Storytelling Week Seven: The Monkey King

Keep Calm
Image taken from: keep calm-o-matic

Under the bright lights, with a booming bass, mirror reflections all around, a tint of chalk floating around the room, and an aroma of the sweat of hard work a show down was beginning in the gym.   The New Year had just begun and everyone was gearing up to one up one another’s gains.  After all, fitness is clearly something that you see instantaneous change in, results simply pour in. (Lie)

Paleo dieters squared off against those who merely clean ate.  Their plates transforming at every turn to see who’s diet was more bearable.  The comparison of do not eat lists was brutal.  Individuals tried to bend the rules and change their diets piece by piece in order to seem like they had found the key to tummy tuck success.

Cardio versus cross fit versus weight lifting, cross training, class takers, personal training, circuit doers, running programs.  All different kinds of workout styles were attempted as our gym goers searched for the perfect means for change. 

All of these programs worked to serve one goal.  To morph the body into the next best weapon, to get ready for that upcoming progress picture.  Flex Friday was more than an instagram hashtag, this was war, a battle of the best, an essential war of the workouts. 

Author’s Note:  This week I read The MonkeyKing.  My favorite chapter in this story was called Yang Oerlang. In this chapter the Monkey King is fighting Yang Oerlang to see who is the better fighter and shifter.  As they fight all they are doing is manipulating their form as they try to one up another to pick the most effective form for battle.  For example, when one turns into a bird the other will become a hawk, then one will turn to a fish and the other turns into a fish-hawk, then a water snake and so on and so forth.  I thought this somewhat related to the ways people will change their workout routines in an effort to out do someone else.  The concept of changing one’s workout for mere gains is rather dangerous and it should be emphasized that I by no means promote the implementation of extreme training shifts or extreme dieting.  I advocate for a clean eating lifestyle and routine physical training.  However, it is important to find a workout that your body enjoys and to stick with it.  Find your form, find what makes you fight best, and stick with it.        

Bibliography:

Story- The Ape Sun Wu Kung

Book- The Chinese Fairy Book

Author- R Wilhem

Year- 1921

Reading Diary B: The Monkey King

Today I finished reading the second part of The Monkey King story unit.  This unit turned out to be a very surprising read, although I am glad I got the opportunity to read it. 

In the second half of the unit Sun Wu Kung, the monkey king, spends a good deal of time in the Heavens.  He originally is brought to the Heavens because he was being too boastful and it was determined by higher powers that he be appointed a charge.  Sun Wu Kung was delegated the task of tending the stables, a job at which he excelled.  However, when he realized he had been given a lowly task he became angry and departed for Earth. 

The story then continues as Sun Wu Kung starts to cause a disturbance in the Heavens.  He imposes upon a peach banquet for the Queen-Mother which is the catalyst for a great commotion.  Sun Wu Kung ends up in an epic battle of shifting with Yang Oerlang  Yang Oerlang is a celestial warrior recommended for the battle by Guan Yin.  Essentially all the heavenly inhabitants are trying to figure out how to defeat and stop Sun Wu Kung and put him in his proper place.  The battle between Sun Wu Kung and Yang Oerlang is incredibly interesting to read as they are battling in multiple shapes and continue shifting throughout the fight sequence. 

The story ends with a culmination of Sun Wu Kung being defeated and trapped beneath the Heavens for many years while he repents on his disturbance.  At the end of his penance he comes to join the ways of Buddhism and is celebrated as a victorious individual. 

Quote from Buddha
Image taken from Quotespick.com

Reading Diary A: The Monkey King

This week for my story unit I have decided to read The Monkey King story unit from the Asia section of stories.  I decided to read this story because of the title of the unit.  I decided to select this week’s unit based on title alone so I didn’t know what the story would be about when I selected it.

As it turns out the Monkey King is a very popular story in Chinese culture.  Sun Wu Kung is the name of the monkey king and his story is well known across all of China.  The story is set up as somewhat of a story of enlightenment and to my knowledge it will evolve into a lesson in Buddhism. 

The first half of this story is very interesting to me because of the real life applications you can draw from the content.  The characters are animals and they are clearly living in a fantasy setting but the lessons and metaphors can be considered in a scope of reality without a doubt.  I think that stories that can incorporate elements of fantasy and reality simultaneously are some of the most successful stories written.  These kind of stories provide entertaining tales for children, but when the children grown up and re-read these tales they can see the lessons they were being taught at a young age.  It takes a legitimate kind of creativity and writing talent to accomplish a story that can have this kind of affect.    

The Monkey King by Yoshitoshi
Image taken from the UnTextBook

Reading Diary B: Jamaica Anansi Stories

Little recap to start off my reading diary B:  This week I read the Jamaica Anansi Story unit.  This story unit is about Anansi the trickster spider.  The story unit told multiple short stories none of which were particularly connected.  Some of these stories were the shortest that I have read for this class.  The unit was written in the dialect of a typical speaker who would know and tell these tales natively.  The dialect was definitely a hard aspect to overlook and at times made reading this unit very challenging.  I still haven’t determined if I liked the dialect use or not.  On the one hand the use of the dialect made the stories harder to read and understand.  However, at the same time this made the stories seem much more authentic and kept them in a natural and preserved state. 

On my reading diary A post my image was a book of Anansi stories written for children.  I actually had a slight epiphany today and realized I had been read that exact book when I was a child.  The fact that I had been told the Anansi stories before is something that I consider to be really cool!  I think it’s absolutely amazing how these stories travel across cultures and children all around the world can be exposed to the stories of other people.  The integration of other cultures into children education is something I consider to be very valuable.  The integration of culture teaches children how to respect people from all walks of life and eliminates the ethnocentric aspect that could follow them otherwise.     

Children all around the World
Image from a Chorister Blog 

Reading Diary A: Jamaica Anansi Stories

This week I selected the Jamaica Anansi Stories unit for my reading unit.  I decided to do a reading from the Africa section first in order to switch things around within the weeks.  My decision to read the Anansi Stories unit was based on a previous interest I had in this storybook at the beginning of the class during week one or two.  This story was of interest to me because in a previous week it had been highlighted and used as an example.  After I looked into it I decided that it was actually of interest to me and so now I am following up on my interest and taking a look at it for myself.

The part about this reading unit that I find so interest is the dialect that is being used.  It's not written in a grammatically correct sense by any means.  The story is written in order to reflect the accent of the speaker who would be telling the stories.  I think writing the story in the voice of the culture is a really interesting literary choice.  It gives the story more authenticity but also makes it somewhat harder to read.  Overall, I'm glad I chose this unit and I can't wait to finish part to of Anansi's tricks.

  

Anansi The Spider as a Children's Book
Artwork by: Gerald McDermott

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Essay: Twenty Two Goblins

This week I read the Twenty Two Goblins story unit from the India section of our UnTextbook.  In my first reading diary of the week I identify a major area of discontent in the story.  The King, despite giving honest and correct answers after every paradoxical riddle, is constantly being forced to go back to the sissoo tree to collect the goblin.  His actions, which would typically merit reward, are being met with him having to restart his journey over and over again.  I found this aspect to be very frustrating and confusing, as I couldn’t see why the king had to restart his journey over and over.

In the second half of the reading unit it is revealed that the goblin was testing the kings patience and determination.  Thank goodness I was not the king otherwise I would have clearly been in trouble.  As the story would have it the king had actually been conned by the monk who requested the goblin be collected in the first place.  The king was rewarded by the goblin with the knowledge of the monk’s impending deception and betrayal.  With the knowledge of the monks plan the king was able to save himself and defeat the monk.

I think this story was really interesting and very striking.  My original conflict with the first half of the unit actually plays into the lesson that the story is teaching.  Sometimes though we can’t see why we are being tested there is always a purpose.  The king was patient as well as determined.  Even though he was successfully answering the riddles he never lost sight of his ultimate goal, which was to bring the goblin back to the monk.  I enjoyed this story unit and seeing how the storyteller chose to deliver the message concerning patience and determination.         

Patience is a Virtue
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