Bimawen
'Bimawen(I)'
Fengxiang, Shaanxi
15 x 24 cm
modern reprint of early 20th century image
The popular tale of Journey to the West tells us many of the humorous exploits of the Monkey King - Sun Wukong. The Monkey King had grown so powerful on earth that he began to challenge heaven, and so in order to keep him under control the supreme Jade Emperor gave him the task of managing the heavenly stables under the title 'Bimawen'. At first the Monkey King was quite pleased, but when he asked his colleagues about the rank of his Bimawen appointment he was told that it had no rank. 'Is that because it is too high?', asked the Monkey King. 'On the contrary', he was told, 'it's too low'. Monkey thus created havoc in demanding a higher position, and so was reappointed to manage the heavenly peach orchard, where he stole the legendary peaches of immortality.
copyright 2003
