I thought the tale of the Monkey King was one of the more fascinating pieces of "American Born Chinese," and the weaving of this into the narrative added a vital mythological element to the novel.
Personally, having lived in Asia (Thailand specifically) for many years, I was familiar with Hanuman, the Monkey God of the Ramakien epic, but after some research, I found that Sun Wu-Kung, or the Monkey King, was another legend from the Chinese epic novel, Journey to the West.
It seems that Gene Yang either heard a particular version of the tale or adapted the pieces of the story which he remembered, adding or augmenting as he saw fit. I'd be interested in finding out whether the tale that he portrayed was a faithful representation of what he had heard, or if he tweaked the legend to fit his novel. Among the details that I found in my research were that the Monkey King first becomes angry after he was given the job of "stable keeper" by the Jade Emperor and that he is named the "greatest sage" before he gets into trouble, is challenged to outrun the hand, and gets thrown under the mountain by the Buddha.
I found a site which includes a 100-panel novelization of the Monkey King here - http://www.china-on-site.com/pages/comic/1.php . It seemed to be the most comprehensive, and most befitting the "graphic novel" nature of our course.
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My understanding is that the story of the Monkey King is an ancient allegory often referenced in Chinese culture. As part of a previous undergraduate course, I read a more recent version of the allegory, published in 1992, entitled "Monkey, A Journey to the West" by David Kherdian. While this version is in novel format, it's interesting to note that full-page drawings/renderings are inserted randomly throughout the novel. For me, however, it's further interesting to address the style of Kherdian's retelling because it glides the reader so effortlessly through the Monkey King's tale. He uses simple diction and repetition to simplify themes and plot - similar to the way Yang retells the Monkey King in ABC. After reading these two fast-paced versions of the allegory, I'm curious to know if anyone's experienced the opposite, a version (perhaps the original) that expands or further details the Monkey King's world.
I just wanted to thank Ben for the link to the online Monkey King illustrations, which are quite delightful, if quite different from Yang's version. Page 13 of the online series even features Discipline Four: Cloud-as-Steed!
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