The Real and False Monkey King

Six-Ear Macaque

A false Sun Wukong impersonates the real one until Buddha reveals the six-eared macaque.

A six-eared macaque spirit transforms himself into Sun Wukong, strikes down Tang Sanzang, seizes the luggage and gathers his own band of pilgrims — so that two identical Monkey Kings appear, each claiming to be the real one. They fight from the Water Curtain Cave to the underworld and the palaces of heaven, where mirrors and Buddhas alike fail to tell them apart. Only Tathagata Buddha sees through the impostor and names the six-eared macaque; the real Wukong strikes him dead on the spot. With the false monkey gone, master and disciple make peace and set out west again.