Chapter I How Sun Wukong Became the Handsome Monkey King
A long, long time ago, the world was basically in “dark mode.” No sun, no moon, no mountains, no rivers — just one big cosmic soup of nothing. That is, until a legendary guy named Pangu (盘古) took a giant axe and split the sky and earth apart. Boom — light, landscapes, and life appeared.
According to ancient lore, time wasn’t measured in years back then. It ran in “Yuan”(元) cycles, each lasting 129,600 years. These were divided into twelve phases, kind of like zodiac hours or cosmic months. Sometimes the world would bask in light, other times it fell back into darkness. It was all part of the universe’s long, dramatic evolution.
Eventually, the stars, sun, and moon lit up the skies. The earth sprouted trees, rivers, birds, beasts… and finally, during the phase called Yin(寅), humans entered the scene. The big three — heaven, earth, and humanity — were finally in place.
The world was now divided into four continents. Our story begins in one of them: the Eastern Continent(东胜神洲).
Off the coast of this land lay a kingdom called Aolai(傲来), bordered by the vast sea. In those waters stood a legendary mountain — Huaguo Mountain(花果山) — a true fossil of the planet, formed way back when heaven and earth first split. It had towering cliffs, deep forests, gurgling springs, and eternal springtime. If animals had real estate dreams, this was their paradise.
At the peak of this mountain was a giant rock that had been soaking up the essence of heaven and earth for eons. One day, after centuries of cosmic marination, the rock suddenly split open with a crack, and out popped… an egg. The wind blew over it, and the egg hatched into a monkey.
This was no ordinary monkey. He had perfect features and nimble limbs, and could immediately leap around like an acrobat. He bowed to the four directions (east, south, west and north) like a polite little gentleman. But the real jaw-dropper was his eyes. They shot out twin beams of golden light straight into the sky, so bright that even the Jade Emperor(玉皇大帝) up in Heaven(天庭) noticed.
“What’s that flashing in the East?” the Jade Emperor frowned, summoning his scouts, Clairvoyant Eye(千里眼) and Keen-Ear(顺风耳).
They soon reported back, “Your Majesty, a magical stone on Huaguo Mountain just gave birth to a monkey. The little guy’s gaze is… intense.”
The Jade Emperor shrugged, “Born of heaven and earth? Eh, just ignore it.”
So the stone monkey began his carefree jungle life — feasting on fruit, sipping spring water, making animal friends, and playing with other monkeys. His days were pure bliss: tree-leaping by day, cave-napping by night. Not a single worry in the world.
One sweltering day, a bunch of monkeys were chilling under a tree when they got curious about where the stream came from. So, naturally, they decided to find the source.
After climbing upstream for hours, they reached a stunning waterfall. Water thundered down like a white rainbow, mist in the air, cool and majestic.
“Whoa! This has got to lead to the ocean!” one monkey exclaimed.
Another monkey shouted, “How about this? Whoever dares to jump through the waterfall and come back safe, we’ll make them our king!”
Before the sentence was even finished, the stone monkey stepped forward. “I’ll go!”
No hesitation, the stone monkey stood up. He closed his eyes, crouched, leapt… and vanished into the curtain of water.
What was on the other side of the waterfall? A hidden cave-palace paradise! There were stone house items, leafy bamboo, pine trees, plum blossoms, even cozy little rooms and kitchens — basically the Airbnb of monkey dreams.
Right in the center stood a stone tablet, engraved with eight grand characters:
“Blessed Land of Huaguo Mountain, Cave of the Water Curtain.”
Excited, the monkey did a joyful backflip and rushed out to tell the others.
“It’s not just water, it’s a cave! With stone beds, stoves, plants — room for thousands of us!”
The monkeys cheered. “Show us! Show us!”
The brave ones dove in first. The cautious ones followed right after. Before long, the place was packed with monkeys claiming spots, dragging in leaves for bedding, and arguing over who got which corner. Total chaos!
Once everyone settled down, the stone monkey dusted himself off, stood tall, and grinned. “So… who was it that said I’d be king if I went in and came out safely? I even found us a new home. Seems like I earned the crown, right?”
The monkeys didn’t argue. They bowed down as one:
“Long live the king!”
And from that day forward, the stone monkey had a name to match his flair:
The Handsome Monkey King.