and live eternally without aging. I can ride the somersault cloud, traveling 108,000 miles in a single leap. How could I not take the heavenly throne?" The Tathagata then said, "Let's make a bet. If you can leap out of my hand with a somersault, you win, and I will invite the Jade Emperor to live in the Western Blissful World. If you can't, you must quickly return to the lower realms and stop causing trouble."

The Great Sage, secretly amused, thought to himself: "This Tathagata is really naive! I, the Great Sage, can leap 108,000 miles with a somersault. His hand is only a foot wide; how could I not escape?" He said aloud, "If I leap out of your hand, can you still control the Jade Emperor?" The Buddha replied, "Yes, I can! Yes, I can!" He opened his hand, which was the size of a lotus leaf. The Great Sage put away his golden cudgel, leaped, and jumped into the Buddha's hand, saying, "Tathagata, watch closely. Here I go!" He performed a somersault and flew far away. Suddenly, he saw five red meat-like pillars blocking his path, and he realized he had reached the end. He thought, "I’ll leave a mark here, in case the Tathagata tries to cheat me." He plucked a hair from his body and turned it into an ink brush, writing on one of the pillars: "The Great Sage, King of Heaven, was here." After writing, he urinated beneath the first pillar, leapt back, and flew toward the Tathagata, saying, "Tathagata, I flew to the end of the heavens and returned. Now tell the Jade Emperor to give me the heavenly palace."

The Tathagata scolded, "You mischievous monkey, don't be so pleased. You haven’t left my hand yet!" The Great Sage replied, "I reached the end of the heavens and saw five red meat-like pillars. I left a mark there. Are you brave enough to check?" The Tathagata replied, "No need to check, look here." He opened his hand, and the Great Sage saw that the words "The Great Sage, King of Heaven, was here" were written on the Buddha’s middle finger. He also smelled the stench of urine from the Buddha's fingers. The Great Sage was astonished, realizing that the Buddha had a divine foresight. The Great Sage was about to leap out again but was unexpectedly pushed out of the West Heavenly Gate. The Buddha then turned his five fingers into the five mountains of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, pressing the Great Sage down gently, trapping him beneath the Five Elements Mountain.

When the Jade Emperor heard that the Great Sage had been subdued, he was overjoyed and summoned the Buddha and the two venerables into the Lingxiao Hall. The gods all bowed in thanks to the Buddha for subduing the monkey demon. Meanwhile, the Jade Emperor ordered a great feast to celebrate the subjugation of the Great Sage, calling it the "Heavenly Peace Conference." Just as they were celebrating, a patrol officer arrived to report, "The Great Sage has poked his head out!" The gods were startled, but the Buddha waved his hand and said, "It’s no problem." He then took a notice and handed it to Anshuo, instructing him to affix it to the Five Elements Mountain. Anshuo did so, and as soon as the notice was posted, the mountain seemed to grow roots, trapping the Great Sage’s hand. He could no longer move.

The Tathagata then took his leave from the Jade Emperor and the gods, accompanied by the two venerables. They went out of the heavenly gate, and the Buddha, feeling a moment of compassion, recited a mantra to summon the land gods and the Five Directions Gods. He instructed them to watch over the Great Sage, feed him iron pellets if he was hungry, and give him molten copper juice if he was thirsty, until his disaster was over and someone came to rescue him.

One day, the Buddha spoke to the assembly: "There are four great continents in the world, and the beings in each differ in their good and evil. Especially in the Southern Continent, people are greedy, indulging in pleasure, engaging in conflict and violence. I have here the true Buddhist scriptures, which can guide people toward goodness. The three collections, the Buddhist texts, will be an essential path to cultivation. I originally planned to send them to the East, but I fear that the people there are too ignorant to understand the deeper meaning of my teachings. Therefore, I need someone powerful to journey to the East, find a good soul, and bring back the scriptures to spread them to the people." Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva responded, "I am willing to go to the East and find someone to take the scriptures." The Buddha was pleased, saying, "Only you, Avalokiteshvara, with your great powers, can go. The journey will be full of hardships, but I will give you five treasures."

The Bodhisattva, with the two venerables, left for the East, encountering the demoted Marshal of the Curtain and the Heavenly Pig-General along the way. The Bodhisattva advised them to turn to goodness, giving them the names Sha Wujing and Zhu Wuneng. Later, in the Eagle Cry Gorge, they encountered the suffering son of the Dragon King of the West Sea, a white dragon. The Bodhisattva interceded, saving the dragon, who agreed to accompany the scriptures-seeker as a mount.

One day, the party arrived at the Two Realms Mountain and saw brilliant golden light and auspicious clouds. The Great Sage inquired, "Master, what is the source of this light?" The Bodhisattva replied, "That is the Five Elements Mountain. Do you see the 'seal' placed there by the Tathagata?" The Great Sage, seeing the words of the seal, sighed deeply and said, "The Great Sage who caused the havoc in the Heavenly Palace is trapped here."