The real tale of the Monkey King in Heaven - Ji Hao

[@garyhammer9594]

The jade emperor thought it’s a good idea to put wukong near some fruit to guard and to NOT eat it. Real smart.

[@Echo81Rumple83]

"DON'T." "'Don't' what?" "[don't]...Eat the forbidden fruit." "Where is it?"

[@lucasaster2968]

Note: the story never said he was a smart emperor. 😆

[@powpowrangerskampusgajah9453]

From what i remember, the emperor is still dont want to put him on a higher ranking jobs, so he basically put him on a mere "guard duty" and learned the hard way😅

[@toxicdermyillunary4103]

He maybe wise at ruling but as a certain Four Dragon tale shows, guy sure is too occupied to care about certain details.

[@videogollumer]

​@@toxicdermyillunary4103 Yeah, that story pretty much seems to be implying that bad things, like droughts, happen on earth because the Jade Emperor is a busy busy man and hasn't gotten to the paper work to resolve it yet.

[@ibrahim_öztürk_youtube]

WOW! Someone should make a game about this.

[@Apero1Spritz]

It’s been made

[@immMoon]

You're not gonna believe this

[@kazervids8828]

Well... Haha... U won't believe this but...

[@Cabrazzi]

😂😂😂

[@Baxtexx]

​@@Apero1Spritz no, i cannot believe it!

[@SiverFangBlackWing]

The point of this part of the story was a critique of the Confucius court system. Wukong symbolizes the human mind and how the author believed it could never be tamed by government bureaucracy, and instead only by Buddhist enlightenment. It's why Wukong is sometimes called the "mind Monkey".

[@conradmaclean4073]

They were on to something wern't they? The monkey is symbolic of the chaotic wandering mind. And if you try to constrain somebody that chaotic with bureaucracy they figure out what's going on and fight back or just create more trouble. And you see that so often in primary schools.

[@torchervoid3807]

And by "Buddhist enlightenment" we mean throwing 3 mountains on top of him to trap him for a few centuries, for a starter.

[@SiverFangBlackWing]

@@torchervoid3807 even that didn’t tame him it just stopped him. He is tamed during the Journey where he is taught lessons by several Buddhists including his master. He becomes less prone to anger, greed, selfishness, and killing as the story goes on. The entire story is a metaphor for the path to enlightenment and meant to promote Buddhism.

[@torchervoid3807]

@@SiverFangBlackWing Yeah I know, I read the book in the original Chinese. Just making a quick joke.

[@videogollumer]

@@torchervoid3807 Buddha only dropped one mountain on him and place a seal on it that would prevent him from lifting it; the Silver Horned Demon was the one who dropped 3 mountains on him latter in the story.

[@derkaiser420]

The story ends with the Great Buddha imprisoning the Monkey King under a mountain that used to be his palm for 500 years to learn patience and humility. Two earth spirits feed him iron pellets when he is hungry and molten copper when he is thirsty. After this the Monkey King goes on a pilgrimage with Tang Sanzang on his Journey to the West to India where he learns the teaching of Buddhism. After this he officially becomes a Buddha and is granted the moniker 'Victorious Fighting Buddha.' I think the story really tells of the virtues of Buddhism and how patience and kindness can soothe even the most unpredictable and seemingly uncontrollable souls.

[@AncientWildTV]

yeah, what a childhood series

[@sarathmanoj04mytube]

So basically the Hindu deity hunuman changed for the Buddhist sensibilities.

[@hallojava2458]

"Virtues of Buddhism" - traps animal without food or water under 4km of rock for half a millennium until he gets Stockholm syndrome.

[@clivah1499]

@@hallojava2458 "Virtuous Critique" - says that the last resort measurement didn't have any 6 more merciful punishments

[@QuickStrikes84]

I like this canon version more than the edgy new ones. You cannot remove Wukong from spirituality and Buddhism. That was the whole point!

[@kingofthemonsters9992]

“The Victorious Fighting Buddha. Have you any idea how many would give everything for immortality?” “Immortality? Ha! For that word, all realms and beings have ruined themselves!”

[@Vangaurd_tiger]

The celestial court welcomed you foul monkey, yet you remain untamed, now none shall save you.

[@nooby3641]

Immortality sucks yk. Seeing all your loved ones die and suffer endlessly after everything is gone

[@justerinooo]

Ted-Ed creators confirmed playing Wukong

[@puneetmishra4726]

There is something about the King of Gods getting jealous or anxious about someone becoming more powerful than him. You see it in all the old legends.

[@videogollumer]

For the record, the Jade Emperor DOES have superiors, namely the Three Pure Ones.

[@puneetmishra4726]

@@videogollumer Are the three pure ones Laozi, Confucius and Buddha or is it some other trinity? Also, I'd like to draw similarity to Indian pantheon. Indra is the King of Devas but he is not the most superior. Above him are the Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) and (according to various sects) there is a supreme God who is formless and timeless and above even the Trimurti. I've read somewhere that Indra, (or Sakra as he is most commonly called in Buddhist texts, which means the victorious) was taken by Buddhist missionaries where he blended with local folk deities and eventually came to be called 'The Jade Emperor'. Is that true?

[@baonghita3600]

@@puneetmishra4726 from what I know, the Jade Emperor is from the original Chinese mythology, while the Buddha and some others are incorporated later

[@videogollumer]

@@puneetmishra4726 The Three Pure Ones are all Taoist figures. Also, I have no idea regarding your question about indra.

[@puneetmishra4726]

@@videogollumer I see. Thanks for replying. Have a nice day!

[@eaglebeakv5]

快请如来佛祖！this is every Chinese kid’s superhero story for my generation. Good to see the game is bringing much attention to my childhood favourite hero.

[@SeaTurtleVo]

Uh ah, nope. Not with the true Buddhism Chinese. PRC perhaps

[@Queen1001N]

Another form of immortality Sun Wukong acquired. The continued story-telling and reimagining of his character.

[@MetrixGD]

can we not bring politics into this?

[@MetrixGD]

interesting 🤔

[@wakandaforever8597]

​@@SeaTurtleVolol what r u trying to say

[@docbaker3333]

I love that this uses the same animation style as the Previous Sun Wukong Video.

[@videogollumer]

Same.

[@SirsasthNigam.]

1:36 "I will Show you Who's 12" -NeZha to the 8 x immortal Monkey King whose first act on birth was bow towards 4 directions and blasted laser eyes :OSP

[@syabilaazri7834]

Poor Nezzy... first lose to the Monkey King and then have to become his lawyer....

[@jessicajayes8326]

I understood that reference!

[@kingki1953]

Bro Nezha is badass in HoK. I would like to see him more in other game!

[@dio_the_wha]

jdhsjdh i was looking for a on osp reference

[@justsomeguywholovesberserk6375]

No wonder Goku was inspired by this dude This man is badass

[@Carlos-bz5oo]

*monkey

[@QuintenWhyte]

Over 9000!!!!

[@sarathmanoj04mytube]

I thought he was inspired by Hanuman, by which the monkey king is inspired by.

[@Kimoto504]

@@sarathmanoj04mytube Thanks for this. All the time I was thinking of Hanuman as I watched.

[@ze7600]

@@sarathmanoj04mytubestill is wukong that he was based on. son goku is the japanese name for son wukong

[@Stachios77]

4 generations of my family grew up watching Journey to The West. Which is essentially about King Sun Wukong and he was our favorite character!

[@AvidCanineEnjoyer]

The story of Sun Wu Kong is definitely one of the greatest myth/mythology based stories ever told.

[@youngmasterzhi]

I dunno. His monkey business with the emperor left me feeling jaded.

[@baonghita3600]

He’s from a novel, not mythology

[@arimcbeth6890]

@@baonghita3600 ehhh it's a bit of both

[@StephenYoung1379]

@@baonghita3600 the novel was based on mythology

[@videogollumer]

It's not really mythology; basically, Journey to the West is to Buddhism what Pilgrim's Progress is to Christianity.

[@Ramosd87]

Even Ted-Ed acknowledges that Wukong is GOTY.

[@code066funkinbird3]

Ok

[@Drakin292]

"DID SOMEBODY SAY IMPULSIVE!?" -Sun Wukong (From youtube channel 'Overly Sarcastic Productions'.)

[@nimishmalik884]

Eyyy, was looking for this. If somebody wants to see this story, but turned into a comedy, go to OSP. Plus, they have another 10 episodes of drawn hijinks as the rest of the journey to the west occurs

[@DreamDaddie]

Son Wukong is one of my go to guys in the Shin Megami Tensei series. I love hearing the lore behind the characters in mythology

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

My introduction to _Journey to the West_ is that one Capcom game called _SonSon._ Sun Wukong in this game later got a granddaughter who is one of the main rosters of _Marvel vs. Capcom_ series.

[@maryl.5984]

Son Son is in my top 4 characters when I play MvC2! I'm so excited to get the game on physical this November!

[@CellRus]

This was literally my childhood growing up. They make 2 great series about Sun Wukong, 1 original and 1 sequel, and they are both fantastic. It's called The journey to the West. You should watch it. The CGI was horrendous but there's just something very fun and endearing and the way the story was told was just so magical.

[@courtney5312]

I watched the series when I was little too, but didn't realize how bad the CGI was until this year when I rewatched it. Still a classic though, and honestly goofy in its own right, befitting of the monkey king protagonist.

[@RedPilgrim.]

83' JttW was pretty much a childhood TV series.

[@leesasuki]

1996 ver IS the best. The one and only

[@jangzhang7323]

I heard stories about sun wukong when I was a little boy from my dad. It feels me with joy and excitement to imagine how sun wukong outsmarted his enemies. After seeing this video it still feels me with childlike joy and excitement from my younger days. Thank you Ted-ed for sharing this wonderful piece of an almost forgotten past.

[@SarahAbramova]

I highly recommend Overly Sarcastic Productions' Journey to the West Kai series, or even Lego Monkie Kid.

[@syabilaazri7834]

@@SarahAbramova i heard that the new OSP "Journey to the West Kai" going to have character from the newest season of Lego Monkie Kid...

[@johnyricco1220]

Wukong was addicted to immortality. JTTW was about addiction recovery

[@jujitsujew23]

RIP Toriyama, you are missed

[@jujitsujew23]

@@lol0ajo uhhh no it isn't...Toriyama literally based the story of Dragon Ball on Journey to the West. Goku is the small monkey boy with a staff as a weapon and rides on a flying cloud. Look it up and see how wrong you are

[@Primearch-GG]

This is a good summary of what Sun Wukong did before the Journey to the West happend. Only flaw is the bad depiction of the divine skill of "Three Heads, Six Arms", since you guys added torsos on top of it.

[@an.drommi5905]

LOVE how it looks like shadow puppets!!! great attention to detail!

[@CrazyTruckinS10]

What I've learned from this story is, Sun Wukong can do WHATEVER he wants with no recourse. Just add more and more things that just drag the story on. Like Alice in Wonderland lol

[@QuickStrikes84]

Getting trapped under a mountain for 500 years isn't recourse?! lol

[@leesasuki]

this wasn't even 10% of the full story yet. But yes you are right, in his early life he literally cause havoc, kills thousands and become stronger and stronger without any recourse, but you will see what happen in next episode

[@holymolymacaroni7503]

YES another mythology video ily ted ed

[@nillarose]

One of my favorite KZbin channels making a video about my favorite mythological being ever? What is this, a crossover episode?

[@TheKingofTheSky424]

I love sun wukong so much

[@Kate-r4v]

1:45 the version I heard was that 哪吒(heavens general) actually had became friends with 孙悟空so he lied to the Jade Emperor that he had no match with him

[@ChaseYu]

2:26 😅 No, NOT FAIRIES, calling celestial maiden the fairy is so weird because they aren’t the same. They’re deities of heaven

[@darisce3652]

This one video is affected by the Journey to the West TV show too much, in the original story written, the Jade emperor is not scare of Sun Wukong, it's the Buddha scare of the rising tension of the fight will kill this poor Monkey so Buddha offer the more peaceful way to capture the monkey and help him to be enlighten instead of wasting his talent.

[@MsTimelady71]

Love how this is drawn as a Chinese puppet show with strings on the characters.

[@itsapersonn]

Two little extra details. First, the Jade Emperor thought it was best to execute Monkey until the planet of Venus intervened, suggesting that Monkey be supervised in Heaven instead. Second, Monkey was thrown into a special brazier to separate the immortal elixir from his body, killing Monkey in the process. However, Monkey found a compartment in the brazier without any fire, but the smoke gave him the fiery eyes.

[@LeSpicey]

Also, he didn’t snatch the staff from the sea dragon, he got it “given”, because every other weapon the dragon king offered him was too light for Wukong, so they told him to go look at that huge iron pillar treasure that’s way too heavy, which turned out to be the staff, that shrunk when he got to it

[@thomasecker9405]

Correct! The wind seal was the furnace's weak point!

[@AnneMarcyandsashaVlog-md9ev]

I’m Chinese and I love the story of the Monkey King!

[@robertocorona4865]

buddha: kiddo, stop messing around. do as what i say or else you will become a dust without a second

[@Rip_panana]

HERE COMES MONKEY KING

[@5Psychology-Facts]

Sun Wukong is a character that most children in the past were interested in.

[@segtendo381]

FINALLY FRIGGINGLY IVE BEEN WAITING FOR YEARS AND FINALLY IT CAME

[@ItchOnMyBack]

TED-ED forgot that after burned for 49 days, although Wukong got his invicible body and his golden, fiery eyes, it's also made his eyes weaker to smoke and wind. That's why he lost to Yellow Wind Demon's Samadhi Wind and Red Boy's Samadhi fire smoke.

[@chellastation]

The story is very interesting. I am reading The Journey to the West. I only got to the part about Guanyin giving the Jade Emperor, Queen Mother and Laozi on how to handle SWK.

[@Apero1Spritz]

西遊記 is one of the most enticing myths ever told

[@aidanrogers4438]

5:05 “Mmm, Monke.”

[@thanhtrungnguyenhuu6672]

"Let me cook." - Laozi

[@jwang2879]

I don't think people know how insanely powerful the monkey is in mythology. He wields a 18,000 pound Golden Rod. He soloed the underworld, eastern Sea kingdoms, heavens entire army, Nezhe (one of heavens best warriors), Erlang and his battle hound, and was able to hold his own against the fckin buddah for quite a while. After these battles, he literally laid under and beared the weight of a moutain for 500 years, has god like eyes that can see through anything. Ye, Top 3 most powerful mythology heroes (eventually he's fine) if not the GOAT

[@jessicajayes8326]

Monkey made himself immortal six ways from Sunday!

[@bvillafuerte179]

Excellent video.

[@ArgoDraconia]

Sun Wukong will always be best monke.

[@GRXKZ]

For those Who wants to know what happened next: The Buddha offered monkey a trial, all he had to do was stay away from the palm of his hand. So he ran alllll the way to the edge of the universe and in front were five pillars. The monkey king marked one of the pillars with his pee and came all the way back to the Buddha. Now it’s kind of confusing but basically the entire universe is in the buddhas hand and those pillars were his fingers. So monkey list the challenge and as punishment he sealed him away inside a mountain.

[@Rocccck]

Animations perfect Voice wow Thanks for entertaining us with these videos ted ed

[@benb3316]

Love this! I read these stories as a kid in the public library, saw a kind of short and ...interesting... take on it by Milo Manara. Be neat to see the next installment!

[@vrsun3699]

I love Ted Ed videos.

[@Aexoert]

4:29 🔥🔥🔥

[@TammyAng150]

I'm glad a video about my favorite folk tale is made, been learning bout it since 5

[@genesismultiverse4896]

Nice animation

[@منتظراحمد-ز8ر]

Wow there should be a movie about this

[@Carlos-bz5oo]

several in fact

[@annoying_HK_guy]

And a lot of TV series about 西遊記

[@sunghako6167]

I'm Korean and I love this 😊

[@Blackcat-si8ki]

Toriyama Akira loves this

[@ChristianJeroldCarlEstorco]

❤❤❤ this interested me because of the Wukong game

[@veldawells2839]

Wow! Loved this mythical Eastern story. Beautifully narrated. Educational too. I wonder if this is where the 1970s Monkey episodes where inspired from. Watched as a child, and loved it. Thank you.b❤

[@KonradofKrakow]

The animation in this video is wonderful!

[@zzxzzx-fn4bf]

Little knowledge: Why forty-nine days? In Buddhism, seven signifies completeness and represents transcending the six realms, symbolizing enlightenment. Seven times seven, or forty-nine days, embodies great completeness and the attainment of the elixir.

[@VMChannel588]

SunWuKong is absolutely savage 😊😊

[@longdogmurph]

The White Hot Brazier is nothing more but a hot tub/ sauna for Sun Wukong.

[@nhokshock94]

There is a theory among buddhists that Wukong represents our mind. A brilliant mind to be accurate. Because the mind has no shape nor form, it can transform into anything it can imagine. The mind can’t be controlled by force. That’s why only the Buddha, whose knowledge is absolute, can control Wukong.

[@MegaRhyz]

Great sage equal to Heaven is the coldest title of all time.

[@thomasecker9405]

More like the most arrogant.

[@jocysatu1038]

If i remember correctly, there was made a movie about this and i watched it; the movie depicted the storyline (almost) correctly. A little spoiler: Buddha made him stay inside the giant rocks for eternity to learn patience and humility. If i remember, he actually did learn that.

[@theoneguy4692]

Hope more segments from journey to the west are told through this style^^

[@VietVuHunzter]

All story depicts Wukong as invincible. He is strong, just not that strong. The like of Laozi should surpress him easily.

[@jamiesprinkbob]

just when i thought the story couldnt get any crazier Buddha showed up

[@natheriver8910]

Very fascinant 👏👏👏👏🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

[@musingsofahomeschooler5332]

the monkey king would then go on to change his hands into legos and his voice to sound like Gokus

[@syabilaazri7834]

That guy really love to voice Goku.... even in a parody anime like Kappa Mikey he voice the parody version of Goku in that show....

[@Milner-Barry]

Great video as always! Would love one on manichaeism.

[@alfrancisbuada2591]

One amazing tale this was

[@syabilaazri7834]

Any Lego Monkie Kid and OSP fans over here?

[@Carlos-bz5oo]

guilty!

[@mspaintdoodle9989]

LEGO MONKIE KID IS MY HYPERFIXATION!!!

[@midnayomatsu9897]

OSP fan 'ere!

[@tsm8004]

red is such a great storyteller

[@ByzAsian45]

This tale right before "Journey to the West"

[@TheLifeLessonJournal1985]

excellent

[@natividadfamiliapereyra3742]

I grew up watching this saga and I never understood it clearly. Thanks for this video.

[@Queen1001N]

Buddha offers to make Sun Wukong ruler of heaven if he can jump off Buddha’s palm. Red from OSP It’s time for another round of What Will Sun Wukong Do Next? Let’s hear it! A. Become suspicious of the ease of the task and use caution B. Surrender to the mercy of the Buddha. C. LET’S DO THIS OLD MAN! YOUR PASTY SAINT FINGERS ARE NO MATCH FOR ME!

[@tsm8004]

BAHAHSVAHGSS this part plays in my head at least once a day

[@HayashiManabu]

I finally beat Erlang Shen yesterday after almost 20 tries

[@jessicajayes8326]

Shakey boom guy!

[@kevinlane1219]

Please be sure to establish a continuation of this story. This feels so much like a part 1 of 2, perhaps a part 2 of 3.

[@cdpallmoo]

it'd be nice if ted ed covered bhutanese folktales as well !!

[@JozelitoZanichelli]

Monkey King in heaven. Peak. It may sound off topic but I chanced on this cool translator that does everything and more of what a translator should have, name is Immersive Translate and one thing that can really help is it’s new feature, which lets you create a custom AI expert for translating anything. Thank me later, it's gold.

[@annoying_HK_guy]

So........can we get video about Zhu Bajie, Shan Monk and Tang SanZhang?

[@lol0ajo]

white horse too. he's also tang sanzhang's student

[@annoying_HK_guy]

@@lol0ajo The third prince of West Sea Dragon King Also technically the second senior brother of Bajie and Sha Monk........[Even I forgot this fact :") ]

[@lol0ajo]

@@annoying_HK_guy yup

[@chitranshverma811]

The character of "Sun Wukong" seems to be inspired by that of "Lord Hanuman" in ancient Hindu epic "Ramayana".

[@عبدالعزيزألأزرق-و5ي]

Beautiful story

[@jeffreygao3956]

Growing up, Sun Wukong was actually my favorite superhero.

[@wellhellothere-x4w]

really incoherent comment for a ted-ed video, but... I HAVENT EVEN STARTED THE VIDEO IM SO EXITED I LOVE JOURNEY TO THE WEST AND SUN WUKONG AND RIGHT NOW MY FAVORITE SHOW IS LEGO MONKIE KID AND AAEUUEURGHGHGHGHGHGHGGHGHHGHHH IM SO HYPED TO WATCH THISSS

[@pasqualedorsiart]

Please make more videos about wukong!

[@amayajones68]

I love how the video is told via puppetry.

[@StephenYoung1379]

Even Ted-Ed jumping on the Wukong clout train now

[@auiak7689]

The “golden eyes staring out at him” is actually a new superpower sun wukong gained from the furnace. It’s golden vision (idk the exact name) that allows him to see through illusion spells/disguises (essentially “smoke and mirrors”). He later uses it to see through monsters trying to trick him on several occasions. The reason for this is because the furnace has several sections. Burn section, cinder, etc etc. Sun wokong swam into the smoke section, which was less hot than the other sections but had an overabundance of smoke. The lesser heat allowed him to survive instead of being cooked to death but smoked his eyes so much he developed special vision powers.

[@abc_cba]

Very few people know that story of the Monkey King is one of the oldest folklore in the world.

[@ferretyluv]

Possibly. Journey to the West is medieval. It’s possibly based on Fujianese folk religion.

[@ItsabirdiD]

the adults at church made us watch the series. It’s actually kinda funny XD

[@samalight7249]

hm guess a part three is up for the future

[@kyb7795]

Kudos to keeping the animation the same after 4years

[@PixelatedAnnika]

This was my childhood 😭 I used to spend hours reading and rereading the books

[@Borkeen2024]

need part 2 nowww!!! what did budha do?

[@lol0ajo]

he imprisoned monkey king for 500 years

[@annoying_HK_guy]

​@@lol0ajo With his palm, which become the famous Five Finger Mountains, with a tailsman serve as a lock of this mountain

[@supratik]

বুদ্ধং শরণং গচ্ছামি ( i seek refuge in Budhha )🙏 Budhha Bless us all

[@thermalnuclearwar]

Sun Waking is the my favourite mythical figure

[@AchwaqKhalid]

Watching because of #BlackMythWukong 🐒