#bimawen

Monkey May #15 - Horse

Day 15 of Monkey May!

Horse!

Aka

A very jealous younger brother who wants his elder brother attention pls and thank you!

That's an interesting question. So if we take the different steps of Wukong rampage in Heaven in JTTW it goes like this :

Wukong messed with the Dragon King and the underworld and everyone is sending complains to the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor at first wants to fight Wukong but the Gold Star of Venus (aka only logical person up there) say that fighting the monkey might not be for the best, instead why not give him a job to keep him in control but not give him any salary or true position, thus the bimawen job was created. Wukong accept the job and is good at it, but when he learn that he doesn't have any ranking in Heaven hierarchy he's furious Heaven played him and go back to his mountain, declaring himself the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. This anger the Jade Emperor, he try to send the army but Wukong beat them up, and so the Gold Star of Venus is like "let's not fight the overpowered monkey", and so they accept Wukong title reluctantly and give him a place in Heaven. They're worried he'll go bored and do crazy things so they make him the guardian of the immortal peaches orchard... Bad idea 😬, Wukong will eat all the peaches. One day Wukong learn he's not invited to the Queen Mother Peach Festival and he is FURIOUS. He disguise himself as someone who is invited, drinks all the wine of the party before it began, then stumble drunk in Laozi lab and eat the immortal pills. Wukong then realize he messed a lot and go back to his mountain. The Jade Emperor is pissed off and send Heaven army after him again and this time Wukong is captured, he go in the furnace for 49 days, then he escape and destroy everything, and then Buddha shows up and is like "CALM DOWN". Wukong is put under a mountain and you know the rest.

In the bimawen au, Wukong never quit his job as the bimawen. He was furious when he learned it didn't have any ranking but he liked taking care of the horses so much that he didn't want to leave. Eventually, after having a tantrum to show he's angry (aka destroying Heaven property cause he's mad) Heaven gave the job bimawen a true salary and a position in Heaven hierarchy.

So in the bimawen au Wukong never declared himself the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, was never made the guardian of the immortal peaches orchard, and didn't mess up the Queen Mother Peach Festival. He's even invited properly now.

I’ve been doing a lot of research on the etymology of various macaque monkey names in China as they relate to the origins of the four magic primates in Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592). In the process, I came across information explaining the origins of Sun Wukong’s time as the Bimawen (弼馬溫, “To assist horse temperament”), a minor post overseeing the imperial horse stables. To recap, he cares for nearly 1,000 horses day and night, making sure they are all well-fed, exercised, and rested. The novel calls them “dragon horses” (long ma, 龍馬) and suggests that they have the ability to gallop among the clouds.

The heavenly post is a homophonous pun on Bimawen (避馬瘟, lit: “avoid the horse plague”), an ancient superstition where people would place monkeys in stables to ward off equine sickness. For example, Essential Techniques for the Common People (Qimin yaoshu, 齊民要術, c. 544) states:

[Horses] are often associated with macaques [mihou, 猕猴] in the horse stable. This is in order to calm the horses, repel evil, and eliminate all diseases.

常系猕猴于马坊，令马不畏、辟恶、消百病也。

The later Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao gangmu, 本草綱目, 1596) reads:

The Classic of Horses states: Domesticated macaques used in horse stables help avoid horse diseases [lit: bimawen]. Their monthly menstruation runs onto the grass, and once the horses it eat, they will never be sick.

《马经》言︰马厩畜母猴，辟马瘟疫。逐月有天癸流草上，马食之，永无疾病矣。

This is insanely comical as it directly links Sun Wukong, a powerful cosmic warrior, to menstruation! This then might explain why Monkey is so enraged when enemies call him a Bimawen. As noted by my friend Irwen Wong of the Journey to the West Library blog, it challenges the Great Sage’s masculinity.

My heart: *runs like a wild horse

My brain: *thinking about the blonde Kim Dokja spoiler

My house/voice: S C R E E C H

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Four Sun Wukongs stood all around me.

[So, who’ll be the main this time?]

[Of course, it’ll be me, the Great Sage.]

[And thus the dumbass Sun Wukong is born.]

[Hey, you. Don’t flip your finger like that. You think this is a fusion fantasy?]

In the following moment, Sun Wukongs around me grasped each other’s hands.

Sun Wukong as Protector of the Horses (Bi Ma Wen)

this one has actually subtitles in English - there are sever other exerts from Havoc in Heaven on this youtube channel, not to mentioned excerpts from other plays and other useful resources about Peking Opera so if you are enthusiastic about this art form check it out. It is very useful.

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The Great Sage spoke up. [For sure, I did lose back then. However, that was when I was just the ‘Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal’.]

The <Emperor> sensed something was off and made their move first.

[He’s about to use his magic! Subdue him, now!]

[Lord Daode Tianzun! Your Jingangzhuo….!]

[Come, Six Brothers from the Mae Mountain!]

The Great Sage summoned his Somersault Cloud while watching the army of the heavenly worlds pounce on him. Dark clouds dyeing the sky black heeded Sun Wukong’s Fable and began gathering into one place.

[Great Fable, ‘Journey to the West’, has begun its storytelling!]

And then, he opened his mouth. [My true name is Sun Wukong.]

⸢The Great Sage Heaven’s Equal.⸥

⸢Meihouwang.⸥

⸢Bimawen.⸥

⸢Douzhanshengfo.⸥

And, finally….

Yu Junghyeok x Kim Dokja | Yu Sangah x Han Suyeong | Jeong Huiwon x Yi Hyeonseong (I also ship Shin Yuseong x Yi Gilyeong but Yi Jihye would be lonely so yeah.)

Anyways, Yu Sangah x Kim Dokja scene 😌 (Although it's not "EXACTLY" like that but, you know, there's a proportion of it haha)

Oh but- Yu Sangah's words made me feel very happy for some reason haha

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[You seem to be in great pain. It must’ve been difficult for you.]

But the moment I heard her clear voice, I realised something.

This person… was definitely someone that I knew.

She was neither ‘Tang Sanzang’ nor ‘Sakyamuni’s Successor’. No, she was the one comrade that I could trust the most – Yu Sang-Ah.