#subhuti

Director: Cheang Pou-soi Screenwriter: Huang Zihuan / Huo Xin / Szeto Kam Yuen / Chen Dali Starring: Donnie Yen / Chow Yun-fat / Aaron Kwok / Peter Ho / Hai Yitian / Xia Zitong / Chen Qiaoen / Kelly Chen / Gigi Leung / Zhang Zilin / Cheng Ka-shing / Liu Hua / Nick Cheung / Law Tsz-yi / Li Jing / Wang Yuanyuan / Liang Yuen Genre: Action / Fantasy Country/Region of Production: Mainland China/ Hong Kong, China Language: Mandarin / Cantonese Date: 2014-01-31 (Mainland China) Duration: 119 minutes Also known as: The Monkey King: Havoc in Heavens Palace 3D / The Monkey King / Monkey Magic: The Birth of Sun Wukong / Journey to the West: Havoc in Heaven / 大闹天宫3D版 IMDb: tt1717715 Official website: Journey to the West: Havoc in Heaven Adaptation: Addition

Summary:

During an attack on Heaven, the Bull Demon King battles and loses against the Jade Emperor, the ruler of Heaven. The Emperor's sister and Bull Demon King's lover, Princess Iron Fan, convinces the Emperor to spare him and banishes him, Princess Iron Fan, and the rest of the demons to Flaming Mountain. The goddess Nüwa sacrifices her body to rebuild Heaven with crystals. The Jade Emperor appoints his nephew Erlang Shen to guard the Southern Gate, despite Erlang's resentment of the task. One of the crystals falls to Mount Huaguo, taking the form of a monkey over time. A nine-tailed fox is scarred after touching the crystal and whisked away by a mysterious force.

Years later, the monkey is taken in and trained by Subhuti, naming him Sun Wukong. The Bull Demon King plans to invade heaven again by using Wukong and preying on Erlang's anger towards the Jade Emperor. Erlang agrees to help the Demon King in exchange for getting to kill his uncle and take Heaven's throne. The plan is kept secret from Princess Iron Fan, who is pregnant with the Demon King's child. Wukong travels to the palace of the Dragon King to find weapons for the Mount Huaguo monkeys. After defeating the Dragon King, Wukong becomes intrigued by a staff planted in the sea. He removes it, causing a violent storm. The Bull Demon King asks a young Vixen if she'd like to meet her old friend again. She is revealed to be the nine-tailed fox and the Demon King as the force that whisked her away, claiming to have saved her life. After the Dragon King informs Heaven of Wukong's destruction, Erlang sends Nezha to arrest him.

The Vixen, who reveals her name to be Ruxue, reunites with her old friend, Wukong. He promises to make her immortal after learning she will die when she turns 200 years old. The pair is attacked by Nezha, but is killed by the Bull Demon King. Wukong befriends the Demon King, who appeals to Wukong's ego and tempts him with Heaven's treasures, including immortality. Wukong journeys to Heaven and learn the secret to immortality. The Demon King and Erlang conspire further, revealing that if Wukong consumes the Emperor's elixir, it will increase his power.

Erlang tries to convince the Jade Emperor that Wukong is a demon but Subhuti intervenes, explaining Wukong is not evil. Wukong meets the Emperor and is given a position caring for the stables. Princess Iron Fan learns of the Demon King's plan, who justifies his attack as destiny. Wukong comes across a large kiln. Erlang, disguised as a maiden, tempts him by revealing that the Emperor's elixir is made there. Wukong is restrained by Subhuti and told to leave but Erlang challenges him to take the Elixir. Wukong consumes the elixir and battles Erlang until he flees. Ashamed, Wukong leaves Heaven and returns to find Mount Huaguo destroyed and all his friends dead, including Ruxue, who has a dark substance around her neck. Enraged, Wukong returns to Heaven after the Bull Demon King convinces him that they were responsible. Wukong attacks Heaven's armies and the Emperor.

Suhuti battles the Demon King but is defeated. Wukong notices the Demon King conjure the same dark substance he found on Ruxue and realizes he was the one who killed his friends. Wukong attacks the Demon King but is defeated. Through a vision, the Bodhisattva Guan Yin helps Wukong realize his mistakes. The Demon King defeats the Emperor and kills Erlang, taking the throne. Wukong battles the Demon King once more, sending him crashing to Earth. Later, Princess Iron Fan gives birth to Red Boy. They find the Bull Demon King who, having lost all his power, has been turned into a regular bull. Iron Fan explains that this is the fate of evil men but continues to care for the bull, regardless. Wukong wishes to help the Emperor rebuild Heaven, but he is stopped by Buddha. Buddha reveals that Wukong's chance for atonement will arrive in 500 years, but he must sleep inside Buddha's hand-turned-mountain until then. Wukong agrees and is sealed by Buddha. 500 years later, Tang Sanzang approaches the mountain.

Subodhi is based on Subhuti, one of the ten main disciples of the Buddha. Despite Subodhi's image as a Taoist immortal in popular culture, JTTW actually suggests that he is a Buddhist deity. See section 2.3 of my previous article.

The Quest for Buddhism (46)

Understanding Emptiness in Buddhism

In Zen Buddhism, Subhuti (Ref) appears in several koans, such as this one:

One day, in a mood of sublime emptiness, Subhuti was resting underneath a tree when flowers began to fall about him. "We are praising you for your discourse on emptiness," the gods whispered to Subhuti. "But I have not spoken of emptiness," replied Subhuti. "You have not spoken of emptiness, we have not heard emptiness," responded the gods. "This is the true emptiness." The blossoms showered upon Subhuti as rain.

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仏教の探求 (46)

仏教における空(虚空)

禅宗では、いくつかの公案にスブーティが登場する。 以下はその一例:

ある日、荘厳な虚無感に包まれたスブーティ（参照）が木の下で休んでいると、彼の周りに花が散り始めた。「私たちは、あなたが虚空について説いたことを讃えている」と、神々はスブーティにささやいた。「しかし、私は虚空について話していません」とスブーティは答えた。神々は「あなたは虚空を語っていない、私たちは虚空を聞いていない」そして「これこそ真の虚空である」と、答えた。花は雨のようにスブーティの上に降り注いた。

A pamphlet from the museum at Kōfukuji Temple (興福寺) in Nara, featuring the sculpted image of the Buddha’s disciple Subhūti (須菩提 “Subodai”), expert in the concept of Emptiness, dating to the 8th century from the museum’s collection

Director: Ma Xihai Screenwriter: Zhang Chen Starring : Sun Ye / Shen Dawei / Tao Dian / Liu Beichen Genre: Comedy / Animation / Adventure Country/Region of Production: Mainland China Language: Mandarin Chinese Date: 2018-09-22 (Mainland China) Duration: 92 minutes Also known as: Monkey Magic / Adventure in Journey to the West IMDb: tt10443316 Type: Crossover

Summary:

The toy Sun Wuyuan thinks he is the Monkey King, but he is ridiculed in the toy world because he cannot hold out the golden hoop. By chance, Sun Wuyuan entered the world of Journey to the West alone, and met Sun Wukong who was driven back to Flower Fruit Mountain. Sun Wuyuan, who wanted the golden hoop, stalked him, and Sun Wukong reluctantly put forward a condition: Sun Wuyuan would become his teacher, and after he completed his studies, he would give him the golden hoop. Unexpectedly, the Bull Demon King secretly instigated Wuyuan to steal the golden hoop and snatched it away. Wuyuan, who hurriedly fled back to the toy world, discovered that the world has been ruled by cows...

Source: https://mov-10.chinesemov.com/2018/Adventure-in-Journey-to-the-West

Director: Liu Zhenwei Screenwriter: Liu Zhenwei Starring: Han Geng / Tang Yan / Wu Jing / Karen Mok / Zhang Chao / Zhang Yao / Wang Yibo / Gillian Chung / Xie Nan / He Jiong / Hu Jing / Huang Zheng / Stephen Chow / Cao Seung-yeon / Zhou Yixuan / Yuan Kui / Lü Jianmin / Wang Feifei / Du Juan / Wang Xingang / Chai Ge / Zhou Jin / Zheng Wenzheng / Ye Liu / Liu Jing / Peng Xintong / Xi Wei / Yu Guanghong Genre: Comedy / Romance / Fantasy Production Country/Region: Mainland China / Hong Kong China Language: Mandarin Chinese Date: 2016-09-14 (Mainland China) Duration: 93 minutes Also known as: The End of the Westward Journey / A Chinese Odyssey: Part Three / A Chinese Odyssey Part III / 大话西游终结篇 IMDB: TT4862468 Type: Reimagining

Summary:

Taking place in an alternate timeline, Fairy Zixia used the Pandora's Box to travel forward in time to see the consequences of leaving a tear drop in Joker's heart, which led to her "demise" and Joker being revealed as the reincarnation of the Monkey King. Fearing for her life and Joker's mental well being, she denounced her relationship to Joker, which led to him asking about what happened in the future. Zixia revealed to him the fact that she left a mark in Joker's heart, leading to Bai Jing Jing realizing that Joker will eventually stop having feelings for her, leading him to fall for Zixia.

However, Zixia withheld the information about Joker being the Monkey King's reincarnation and tried to make things right by forcing Joker into meeting with Bai Jing Jing much earlier than in the original timeline. Unfortunately, Joker had already stopped having feelings for Jing-Jing and prevented Zixia's plan from going any further resulting in a slap from Zixia. After having a talk with Qingxia (Zixia's twin sister trapped in her body), Zixia decided to go the Bull Demon King and marry him so Joker can stop falling for her so she left Joker - who was looking for her after being slapped - alone by himself.

Joker continues his search for Zixia in the desert, where he witnessed this timeline's version of the Monkey King being subdued by Guanyin, with the difference being that the Longevity Monk used the Pandora's Box to escape from being killed by the Monkey King and the time to subdue the Monkey King took longer than expected. After Guanyin left with the subdued Monkey King, Joker found himself left with the returning Longevity Monk and both were caught together by the Bull Demon King, being happy about having a second wife and the Longevity Monk being captured.

Meanwhile, in Heaven, Guanyin handed over the subdued Monkey King to the Jade Emperor, discussing about the overwhelming presence of demons and fearing that the Sealed Book had a mistake in it, which Jade Emperor reassures her that the Book is never wrong. As Guanyin left to report the progress to the Buddha, the Jade Emperor unsealed the Monkey King, who is revealed to be the Six-Eared Monkey, revealing that the Sealed Book did not mention about the Monkey King in the initial pilgrimage at all as he was born 500 years later as Joker, causing the Jade Emperor to get the Six-Eared Monkey fill in the role until Joker arrived from the future. This eventually leads to the Jade Emperor betraying the Six-Eared Monkey and have him slowly burn in the Great Oven.

In the residence of the Bull Demon King, Zixia and Qingxia were talking about the possible married life with the Bull Demon King, with Zixia realizing that the Pandora's Box was missing and suspecting that Qingxia had given it to the Six-Eared Monkey, with a flashback revealing that she was an ex-lover of his. Zixia was soon confronted with Princess Iron Fan (铁扇公主) and her son Red Child (红孩子), resulting in a fight between the two women, leading Zixia being blown past the just arrived Bull Demon King, Joker and Longevity Monk. The Bull Demon King, realizes the trouble he's in and instructs Joker to take the Longevity Monk and Zixia to his sister, Xiang Xiang while he tries to stall the Princess for time. While on the run, Joker demands to know why Zixia left him alone whereas the Longevity Monk accidentally found a way to leave by freeing one of the Bull King's Giant Bulls. The trio escaped, but were chased by Red Child until both Joker and Logevity Monk accidentally stole his fire wheels (used for flight).

Upon arriving at Xiang Xiang's Palace, the trio met with Xiang Xiang and, much to their horror, witnessed her devouring a man whole. She challenged the trio and defeated them, leading them to being locked up in the dungeon. It was then that Zixia tells Joker about her demise in the original timeline, and why she tried so hard to stop Joker from developing feelings for her. At the same time, the Bull Demon King arrived to reconcile with Xiang Xiang about the execution of her lover, Mantis, by his own hands, which she rejected as Mantis was the only true love to her. It was at this time that the Longevity Monk played the main theme of the entire A Chinese Odyssey series, leading to Joker and Zixia kissing at the end of the song. The Demon Bull King and Xiang Xiang saw the silhouettes of them kissing, causing the siblings to burst into the dungeon only to see the Longevity Monk taking Zixia's place. When Xiang Xiang saw this, she ended up drooling implying that she's interested in Joker, thus allowing the Bull Demon King giving his blessing to Joker for Xiang Xiang's hand in marriage.

While preparations for the Bull Demon King's 2nd wedding is underway, Joker and Xiang Xiang talked about Mantis and the reason she did not use the Pandora's Box to prevent his death while the Bull Demon King tried to impress Zixia. He asked Joker for tips on how to impress Zixia, with Joker using the Pandora's Box multiple times, the first few times to play a game on the Bull King, 2 times to get rid of the Bull King and Xiang Xiang, and the last to get himself and Zixia away from the ceremony, only for the plan to backfire forcing all 4 of them to return. The Bull Demon King, angry at the series of events, tries to kill Joker while Xiang Xiang chases after Zixia, only to have Zixia captured while Qingxia was forced out of Zixia's body. The Bull Demon King's rampaging was soon interrupted by the arrival of his wife, Princess Iron Fan and Red Child, only for him and Red Kid to find out the Princess had an affair with the Monkey King, causing him to punish Joker and Zixia by forcing them to marry at the ceremony.

Meanwhile, in Heaven, the Jade Emperor was shocked to find out the Sealed Book had changed, forcing him to free Six-Ear Monkey from the Great Oven, and accidentally revealing to him that the Longevity Monk is the Monkey and Qingxia's son and finding out that Qingxia knew everything about the mistake in the Sealed Book. Thus, the Jade Emperor allowed Qingxia to repossess her body and let Six-Eared Monkey to go rescue his son while still under the guise of the Monkey King. Six-Eared Monkey crashed the wedding, revealed that he started the affair with the Princess, while maintaining "the fact" that Joker is not the Monkey King, and started battling with the entire Bull household, with Qingxia arriving later rescue Zixia from Xiang Xiang and trading places with Zixia in order for the prophecy to remain true, with a few changes. The battle ended up with the Bull siblings finally reconciled as Xiang Xiang being forced to consume her brother just so to have a fighting chance against Six-Eared Monkey. The Heavenly Army arrived to provide backup for Six-Eared Monkey, Qingxia sustaining a blow in the process. As he saw this, Six-Eared Monkey breaks free from Xiang Xiang's grasp to grab Qingxia while the Heavenly Army and General Li Jing dealt the final blow and sealed Xiang Xiang once and for all.

Five hundred years later, Six-Eared Monkey accompanied his son and his disciples on the pilgrimage, while Joker and Zixia watch on after kissing on the top of the wall, mentioning about Six-Eared wanting to be reunited with Qingxia as quickly as possible. One day in Heaven later (10 years later on Earth), Longevity Monk became a Buddha while his parents stay together as the Wick for the Buddha's Lamp, only for their day interrupted by the Jade Emperor saying that the Sealed Book changed again.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Chinese_Odyssey_Part_Three

Type: Animation Country/Region of Production: Mainland China Language: Mandarin Chinese Type: Reimanging

Summary:

The blockbuster success of "The Return of the Great Sage" has allowed Chinese people to see new hope in domestic animated films, and also see the huge repeated development value of the IP "Journey to the West". In addition to private film companies investing in the animation industry, state-owned units are also unwilling to be left alone. After re-screening Stephen Chow's two classic works "Westward Journey: The Moonlight Box" and "Westward Journey: The Marriage of the Monkey King", as the mainland copyright owner of the films The Western Film Group is planning to make these two films into animated films. In the recent registration and approval of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, two animated films, "Westward Journey: One Moon Light Treasure Box" and "Westward Journey: The Marriage of the Monkey King", have been confirmed to be approved. Judging from the synopsis of the story, it is basically consistent with the plot of the live-action movie. It seems difficult not to speculate that it is a money-making move to capitalize on the popularity of the Westward Journey animation.

Source: https://movie.douban.com/subject/26661555/

Director: Chen Zhihong Screenwriter: Ji Zhicheng Starring: Fan Shaohuang / Du Yufeng / Zhu Lilan / Li Xianshi Genre: Action / Fantasy / Martial Arts Country/Region of Production: Mainland China Language: Mandarin Chinese Date: 2019-02-01 (Mainland China) IMDb: tt9698044 Type: Retelling

Summary:

There was a severe drought in the world. The Flower-Fruit Mountain was harassed by the surrounding monsters because it occupied the water source. In order to find out the truth about the drought and to fight the monsters, Sun Wukong and his brother Red-Butted Horse Monkey went to the East China Sea Treasure Competition to find a weapon, but they were involved in a conspiracy. In order to stop the evil dragon Ao Shuang from destroying the world, Sun Wukong defeated Ao Shuang with the help of Xiao Longnu and finally got the Ruyi Jingu Bang, which resolved the crisis in the world.

Source: https://mov-10.chinesemov.com/2019/Big-Trouble-in-Dragon-Palace