The tale begins in the rugged, misty landscapes of ancient China, where the monk Tang Sanzang and his disciples—Sun Wukong the Monkey King, Zhu Bajie the Pigsy, and Sha Wujing the Sandy Monk—were continuing their arduous journey to the Western Heaven to obtain the sacred scriptures. The group was plagued by internal strife, primarily due to the clash between Sun Wukong’s violent methods of protecting the pilgrimage and Tang Sanzang’s unwavering commitment to Buddhist pacifism. After Sun Wukong brutally dispatched a group of bandits who had attempted to murder the travelers, Tang Sanzang, horrified by the carnage, recited the Tight-Fillet Spell. The golden band around Wukong’s head constricted, causing him excruciating pain, and in a fit of righteous anger and sorrow, the monk banished his most powerful protector from the group. Sun Wukong, feeling betrayed and isolated, flew away to seek solace with the Bodhisattva Guanyin at the Southern Sea.
While Wukong was away, a shadow moved across the path of the remaining pilgrims. Emerging from the brush was a figure identical in every way to the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. He wore the same phoenix-feather cap, the same golden chainmail, and carried a staff that appeared to be the Ruyi Jingu Bang. This was the Six-Eared Macaque, a creature of immense power and malevolent cunning. Unlike common demons who sought to eat the monk's flesh for immortality, the Macaque harbored a more sophisticated ambition: he wished to replace Wukong entirely. He desired the merit of the journey for himself, intending to travel to the Western Heaven, present the scriptures, and be hailed as a Buddha, all while wearing the face of the one he had supplanted. The Macaque approached Tang Sanzang, but when the monk refused to acknowledge him, the impostor struck him down with a heavy blow, stole the travel documents and the purple gold alms bowl, and fled to the Flower-Fruit Mountain to establish his own mock-pilgrimage.
When the real Sun Wukong learned of this treachery from Sha Wujing, who had traveled to the Flower-Fruit Mountain to recover the stolen goods, he was filled with a primal fury. He flew to his old home and confronted his double. What followed was a battle that shook the foundations of the mortal realm. The two monkeys were perfectly matched. Every strike of the real Wukong’s cudgel was met with an equal parry from the Macaque. They moved with identical speed, used the same seventy-two transformations, and even shouted the same insults. Realizing that brute force alone would not resolve the conflict, they agreed to travel to the high heavens to have their identities verified by the gods.
They first appeared before the Jade Emperor in the Celestial Palace. The Emperor ordered the use of the Demon-Revealing Mirror, a powerful artifact capable of stripping away any illusion. However, when the mirror was pointed at the two struggling monkeys, it showed two identical Sun Wukongs. The Macaque’s power of mimicry was so profound—rooted in his nature as one of the four spiritual primates—that even the laws of heaven could not distinguish him from the original. Frustrated, they descended to the Southern Sea to see Guanyin. The Bodhisattva, despite her infinite wisdom, found that both monkeys possessed the same memories, the same scent, and the same aura. She even recited the Tight-Fillet Spell, but both monkeys writhed in equal agony, as the Macaque had even mimicked the golden band’s connection to his soul.
Their search for truth led them next to the Underworld, where they demanded that the King of Hell consult the Ledger of Life and Death. Yet, the ledger had been altered by Wukong years prior when he crossed out his name and the names of all monkeys, making it useless. However, the King of Hell possessed a mystical beast named Diting, who could hear the truths of the universe by pressing his ear to the ground. Diting listened intently to the vibrations of the two souls. After a moment, the beast whispered to his master that he knew which one was the true Wukong, but he refused to say it aloud. He warned that if the truth were revealed there, the two monkeys would destroy the Underworld in their struggle, and the King’s forces would be powerless to stop them. Instead, Diting advised them to seek the Buddha at the Great Thunder Monastery.