Sculpted images of the cosmic buddha Dainichi Nyorai (大日如来) flanked by Sonshō Butchō (尊勝仏頂) on the left and Kongōsatta (金剛薩埵) on the right enshrined in the Great Dharma Transmission Hall of Negoroji Temple (根来寺) in Iwade, Wakayama Prefecture, with Sonshō Butchō dating to 1405 and the other two to 1387
Fans of Lego Monkie Kid, as many of you may already know, Peng is based on an ancient monster king appearing in chapters 74 to 77 of Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592). In the end of his arc, he is trapped above the Buddha's throne and submits to Buddhism. But you may not know that this very same character appears in a later novel, The Complete Vernacular Biography of Yue Fei (Shuo Yue quanzhuan, 說岳全傳, 1684 CE; a.k.a. The Story of Yue Fei). Peng is exiled from paradise for ... and I'm not joking ... killing a stellar spirit for farting during the Buddha's sermon.
Chapter one of Yue Fei's biography reads:
Let’s talk about the Buddha Tathagata at the Great Thunderclap Monastery in the Western Paradise. One day, he sat on a nine-level lotus throne, and the Four Great Bodhisattvas, the Eight Great Vajra Warriors, the five hundred Arhats, the three thousand Heavenly Kings, nuns and monks, male and female attendants, all of the heavenly sages who protect the Dharma, gathered to listen to his lecture on the Lotus Sutra. His words were like flowers and precious jewels raining from the heavens. But, at that time, a star-spirit, the Maiden Earth Bat, who had been listening to the lecture from beneath the lotus throne, couldn’t bear it any longer and unexpectedly let out a stinky fart.
The Buddha was a great, merciful lord, so he didn’t mind even the slightest bit. But don’t sympathize with the Dharma protector above his head, the “Great Peng, the Golden-Winged King of Illumination,” whose eyes shone with golden light and whose back was a scene of auspiciousness. He became angry when he saw the nasty, filthy Maiden Earth Bat, and so he unfurled both his wings and dropped down to kill the spirit by pecking her on the head. The light-point of her soul shot out of the Great Thunderclap Monastery and went to the Lands of the East (China) in the world below to find a mother and reincarnate. She was reborn as a daughter of the Wang clan. She would later marry the Song Prime minister Qin Hui (1091-1155) and come to cruelly kill the righteous (i.e. Yue Fei) as a means to get revenge against today’s enemy. We will talk about this later.
Let’s return to the Buddha, who saw what happened with his all-seeing eyes and exclaimed, “Good! Good! It turns out that this is an episode of karma (cause and effect).” Then he called the Great Peng bird to come closer and shouted, “You evil creature! You already took refuge in my teachings. How can you not follow the five precepts by daring to commit such a horrible crime? I don’t need you here; you will descend to the mortal world to pay off your (karmic) debt and wait until you have fulfilled your work. Once that is completed, only then will I allow you to return to the mountain to achieve the right fruit (Buddhist merit).” The Great Peng complied with the decree, flying out of the Great Thunderclap Monastery directly to the Lands of the East to be reincarnated. We will stop here (translation by me).
且說西方極樂世界大雷音寺我佛如來,一日端坐九品蓮臺,旁列著四大菩薩、八大金剛、五百羅漢、三千偈諦、比丘尼、比丘僧、優婆夷、優婆塞,共諸天護法聖眾,齊聽講說妙法真經。正說得天花亂墜、寶雨繽紛之際,不期有一位星官,乃是女土蝠,偶在蓮臺之下聽講,一時忍不住,撒出一個臭屁來。我佛原是個大慈大悲之主,毫不在意。不道惱了佛頂上頭一位護法神祗,名為大鵬金翅明王,眼射金光,背呈祥瑞,見那女土蝠污穢不潔,不覺大怒,展開雙翅落下來,望著女土蝠頭上,這一嘴就啄死了。那女土蝠一點靈光射出雷音寺,徑往東土認母投胎,在下界王門為女,後來嫁與秦檜為妻,殘害忠良,以報今日之讎。此是後話,按下不提。
且說佛爺將慧眼一觀,口稱:「善哉,善哉!原來有此一段因果。」即喚大鵬鳥近前,喝道:「你這孽畜!既歸我教,怎不皈依五戒,輒敢如此行兇?我這裡用你不著,今將你降落紅塵,償還冤債,直待功成行滿,方許你歸山,再成正果。」大鵬鳥遵了法旨,飛出雷音寺,徑來東土投胎不表。
The Golden Wheel King – Maitreya appearing once every 3,000 years with the the flowers of the udumbara (Ref)
His body colour is gold, crowned with a crown of seven treasures, and light emanates from its entire body. He makes a sign and sits in the full lotus position on a lotus flower decorated with the seven treasures. The lotus flower on which he is seated has a jeweled crown and a treasure pond beneath it.
The most outstanding of the Wheel-Turning Kings, the Golden Wheel King, has an extremely superior merit of the buddhosnisa (the superior brain of Tathagata, the divinity of the intellect to save people).
According to the description in the Buddhist scriptures, the concept of the Wheel-Turning King (Pali: chakravarti, Skt. cakravartin) was roughly as follows.
The world goes through cycles of prosperity and decline. In times of prosperity, the human lifespan is 80,000 years, but as human virtue is lost, the lifespan becomes shorter, and in the age of darkness, when all good is lost, it is 10 years. Thereafter, human virtue is restored, and once again we enter the age of prosperity, when the lifespan is 80,000 years.
It is during this age of prosperity that the transmigration of the Wheel-Turning King will emerge, as a result of his good deeds in his previous lives. He has the same 32 auspicious signs (Ref), signifying a great being like the Buddha, and rules the earth up to the four oceans with the power of the law, without using force of arms.
There are 4 types of Wheel-Turning Kings: the Golden Wheel King, the Silver Wheel King, the Bronze Wheel King, and the Iron Wheel King. The Iron Wheel King has the Iron Wheel and rules over one of the 4 continents that were considered to exist on the earth in the ancient Indian worldview. Likewise, the Copper Wheel King has the Copper Wheel and rules over two continents, and the Silver Wheel King has the Silver Wheel and rules over three continents. The Golden Wheel King, the highest Wheel-Turning King, has the Golden Wheel and rules all 4 continents. For this reason, the Golden Wheel King, like the Wheel-Turning Kings, is surrounded by his seven attributes.
The seven treasures and four divine virtues of the Wheel Turning Sage King:
Chakraratna wheel: rolls in all directions and makes the king level the earth.
Elephant treasure (hatthiratana): a pure white elephant that also flies in the sky.
Horse treasure (assaratana): pure white horses that also fly in the sky.
Octagonal gem treasure (maniratana): jewels whose luminous emanations can reach as high as 1yojana (7mi/12–15 km).
His queen (itthiratana): a dutiful and chaste queen with good looks and fragrance.
Finance minster (gahapatiratana): wealthy citizens who support the state.
General treasure (parinayakaratana): a wise, capable and skilled general.
They are also said to possess the four divine virtues:
good looks
long life
Fewer illnesses, fewer worries
Respect from Brahmin Gahapati and compassion for them
A hanging scroll of the Hoshi Mandara (星曼荼羅), a star mandala populated with astral deities featuring Kokūzō Bodhisattva (虛空藏菩薩) in the center surrounded by the Seven Stars of Ursa Major above and the Nine Planets below
For use during the Shintō Consecration Rite (神道灌頂), dating to the Edo period (1600-1868) from the collection of Henjōzan Saifukuji Temple (遍照山 西福寺) in Ide, Kyoto Prefecture
Fans of Lego Monkie Kid, did you know that Red Son (Hong hai'er, 紅孩兒), this guy ...
... is worshiped in Chinese folk religion? Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592) states that Guanyin (觀音) gives "Red Boy" the religious title "Child of Goodly Wealth" (Shancai tongzi, 善財童子) upon his initial capture and fake submission to Buddhism:
"Since you have received my commandments," said the Bodhisattva, "I won't treat you lightly. I'll call you the Child of Goodly Wealth. How's
that?" The fiend nodded his head in agreement, for all he hoped for was that his life be spared. [1]
菩薩道:「你今既受我戒,我卻也不慢你,稱你做善財童子,如何?」 那妖點頭受持,只望饒命。
This is the Chinese name of an established Buddhist deity called "Sudhana". He is best known as a young cultivator from the Gaṇḍavyūha Sutra (c. 200 to 300 CE) who studies under 53 respective gods, goddesses, bodhisattvas, holy monks, and lay practitioners to achieve enlightenment. [2] He is commonly depicted as one of Guanyin's two disciples, the other being the Dragon Girl (Longnu, 龍女). For instance, here is a Malaysian religious statue of the trio in my personal collection:
Here is a detail of the Child of Goodly Wealth (his right leg is not broken, just bent at the knee). Take note of the Monkey King-like curlicue band around his neck and the golden rings around his wrists and ankle(s).
The bands/rings are very similar to those worn by Nezha in Monkie Kid (more on this below):
Here is a stand alone statue of the Child in my collection. The curlicue-style neck band is not included:
While the rings are likely connected to the kinds of adornments historically worn by South Asian religious practitioners, Journey to the West states that Red Boy/the Child's ornaments serve the same function as Monkey's golden headband. They are used to further submit the stubborn demon:
Dear Bodhisattva! She took the fillet and waved it at the wind once, crying, "Change!" It changed into five fillets, which she threw at the body of [Red Boy/the Child], crying, "Hit!" One fillet enveloped the boy's head, while the rest caught his two hands and two feet. "Stand aside, Wukong," said the Bodhisattva, "and let me recite for a while the Golden-Fillet Spell" (Wu & Yu, 2012, p. 251).
I should note that this is not a case of later believers copying details from the novel. It's actually the reverse; Journey to the West simply gives a fanciful origin for the rings that have been associated with the deity for centuries. For instance, here is a Japanese statue from the 13th-century.
This is where it gets interesting. Some modern practitioners worship the Child of Goodly Wealth in his Red Boy form, as evidenced by these circa 1970s drawings from a Singaporean idol maker's shop (photos by Keith Stevens/courtesy of Ronni Pinsler of the BOXS project). Notice how they are strikingly similar to Nezha:
They are so similar, in fact, that modern statues of Nezha and Red Boy are easy to confuse. Here is a prime example. The figure on the left is Nezha in his "Lotus Prince" (Hualian taizi, 蓮花太子) form. [3] The leaves on his shoulders look just like those from the first Red Boy drawing above. The one in the middle is his "Wrapped Stomach" (Du wei, 肚圍) form, which shows Nezha wearing a baby's stomach apron. And the last is Red Boy. He wears the same apron and even stands on a fire wheel just like Nezha (refer back to the second Red Boy drawing).
Update #1
This website notes how someone added a spear to their Child of Goodly Wealth to make Red Boy.
Update #2
An informant states that more recent practitioners consider the Child of Goodly Wealth and Red Boy two different deities:
[H]ave to wonder just why wu cheng en decided to hybridise existing buddhist figure sudhana with red boy, these days many devotees subscribe to pov that shan cai and red boy are two seperate individuals with shan cai statues unarmed and red boy statues wielding weapons
They also directed me to this (likely custom) statue of Red Boy. I love the flames shooting from his mouth:
Note:
Original source changed slightly.
His spiritual journey is summarized in Fontein, 1967, pp. 5-14.
After sacrificing his life, Nezha's physical body is replaced with a divine one constructed from a lotus. See Creation of the Gods (c. 1620).
Source:
Wu, C., & Yu, A. C. (2012). The Journey to the West (Vol. 2). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Fontein J. (1967). The Pilgrimage of Sudhana: A Study of Gandavyuha Illustrations in China, Japan and Java. The Hague: Mouton & Co.