Of the whole Rubin Museum, my favorite part was seeing the shrine room exhibit. Although it was interesting to see the various Buddha statues and paintings throughout the galleries, getting to see the religious context behind the art made it more real. I am not very familiar with Buddhism, so being in that room helped me to better understand what kind of religious practices members of the community participated in.  The entire room felt very peaceful and serene with the dimmed candle lighting, dark wooden furniture, and pillow seating. In addition, the chanting music created a very holy, serious atmosphere. I very much appreciated all of the time and detail put into creating the different ornate elements (i.e. the pillars, applique craft, and wall art).

– Julia-Zoe Hung

Group members: Nicole, Sara and Franklin

Chapter 16, page 152: “Soon monkey was after him, crying ‘where are you off to? If you go up to heaven I will follow you to the summit of the Pole Star, and if you go down into the earth I will follow you to the deepest pit of hell”

In this chapter monkey uses his magic to look like the monster, the beast that has claimed the youngest daughter of the farmer, bride. The monster, Pigsy, comes home and talks to monkey while Pigsy thinks it is his wife. He tells Pigsy that the farmer is going to come and stop him. Now Pigsy is leaving, and notices that his bride is actually monkey all along. Monkey chases Pigsy while he goes into the cave, screaming to him what is said in the quote. Monkey has done this many times, where he  uses his powers to make a clone of himself and always being in some trouble. Monkey has done good and bad. Yet he says he will follow Pigsy wherever.

Group: Annelise Schroeder, Sara Neher, David Yang, Dukhwa Seo

“What crime is there that you have not committed? You have stolen peaches and stolen wine, upset the high feast, purloined Lao Tzu’s elixir, and then taken more wine for your banquet here? You have piled up sin upon sin; do you not realize what you have done?’ ‘Quite true,’ said Monkey, ‘all quite true but what are you going to do about it?’” (Ch.5 pg.60)

This quote shows how arrogant and selfish the Monkey is during this part of his life. The Nine planets were trying to discipline monkey but he was not the slightest bit worried about what they could do to him. This connects to the very first line in chapter five “Monkey knew nothing about official matters… he and his subordinates ate their three meals, slept soundly at night, had no worries, but only perfect freedom and independence” (pg.53). This connects to our next quote from Chapter six.

“We were about 100,000 men, and fought with him till dusk, when he used some magic method of self- multiplication, and we had to withdraw. On examining our booty we found we had captured a certain number of tigers, wolves, leopards, and other animals but not a single monkey” (Ch.6 pg. 64).

This event shows how the political leaders such as the Jaded Emperor, Vaisravana, and Vaistavana’s son, Moksha, cannot understand where the Monkey’s power comes from and how he could defeat 100,000 men in battle and this only provokes them to want to capture the monkey even more for what he has done.

Simon Weng
Solo Dolo

“Disciple, we must give you a name in religion.’ ‘No need for that,’ said Monkey, ‘I have one already. My name in religion is “Aware of Vacuity.” ‘ Excellent!’ said Tripitaka. ‘That fits in very well with the names of my other disciples. You shall be Monkey Aware-of-Vacuity.’ (Page 128)

“Master , we can start now; I have killed them all.’ “I am very sorry to hear it,’ said Tripitaka. “One has no right to kill robbers, however violent and wicked they may be. The most one may do is to bring them before a magistrate. It would have been quite enough in this case if you had driven them away. Why kill them? You have been quite enough in this case if you had driven them away. Why kill them? You have behaved with a cruelty that ill becomes one of your sacred calling. ‘ ‘If i had not killed them,’ said Monkey, “they would have killed you.’ ‘A priest,’ said Tripitaka, ‘should be ready to die rather than commit acts of violence.’ ‘I don’t mind telling you,’ said Monkey, ‘that five hundreds years ago, when I was a king, I killed a pretty fair number of people, and if I had held your view I should certainty never become the Great Sage Equal of Heaven.’ It was because of your unfortunate performances in Heaven, said Tripitaka, ‘that you had to do penance for five hundred years. If now that you have repented and become a priest you go on behaving as in old days, you can’t come with me to India…” (Page 132-133)

The first quote is very important because its not Tripitaka who named Monkey King but rather Monkey King himself who retains his former name. Further more to the acceptance, Tripitaka praises the name. This leads to a conclusion that Monkey King is a strong individual who does whatever he wants based on impulses without a second thought just as his name implies. There is no conflict at all up until the incident involving the murder of a few robbers. This is where the second quote comes in because this is the true conflict that arises. Monkey King has been acting on impulse ever since the beginning, it was due to this very nature that he got so far and reaped a mass amount of success. Despite his good intentions, Tripitaka responds with suggesting that his need to regain his former glory will get him nowhere but the same result. Now that he has been released, he should focus and change for the better. This is the first awakening of the Monkey King.

Brian Kong

“‘Little prince,’ laughed Monkey, ‘you have not yet lost your milk-teeth, your womb-down is not yet dry. How dare you talk so big?” -Monkey p. 49

“‘I’ll stand my ground,’ said Monkey, ‘and you can break as many swords upon me as you like.'” -Monkey p. 50

This occurs when Natha, Vaisravna’s third son comes to arrest Monkey after two others had attempted and failed to do so. These quotes demonstrate the about of hubris and pride that Monkey holds. Monkey fails to realize that humility is extremely important because he is rather young and inexperienced. He feels like he is unstoppable because he’s mastered his training. This foreshadows the difficulties Monkey will soon face as well as how the character of Monkey is developed to become a more humble person.

Sara Ramlakhan, Nicole, Franklin
Chapter 15
“She then solemnly called upon the once-dragon to return from his evil ways, and promised that when his task was ended he should be given a golden body and gain illumination” (143)
After encountering monkey, the dragon eats their horse. Monkey becomes upset by these events and asks Kuan Yin why the dragon could be put there to eat his master’s horse. Monkey is told not to retaliate and wait for Kuan Yin to speak to the dragon, which is where the quote is taken from. The dragon is told to abandon his evil ways. This chapter allows us the reader to draw parallels between the illumination of Monkey, who had been wicked up until being rescued from under the rock,  and the dragon.