[Chinese] Sun Wu-Kung is the given name of the Monkey King. Sun, his family name, is based on the Chinese word for monkey. Wu-Kung means "pilgrim", and was given to him by his first instructor, a Taoist priest. He is also known as the Handsome Monkey King, the Monkey of the Mind, and Pi Ma-Wen, though the latter he considers quite an insult, and its use enrages him. Sun Wu-Kung is the one of the major characters in the classic tale "Journey to the West", about the Tang Monk Tripitaka and his journey to the Western Heaven to gain holy scriptures from Buddha and bring them back to China. Sun Wu-Kung was born of primal chaos, hatching from a stone egg impregnated by the sky. He ruled over a kingdom of monkeys on a remote island, naming himself Handsome Monkey King. One day an elderly monkey passed away, and the Handsome Monkey King decided to leave the island to learn how to become immortal. He traveled through the lands of humans, and finally he found a mountain where a Taoist priest too...
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