Monkey King present in work Journey to the West
The Monkey King, also known as Sun Wukong in Mandarin Chinese (traditional Chinese: 孫悟空; simplified Chinese: 孙悟空), best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West (traditional Chinese: 西遊記; simplified Chinese: 西游记) and many later stories and adaptations. In said novel, Sun Wukong is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices. After rebelling against heaven, he is imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha. After five hundred years, he accompanies the monk Tang Sanzang (唐三藏) riding on White Dragon Horse and two other disciples, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, on a journey to obtain Buddhist sutras from the West (India), where Buddha and his followers dwell.
Sun Wukong possesses many abilities. He has amazing strength and is able to support the weight of two heaven mountains on his shoulders while running "with the speed of a meteor". He is extremely fast, able to travel 108,000 li (54,000 km, 34,000 mi) in one somersault. He has vast memorization skills and can remember every monkey ever born. As king of the monkeys it is his duty to keep track of and protect every monkey. Sun Wukong also acquires the 72 Earthly Transformations, which allow him to access 72 unique powers, including the ability to transform into animals and objects. He is a skilled fighter, capable of defeating the best warriors of heaven. His hair has magical properties, capable of making copies of himself or transforming into various weapons, animals and other things. He also shows partial weather manipulation skills and can stop people in place with fixing magic.History
As one of the most enduring Chinese literary characters, the Monkey King has a varied and highly debated background and colorful cultural history. His inspiration might have come from an amalgam of influences. 
One source for inspiration came from differing ways gibbons were worshipped during the Chinese Chu kingdom (700–223 BC), and various legends about gibbons and monkeys in Chu and its successors. These legends and religious practices, alongside doctrine from Taoist organizations that reinforced them and combined elements from all five kinds of traditional religious Taoism, gave rise to stories and art motifs during the Han dynasty, eventually contributing to the Monkey King figure.Some believe the association with Xuanzang is based on the first disciple of Xuanzang, Shi Banto.Hu Shih first suggested that Wu Cheng'en was possibly influenced by the Hindu deity Hanuman from the Ramayana in his depictions of the Monkey King, via stories passed by Buddhists who traveled to China. However, others such as Lu Xun point out there is no proof that the Ramayana has been translated into Chinese or was accessible to Wu Cheng'en. Instead, Lu Xun suggested the 9th Century Chinese deity Wuzhiqi, who appears as a sibling of Sun Wukong in older Yuan Dynasty stories, as another potential inspiration.Sun Wukong may have also been influenced by local folk religion from Fuzhou province, where monkey gods were worshipped long before the novel. This included the three Monkey Saints of Lin Shui Palace, who were once fiends, who were subdued by the goddess Chen Jinggu, the Empress Lin Shui. The three were Dan Xia Da Sheng (丹霞大聖), the Red Face Monkey Sage, Tong Tian Da Sheng (通天大聖), the Black Face Monkey Sage, and Shuang Shuang San Lang (爽爽三聖), the White Face Monkey Sage. The two traditional mainstream religions practiced in Fuzhou are Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism. Traditionally, many people practice both religions simultaneously. However, the roots of local religion dated back many years before institutionalization of these traditions.These diverse religions embodied elements such as gods and doctrines from different provincial folk religions and cultures, such as totem worship and traditional legends. Though there are primarily two main religions in China, since it is so big, different folk stories will vary from towns, cities, and provinces with their own myths about different deities. Sun Wukong's religious status in Buddhism is often denied by Buddhist monks both Chinese and non-Chinese alike, but is very welcomed by the general public, spreading its name around the world and establishing itself as a cultural icon.Background
Birth and early life of Sun Wukong
According to Journey to the West, the Monkey King is born from a strong magic stone that sits atop the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. This stone is no ordinary stone, however, because it receives the nurture of heaven (yang), which possesses a positive nature, and earth (yin), which possesses a negative nature, and thus is able to produce living beings (according to Taoist philosophies). The stone develops a magic womb, which bursts open one day to produce a stone egg about the size of a ball.
When the wind blows on the egg, it turns into a stone monkey that can already crawl and walk. As his eyes move, two beams of golden light shoot toward the Jade palace and startle the Jade Emperor. When he sees the light he orders two of his officers to investigate. They report the stone monkey, and that the light is dying down as the monkey eats and drinks. The Jade Emperor believes him to be nothing special.
On the mountain, the monkey joins a group of other wild monkeys. After playing, the monkeys regularly bathe in a stream.  One day, they decide to seek the source of the stream and climb the mountain to a waterfall. They declare that whoever goes through the waterfall, finds the stream's source, and comes out again will become their king. The stone monkey volunteers and jumps into the waterfall.
He finds a large iron bridge over rushing water, across which is a cave. He persuades the other monkeys to jump in also, and they make it into their home. Sun Wukong then reminds them of their prior declaration, so they declare him their king. He takes the throne and calls himself Handsome Monkey King (美猴王). This happiness does not last. When one of his older monkey friends dies, the Monkey King is very upset.  He decides to strike out from his island on a self-made raft, in search of an Immortal to teach him how to beat death.
He comes ashore and wanders around.  Humans see him and flee, uncertain of his ape-like appearance.  He takes some clothes that were left out to dry, and continues on foot.  His face hidden by a hood, he travels through towns and sees many examples of human degeneracy and vice.  He continues on and into a forest.  The Monkey King hears a Woodcutter singing an interesting song, and when questioning the Woodcutter about the origin he learns it was taught to the Woodcutter by an Immortal who resides in the forest.
The Monkey King comes to the entrance of a temple in which a magical taoist martial artist named Puti Zushi resides. Puti Zushi initially refuses to let him in, but the Monkey King refuses to leave, and waits outside the entrance for  months. Puti Zushi is impressed by the Monkey King's persistence, and allows him to enter. He accepts the Monkey King as a student and teaches him advanced Taoist practices, including the Way of Immortality, which he tells Sun Wukong it was his destiny to know. He later advises Sun Wukong never to needlessly show off his skills, because others might ask him to teach them, and if he does teach them, they may go on to cause trouble, but if he doesn't teach them, they will resent him for it.  He then forbids Sun Wukong from ever revealing who it was that taught him, and the loyal Monkey King promises never to reveal the identity of his Master. With that, Sun Wukong wakes up to find himself back in the forest, realizing that the many years he spent learning the Way had taken place in some form of compressed time trance.  Later, whenever Sun Wukong is asked about his powers and skills, he honestly replies that he learned everything in his dreams.
After the Monkey King returns, he learns that a demon called the Demon King of Confusion is kidnapping the monkeys of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit to use as slaves. He subsequently kills the demon and his minions, saving the kidnapped monkeys. He also brings the entire weapon storage of a nearby country for his subjects, but is unable to find a weapon fit for himself. Upon hearing that Dragon Kings possess many treasures, he travels the oceans and finds the palace of a Dragon King.  At the entrance Sun Wukong asks for an introduction, but the Dragon King Ao Guang tells his guards to turn him away. Sun Wukong barges in any way, brushing off protests from the guards, insisting the Dragon King must be confused to turn away a fellow King.  Inside he introduces himself and encourages the Dragon King to give him a weapon.  Quickly realizing Sun Wukong is quite formidable, the Dragon King feigns willingness and hospitality, ordering his underlings to bring out weapon after weapon.  Sun Wukong tests each weapon, but none are robust enough for the Monkey King, who is unhappy at the situation.  Sun Wukong then acquires the golden-banded staff Ruyi Jingu Bang/Ding Hai Shen Zhen (如意金箍棒/定海神针), the stabilizer of the Four Seas and a treasure of Ao Guang, the dragon-king of the Eastern Seas. The Monkey King is the only creature strong enough to wield the staff-like weapon and there is an instant affinity between them. The golden-banded staff can change its size, elongate, fly, and attack opponents according to its master's will. It weighs 13,500  jīn  or 7960 kg. When not wielding the weapon, the Monkey King shrinks it down to the size of a sewing needle and stores it in his ear.
In addition to taking the magical staff, the Monkey King encourages the Dragon King to gift him attire fit for a King.  The Dragon King calls upon the other major Dragon Kings for assistance to source this for Sun Wukong, and they arrive and give Sun Wukong a golden chain mail shirt (鎖子黃金甲), a phoenix-feather cap (鳳翅紫金冠 Fèngchìzǐjinguān), and cloud-walking boots (藕絲步雲履 Ǒusībùyúnlǚ). The phoenix-feather cap was one of the treasures of the dragon kings, a circlet of red gold adorned with phoenix feathers. Traditionally, it is depicted as a metal circlet with two striped feathers attached to the front, presumably the signature plumage of the Fenghuang or Chinese phoenix.  Sun Wukong thanks the Dragon Kings and leaves happy.
Upon his return to the mountain, Wukong demonstrates the new weapon to his monkey tribe and draws the attention of other beastly powers, who seek to ally with him. He forms a fraternity, the Seven Sages (七聖), with the Bull Demon King (牛魔王), the Saurian Demon King (蛟魔王), the Single-horned Demon King (单角魔王), the Roc Demon King (鵬魔王), the Lion Spirit King (獅狔王), the Macaque Spirit King (獼猴王)--not to be mistaken for the Six Eared Macaque--and the snub-nosed monkey Spirit King (禺狨王).  
The Monkey King, now sentenced to death for extorting the Dragon Kings, then defies Hell's attempt to collect his soul. He wipes his name out of the Book of Life and Death, a collection of books claimed to have every name of every mortal alive and the ability to manipulate lifespan, along with the names of all monkeys known to him. The Dragon Kings and the Kings of Hell report him once again to the Jade Emperor. The heavenly army uses everything, even trying to erase him from existence altogether, but ultimately fail.Disciple to Tang Sanzang
Five hundred years later, the Bodhisattva Guanyin searches for disciples to protect a pilgrim on a journey to the West to retrieve the Buddhist sutras. In the hearing of this, the Monkey King offers to serve the pilgrim, Tang Sanzang, a monk of the Tang dynasty, in exchange for his freedom after the pilgrimage is complete. Understanding Sun Wukong will be difficult to control, Guanyin gives Tang Sanzang a gift from the Buddha: a magical circlet which, once the Monkey King is tricked into putting it on, can never be removed. When Tang Sanzang chants a certain sutra, the band will tighten and cause an unbearable headache. Guanyin gives the Monkey King three special hairs, only to be used in dire emergencies. Under Tang Sanzang's supervision, the Monkey King is allowed to journey to the West.
Throughout the novel, the Monkey King faithfully helps Tang Sanzang on his journey to India. They are joined by "Pigsy" (猪八戒 Zhū Bājiè) and "Sandy" (沙悟浄 Shā Wùjìng), both of whom accompany the priest to atone for their previous crimes. Tang Sanzang's safety is constantly under threat from demons and other supernatural beings, as well as bandits, as they believe that by eating Tang Sanzang's flesh, one will obtain immortality and great power. The Monkey King often acts as Tang Sanzang's bodyguard to combat these threats. The group encounters a series of eighty-one tribulations before accomplishing their mission and returning safely to China. During the journey, the Monkey King learns about virtues and the teachings of Buddhism. There, the Monkey King attains Buddhahood, becoming the "Victorious Fighting Buddha" (鬥戰勝佛 Dòu-zhànshèng-fó), for his service and strength. We also see that Monkey king also knows about the fate of Tang Sangzang and also of his knowledge in many other things, as at three occasions he knew that the monk was supposed to suffer and he also cures a king who had been ill for many years, and he knows properties of herbs no one knew of.In Xiyoubu
The brief satirical novel Xiyoubu (西遊補, "Supplement to the Journey to the West," c. 1640) follows Sun as he is trapped in a magical dream world created by the Qing Fish Demon, the embodiment of desire (情, qing). Sun travels back and forth through time, during which he serves as the adjunct King of Hell and judges the soul of the recently dead traitor Qin Hui during the Song dynasty, takes on the appearance of a beautiful concubine and causes the downfall of the Qin dynasty, and faces King Paramita, one of his five sons born to the demoness Princess Iron Fan, on the battlefield during the Tang dynasty. The events of the Xiyoubu take place between the end of chapter 61 and the beginning of chapter 62 of Journey to the West. The author, Tong Yue (童說), wrote the book because he wanted to create an opponent—in this case, desire-itself—that Sun could not defeat with his great strength and martial skill.
featured in work appears in work mentioned in work depicted in work portrayed in work