The legend of Wukong

For many kids, especially boys, the story should’ve already finished at the point where the heavenly emperor was crying for help under his throne which was almost destroyed to pieces under Wukong’s magical staff. Because after that Wukong just became a loser to the greater power and authority, which deprived his freedom for hundres of years. Even after being released by the influence of the same authority, Wukong had to sacrifice his freedom for accompanying his new master on a long and dangerous (business) journey. After his ordeal under the mountain, even his power seemed to be significantly reduced. He would have to (almost every single time) ask for help from the ones he used to resent or even fight against whenever he and his fellows met obstacles on the road. Comparing to his defeat (in an apparently unfair condition), the religious triumph and achievement in the end of the story seemed so pointless and unsatisfying, at least for the young readers with no whatsoever political insights or experiences. 

It’s a monkey conceived in a magic stone and was born into the world with total freedom and marvellous talents. With a little enlightenment of a Taoistic master, he learned the art of Tao and the secrets of immortality. He became the king of the monkeys and later on the king of all spiritual animals in the continent, and started a rebellion against the Taoistic imperial domination of the eastern heaven. He almost succeeded to overturn the heavenly empire and its corrupted system with the power of his alone, until the Buddha came to rescue from the western heaven and tricked him into a trap which is a mountain in the shape of Buddha’s own hand. Wukong was trapped under the mountain for 500 years until being released by the monk Tang Xuanzang who’s on the journey to the far west for the original Buddhist scriptures. 

This feeling of downcast must have been following Xiong Liang for years since he was a boy and became one of the motivations for him to re-depict this story, but only to the point where it should’ve stopped. He provided Wukong, with his own power of painting and free will, full freedom again.