#also they translate Wukong as ‘monkey’ even tho Wukong is just his NAME

[sketching-shark]

I don't know if journeytothewestresearch is trusting in some things, because he said that 6 eared Macaque and Wukong are sworn brothers, confusing them with the other Macaque named Macaque King

https://www.tumblr.com/journeytothewestresearch/684822807998283776/hey-sorry-to-bother-hope-youre-having-a-nice?source=share

And from what I've been searching too, Six eared and Macaque King, weren't the same, so Six Eared never was sworn brother with Wukong, and Wukong neber knew 6 eared Macaque to became sworn brother with.

Correct me if I'm wrong tho!

Oh yeah, I remember the controversy that stirred up (though I do find it inch-resting how to this day @journeytothewestresearch's well-cited argument that LEMH is SWK's immoral self which makes up the bulk of that post is still largely ignored lol). But anyway--and keeping in mind as usual that I am an amateur scholar in JTTW matter at best--my general understanding of the situation now is that there is some evidence that the Macaque King and the Six-Eared Macaque might have been sworn brothers, as the Macaque King's self-proclaimed title of "Fair Wind Sage"/"Telltale Great Sage" (depending on the Yu translation you're looking at) could refer to the six-eared simian's ability to gather all sorts of information on the wind as it were. Or it could refer to how this monkey is as fast as the wind. But there does seem to be just as much if not more evidence that the true and false monkey king arc were the first time the two had met. I have seen @journeytothewestresearch say that the earlier Anthony C. Yu translation title of "The Female Monkey King" was a mistranslation on Yu's part, but I've also seen others say that there is in fact a history in some parts of China of considering the simian in question to be a lady, as besides the gender-neutral term used to refer to the sages of the sworn brotherhood macaques do indeed live in groups with a dominant female that oversees the entire troop. And then in Xiyouji itself, and in very direct contrast to the lengths the Monkey King goes through to not fight against Niú Mówáng, he gives 0 signs of recognizing the Six-Eared Macaque even when his true form is revealed, is in fact "unable to contain himself" from bonking the guy to death and then saying, to quote both the earlier and the later Yu translation, "You should not have compassion on him...He wounded my master and robbed us of our wraps. Even according to the law, he was guilty of assault and robbery in broad daylight. He should have been executed." So YEAH not exactly the words of a guy who's super broken up about having to fight against one of his beloved sworn brothers lol. So all in all you do seem to have some wiggle room and leeway with going with one identity or the other for the six-eared simian, but the one thing that does remain consistent across even the Yu translations is how much the Monkey King wants to bonk him dead and does not gaf about said bonking or said death.

I guess the moral of this story goes once again back to the fact that when you're dealing with translations there can be a LOT of room for multiple "correct" meanings for some aspects of it, and that this can be particularly true when it comes to a work like Xiyouji that has a vast history of multiple written and oral versions even before Wu Cheng'en's written classic. And while I do think it's always good to do your own research and remember that even professionals are just as capable of making mistakes as anyone else, I still have to hand it to @journeytothewestresearch for being like one of the very, very few people on this site who actually backs up his statements with academic citations lmao.

#anon answered #xiyouji #journey to the west #jttw #six eared macaque

[lilnasxvevo]

I wanna watch JTTW2 again so bad just because I really like the way that one demon yells “QI! TIAN! DA! SHEEENG!” and I think abt it all the time

#also I like to get pissed off at the subtitles #which translate Qitian Dasheng as Monkey King even tho #Qitian Dasheng is his title that means GREAT SAGE EQUALLING HEAVEN #which I think might have been a title he gave himself but in his defense he did this after proving that he does equal heaven #also they translate Wukong as ‘monkey’ even tho Wukong is just his NAME #Mei Houwang = Handsome Monkey King #Sun Wukong = literally just his name. like John Smith is a name. literally just his name.