Journey of the Monkey King

Caoimhe and M.J. talk about the novel Journey to the West and why they wanted to make a podcast about the incredibly famous novel that no one has heard of. Links: “List of media adaptations of Journey to the West” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_media_adaptations_of_Journey_to_the_West Episode artwork from A Modern Journey to the West by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi: https://yoshitoshi.net/series/journeywest.html Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

Caoimhe & M.J. discuss the first chapter of Journey to the West and get side tracked by laser eyes and what exactly the word “unicorn” is a translation of. Links: “Qilin” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qilin “Ming treasure voyages” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_treasure_voyages “Buddhist cosmology” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Buddhist_cosmology&oldid=955126741#Earthly_realms Episode artwork is a 1666 painting of a Qilin by Kanō Tannyū, as photographed by Sailko: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Periodo_edo,_kano_tan’yu,_uccelli_volanti_e_animali_che_corrono,_1666,_02.JPG Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

Journey to the West chapter two, featuring immortality, unwholesome meats and the Epic of Gilgamesh being gay. Spoilers for The Good Place between 3:18 and 04:45 when we discuss some existential issues. Links: “Epic of Gilgamesh” from In Our Time by BBC Radio 4: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b080wbrq “Chinese units of measurement” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chinese_units_of_measurement&oldid=952184981#Length “Wu Cheng’en” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Cheng’en “Flann O’Brian” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flann_O’Brien Episode artwork from A Modern Journey to the West by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi: https://yoshitoshi.net/series/journeywest.html Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

Sun Wukong demands to see the manager. Of Hell. Content warning for intimidation and threats of violence throughout the episode and for brief mentions of alcohol and drinking between about 23:00 to 23:40. Links: “Yu the Great” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_the_Great “Great Flood (China)” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Flood_(China) “How the Milky Way Got Its Name and What It’s Called in Other Languages” on Today I Found Out: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/08/how-the-milky-way-got-its-name-and-what-its-called-in-other-languages/ Episode artwork from A Modern Journey to the West by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi: https://yoshitoshi.net/series/journeywest.html Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

In which Sun Wukong demands a promotion from God. As usual expect fights and violence throughout the episode and the episode also has some digressions that briefly touch on phrenology between 20:15 and 22:47 and a joke about BDSM sex practises at 26:08 and 28:00. I forgot about it while recording the episode but embroidered balls specifically as a courtship ritual will show up again in a future chapter. Links: “Giant Buddha, Giant Ears” on National Geographic: https://web.archive.org/web/20160521132912/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/buddha-ears/ “Silk balls preserve love tradition from past” on China Daily: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201712/22/WS5a3c5e7ca31008cf16da2cd5.html Episode artwork from A Modern Journey to the West by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi: https://yoshitoshi.net/series/journeywest.html Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

Caoimhe & M.J. discuss the finer points of how to work with narcissists as the Monkey King continues to cause trouble in Heaven. This episode features repeated mentions of alcohol and a character getting drink between about 16:30 and 22:00. Links: “Kumis” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumis “Barefoot Immortal” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barefoot_Immortal Episode artwork is Peach Blossom Study by Shen Zhou: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:沈周-桃花書屋圖.jpg Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

A battle of the gods, a shapeshifting duel and avian slut shaming. Links: “Erlang Shen” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erlang_Shen “Bustard” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bustard Episode artwork from Gujin Tushu Jicheng via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Imperial Encyclopaedia - Animal Kingdom - pic026 - 鴇圖.png Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

This episodes highlights the long and ongoing tradition of Caoimhe not being able to pronounce anything correctly. The episode starts off with capital punishment including attempts to burn someone to death. That lasts up until about 06:00. Urination features at 14:35 and 15:05. Discussions of caffeine withdrawal and sensory overload lead to jokes about cannibalism between 7:30 and 9:35. We had trouble staying on topic during this recording. If you think the tangent we go on about Irish at the end is rambling you should hear everything I edited out. This was recorded a couple of weeks ago. Coming back to it to edit and upload it, especially in light of current events, we touch on the idea of colonialism in Ireland and this topic is often used to dismiss both historical and current suffering of minorities in the United States, in Ireland, and elsewhere. The Irish slave myth is just that: a myth. Black lives matter and the suffering of black people shouldn’t be ignored. I’m sorry for not having this statement in the actual episode itself. I’ll add one to the start of the next episode. Links: “Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om_mani_padme_hum Learn the Irish language on Duolingo if you want I guess? https://www.duolingo.com/course/ga/en/Learn-Irish Episode artwork is a painting of Buddha from Wikimedia Commons with very little detail as to the source, but which the title claims is 15th C Ming Dynasty: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A VERY RARE PAINTING OF A BUDDHA. CHINA, MING DYNASTY, 15TH CENTURY. Sotheby’s.jpg Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

Sun Wukong is not happy about some poetry about him. This episode features discussion of punishment throughout, including corporal and capital punishment. It also explicitly mentions torture at about 12:00 and features mention of sexual assault, primarily at about 23:35. Links: Episode artwork is a 16th century painting of Guanyin by Qiu Zhu: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:白衣大士像.jpg Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

Today we meet a monk named Xuanzang and find out the circumstances of his birth and early life. It’s not a particularly happy story. This episode is quite a dark one and features murder, suicide, attempted infanticide, capital punishment, dismemberment, disembowelment and forced marriage. In addition it’s all humans doing this to each other rather than godly beings, which may make it feel a bit more real. Caoimhe mispronounced Yin Wenjiao’s name for the entire episode, even more than she usually butchers the names. There should be an “n” in her name and she completely missed it. Links: The original source of the episode artwork is unknown but it was taken from this article: https://kuaibao.qq.com/s/20190802A0JS1F00 Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

We take a break from chapters to give you a clip of Caoimhe on M.J.’s show, They Did What Now, where we talk about the real life monk Xuanzang, who this novel is fan fiction of. Yes really. Links: The map we reference is from ”Chinese Pilgrims to Central Asia, India and SE Asia” from Ancient Buddhist Texts: https://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Maps/Silk-Routes/Chinese-Pilgrims.htm You can watch the full They Did What Now episode on the Hysteria Ireland Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=334116824656012 Episode artwork is a Kamakura period Japanese painting of Xuanzang: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Xuanzang_w.jpg Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

M.J. and Caoimhe talk about some differences between the real and fiction monk Xuanzang and his relationship to the Tang dynasty. Links: “The First Woman to Translate the ‘Odyssey’ Into English” from the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/magazine/the-first-woman-to-translate-the-odyssey-into-english.html Episode artwork is a Tang-era portrait of Emperor Tang Taizong: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TangTaizong.jpg Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

This week we return to the plot, but not to the Monkey King or Xuanzang. We head to Chang’an to meet a fisherman, a woodman and an emperor. This episode features death, threats and capital punishment as part of the plot for the whole chapter as well as a couple gruesome ways to die at about 1:30 and the topic drifts to drugs briefly and 9:30 and 19:30. Links: The tweets about Emily Dickinson and metre: https://twitter.com/jeeyonshim/status/1289825038481334272, https://twitter.com/MikeFerdinando/status/1289905363936899077 Episode artwork is a 1776 map of Weiyang Palace in Chang’an by Bi Yuan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chang_Le_Gong_and_Wei_Yang_Gong_by_Bi_Yuan.jpg Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

This week: ghost capitalism. Death is not even a way to escape it. This episode features the torture of the souls of the dead, particularly starting about 14:45, and a story that involves suicide and abuse at 33:30. Links: “Xuanwu Gate Incident” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuanwu_Gate_Incident Monkey (TV Series) Opening Song (Monkey Magic) on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-SUoHmpRdM “Tenants regain access to Dublin home after eviction by private security” from The Journal: https://www.thejournal.ie/dublin-eviction-5175006-Aug2020/ Episode artwork is a painting of unknown author from 13th century China: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Horse-Face_of_the_Underworld_地狱绘草纸.png Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

We finally hit the road! This episode features death prominently and the suicide mentioned in the previous chapter continues to be central plot for this chapter. Corporeal punishment is also mentioned at about 14:20. Links: “Fu Yi” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu_Yi “Xiaou Yu” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiao_Yu “Wu Daozi” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Daozi “Daxiangguo Temple” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daxiangguo_Temple Episode artwork is a painting of Guanyin by Wu Daozi: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wu Daozi - Guanyin_and_Child - 20.1038 - Rhode Island School of Design Museum.jpg Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

Caoimhe is recovering from a concussion so instead of doing a normal episode she decided to read an automatically generated transcription of the previous episode. As such it covers the same topics as the previous episode, including death, suicide and corporeal punishment. Alcohol, alcoholism and drug use also come up. Links: Podscribe, the automated transcription service whose transcript we are reading: https://podscribe.com/ A scientist is trying to teach a neural network to cook—and the results are hilariously bad” from The Daily Dot: https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/neural-network-recipe-generator/ The House Of The Dead 2: The Voice Acting on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDZs1LSgsSU Episode artwork is a Qing era painting by Sun Wen depicting a scene from the novel Dream of the Red Chamber: http://国家艺术档案.com/digital/2507.htm Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

Let’s get this show on the road. Tripitaka heads out on his pilgrimage. This episode features death and cannibalism as well as animal death. Links: Black Myth: Wukong - Official 13 Minutes Gameplay Trailer on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2nNljv0MOw Episode artwork is an illustration of a tiger from Song era medical textbook, 1159 CE: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shaoxing-Tiger.jpg Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

The Monkey King is back and I’m sure he’ll have no issues taking orders from a lifelong vegetarian pacifist monk. This episode features animal death around 12:00 to 13:50, human death around 26:00 and torture/corporeal punishment around 35:00 to 36:30. Links: “Āyatana” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Āyatana Episode artwork from A Modern Journey to the West by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi: https://yoshitoshi.net/series/journeywest.html Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

…he’s doing community service, of course. Monkey and Tripitaka need to cross the Eagle Grief Stream. This episode features animal death within the first five minutes and repeated threats of beatings at various characters. Links: Episode artwork from a Ming Dynasty medical textbook: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ming herbal (painting); Horse Wellcome L0039419.jpg Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod

Sun Wukong and Tripitaka decide to spend the night at the Guanyin Chan Hall Temple, where nothing could possibli go wrong. This episode has arson, attempted murder, suicide and more use of the magical torture headband. Links: “Suiren” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suiren Episode artwork is a photo of a Qing Dynasty Taoist robe. I admit the art I’m using for a lot of these episodes is only very tenuously connected to the episode itself: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:壮族黄缎法衣_4044.jpg Journey of the Monkey King on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monkeykingpod Journey of the Monkey King on the Fediverse: https://mastodon.ie/@monkeykingpod M.J. on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjaystokes Caoimhe’s website: https://oakreef.ie Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/monkeykingpod