Other names by which Sun Hou-tzu is referred to are:  Sun Hsing-che, Sun Wu-k’ung, Mei Hou-wang, Ch’i-t’ien Ta Sheng, and Pi-ma Wen, the last-mentioned being a title which caused him annoyance by recalling the derisive dignity conferred upon him by Yue Huang. [34] Throughout the remainder of this chapter Sun Hou-tzu will be shortly referred to as ‘Sun.’

Beyond the seas, in the Eastern continent, in the kingdom of Ao-lai, is the mountain Hua-kuo Shan.  On the steep sides of this mountain there is a rocky point 36 feet 5 inches high and 24 feet in circumference.  At the very top an egg formed, and, fructified by the breath of the wind, gave birth to a stone monkey.  The newly-born saluted the four points of the horizon; from his eyes shone golden streaks of lightning, which filled the palace of the North Pole Star with light.  This light subsided as soon as he was able to take nourishment.

“To-day,” said Yue Huang to himself, “I am going to complete the wonderful diversity of the beings engendered by Heaven and earth.  This monkey will skip and gambol to the highest peaks of mountains, jump about in the waters, and, eating the fruit of the trees, will be the companion of the gibbon and the crane.  Like the deer he will pass his nights on the mountain slopes, and during the day will be seen leaping on their summits or in their caverns.  That will be the finest ornament of all for the mountains!”

The creature’s exploits soon caused him to be proclaimed king of the monkeys.  He then began to try to find some means of becoming immortal.  After travelling for eighteen years by land and sea he met the Immortal P’u-t’i Tsu-shih on the mountain Ling-t’ai-fang-ts’un.  During his travels the monkey had gradually acquired human attributes; his face remained always as it had been originally, but dressed in human apparel he began to be civilized.  His new master gave him the family name of Sun, and personal name of Wu-k’ung, ‘Discoverer of Secrets.’  He taught him how to fly through the air, and to change into seventy-two different forms.  With one leap he could cover 108,000 li (about 36,000 miles).

A Rod of Iron

Sun, after his return to Hua-kuo Shan, slew the demon Hun-shih Mo-wang, who had been molesting the monkeys during his long absence.  Then he organized his subjects into a regular army, 47,000 all told.  Thus the peace of the simian kingdom was assured.  As for himself, he could not find a weapon to suit him, and went to consult Ao Kuang, the Lung Wang, or Dragon-king of the Eastern Sea, about it.  It was from him that he obtained the formidable rod of iron, formerly planted in the ocean-bed by the Great Yue (Yue Wang) to regulate the level of the waters.  He pulled it out, and modified it to suit his tastes.  The two extremities he bound round with gold bands, and on it engraved the words:  ‘Gold-bound Wand of my Desires.’  This magic weapon could