"Black Myth: Wukong" continues to achieve unprecedented success. However, there's a much deeper backstory in Chinese mythology to its titular monkey than the game lets on.
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Black Myth Wu Kong continues to achieve unprecedented success. However,
00:05there's a much deeper backstory in Chinese mythology to its titular monkey than the game
00:09lets on. In Black Myth Wu Kong, players take on the role of the Destined One,
00:13a.k.a. the Monkey King, after the events of the 1592 novel Journey to the West.
00:18"...the destined one who doesn't even know what he's destined for."
00:22The novel is sometimes believed to be the first mention of Sun Wu Kong, but he might be an even
00:26older figure in Chinese mythology, appearing as his precursor, the Monkey Pilgrim, as far back
00:31as the Song Dynasty hundreds of years earlier. Nevertheless, he was popularized by Journey to
00:35the West, which paints an allegorical tale of the monk Xuanzang's journey to India and return to
00:40China, where he translated 75 of his obtained sutras into Chinese and paved the way for Buddhism
00:45in the country and beyond. The story begins in a way that sounds all too familiar hundreds of
00:49years later — a magic stone breaks. According to Chinese legend, the stone had sat atop the
00:54Flowers and Fruit Mountain since the beginning of time. As the book reads,
00:58"...ever since creation began it had been receiving the truth of heaven, the beauty of earth,
01:02the essence of the sun, and the splendor of the moon, and as it had been influenced by them for
01:07so long it had miraculous powers. It developed a magic womb, which burst open one day to produce
01:12a stone egg about the size of a ball. Wind blew on the egg, and from it the Monkey King was born."
01:19As Journey to the West continues, the Monkey King gets to know other monkeys on the Mountain
01:23of Flowers and Fruit and ends up establishing a home for them in the Water Curtain Cave.
01:27He eventually becomes their king, establishing a kingdom of rulers, officers, assistants,
01:31and in short, things start going a little too well for Sun Wukong.
01:35Awareness of mortality leads to a fear of death, which takes its toll on him.
01:39Breaking down in tears at a banquet, the Monkey King tells his followers,
01:43"...the time will come when we are old and weak and the underworld is controlled by the king of hell.
01:47When the time comes for us to die, we won't be able to go on living among the blessed,
01:51and our lives will have been in vain."
01:53This despair sends Sun Wukong on a journey to find immortality,
01:56one that leads him to the Spirit Tower Heart Mountain and its cave of the Setting Moon and
02:00the Three Stars. Here he meets the immortal sage Puti Zhu Xi, a character some believe to be based
02:05on Buddha's disciple Sheputi. Puti Zhu Xi takes the Monkey King on as his disciple,
02:10and teaches him to wield magical powers through practices of Taoism. It is these powers,
02:15such as cloning himself by pulling his hair or transforming into other creatures,
02:19that you'll see him use in Black Myth Wukong.
02:22The next twist in the story of Journey to the West is one you've probably heard in modern
02:26tales and parables. As the Monkey King's power grows, so too does his arrogance.
02:31In pursuit of more strength, he petitions for a spot in heaven among the Celestial Bureaucracy,
02:36but the Jade Emperor tricks him into being the protector of the horses,
02:39a lowly position akin to that of a modern stable boy.
02:42Sun Wukong eventually discovers he's been duped and wages a war on heaven.
02:46After stealing the peaches of eternal life, he enters the Tut Shida Palace,
02:50the highest of the 33 heavens. Here, the Monkey King steals the golden pills of
02:54immortality elixir and escapes through the West Gate of Heaven using an invisibility spell.
02:59Pagoda-bearing Heavenly King Li Prince, commander of the Heavenly Army, wages war on the Monkey
03:04King in a, quote, terrifying battle. However, Sun Wukong defeats his 1,000 celestial warriors,
03:09the Four Heavenly Kings, and the military leader's son, Prince Nezha. Sun Wukong's power is too great
03:15for heaven, so the Celestial Bureaucracy eventually petitions the Buddha, who captures and
03:19imprisons him in the Five Elements Mountain.
03:22I can't believe I'm destined to stay in the land of terrors forever!
03:26It's at this point that Journey to the West turns toward the real story of Buddhist monk Xuanzang.
03:31Imprisoned in the mountain, the Monkey King reflects on his actions and is eventually
03:34released on the condition he acts as a bodyguard for Buddhist monk Tan Zanzang,
03:38the character based on Xuanzang. From here, the story covers Sun Wukong's travels with
03:43Tan Zanzang and other sinners seeking enlightenment, fighting demons and monsters
03:47called Yaoguai along the way. These creatures show up in Black Myth Wukong as Yaoguai chief
03:52bosses and the more powerful Yaoguai King story bosses. The term Yaoguai is a Chinese term that
03:57often, but not always, refers to demons. Like the Monkey King, they have also acquired their
04:01supernatural powers using Taoist practices and want to achieve immortality. Yaoguai Kings,
04:07like their Black Myth counterparts, are known to lord over less powerful demons.
04:11In Journey to the West, Yaoguai seek to gain deity status by consuming the flesh of holy men.
04:17Xuanzang's 16-year journey to India and back was one of great importance.
04:21After he completed the 10,000-mile trek on foot and horseback and translated 75 Buddhist sutras
04:27into Chinese, the religion became more prevalent and understood not just in China, but around the
04:31world. For this reason, it's not surprising that Black Myth Wukong has gained so much attention,
04:36and it may end up carrying a legacy similar to Xuanzang himself by bringing Chinese mythology
04:41to more people and helping them to better understand it. As Haiqing Yu, a professor
04:45at Australia's RMIT University, told BBC,
04:48"...it's not just a Chinese game targeting the Chinese market or the Chinese-speaking world.
04:52Players all over the world are playing a game that has a Chinese cultural factor."
04:56All I ever wanted was a life in my mountain, free from you and your so-called merits."
05:05In a piece for Asia Times, author and lecturer Gurry Wong suggested the game's success is rooted
05:10mostly in the relatability of its mythology's subject matter. She wrote,
05:14"...the game's themes — curbing uninhibited desires,
05:16battling powerful heavenly gods, fighting against unfair treatment — resonate with
05:21modern players. These themes address issues like economic inequality, environmental degradation,
05:26and exploitation by powerful industries, making the story more than just a game.
05:30It's a reflection of what society needs right now."