A Comparative Study of the Chinese Trickster Hero Sun Wukong
Abstract
Sun Wukong is a fictional hero from the Chinese classic The Journey to the West. As
a well-known trickster, Wukong has a lot of similarities with several other tricksters
around the world. In order to analyze him, I try to explain both his similarities
with, and differences from, other tricksters, especially in the Ancient Greek folklore
and myth traditions. The first half of the paper focuses on the general characteristics
of tricksters. As a very distinctive group in global mythology, tricksters have particular
features. The definition and symbolization of tricksters are illustrated by comparing
Wukong and major Greek tricksters, such as Hermes, Odysseus, and Prometheus. The second
part of the paper is concentrated on the heroic features of tricksters and the cultural
values reflected in the Wukong narrative. How tricksters become cultural heroes is
the main theme of Chapter Three. I explain their evolution by elaborating on the change
in their nature mentioned in the second chapter. The fourth chapter illustrates the
reason why Wukong is an East Asian cultural hero.I explore the personalities of Wukong
and see how they fit the dominant philosophy and cultural values of the region. The
last chapter briefly shows how popular Wukong is in Chinese and the entire East Asian
culture.
Type
Master's thesisDepartment
Graduate Liberal StudiesPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11824Citation
Lou, Huanliang (2016). A Comparative Study of the Chinese Trickster Hero Sun Wukong. Master's thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11824.Collections
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