Faculty of Design

Material Art & Design

Jenny Su

The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal

"A humble monkey born from a magical rock, he journeys to the West in an epic quest. Known by many names, he is at once the Handsome Monkey King, the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, and the Victorious Fighting Buddha."

“The Monkey King was born from a magical rock and lived on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits with other ordinary monkeys as their leader and king. One day, he gains a powerful, size-changing weapon from a Dragon King, a golden staff, to defeat a demon who enslaves the monkeys on the mountain during his absence. Reported to the Heavens as an unpredictable troublemaker, they attempt to get rid of him but miserably fail, so they invite him to Heaven and give him an official rank as an excuse to keep an eye on him. However, during his time there, he is belittled as he discovers he was tricked to receive a lowly title. In defiance, he names himself the Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal and eats all the Peaches of Immortality before the Royal Banquet, a heavenly celebration where he learns everyone in Heaven was invited but him. Making more trouble and angering the ruler of Heaven, the Jade Emperor, the Heavens resort to asking Buddha to stop the monkey from wreaking more havoc. Buddha successfully seals the Monkey King under a mountain for 500 years to learn humility and patience. Once 500 years passes, he is offered freedom in exchange for going on a pilgrimage accompanying a monk journeying to the West to collect Buddhist scrolls. The Monkey King offers to serve and protect the monk, becoming a disciple of Buddhism. The monk is gifted a headband for the Monkey King which will tighten around his head and cause a painful headache when a certain sutra is chanted to restrain him if he acts violent. Throughout their journey, the Monkey King learns about Buddhism and its teachings, eventually attaining Buddhahood at the end of the journey and becomes the “Victorious Fighting Buddha”. The headband and hair pin are direct interpretations of the iconic headband he wears and the staff he wields shrunken in size. The hair cuff is layered with imagery of the rock he was born from, the mountains he lived on, the peaches he stole to gain immortality, and the lotus to represent his achievement of Buddhahood. ”