The Monkey King

An opera with music by Huang Ruo and libretto by David Henry Hwang
Inspired by the novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en

Listen: Synopsis for the Monkey King

• ACT I

  Guanyin and Boddhisatvas chant Buddhist sutras. Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, will watch over this story.

  We discover the Monkey King, imprisoned beneath the Five-Finger Mountain. He’s been trapped here for nearly 500 years. How can he gain his freedom?

  Monkey recalls his birth, bursting from a stone. He discovers a tribe of Monkeys, threatened by enemies on all sides. After he finds them a home where they can live in safety, the Monkeys enthusiastically declare him their leader. 

  Monkey sets out to learn the secret of eternal life, to deliver his children from death. He finds a teacher, Patriarch Subhuti, and becomes his pupil. Other Disciples scoff that a monkey could gain enlightenment, but Subhuti gives him a new name—Sun Wukong—and teaches him the secret of the 72 Transformations. But when he discovers Sun showing off to the other Disciples, he warns Monkey that “power alone is not enough.” He must master his spirit, or Heaven will rain down catastrophe and destroy him. Sending Monkey away, Subhuti commands him never to reveal that he was his student.

  In search of a weapon, Sun travels beneath the seas to the Dragon Palace of the Eastern Ocean, where he meets King Ao Guang, seeking the heaviest weapon in his arsenal. Nothing Ao Guang offers satisfies Monkey, and the Dragon King fears his Palace will be destroyed. Then Sun notices an enormous pillar holding up the seas. Hoping to get rid of Monkey, Ao Guang offers a deal: if he can lift the pillar, it is his. Monkey shrinks the pillar to the size of a needle, which he tucks behind his ear. He zips off with his magical cudgel as Ao Guang’s Palace collapses.

  In Heaven, where the gods have grown hedonistic and corrupt, Ao Guang files a complaint with the Jade Emperor, who orders Monkey arrested. His chief counsellor, Venus Star, proposes a more Machiavellian plan: lure the inferior creature with flattery up to Heaven, where he can be assimilated to serve the Emperor and become a model inferior.

  Once in Heaven, Monkey is given a fancy but meaningless title: Master of the Stables. Upon finding the Heavenly Horses in a sad and dispirited condition, he frees them to run at will through the clouds. Lord Erlang, the Jade Emperor’s nephew, reveals to Monkey that his new position means nothing. Furious that the gods refuse to accept him, Monkey frees the horses and storms off, stealing and eating the Queen Mother’s peaches of immortality before heading back to his Monkey Nation. Venus Star declares Monkey a menace that must be stopped!

• ACT II

  Monkey presents the stolen peaches to his subjects and gives himself a new title: “The Great Sage, Equal to Heaven!” The Jade Emperor sends a hundred thousand soldiers, led by Erlang, to apprehend him. In a spectacular battle sequence, Monkey defeats one Heavenly King after another, each with a unique weapons. Fearing for his own power, the Jade Emperor prays to Guanyin to save his Kingdom. Finally, the Supreme Lord Laozi apprehends Monkey with his magical golden bands.

  Sun is brought to Heaven, where Laozi plans to roast him alive in his Furnace of Eight Trigrams. But after 49 days, Laozi opens the oven to find Monkey bursting forth, more powerful than ever! Welding his cudgel, the fiery-eyed Sun destroys Heaven, sending Gods and Nobles fleeing in panic.

  The Jade Emperor begs Guanyin for help, admitting his corruption and promising to change his ways. She replies that the only One who can stop Monkey is the same One who started him on his path: Buddha appears and orders Monkey to stand down. Sun accepts a wager: if he can jump out of Buddha’s hand, he will become the new Emperor of Heaven. If he fails, he’ll face greater hardships. Jumping from Buddha’s palm, Sun flies further than ever before. He finds himself in the Land of Bliss, where peace fills his heart. After determining he will return some day, he pees on a rock to show he was here. Then he hears Buddha’s voice and realizes he’s still in the deity’s palm: he only pissed on Buddha’s thumb. Slowly, the hand closes and turns to stone, imprisoning Monkey beneath Five Finger Mountain. Hearing the words of his teacher – “power alone is not enough”—he realizes that Subhuti and Buddha have always been one.

  We return to Monkey’s present. Guanyin asks, “For 500 years, you’ve heard the sutras. But have you really listened? Have you opened your heart?” Monkey realizes he held on to power and refused to be touched. As he finally joins the Buddhist chanting, his five-finger prison opens, freeing him at last. Guanyin and Buddha have been guiding him all along. Monkey will now go forth with a spirit of caring, to help all beings reach the Land of Bliss.