Between Gods and Stone: Finding Sun Wukong in Quanzhou

#discoverchina #quanzhou #ancienttemple #historical

It wasn’t in a book or temple mural where I found Sun Wukong—it was on the fourth floor of a thousand-year-old tower.

The West Pagoda of Kaiyuan Temple, silent and solid, guards a secret that rewrites legends. Carved into the stone in 1237, a figure known as the “Monkey Pilgrim” crouches with a knife in hand and sutra scroll at his waist—an image predating Journey to the West by nearly 300 years. The resemblance to the Monkey King is uncanny.

This ancient relief, backed by research from Japanese scholar Nakano Miyoko, may be the earliest artistic trace of Wukong’s spiritual ancestor. And it’s not alone. On the East Pagoda’s second tier, sculptures of the monk Xuanzang and his disciples hint at a long-lost visual record of the Silk Road’s mythic journey.

It’s wild to think: in Quanzhou, legend and stone whisper the same story. The truth behind Sun Wukong may not be myth after all—but a hidden chapter etched into granite, waiting to be seen.

Post by _Traveltastic_ | Apr 16, 2025