Chapter 2

Patriarch Subodhi transfers to Monkey the secret formulas of the immortals

## Name

### English

Fully awoke to Bodhi’s wondrous truths; He cuts off Māra, returns to the root, and joins Primal Spirit

### Pinyin

*Wù chè pútí zhēn miàolǐ, duàn mó guī běn hé yuánshén*

## Characteristics

### Arc

Monkey King Arc

**Fully awoke to Bodhi’s wondrous truths; He cuts off Māra, returns to the root, and joins Primal Spirit** (悟徹菩提真妙理，斷魔歸本合元神, *Wù chè pútí zhēn miàolǐ, duàn mó guī běn hé yuánshén*?) is the second chapter of *Journey to the West*.

## Summary

After Sun Wukong studies under Puti Zushi for 6-7 years, he finally starts cultivating the immortality he has been craving to learn as well as many of his later signature abilities. After he returns, he tests his abilities on the Demon King of Confusion and gives the surname "Sun" to the rest of his fellow monkeys.

## Synopsis

After Sun Wukong officially started training under Puti Zushi, he "studied language and deportment under his spiritual elder brothers, expounded the scriptures, discussed the Way, practiced calligraphy, and burnt incense. When he had any spare time he would sweep the grounds, dig the vegetable patch, grow flowers, tend trees, look for kindling, light the fire, carry water, and fetch soy." Thus, seven years slipped by without Monkey noticing. At one of the classes where Puti Zushi explained the Great Way, Monkey started leaping around like a madman. Puti Zushi then asked him how long he has been here. Monkey only knew he had seven good feasts of peach on the Tender Peach Hill since coming here, thus making it about seven years. The patriarch deemed it about time that Monkey started learning a sort of Way.

At first, Monkey was not picky, willing to learn anything from the 360 side-entrances to the Way as long as there was a whiff of Way to it. But when Puti Zushi offered to teach him the Way of Magic Arts, the Way of Sects, the Way of Silence, and the Way of Action, Monkey rejected them all since none of them lead to immortality. This infuriated the patriarch and he scolded Monkey for it, hitting him three times on the head with his cane and exiting the hall afterward. Although the other students were angry at Monkey's antic, Monkey was secretly happy since he understood the cryptic message the patriarch gave him before he left. He prepared for it for the rest of the day. Long after nightfall, when he reckoned it to be third watch, he slipped away from his sleeping spot and snuck into Puti Zushi's room, where he patiently waited while kneeling. When Puti Zushi woke up, he was surprised to see Monkey there and asked him why he came. Monkey explained he understood the cryptic message Puti Zushi gave him yesterday and begged him to teach him the way to immortality. Pleased, the patriarch revealed it to him and him only.

For the three following years, Monkey kept cultivating his immortality until he felt his source was gradually getting stronger. But not all was well, as during a lesson, the patriarch informed him about the Three Disasters that will be sent by the Heavens to destroy Monkey who cultivated immortality: it involved a thunderbolt, a "hidden fire," and a "monster wind," respectively taking place once every 500 years after having cultivated immortality. To avoid them, Subhuti offered to teach him either the 36 Heavenly Transformations or the 72 Earthly Transformations, of which Monkey chose the latter. Monkey kept practicing until he mastered all 72, after which Puti Zushi taught him another essential ability: the Cloud Somersault, with which one could travel 60,000 miles with one simple somersault. From then on he was free from all restraint and he enjoyed the delights of immortality, drifting around as he pleased. But when he wanted to show off his transformations at the requests of his senior disciples, the patriarch discovered it and was not pleased. He saw this as Monkey abusing his spirit and skills and decided he must return to where he came from to preserve his life. Puti Zushi also warned him not to mention any connection with him, less he banish his soul to the Ninth Darkness. After promising to never reveal Puti Zushi was his master, Monkey left the cave on a Somersault Cloud, reaching Flowers and Fruit Mountain within two hours.

After 20 long years, Monkey finally returned to his home, now much stronger, wiser, and immortal. But when he landed, he found out from his fellow monkeys that, in the time he was gone, a Demon occupied the Water Curtain Cave and kidnapped many of the young monkeys, calling himself the Demon King of Confusion. Monkey was furious and decided to punish him, spotting the demon's lair, the "Water Belly Cave," in a mountain toward the North. Some demon underlings of the demon king saw Monkey and hurriedly reported it to the king. Even though Monkey was unarmed, the demon king appeared before him fully armed and armored. Still, the demon king underestimated Monkey by his size and threw a punch at him. Monkey dodged it and hit the demon king in the ribs, kicked his backside, and smashed several of his joints. The demon king seized his steel sword that was as big as a plank, and swung it at Monkey's skull. After dodging it, Monkey used one of his spells he learned. He popped one of his hairs in his mouth, chewed it up, blew it into the air, and transformed it into hundreds of little monkeys. The sheer amount of monkeys overwhelmed the demon king, beating him to a pulp until Monkey grabbed the demon's sword and split his head into two with it.

After the fight, Monkey led the other monkeys in exterminating the remaining demons and rescued all the captive monkeys. Monkey used a spell to instantly transport them back on a hurricane. The horde of monkeys were overjoyed to have their king and the captive young monkeys back again. After Monkey told them how he learned all his skills, not mentioning Subhuti's name in the process, he decided to pass the surname "Sun" to his fellow monkeys, thus uniting all the monkeys on the mountain under one.

## Characters

* Sun Wukong
* Puti Zushi
* Demon King of Confusion

## Trivia

* When describing the various ways he offered to teach Monkey, Puti Zushi used many short sayings to answer that these ways did not lead (directly) to immortality.
	+ He found attempting to reach immortality by learning the Way of Sects like "putting a pillar in the wall (壁里安柱 *Bili anzhu*)," because "when a man builds a house and wants to make it strong he puts a pillar in the wall. But when the day comes for his mansion to collapse the pillar is bound to rot."
	+ He found attempting to reach immortality by learning the Way of Silence like "building the top of a kiln with sun-dried bricks," because "If you build the top of a kiln with sun−dried bricks they may make it look all right, but if they have not been hardened with fire and water, then they will crumble away in the first heavy rainstorm."
	+ He found attempting to reach immortality by learning the Way of Action like "lifting the moon out of water (水中捞月 *Shuizhong laoyue*)," because "The moon is in the sky and only its reflection is in the water. Although you can see it there, you will try in vain to lift it out."
	+ Anthony Yu uses the translation "(technical) jargon" for the sayings.

* The cryptic message the Patriarch gave Monkey was: When the Patriarch hit him three times he had been telling him to pay attention at the third watch; and when he went inside with his hands behind his back and shut the main door he had told the Monkey King to go in through the back door and be taught the Way in secret.
	+ According to Puti Zushi, only something born of Heaven and Earth can understand his cryptic message.

* The Three Disasters Puti Zushi mentioned did not happen themselves, but could have come in other forms:
	+ The first disaster, a thunderbolt, could have come in the form of multiple thunderbolts striking Monkey during his time on Heaven's execution pole.
	+ The second disaster, the "hidden fire," could have come in the form of the Samadhi Flame, either inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace, or used by Red Boy.
	+ The third disaster, the "monster wind," could have come in the form of the Samadhi Wind used by the Yellow Wind Demon, or the wind blown by Princess Iron Fan.
	+ However, it is also plausible the second and third disaster were still set to happen since time for only one disaster went by while Monkey was stuck under the Five Finger Mountain. But they could have also been called off after Monkey went on his penance journey and ascended to Buddhahood and obtained true immortality.