Converting Sha Wujing at the Flowing Sands

The Ogre Who Bears the Load

At the Flowing Sands River, Guanyin converts the ogre into the monk who joins the pilgrimage.

Banished from heaven for breaking the crystal cup, the Curtain-Lifting General becomes a man-eating ogre of the Flowing Sands River, devouring travelers who try to cross. Guanyin converts him to await the pilgrim; when the party arrives, the vajra bearer Moksha summons the ogre, who is shaved and given the Dharma name Sha Wujing. He shoulders the luggage and follows west — the silence of the river turned into the loyalty of the journey.