Page 240 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 233

A Taoist monk mounted on a tiger

Buddhist monks are often disparagingly referred to as ‘bareheaded asses’ (tu lu), a
term with a double sexual innuendo, as the ass is regarded as a particularly randy animal.

Monkey

hou

It is not only in Indian mythology that the monkey plays a leading part; it is also found in
South Chinese and in Tibetan legend. Several varieties of monkey are native to South
China; and according to one Tibetan myth, the Tibetan people are descended from a
monkey. Tales of women who have been abducted and ravished by monkeys and who
have then given birth to children, are common in South China, and several Chinese

‘clans’ attribute their origins to such a union.
Like the Indian monkey-god Hanuman, gods in Chinese legend sometimes appear in
the guise of monkeys. The best-known of these is Sun Wu-kong, who accompanied the
Buddhist pilgrim Xuan-Cang to India and came to his rescue in many a dangerous
situation, though, on the other hand, Xuan-Cang had to put up with his tantrums and his
penchant for practical jokes. Sun Wu-kong is one of the chief protagonists in the
picaresque novel of the Song Dynasty, ‘The Journey to the West’ (also known as
‘Monkey’). Some scenes from this novel have been turned into stage plays, and films, in
which the monkey-god appears as a dancer with a whitened face, carrying a long pole.
His dance always arouses general mirth.
Many temples were built to the monkey-god in South China. In these, he is revered
and worshipped as Qi-tian da-sheng (‘the great saint equal to heaven’). In the popular
mind, however, he symbolises rather the adulterer. The monkey is the ninth creature in
the Chinese zodiac, following the horse with which it is often represented. A picture
showing a monkey mounted on a horse is called ma-shang feng-hou; and a homonymic