Tang Seng took Monkey King to Gao Lao Village, and learned that there was a pig demon in Fuling Mountain. The pig demon recommended himself, willing to be the Gao family’s door-to-door son-in-law. Strange to say, this pig demon especially likes to eat vegetarian food, and doesn’t even touch any meat, just looking at this point alone, he is quite self-disciplined.
At the beginning, the pig demon still had a delicate human appearance, but after a long time, it showed its true appearance. It turned out to be a long-mouthed and big-eared idiot with a mane on the back of his head. His rough body was really scary. Looking at his face, he looked like a wild boar. Where ordinary people have seen such monsters, the neighbors are all terrified. The pig demon simply doesn’t put up fronts anymore, and often makes some wind, clouds come and go in the mist, and rocks and sand fly around, making Gao’s family and neighbors feel uneasy.
The pig demon occupied Gao’s youngest daughter, and locked her in the courtyard of the back house. Even Gao couldn’t see her for half a year. Poor Mr. Gao is worried all day long, not knowing whether his daughter is dead or alive. So Mr. Gao wanted to ask the mage to subdue the demons.
Wukong is a workaholic. When he heard about subjugating demons, he suddenly regained his spirits, “Why is this so difficult? Don’t worry, old man, I’ll take care of you tonight.” Wukong waited until midnight when Zhu Ganglu appeared. Seeing that it was Sun Dasheng, he was so frightened that he ran back to Yunzhan Cave in Fuling Mountain, closed the cave door tightly, and refused to fight.
Sun Wukong opened his voice at the entrance of the cave, and shouted: “The tamping of the bread, come out and fight with the old grandson.” Zhu Gangli hated others scolding him for the tamping, and suddenly became angry and dragged the nail palladium. Come out and fight.
Zhu Ganglu was the marshal of the canopy in his previous life, but he became a wild boar because of the wrong birth. Although it has the body of a pig, it still remembers the teachings of the Bodhisattva, and its spirituality still exists and has not been wiped out.
Zhu Ganglian scolded: “You monkey, I remember you making a big fuss in the Heavenly Palace. Your home is in the Water Curtain Cave of Huaguo Mountain in Aolai Country, Dongsheng Shenzhou. It’s been a long time since you’ve heard of it. Why did you come here? Bullying me? Could it be that my father-in-law invited you there?”
Wukong said: “Your father-in-law did not invite me. Because my grandson turned from evil to righteousness, abandoned Taoism and became a monk, protected the Eastern Tang Dynasty and drove his younger brother Sanzang to go to the Western Paradise to worship Buddha and seek scriptures.”
I really don’t know each other. As soon as Zhu Gangli heard the word “learning the scriptures”, he quickly dropped the nail palladium in his hand, and sang loudly: “Where is the person who learned the scriptures? I’m tired of you introducing me.”
What do you, a monster, see to learn Buddhist scriptures? Goku is also curious. The pig demon said: “I was originally Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva who advised people to be good. I accepted her precepts and kept vegetarian food here. Teach me to follow the person who took the scriptures to go to the west to worship the Buddha and seek scriptures. I will repay my merits and sins and get a righteous result. Teach me I have been waiting for the Buddhist scriptures for so many years, but I still haven’t heard any news. Since you have become his apprentice today, why didn’t you tell me about the Buddhist scriptures earlier, and you kept on playing fiercely here, and you came to beat me?”
Wukong asked Lao Zhu to swear to the sky that he would absolutely protect Tang Seng without any falsehood. When the pig demon heard this, he knelt down on the ground with a thud, looked at the sky like a hammer, just kowtowed to the sky and swore to protect Tang Seng sincerely. Wukong asked him to light a fire and burn the pig’s nest. The old pig was very obedient, so he really brought reeds and thorns, lit a fire and burned the pig’s nest like a broken tile kiln. Just like that, Wukong grabbed the old pig by the ear and dragged him to meet Tang Seng.
Seeing that Lao Zhu was willing to be his apprentice, Tang Seng wanted to give him a Dharma name. The old pig said that the Bodhisattva had given him the crown and received the precepts, and he gave him the Dharma name Zhu Wuneng. Because of taking the bodhisattva precepts, I have long ago given up the five meat and three disgusts. Now that I worship Tang Seng as my teacher, I think I can break my fast and eat meat. Tang Seng persuaded him: “No, no. Since you don’t eat five meat and three things, I will give you another name, called Bajie.” This is the origin of Zhu Bajie.
There are different theories about the five meat dishes, one of which refers to the five pungent dishes of “garlic, onion, xing 蕖, leek, and scallion”. These five kinds of vegetables taste bad when eaten raw, but they stimulate people’s desire when cooked, so practitioners do not eat these five kinds of meat.
The three dislikes refer to wild geese, domestic dogs and tortoises. The ancients believed that “geese have the bond of husband and wife, dogs have the bond of protecting the master; tortoises have the heart of loyalty and respect from the monarch and ministers, so they cannot bear to eat.” Disgusting, here is the meaning of not being able to bear food. However, the author of “Journey to the West” mixed the sayings of Buddhism and Taoism about the five meats and three disgusts, while the “eight precepts” of Buddhism refer to something else.
The Eight Precepts of Buddhism refer to the eight precepts, which play a role in preventing evil and preventing wrongdoing for disciples practicing at home. The specific content is: no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no lying, no drinking, no eating after noon, no wearing fragrant flower girls, no watching or listening to singing and dancing, and no sitting or lying on high and large beds.
Laozhu is willing to convert to Buddhism, restrain himself according to the Bodhisattva precepts, and obey the “Eight Precepts” in practice. Later generations laughed and said that they couldn’t eat delicious food and turned a blind eye to female sex. The second senior brother Ba Jie often suffered inhuman pain in his heart.
Judging from the story of Journey to the West, Zhu Bajie’s life has some origins. He is the marshal of the canopy in the heavens, but when he descended to the mortal world, he was cast into the wrong pig fetus. Bajie is ugly and clumsy, has many minds, is lazy, afraid of death, lustful, timid, sows discord when encountering difficulties, spreads rumors and instigates disbandment, lacks ambition to learn from scriptures, and his shortcomings are countless. Almost all the bad qualities gathered on him.
However, people who are full of inferiority like Bajie, under the supervision, training and influence of the scripture learning team, have the confidence to go to the west to cultivate into gods and achieve positive results, so who else can’t cultivate! Perhaps, this is the meaning that “Journey to the West” wants to tell future generations.