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Contents:
Introduction
1. The Outcomes of Each RoundMonkey and Erlang’s great battle consisted of a sequence of many rounds, all revolving around their combat, intellect and transformation skills. A description of each round and a comment of its results are listed below. 1.1. Round 1Type: Combat. Monkey and Erlang’s opening fight. The two of them duelled for over 300 bouts. Result: Draw. 1.2. Round 2Type: Transformation & combat. After a long and fruitless clash, Erlang exerted his magic and transformed himself into a 100,000 foot tall giant. Monkey then imitated his opponent’s form and turned himself into a giant too, the same size as Erlang. They resumed in combat. Result: None - a draw until Wukong fled for the safety of his fellow monkeys, to keep them safe from Erlang’s men. 1.3. Round 3Type: Transformation. Monkey flees by transforming into a sparrow a flying away. Erlang sees this and turns himself into a sparrow hawk to hunt Monkey down. Result: Erlang wins. 1.4. Round 4Type: Transformation. Monkey then changes into a cormorant to be able to fly higher, out of Erlang’s reach as a hawk. Erlang notices and transforms into an ocean crane to give chase. Result: Erlang wins. 1.5. Round 5Type: Transformation & intellect. Monkey was afraid of Erlang’s more dominant transformations and turns himself into a small fish to hide in a stream. Erlang changes into a fish hawk and scans the stream for Monkey’s trace. He cleverly identifies the fish that Monkey turned into and attempts to seize him. Result: Erlang wins. 1.6. Round 6Type: Transformation. Monkey immediately darts out of the water when he sees Erlang and changes into a water snake. Erlang transforms into a grey crane to catch the snake. Result: Erlang wins. 1.7. Round 7Type: Transformation & intellect. Monkey sees that Erlang had turned into a crane to chase him, so he cunningly transforms into a spotted bustard to confront Erlang as a crane. Result: Monkey wins - Erlang as a crane did not dare approach the bustard [1]. 1.8. Round 8Type: Transformation & combat. Erlang was afraid to approach Monkey after he had changed into the bustard. Instead, Erlang reverted to his original form and took out his pellet bow. He aimed at Monkey’s bustard and succeeded with a strong direct hit. Result: Erlang wins. 1.9. Round 9Type: Transformation & intellect. After being knocked far back by Erlang’s pellet, Monkey now executes one of his best disguises, transforming himself into a temple for the local earth deity. When Erlang arrives at the scene, he manages to deduce that the temple was really a flawed transformation of Monkey. He proceeds to attack its eyes and teeth, forcing Monkey to flee in panic. Result: Erlang wins. 1.10. Round 10Type: Transformation. Monkey flees all the way to Erlang’s residence at Guanjiangkou (灌江口), where Monkey assumes the form of Erlang himself, fooling everyone at the place. With the guidance of the Heavenly King Li's Demon-Reflecting Mirror (zhaoyao jing, 照妖镜), Erlang chases Monkey to his own home. He discovers the specious Lord Erlang inside and exposes the impostor as Sun Wukong. Result: None. 1.11. Round 11Type: Combat. The endgame of Sun Wukong and Lord Erlang’s battle. While the two were locked in combat, Supreme Exalted Lord Lao throws down his Diamond Cutter (jingang zhuo, 金刚琢) hoop, which knocks Monkey down from behind. Erlang’s dog bites onto Monkey to prevent him from escaping, leading to Monkey’s ultimate arrest. Result: None - an unfair victory for Erlang. 1.12. ResultsLooking at the results of this analysis, Erlang has 6 apparent wins, Monkey with 1 from playing a dirty move, and 4 rounds were drawn or undetermined. Judging from these statistics, it is perceptible that Lord Erlang emerged as the victor. 2. The Better Demon QuellerApart from his mission to arrest Monkey, Erlang has made a second appearance later on in chapter 63 of the novel. At the time, Erlang and his six brothers of Plum Mountain (meishan, 梅山) were returning home from a hunting trip, passing by Emerald-Wave Lagoon (bibo tan, 碧波谭) where Monkey and Pigsy were struggling against the Nine-Headed Beast (jiutou chong, 九头虫). With no success, Monkey decided it was best to ask his former victor, Lord Erlang, for a helping hand in the situation [src. 2]. The Nine-Headed Beast was then defeated single-handedly by Erlang [src. 3]. Erlang's ability to defeat the Nine-Headed Beast, when Monkey and Pigsy combined could not, proves himself to be significantly stronger in subduing demons. “Eight Rules,” said Pilgrim, “those seven sages [of Plum Mountain] happen to be my bond-brothers. We should detain them and ask them to help us do battle. If we succeed, it’ll be a wonderful opportunity for us.”
3. Characters' Views on the BattleThere have been several mentions of Monkey and Erlang’s battle delivered by various characters throughout the Journey to the West novel. I list five of the most notable ones below, all of which imply that Wukong is a defeated opponent of Erlang. 3.1. Wukong HimselfThe words of Sun Wukong, who was one of the main belligerents of the battle, are unarguable. Wukong is not a monkey who likes to lose or even admit defeat, but he has made quite a few mentions of Erlang defeating him in their duel when introducing his past to other characters in the novel. The most prominent of these mentions of his loss lies with Monkey’s introduction of his and Erlang’s history to Pigsy, as recorded in chapter 63, where Monkey directly states that he is a defeated war opponent of Lord Erlang and has no face to greet him [src. 4-6]. “Eight Rules,” said Pilgrim, “those seven sages happen to be my bond-brothers. We should detain them and ask them to help us do battle. If we succeed, it’ll be a wonderful opportunity for us.” “If they’re your brothers,” replied Eight Rules, “we should indeed ask them to stay.” “But they have in their midst Big Brother Illustrious Sagacity [Erlang],” said Pilgrim, “who once defeated me. I’m a little embarrassed about showing myself abruptly to him. […]”
Monkey introduces his history and feats in a lengthy poem to the Black Wind Monster (heifeng guai, 黑风怪) in chapter 17. He mentions "falling" defeat to Erlang whose transformation skills he praised. […] During Monkey and Pigsy's first encounter and battle in chapter 19, Pigsy was boasting about his divine weapon, the Nine-Pronged Iron Rake (jiuchi dingpa, 九齿钉耙), and how insanely powerful it was. Monkey stretched out his head and challenged Pigsy to give him a blow. When Pigsy struck Monkey's head with all his might and was unable to make even a scratch, Monkey told him that his skull had been refined in Lord Lao's furnace after he was arrested by "the Little Sage Erlang". “You didn’t know about this, did you?” said Pilgrim. “When I caused such turmoil in Heaven by stealing the magic pills, the immortal peaches, and the imperial wine, I was captured by the Little Sage Erlang and taken to the Polestar Palace. The various celestial beings chopped me with an ax, pounded me with a bludgeon, cut me with a scimitar, jabbed me with a sword, burned me with fire, and struck me with thunder—all this could not hurt me one whit. Then I was taken by Laozi and placed in his eight-trigram brazier, in which I was refined by divine fire until I had fiery eyes and diamond pupils, a bronze head and iron arms. If you don’t believe me, give me some more blows and see whether it hurts me at all.”” Lastly, after encountering a demon king with an insanely powerful treasure and losing his Gold-Banded Staff in chapter 51, Monkey was skeptical that the demon was a celestial who had secretly descended from Heaven. He travelled up the celestial palace to investigate, but to no fruit. The Jade Emperor then permitted Monkey to select a few celestial warriors as reinforcements to help him subdue the demon, which Monkey wasn't the most assured with, since all these warriors had been defeated by him in the past. Bowing his head, Pilgrim thought to himself, “Those warriors in Heaven whose abilities are not as good as old Monkey’s are plentiful, but those just as good are few. Remember when I caused great havoc in the Celestial Palace: the Jade Emperor sent out one hundred thousand Heaven soldiers with cosmic nets, but there is not a single person who could stand up to me. They found my match only when they called up the Little Sage Erlang. Now this fiend has abilities as strong as old Monkey’s. How could we prevail against him?” 3.2. GuanyinBodhisattva Guanyin is known to be one of the wisest characters in not just Journey to the West, but in all of Chinese folklore as well. With her eyes of wisdom (huiyan, 慧眼), she is able to gain insight into all matters anywhere. Her knowledge of the world’s affairs is undoubted, and thus everybody knows she gives the finest advice, all based on her wise assessments. Naturally, Guanyin’s recommendation of dispatching Lord Erlang to arrest the monkey demon was errorless [src. 10-11]. Through her insights, she knows in mind that in the entire celestial palace, only the Jade Emperor’s nephew Erlang has the skills to rival and conquer the Great Sage. Guanyin’s judgement is surely unquestionable. […] Guanyin folded her hands and said to him [Jade Emperor]. “Your Majesty, let not your mind be troubled! This humble cleric will recommend a god who can capture the monkey.” “Which one would you recommend?” said the Jade Emperor. “Your Majesty’s nephew,” said the Bodhisattva, “the Immortal Master of Illustrious Sagacity Erlang, who is living at the mouth of the River of Libations in the Guan Prefecture and enjoying the incense and oblations offered to him from the Region Below. […]”
3.3. LaoziSupreme Exalted Lord Lao was a significant supporting force during Monkey and Erlang’s battle. He was the one who ultimately ended the long fight by knocking Monkey down from behind with his Diamond Cutter (see para. 1.11). Later on in the novel, Monkey pays Laozi a visit to borrow an elixir as requested by Tripitaka. There, Laozi complains to Monkey about him being such a troublemaker and, in passing, fully credits Erlang to have been the one who defeated him [src. 12-13]. Not taking any of Erlang’s great merit, you cannot deny the words of the patriarch of Daoism [2] himself. “Monkey,” said Laozi, “when you caused great disruption in Heaven five hundred years ago, you stole and consumed countless efficacious elixirs of mine. And when we sent the Little Sage Erlang to arrest you and bring you to the Region Above, you were sent to be refined in my elixir brazier for forty-nine days and made me squander who knows how much charcoal. […]”
3.4. Earth Deity at the Mountain of FlamesWhen the Earth deity at the Mountain of Flames introduces the setting to the pilgrims, he reveals that he used to be a Daoist who watched over Laozi’s furnace. He continues to explain that it was in fact Monkey who caused the flames of the mountain, when he knocked over Laozi’s furnace after being sentenced to be burnt there when he was arrested by Lord Erlang [src. 14-15]. This Earthy deity who used to reside in Heaven must know the matters of Heaven and Earth, and his statements are therefore most valid. “You can’t possibly recognize me now,” said the local spirit [Earth deity]. “There was no such mountain in this place originally. Five hundred years ago, when the Great Sage caused great disturbance in the Celestial Palace, you were caught by Illustrious Sagacity [Erlang] and taken in custody to Laozi. […]”
3.5. Author Wu Cheng'enSee para. 4. 4. The Direct Words of the AuthorFrom the written words of JTTW author Wu Cheng’en himself, it is evident that he intended to write Lord Erlang as a more powerful character than Sun Wukong. This is gathered from his use of words for the title chapter 6, the chapter where the great battle takes place. See src. 16 for reference, translated by Prof. Anthony C. Yu (2012). Guanyin, attending the banquet, inquires into the cause; A more accurate translation of this title would be: Guanyin, attending the feast, enquires [4] into the cause;  [Src. 18] The original Chinese title of chapter 6; yellow: "displays prestige", red: "subdues" [by the author] From this line alone, it is clear that the author has written Erlang to have suppressed Monkey [src. 17-18]. The use of the phrase “displaying prestige” gives the impression that Erlang’s power is much greater, and allows him to be presented as more prestigious, in comparison to Monkey. The next point lies with the single word “subdue". This one word is highly effective in expressing the ultimate outcome of Monkey and Erlang’s fight, proving that even the author himself acknowledges that God Erlang has truly beaten the Monkey King. ConclusionSupported by the many reasons above, I should make it clear that Lord Erlang has proved himself to be the superior warrior over Sun Wukong. All this is evident from the novel's contents; the outcomes of each round during the enduring battle sequence of, statements of perspective made by various characters throughout the novel on Erlang’s achievement in arresting Monkey (particular Monkey himself admitting to be Erlang’s defeated opponent), and last but not least, the Journey to the West author’s intention of writing Erlang as a stronger character as indicated in his choice of words. Though Monkey's ultimate defeat was an unfair loss due to the involvement of the gods above, Erlang should still be commended here as the better warrior, manifested from the fact that he forced Monkey to retreat, and his ability to adapt and respond to all of Monkey's escapades effectively. Ultimately, it is safe to say no matter the debate on whether Lord Erlang won this duel fair and square or not, the Monkey King's powers and skills are not greater than Heaven's strongest warrior. - Notes[1] bustard (鸨)
From the words of author Wu Cheng’en explaining this analogy, translated by Anthony C. Yu (2012): When Erlang saw that the monkey had changed into such a vulgar creature—for the spotted bustard is the basest and most promiscuous of birds, mating indiscriminately with phoenixes, hawks, or crows—he refused to approach him. Changing back into his true form, […]. Context: at the time when Monkey changed into the bustard, Erlang was in the form of a crane (see para. 1.6-1.7), hence he as a bird didn’t go near the lustful bustard. [2] patriarch of Daoism (道教之祖) The historical philosopher Laozi (c. 571-442 BC?, 老子, lit: Master Lao), born Li Er (李耳), is traditionally believed to be the founder of the religion Daoism (a.k.a. Taoism), hence his venerable title “Patriarch of Daoism” (a.k.a. Patriarch of Dao - daozu, 道祖). [3] Little Sage (小圣) “Little Sage” is a title of God Erlang. I am not certain why he is so called, but it iss likely that the JTTW author implemented this name as a literary balance to contrast with the Great Sage, both being the strongest warriors with just the Great Sage appearing to be more arrogant since his title is self-proclaimed. [4] enquires As an Australian, the preference for British English spelling conventions has been adopted, as with the rest of this website.
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