Yu told Yu En that Journey to the West — one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature, written in the mid-16th century during the Ming Dynasty — was actually based on real events. For those unfamiliar with the story: it follows a Buddhist monk named Tang Sanzang (also known as Tripitaka) on a legendary pilgrimage from China to India to retrieve sacred scriptures. He is accompanied by three disciples: Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, a powerful and mischievous immortal with magical abilities; Zhu Wuneng (also called Bajie or Pigsy), a pig-like figure who struggles with earthly desires; and Sha Wujing (also called Sandy), a quiet and steadfast water demon turned monk. Together they battle demons and overcome eighty-one tribulations along the way.
Yu explained that this was not merely a work of fiction, but the story of a real cultivator — someone on a spiritual path of self-refinement — facing genuine hardships and elevating his moral character. The author Wu Cheng'en took this cultivator's story and divided his inner journey and character development into these four figures, each representing a different aspect of spiritual growth.
These four characters represent the stages of a cultivator's moral elevation: first one must "Wu Jing" (awaken to purity), then "Wu Neng" (awaken to ability), then "Wu Kong" (awaken to emptiness), and finally become "Sanzang" — achieving the fullness of wisdom — before attaining true enlightenment. This is the complete path of cultivation.
Yu therefore says that the Ruyi Jingu Bang — the legendary weapon at the heart of this next story — was in fact borrowed by a real cultivator. Western readers may recognize it as the magical staff wielded by Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, in *Journey to the West*. In the novel, it is described as an immense divine pillar that once stabilized the seas, capable of shrinking to the size of a sewing needle and expanding to reach the heavens. Sun Wukong discovers it in the underwater palace of the Dragon King of the East Sea and takes it as his weapon. But according to Yu, the true origin of how this staff came to leave the Dragon Palace is a story quite different from what the novel describes — and far more moving.
At that time, the East Sea Dragon Palace was presided over by two dragon deities: a Main Deity and a Deputy Deity who assisted the Main Deity. Because the Main Deity was the greatest of the dragon gods (the Sea Dragon King), the Deputy Deity always deferred to him, working alongside the Main Deity both in the heavens and beneath the sea.
Of course, there were many more dragon deities than just these two. Every place where water existed — mountains and rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, snow, and mist — had dragon deities standing guard. The Dragon King's role was to receive the will from above (the edicts of the Jade Emperor) and to formulate policy, deciding all matters great and small for the dragon clan.
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