Sha Wujing
Encyclopedia
Shā Wùjìng is one of the three disciples of Xuánzàng
in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West
, although versions of his character predate the Ming novel. In the novels, his background is the least developed of the pilgrims and he contributes the least to their efforts. He is called Sand or Sandy and is known as a "water buffalo" for his seemingly less developed intelligence in many English
versions of the story. His name is translated into Korean
as Sa Oh Jung, into Japanese
as Sha Gojō (sometimes Sha Gojyō, as jō is spelt in kana
as ji-yo-u), into Sino-Vietnamese as Sa Ngộ Tịnh.
He is also known as 沙僧 "Monk Sha", "Shā Sēng" in Mandarin Chinese, Sa Tăng in Sino-Vietnamese and Sua Jeng in Thai
.
, Wujing was originally a general
in Heaven
, more specifically a Curtain-Lifting General.(卷帘大将 juǎnlián dàjiàng) In a fit of rage, he destroyed a valuable vase
. Other sources mention that he did this unintentionally, and in the Journey to the West series, it was an accident. Nevertheless, he was punished by the Jade Emperor
, who had him struck 800 times with a rod and exiled to earth, where he was to be reincarnated
as a terrible man-eating sand demon. There, he lived in the Liúshā-hé
(流沙河, Lưu Sa Hà in Han-Vietnamese, "flowing-sand
river
", or "quicksand
-river", modern name Kaidu River
). Every day, seven flying swords sent from heaven would stab him in the chest before flying off as a punishment to him. As a result, he had to live in the river to avoid the punishment.
Wujing's appearance was rather grisly; he had a red beard and his head was partially bald; a necklace consisting of skulls made him even more terrible. He still carried the weapon he had in Heaven, a yuèyáchǎn
, a double-headed staff with a crescent-moon (yuèyá) blade at one end and a spade
(chǎn) at the other, with six xīzhàng
rings in the shovel part to denote its religious association. There is an interesting story about the necklace of skulls: An earlier group of nine monks on a pilgrimage west to fetch the scriptures met their end at the hands of Wujing. Despite their pleas for mercy, he devoured them, sucked the marrow from their bones, and threw their skulls into the river. However, unlike his other victims whose bone sank to the river bottom, the skulls of the monks floated. This fascinated and delighted Wujing, who strung them on a rope and played with them whenever he was bored.
Later, Guanyin, the Bodhisattva
of compassion, and her disciple Prince Moksa came searching for powerful bodyguards in preparation of Xuanzang's journey west. She recruited Wujing in exchange for some relief from his suffering. She then converted him and gave him his current name, Shā Wùjìng. His surname Shā ("sand") was taken from his river-home, while his Buddhist
name Wùjìng means "awakened to
purity" or "aware of purity". Finally, he was instructed to wait for a monk who would call for him. When Wujing does meet Xuanzang, he was mistaken for an enemy and attacked by Sun Wukong
and Zhu Bajie. Guanyin was forced to intervene for the sake of the journey.
After everything was cleared up, Wujing became the third disciple
of Xuanzang, who called him Shā-héshàng (沙和尚, i.e. the "sand priest"; a héshàng is a Buddhist monk or priest in change of a temple; in Japanese, oshō). Now, he was clad in a Buddhist
pilgrim's
robe and his skull-necklace was turned into a monk's
one. His appearance also changed; from now on he looked more like a human
, yet still ugly. During the Journey to the West, his swimming ability was quite useful. He always carried a small gourd which he could turn into a huge one to cross rivers. Wujing was actually a kind-hearted and obedient person and was very loyal to his master, among the three he was likely the most polite and the most logical. At the journey's end, Buddha transformed him into an arhat or luohan
known as the Golden-bodied Arhat (金身羅漢, Chinese: Jinshēn Luóhàn).
As the third disciple, even though his fighting skills are not as great as that of Wukong or Bajie, he is still a great warrior protecting Xuanzang and can use his intellect as well as his strength to beat the enemy. He knows only 18 forms of transformation and admits this as reported in the middle of the narrative.
called Daciensi Sanzang Fashi Zhuan (大慈恩寺三藏法師傳, A Biography of the Tripitaka-master of the Great Ci'en Monastery). According to the text, Xuanzang spilled his surplus of water while in the deserts near Dunhuang
. After several days without liquid, Xuanzang had a dream where a tall spirit wielding a halberd
chastised him for sleeping on such an important journey to get scriptures from India. He immediately woke up and got on his horse, which took off in a different direction than what he wanted to go. They finally came to an oasis with green grass and fresh water.
The Tang Sanzang ji (唐三藏记, Record of the Tang Monk Tripitaka), a book of unknown date appearing in a 11th century Japanese collection of tales known as Jōbodai shū (成菩堤集), states Xuanzang was magically provided food and drink by a Deva
while in the "Flowing Sands" (liusha, 流沙) desert. The compiler of the Jōbodai shū explained: “This is the reason for the name Spirit of the Deep Sands (Shensha shen, 深沙神).” After performing a pilgrimage to China in 838-839, the Japanese Buddhist monk Jōgyō (常晓) wrote a report which mentions Xuanzang’s fabled exchange with the deity, as well as equates Shensha shen with King Vaisravana
, one of the four cardinal protector gods
of Buddhism. Therefore, the Tang Sanzang ji most likely hails from the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The Jōbodai shū also mentions the god manifested itself before the famous Chinese Buddhist monk Faxian
(c. 4th cen.) during his pilgrimage to India. Shensha shen tells him: “I am manifested in an aspect of fury. My head is like a crimson bowl. My two hands are like the nets of heaven and earth. From my neck hang the heads of seven demons. About my limbs are eight serpents, and two demon heads seem to engulf my (nether-) limbs…”
By the compiling of the “Kōzanji version” (高山记, 13th cen.), the earliest known edition of Journey to the West, Shensha shen was transformed into a blood thirsty demon who had continuously eaten Xuanzang’s past reincarnations. The demon tells him: “Slung here from my neck are the dry bones from when I twice before devoured you, monk!” Shensha Shen only helps him to pass over the deep sands with the aid of a magic golden bridge after Xuanzang threatens him with heavenly retribution.
As can be seen, the complete version of Journey to the West anonymously published in 1592 borrowed liberally from tales concerning Shensha shen. The character of Sha Wujing was given his monstrous appearance and dress. The skulls of the nine Buddhist monks hanging from his head recalls both the demon skulls worn by the spirit, and the skulls of Xuanzang's past incarnations worn by his wrathful counterpart from the Kōzanji version. His home of the "Flowing Sands River" (Liusha he 流沙河) is derived from the "Flowing Sands" desert inhabited by Shensha shen. Sha Wujing also aids Xuanzang pass over the Flowing Sands River by tying his nine skulls into a makeshift raft.
Xuanzang (fictional character)
The fictional character Xuanzang is a central character of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West.For most of the novel he is known as Táng-sānzàng, the title Sānzàng referring to his mission to seek the Sānzàngjīng, the "Three Collections of Scriptures"...
in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West
Journey to the West
Journey to the West is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It was written by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century. In English-speaking countries, the tale is also often known simply as Monkey. This was one title used for a popular, abridged translation by Arthur Waley...
, although versions of his character predate the Ming novel. In the novels, his background is the least developed of the pilgrims and he contributes the least to their efforts. He is called Sand or Sandy and is known as a "water buffalo" for his seemingly less developed intelligence in many English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
versions of the story. His name is translated into Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
as Sa Oh Jung, into Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
as Sha Gojō (sometimes Sha Gojyō, as jō is spelt in kana
Kana
Kana are the syllabic Japanese scripts, as opposed to the logographic Chinese characters known in Japan as kanji and the Roman alphabet known as rōmaji...
as ji-yo-u), into Sino-Vietnamese as Sa Ngộ Tịnh.
He is also known as 沙僧 "Monk Sha", "Shā Sēng" in Mandarin Chinese, Sa Tăng in Sino-Vietnamese and Sua Jeng in Thai
Thai language
Thai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
.
Overview
Like Zhu BajieZhu Bajie
Zhu Bajie, also named Zhu Wuneng, is one of the three helpers of Xuanzang in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. He is called "Pigsy" or "Pig" in many English versions of the story....
, Wujing was originally a general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
in Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, more specifically a Curtain-Lifting General.(卷帘大将 juǎnlián dàjiàng) In a fit of rage, he destroyed a valuable vase
Vase
The vase is an open container, often used to hold cut flowers. It can be made from a number of materials including ceramics and glass. The vase is often decorated and thus used to extend the beauty of its contents....
. Other sources mention that he did this unintentionally, and in the Journey to the West series, it was an accident. Nevertheless, he was punished by the Jade Emperor
Jade Emperor
The Jade Emperor in Chinese folk culture, is the ruler of Heaven and all realms of existence below including that of Man and Hell, according to a version of Taoist mythology. He is one of the most important gods of the Chinese traditional religion pantheon...
, who had him struck 800 times with a rod and exiled to earth, where he was to be reincarnated
Reincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
as a terrible man-eating sand demon. There, he lived in the Liúshā-hé
Kaidu River
The Kaidu River , also known under its ancient name Liusha River or Chaidu-gol is a river in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China and an important source of water for the region....
(流沙河, Lưu Sa Hà in Han-Vietnamese, "flowing-sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
", or "quicksand
Quicksand
Quicksand is a colloid hydrogel consisting of fine granular matter , clay, and water.Water circulation underground can focus in an area with the optimal mixture of fine sands and other materials such as clay. The water moves up and then down slowly in a convection-like manner throughout a column...
-river", modern name Kaidu River
Kaidu River
The Kaidu River , also known under its ancient name Liusha River or Chaidu-gol is a river in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China and an important source of water for the region....
). Every day, seven flying swords sent from heaven would stab him in the chest before flying off as a punishment to him. As a result, he had to live in the river to avoid the punishment.
Wujing's appearance was rather grisly; he had a red beard and his head was partially bald; a necklace consisting of skulls made him even more terrible. He still carried the weapon he had in Heaven, a yuèyáchǎn
Monk's Spade
A monk's spade A monk's spade A monk's spade (Traditional Chinese: 月牙鏟; Simplified Chinese: 月牙铲; pinyin: yuèyáchǎn; literally "Crescent Moon Spade"; also, Traditional Chinese: 禪仗; Simplified Chinese: 禅仗; pinyin: chánzhàng; literally, "Zen Weapon"...
, a double-headed staff with a crescent-moon (yuèyá) blade at one end and a spade
Spade
A spade is a tool designed primarily for the purpose of digging or removing earth. Early spades were made of riven wood. After the art of metalworking was discovered, spades were made with sharper tips of metal. Before the advent of metal spades manual labor was less efficient at moving earth,...
(chǎn) at the other, with six xīzhàng
Shakujo
A khakkhara is a Buddhist ringed staff used primarily in prayer or as a weapon, that originates from India. The jingling of the staff's rings is used to warn small sentient beings to move from the carrier's path and avoid being accidentally trodden on...
rings in the shovel part to denote its religious association. There is an interesting story about the necklace of skulls: An earlier group of nine monks on a pilgrimage west to fetch the scriptures met their end at the hands of Wujing. Despite their pleas for mercy, he devoured them, sucked the marrow from their bones, and threw their skulls into the river. However, unlike his other victims whose bone sank to the river bottom, the skulls of the monks floated. This fascinated and delighted Wujing, who strung them on a rope and played with them whenever he was bored.
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...
of compassion, and her disciple Prince Moksa came searching for powerful bodyguards in preparation of Xuanzang's journey west. She recruited Wujing in exchange for some relief from his suffering. She then converted him and gave him his current name, Shā Wùjìng. His surname Shā ("sand") was taken from his river-home, while his Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
name Wùjìng means "awakened to
Satori
is a Japanese Buddhist term for enlightenment that literally means "understanding". In the Zen Buddhist tradition, satori refers to a flash of sudden awareness, or individual enlightenment, and is considered a "first step" or embarkation toward nirvana....
purity" or "aware of purity". Finally, he was instructed to wait for a monk who would call for him. When Wujing does meet Xuanzang, he was mistaken for an enemy and attacked by Sun Wukong
Sun Wukong
Sun Wukong , also known as the Monkey King is a main character in the classical Chinese epic novel Journey to the West . In the novel, he is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices...
and Zhu Bajie. Guanyin was forced to intervene for the sake of the journey.
After everything was cleared up, Wujing became the third disciple
Sravaka
Shravaka or Śrāvaka or Sāvaka means "hearer" or, more generally, "disciple".This term is used by both Buddhists and Jains. In Jainism, a shravaka is any lay Jain...
of Xuanzang, who called him Shā-héshàng (沙和尚, i.e. the "sand priest"; a héshàng is a Buddhist monk or priest in change of a temple; in Japanese, oshō). Now, he was clad in a Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
pilgrim's
Pilgrim
A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...
robe and his skull-necklace was turned into a monk's
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
one. His appearance also changed; from now on he looked more like a human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
, yet still ugly. During the Journey to the West, his swimming ability was quite useful. He always carried a small gourd which he could turn into a huge one to cross rivers. Wujing was actually a kind-hearted and obedient person and was very loyal to his master, among the three he was likely the most polite and the most logical. At the journey's end, Buddha transformed him into an arhat or luohan
Luohan
Luohan can mean:* Luóhàn, the Chinese word for arhat, in Buddhism* Luohan or flowerhorn, a cichlid fish hybrid* Luohan , named after the Chinese word for arhat...
known as the Golden-bodied Arhat (金身羅漢, Chinese: Jinshēn Luóhàn).
As the third disciple, even though his fighting skills are not as great as that of Wukong or Bajie, he is still a great warrior protecting Xuanzang and can use his intellect as well as his strength to beat the enemy. He knows only 18 forms of transformation and admits this as reported in the middle of the narrative.
Character origins
Sha Wujing is the end result of embellishing a supernatural figure mentioned in Monk Hui Li's (慧立) 7th century account of the historical XuanzangXuanzang
Xuanzang was a famous Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator who described the interaction between China and India in the early Tang period...
called Daciensi Sanzang Fashi Zhuan (大慈恩寺三藏法師傳, A Biography of the Tripitaka-master of the Great Ci'en Monastery). According to the text, Xuanzang spilled his surplus of water while in the deserts near Dunhuang
Dunhuang
Dunhuang is a city in northwestern Gansu province, Western China. It was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road. It was also known at times as Shāzhōu , or 'City of Sands', a name still used today...
. After several days without liquid, Xuanzang had a dream where a tall spirit wielding a halberd
Ji (halberd)
The ji , the Chinese halberd, was used as a military weapon in one form or another from at least as early as the Shang dynasty until the end of the Qing dynasty. They are still used for training purposes by many Chinese martial arts...
chastised him for sleeping on such an important journey to get scriptures from India. He immediately woke up and got on his horse, which took off in a different direction than what he wanted to go. They finally came to an oasis with green grass and fresh water.
The Tang Sanzang ji (唐三藏记, Record of the Tang Monk Tripitaka), a book of unknown date appearing in a 11th century Japanese collection of tales known as Jōbodai shū (成菩堤集), states Xuanzang was magically provided food and drink by a Deva
Deva (Buddhism)
A deva in Buddhism is one of many different types of non-human beings who share the characteristics of being more powerful, longer-lived, and, in general, living more contentedly than the average human being....
while in the "Flowing Sands" (liusha, 流沙) desert. The compiler of the Jōbodai shū explained: “This is the reason for the name Spirit of the Deep Sands (Shensha shen, 深沙神).” After performing a pilgrimage to China in 838-839, the Japanese Buddhist monk Jōgyō (常晓) wrote a report which mentions Xuanzang’s fabled exchange with the deity, as well as equates Shensha shen with King Vaisravana
Vaisravana
' or ' also known as Jambhala in Tibet and Bishamonten in Japan is the name of the chief of the Four Heavenly Kings and an important figure in Buddhist mythology.-Names:...
, one of the four cardinal protector gods
Four Heavenly Kings
In the Buddhist faith, the Four Heavenly Kings are four gods, each of whom watches over one cardinal direction of the world.The Kings are collectively named as follows:...
of Buddhism. Therefore, the Tang Sanzang ji most likely hails from the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The Jōbodai shū also mentions the god manifested itself before the famous Chinese Buddhist monk Faxian
Faxian
Faxian was a Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled to India, Sri Lanka and Kapilavastu in today's Nepal between 399 and 412 to acquire Buddhist scriptures...
(c. 4th cen.) during his pilgrimage to India. Shensha shen tells him: “I am manifested in an aspect of fury. My head is like a crimson bowl. My two hands are like the nets of heaven and earth. From my neck hang the heads of seven demons. About my limbs are eight serpents, and two demon heads seem to engulf my (nether-) limbs…”
By the compiling of the “Kōzanji version” (高山记, 13th cen.), the earliest known edition of Journey to the West, Shensha shen was transformed into a blood thirsty demon who had continuously eaten Xuanzang’s past reincarnations. The demon tells him: “Slung here from my neck are the dry bones from when I twice before devoured you, monk!” Shensha Shen only helps him to pass over the deep sands with the aid of a magic golden bridge after Xuanzang threatens him with heavenly retribution.
As can be seen, the complete version of Journey to the West anonymously published in 1592 borrowed liberally from tales concerning Shensha shen. The character of Sha Wujing was given his monstrous appearance and dress. The skulls of the nine Buddhist monks hanging from his head recalls both the demon skulls worn by the spirit, and the skulls of Xuanzang's past incarnations worn by his wrathful counterpart from the Kōzanji version. His home of the "Flowing Sands River" (Liusha he 流沙河) is derived from the "Flowing Sands" desert inhabited by Shensha shen. Sha Wujing also aids Xuanzang pass over the Flowing Sands River by tying his nine skulls into a makeshift raft.