Zhu Bajie

Zhu Bajie
15th-century depiction of Zhu Bajie
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	豬八戒
Simplified Chinese	猪八戒
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhū Bājiè Wade–Giles Chu1 Pa1-chieh4 IPA [ʈʂú pá.tɕjê] Gan Romanization Chu Pa̍t Kāi Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Jyū Baatgaai Jyutping Zyu1 Baat3-gaai3 IPA [tsy˥ pat̚˧.kaj˧] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Tu Pat-kài
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	Trư Bát Giới
Chữ Hán	豬八戒
Thai name
Thai	ตือโป๊ยก่าย
RTGS	Tue Poikai (from Teochew "Tu poih-kài")
Korean name
Hangul	저팔계
Hanja	豬八戒
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Jeo Palgye
Japanese name
Kanji	猪八戒
Hiragana	ちょ はっかい
Transcriptions Romanization Cho Hakkai
Khmer name
Khmer	ជូ ប៉ាចេ

Zhu Bajie, also named Zhu Wuneng, is one of the three disciples of Tang Sanzang, along with Sun Wukong and Sha Wujing, and a major character of the 16th century novel Journey to the West. Zhu means "swine" and Bajie means "eight precepts". Prior to his being recruited by the bodhisattva, Guanyin, Zhu Bajie went by Zhu Gāngliè (豬剛巤) literally "Strong-Maned Pig"). Buddhist scholars consider that both expressions are related to "Śīla pāramitā". In many English versions of the story, Zhu Bajie is called "Monk Pig", "Pig", "Piggy", or "Pigsy".

Zhu Bajie is a complex and developed character in the novel. He looks like a terrible humanoid monster that's part-human and part-pig, who often gets himself and his companions into trouble through his laziness, gluttony, and propensity for lusting after pretty women. He looks up to his senior disciple Sun Wukong as a big brother. Though he occasionally acts rebelliously when injured by Wukong's constant teasing, his schemes usually end in his own humiliation.

His Buddhist name "Zhu Wuneng", given by Bodhisattva Guanyin, means "pig (reincarnated) who is aware of ability" or "pig who rises to power", a reference to the fact that he values himself so much as to forget his own grisly appearance. Tang Sanzang gave him the nickname Bājiè which means "eight restraints" or "eight commandments" to remind him of his Buddhist diet.

In the original Chinese novel, he is often called dāizi (呆子), meaning "idiot". Sun Wukong, Tang Sanzang, and even the author consistently refers to him as "the idiot" over the course of the story. Bodhisattvas and other heavenly beings usually refer to him as Tiānpéng (天蓬), his former title when he was a heavenly marshal known as Marshal Tianpeng (天篷元帅) (Tiānpéng Yuánshuài).

In modern times, Zhu Bajie is seen as a patron deity of masseuses, hostesses, and prostitutes within Taiwan and other parts of East Asia.

Abilities

36 Heavenly Spirits (36 magic)

Bajie has 36 Heavenly Spirit techniques, but the original Journey to the West does not fully explain the content of the 36 Heavenly Spirit techniques. Most of the 36 Heavenly Spirit techniques on the internet are just readers' guesswork lists based on the book Comprehensive History of Gods and Immortals (歷代神仙通鑑) which include the following

1. Creation of Illusory Worlds (噦全造化): Creates dreamlike realms that trap others in illusions indistinguishable from reality.
2. Reversal of Yin and Yang (顛倒陰陽): Flips natural laws, turning day into night, hot into cold, and life into death.
3. Star and Constellation Exchange (移星換斗): Swaps celestial bodies, altering fate and cosmic balance.
4. Sky Restoration and Sun Reversal (回天反日): Instantly turns night into day or reverses the sun’s path.
5. Summon Rain and Wind (喚雨呼風): Calls forth storms, rain, or wind at will.
6. Mountain Quake and Earth Collapse (震山陷地): Triggers earthquakes and causes terrain to collapse.
7. Ride Mist and Cloud (駕霧騰雲): Allows flight by riding clouds and mist.
8. River to Wasteland Transformation (劃江成陸): Dries up rivers or transforms water bodies into land.
9. Golden Light Earth Leap (騰地金光): Teleports across vast distances in a flash of golden light.
10. Stir Rivers and Rattle Seas (翻江攪海): Summons massive waves and disturbs aquatic realms.
11. Point to Stone Transformation (指地成鋼): Turns anything touched into solid stone.
12. Great Five Element Shift (五行大遁): Rearranges the five elements—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—at will.
13. Six Armor Mystic Gate (六甲奇門): Unlocks hidden power and enhances combat strength through mystical formations.
14. Foresee the Future (逆知未來): Grants visions of future events and outcomes.
15. Move Mountains and Stones (遷山易石): Relocates massive rocks or entire mountains effortlessly.
16. Resurrection of the Dead (起死回生): Revives the recently deceased or heals those near death.
17. Escape and Disguise (飛身脫跡): Evades danger and cloaks identity to avoid detection.
18. Nine Breaths Energy Recovery (九息復氣): Absorbs spiritual energy to rapidly heal and restore vitality.
19. Emanate Original Yang (道出元陽): Releases full internal power in a single burst.
20. Subdue Dragons and Tame Tigers (降龍伏虎): Dominates fierce beasts and mythical creatures.
21. Patch Heaven and Bless the Sun (補天浴日): Alters destiny and brings fortune or divine favor.
22. Push Mountains and Fill Seas (推山填海): Traverses mountains and oceans with ease.
23. Turn Stone into Gold (指石成金): Transmutes ordinary objects into precious materials.
24. Establish Shadowless Form (正立無影): Erases one’s shadow to become undetectable in sunlight.
25. Transform Fetus and Alter Form (胎化異形): Morphs physical form, even reverting to infancy temporarily.
26. Resize at Will (大小如意): Changes size of objects or oneself instantly.
27. Instant Blooming Flowers (花開頃刻): Summons flowers to bloom instantly, often for charm or distraction.
28. Summon Spirits and Control Qi (遊神御氣): Calls divine spirits and manipulates energy flows.
29. See Through Distance and Barriers (隔垣洞見): Sees through walls, barriers, or vast distances.
30. Wind Reversal and Fire Reflection (回風反火): Harnesses wind and fire to create destructive force.
31. Thunderbolt of Five Evils (掌惡五雷): Unleashes five-element thunder strikes with immense power.
32. Dive Abyss and Compress Earth (潛淵縮地): Travels underwater or compresses space to shorten distances.
33. Fly Sand and Flee Stones (飛沙走石): Controls sand and stones to attack or defend.
34. Cross Mountains and Leap Seas (挾山超海): Leaps over mountains and oceans in a single bound.
35. Bean Soldiers Conjuration (撒豆成兵): Summons an army from scattered beans.
36. Seven Arrows Soul Binding (釘頭七箭): Casts a deadly curse that binds and destroys the target’s soul.

According to the book Comprehensive History of Gods and Immortals (歷代神仙通鑑), the 36 Heavenly Spirits are stronger than the "72 Earthly Spirits", because the 72 magics are of the earth while the 36 magics are of the sky, only inferior in quantity but the quality far surpasses the 72 magics, so the two of them are considered equal. Therefore, most people think that Zhu Bajie was lazy, which led to his 36 magics not being proficient enough, leading to losing to Sun Wukong's 72 magics. If he had been diligent, Zhu Bajie could have been on par with Sun Wukong.

NOTE: However, most of the spell list above is just a reference derived from Comprehensive Mirror of Immortals Through the Ages (歷代神仙通鑑) and is not completely true to Journey to the West, but many newspapers, especially in Asia (mainly East Asia and Southeast Asia) use this spell list, leading to the misunderstanding that this is the Truth.

Naval Warfare

Formerly the Marshal of the Heavenly Shang, commanding 80,000 celestial sailors, Zhu Bajie is very good at fighting underwater—even surpassing Sun Wukong in the underwater environment. Sun Wukong is Earth, and according to the Five Elements Theory, Earth and Fire are weakened by Water, which explains his reluctance.

If fighting underwater, Sun Wukong would always have to chant the Water Avoidance Spell, or transform into a fish or crab to be able to move, but that would be very difficult to fight based on the part Sun Wukong said "If we fight underwater, I have to chant the Water Avoidance Spell or transform into a fish or crab just to move. How can I fight such monsters?"

Character

Zhu Bajie originally held the title of Tiānpéng Yuánshuài (天篷元帅; 'Marshal Tianpeng'), commander-in-chief of 80,000 Celestial sailors. However, he was later banished for misbehavior. At a party organized for all the significant figures in Heaven, Bajie saw the Chang'e (goddess of the Moon) for the first time and was captivated by her beauty. Following a drunken attempt to seduce her, she reported this to the Jade Emperor and thus he was banished to Earth. In popular retellings, Zhu Bajie was sentenced to a thousand lives where each life would end in a love tragedy. In some retellings of the story, his banishment is linked to Sun Wukong's downfall. In any case, he was exiled from Heaven and sent to be reincarnated on Earth, where by mishap he fell into a pig well and was reborn as a man-eating pig-monster known as Zhū Gāngliè (猪刚鬛; "strong-maned pig").

In the earlier portions of Journey to the West, Wukong and Tang Sanzang come to Gao village and find that a daughter of the village elder had been kidnapped and the abductor left a note demanding marriage. In some versions of the story Bajie has convinced the elder to allow him to marry the daughter based on his ability to do large amounts of hard work due to his prodigious strength. The elder recants when he discovers that, although Zhu Bajie manages to do quite a lot of work in the fields, he manages to eat so much that the farm is losing money anyway. After some investigations, Wukong found out that Bajie was the "villain" behind this. He fought with Wukong, who learns after beating him that he has also been recruited by Guanyin to join their pilgrimage and make atonements for his past sins.

At the end of the novel, most of Bajie's fellow pilgrims achieve enlightenment and become arhats, but he does not; although much improved, he is still too much a creature of his base desires. He is instead rewarded for his part in the pilgrimage's success with a job as "Cleanser of the Altars" (淨壇使者; Jingtan Shizhe) and all the leftovers he can eat. However, his actual rank in relation to the others is unclear, but possibly the lowest.

Pre-existence

In traditional Chinese Taoism, there is a divine goddess named Doumu Yuanjun (斗姆元君) who was acclaimed as the mother of all the constellations, even the Emperor Zi-Wei is her son. She has four faces while one of them is akin to a pig's face. Marshal Tianpeng (天篷元帅; Tiānpéng Yuánshuài).

天篷元帥 (Tianpeng Yuanshuai)

The golden statues of White Dragon Horse, Sha Wujing, Sun Wukong, Tang Sanzang and Zhu Bajie at the Rua Yai City Pillar Shrine in Suphan Buri, Thailand

Nine-toothed rake

Zhu Bajie slaying demons with his rake

The nine-toothed rake (simplified Chinese: 九齿钉耙; traditional Chinese: 九齒釘耙; pinyin: Jiǔchǐdīngpá; Wade–Giles: Chiu²-ch‘ih³ Ting¹-p‘a²; lit. 'Nine-Tooth Spike-Rake', also known as the "Baoqin gold palladium" (寶沁金鈀) is the primary weapon of Zhu Bajie. This phrase depicts the first point in which Bajie's legendary nine-toothed rake had been used:

The fierce and murderous ogre;
Huian, imposing and able.
The iron staff could pulverize the heart;
The rake struck at the face.
The dust thrown up darkened Heaven and Earth;
The flying sand and stones startled gods and ghouls.
The nine−toothed rake
Gleamed and flashed
As its pair of rings resounded;
The lone staff
Was ominously black
As it whirled in its owner's hands.
One was the heir of a Heavenly King,
One defended the Law on Potaraka Island.
The other was an evil fiend in a mountain cave.
In their battle for mastery,
None knew who the winner would be.

In another passage, Pig tells of his legendary rake while battling against Sun Wukong:

This was refined from divine ice−iron,
Polished till it gleamed dazzling white,
Hammered by Lord Lao Zi himself,
While Ying Huo fed the fire with coal−dust.
The Five Emperors of the Five Regions applied their minds to it,
The Six Dings and Six jias went to great efforts.
They made nine teeth of jade,
Cast a pair of golden rings to hang beneath them,
Decorated the body with the Six Bright Shiners and the Five planets,
Designed it in accordance with the Four Seasons and the Eight Divisions.
The length of top and bottom match Heaven and Earth.
Positive and Negative were to left and right, dividing the sun and moon.
The Six Divine Generals of the Oracular Lines are there, following the Heavenly Code;
The constellations of the Eight Trigrams are set out in order.
It was named the Supremely Precious Gold−imbued Rake,
And served to guard the gates of the Jade Emperor's palace.
As I had become a great Immortal,
I now enjoyed eternal life,
And was commissioned as Marshal Tian Peng,

With this rake to mark my imperial office.
When I raise it, fire and light stream forth;
When I lower it, a snowy blizzard blows.
It terrifies the Heavenly Generals,
And makes the King of Hell too quake with fear.
There is no other weapon matching it on Earth,
Nor iron to rival it throughout the world.
It changes into anything I like,
And leaps about whenever I say the spell.
For many a year I've carried it around,
Keeping it with me every single day.
I will not put it down even to eat,
Nor do I when I sleep at night.
I took it with me to the Peach Banquet,
And carried it into the celestial court.
When I sinned my sin in drunken pride,
I used it to force compliance with my evil will.
When Heaven sent me down to the mortal dust,
I committed all kinds of wickedness down here.
I used to devour people in this cave,
Until I fell in love and married in Gao Village.
This rake has plunged beneath the sea to stir up dragons,
And climbed high mountains to smash up tigers' dens.
No other blade is worth a mention
Besides my rake, the sharpest weapon ever.
To win a fight with it requires no effort;

Of course it always brings me glory.
Even if you have an iron brain in a brazen head and a body of steel,
This rake will scatter your souls and send your spirit flying.

During their journey, he atrociously kills many demons with his rake, usually with nine blood-spurting holes in their head.

Personality

Merits

Respectful

Despite his previous identity as a great marshal who was in charge of 80,000 celestial marines, he always claims Sun Wukong as "brother" with awe and respect while Sun has conflicts with him and often makes fun of him all the way. Of course, another reason for it is he already knows Sun's reputation of being a great fighter in his preexistence.

Soft-hearted

During the journey, many demons change their appearances into children and beautiful women, pretending to be in trouble to confuse them with the intention of eating their master Tang Sanzang. However, though Sun Wukong is capable of detecting demons, Zhu Bajie always manages to persuade his brother to release them rather than capturing or killing them, although his kindness often causes trouble and leads to disaster.

Optimistic

Caricature statues of Zhu Bajie & Sha Wujing on the streets of Lianyungang

Though he is constantly captured by numerous demons throughout the journey, he still behaves normally; even when he is about to be eaten, he does not seem to be anxious compared to his other two mates. This is also related to his background as a marshal in preexistence; rich experience in coping with various incidents makes his emotions fluctuate less. In some readings of this book, it is said that Zhu Bajie deliberately does not use his real power on the journey as he knows every time Monkey King would come and save them all. Even if not, other deities would come and help them.

Demerits

Gluttony

In one part of the book, Zhu Bajie obtains a watermelon and splits it into four pieces to share with his colleagues equally. When he finds watermelon too delicious after finishing his own slice, he finds excuses to eat each piece one by one until he finishes the whole watermelon. He has a big appetite, which is fairly visible in many parts of the story.

Laziness

Zhu Bajie is given to laziness. He seemingly never cares about their troubles and works, and always finds excuses to procrastinate their expedition. Every time the four of them arrive in another country, the local people always welcome them with food and accommodation because they come from the Great Tang Empire, which was both culturally and economically influential to all the surrounding areas at that time. Zhu Bajie hence tends to find excuses to persuade his master to stay several more days for better abodes and food due to his greediness.

Lust

When he was a marshal in heaven, he dallied with Chang'e, which was the reason for his banishment. After his reincarnation he drools every time he meets beauties. Because of his lust, the group often sinks into various troubles and even disasters.

All in all, he was given a name that means "eight resistances", which reminded him to resist temptations of the flesh, including lust, laziness, gluttony, and avarice.

See also

• List of media adaptations of Journey to the West