Cho Hakkai

Zhu Bajie, also named Zhu Wuneng, is one of the three disciples of Tang Sanzang, along with Sun Wukong and Sha Wujing, and a major character of the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West''. ''Zhu'' means "swine" and ''Bajie'' means "eight precepts". Prior to his being recruited by the bodhisattva, Guanyin, Zhu Bajie went by literally "Strong-Maned Pig"). Buddhist scholars consider that both expressions are related to "Śīla pāramitā". In many English versions of the story, Zhu Bajie is called "Monk Pig", "Pig", "Piggy", or "Pigsy".

Zhu Bajie is a complex and developed character in the novel. He looks like a terrible humanoid monster that's part-human and part-pig, who often gets himself and his companions into trouble through his laziness, gluttony, and propensity for lusting after pretty women. He looks up to his senior disciple Sun Wukong as a big brother. Though he occasionally acts rebelliously when injured by Wukong's constant teasing, his schemes usually end in his own humiliation.

His Buddhist name "Zhu Wuneng", given by Bodhisattva Guanyin, means "pig (reincarnated) who is aware of ability" or "pig who rises to power", a reference to the fact that he values himself so much as to forget his own grisly appearance. Tang Sanzang gave him the nickname ''Bājiè'' which means "eight restraints" or "eight commandments" to remind him of his Buddhist diet.

In the original Chinese novel, he is often called , meaning "idiot". Sun Wukong, Tang Sanzang, and even the author consistently refers to him as "the idiot" over the course of the story. Bodhisattvas and other heavenly beings usually refer to him as , his former title when he was a heavenly marshal known as Marshal Tianpeng (天篷元帅) (Tiānpéng Yuánshuài).

In modern times, Zhu Bajie is seen as a patron deity of masseuses, hostesses, and prostitutes within Taiwan and other parts of East Asia.

Character

Zhu Bajie originally held the title of , commander-in-chief of 80,000 Celestial sailors. However, he was later banished for misbehavior. At a party organized for all the significant figures in Heaven, Bajie saw the Chang'e (goddess of the Moon) for the first time and was captivated by her beauty. Following a drunken attempt to seduce her, she reported this to the Jade Emperor and thus he was banished to Earth. In popular retellings, Zhu Bajie was sentenced to a thousand lives where each life would end in a love tragedy. In some retellings of the story, his banishment is linked to Sun Wukong's downfall. In any case, he was exiled from Heaven and sent to be reincarnated on Earth, where by mishap he fell into a pig well and was reborn as a man-eating pig-monster known as .

In the earlier portions of ''Journey to the West'', Wukong and Tang Sanzang come to Gao village and find that a daughter of the village elder had been kidnapped and the abductor left a note demanding marriage. In some versions of the story Bajie has convinced the elder to allow him to marry the daughter based on his ability to do large amounts of hard work due to his prodigious strength. The elder recants when he discovers that, although Zhu Bajie manages to do quite a lot of work in the fields, he manages to eat so much that the farm is losing money anyway. After some investigations, Wukong found out that Bajie was the "villain" behind this. He fought with Wukong, who learns after beating him that he has also been recruited by Guanyin to join their pilgrimage and make atonements for his past sins.

At the end of the novel, most of Bajie's fellow pilgrims achieve enlightenment and become arhats, but he does not; although much improved, he is still too much a creature of his base desires. He is instead rewarded for his part in the pilgrimage's success with a job as "Cleanser of the Altars" () and all the leftovers he can eat. However, his actual rank in relation to the others is unclear, but possibly the lowest.

Pre-existence

In traditional Chinese Taoism, there is a divine goddess named who was acclaimed as the mother of all the constellations, even the Emperor Zi-Wei is her son. She has four faces while one of them is akin to a pig's face. Marshal Tianpeng (天篷元帅; Tiānpéng Yuánshuài).

Nine-toothed rake

The nine-toothed rake (, also known as the "Baoqin gold palladium" ()) is the primary weapon of Zhu Bajie. This phrase depicts the first point in which Bajie's legendary nine-toothed rake had been used:

In another passage, Pig tells of his legendary rake while battling against Sun Wukong:

During their journey, he atrociously kills many demons with his rake, usually with nine blood-spurting holes in their head.

Personality

Merits

Respectful

Despite his previous identity as a great marshal who was in charge of 80,000 celestial marines, he always claims Sun Wukong as "brother" with awe and respect while Sun has conflicts with him and often makes fun of him all the way. Of course, another reason for it is he already knows Sun's reputation of being a great fighter in his preexistence.

Soft-hearted

During the journey, many demons change their appearances into children and beautiful women, pretending to be in trouble to confuse them with the intention of eating their master Tang Sanzang. However, though Sun Wukong is capable of detecting demons, Zhu Bajie always manages to persuade his brother to release them rather than capturing or killing them, although his kindness often causes trouble and leads to disaster.

Optimistic

Though he is constantly captured by numerous demons throughout the journey, he still behaves normally; even when he is about to be eaten, he does not seem to be anxious compared to his other two mates. This is also related to his background as a marshal in preexistence; rich experience in coping with various incidents makes his emotions fluctuate less. In some readings of this book, it is said that Zhu Bajie deliberately does not use his real power on the journey as he knows every time Monkey King would come and save them all. Even if not, other deities would come and help them.

Demerits

Gluttony

In one part of the book, Zhu Bajie obtains a watermelon and splits it into four pieces to share with his colleagues equally. When he finds watermelon too delicious after finishing his own slice, he finds excuses to eat each piece one by one until he finishes the whole watermelon. He has a big appetite, which is fairly visible in many parts of the story.

Laziness

Zhu Bajie is given to laziness. He seemingly never cares about their troubles and works, and always finds excuses to procrastinate their expedition. Every time the four of them arrive in another country, the local people always welcome them with food and accommodation because they come from the Great Tang Empire, which was both culturally and economically influential to all the surrounding areas at that time.Introduction to the Tang Empire
Zhu Bajie hence tends to find excuses to persuade his master to stay several more days for better abodes and food due to his greediness.

Lust

When he was a marshal in heaven, he dallied with Chang'e, which was the reason for his banishment. After his reincarnation he drools every time he meets beauties. Because of his lust, the group often sinks into various troubles and even disasters.

All in all, he was given a name that means "eight resistances", which reminded him to resist temptations of the flesh, including lust, laziness, gluttony, and avarice.

See also

* List of media adaptations of ''Journey to the West''

References

Notes

Citations

{{Pigs

Journey to the West characters
Fictional Buddhist monks
Fictional generals
Mythological pigs
Pigs in literature