Archaeological findings make many people believe that Sun Wukong is a real character, not a fiction at all.
Journey to the West is one of the four classic classics of Chinese literature. The character Ton Ngo Khong in this work with extraordinary wisdom, possessing many transformational miracles has become an image loved by many generations of readers.
With his extraordinary magic, most people think that Sun Wukong is a fictional mythological character, completely absent in real life.
Character Sun Wukong on TV series.
However, in 2005, Chinese archaeologists surprised everyone when they discovered the tomb believed to be Sun Wukong, inside also found objects shaped like Nhu Y sticks and Kim Co rings. This finding immediately caused controversy for a long time.
This ancient tomb was discovered at the top of Baoshan mountain, Thuan Xuong district, Fujian province (China). Here, archaeologists found two tombs lying with a total area of about 18 square meters, the grave is 2.9 meters wide and about 1.3 meters deep. The special thing found inside the tomb made many people wonder.
Accordingly, a tomb has a stele engraved with four words “Qi Thien Dai Thanh”. The remaining tomb is engraved with the name “Tong Thien Dai Thanh”. Descendants all know that Qi Tian Dai Thanh is the legendary Sun Wukong, but as for Thong Thien Dai Thanh, not many people know who this character is.
In addition to the two steles, artifacts shaped like Nhu Y sticks and the legendary Kim Co ring were also found in the grave.
Archaeologists then excavated, examined and concluded that the tomb was dated to the Yuan Dynasty, the burial process was meticulous without traces of being forged by later generations.
Public opinion immediately questioned that Journey to the West was written in the Ming Dynasty, so why is the tomb of the character Sun Wukong more than two centuries earlier, in the Yuan Dynasty?
After painstakingly studying the documents, experts discovered that under the Nguyen Dynasty, a writer Duong Canh Hien composed a drama called Journey to the West. Many people guess that it is possible that Ngo Thua An later borrowed the idea of this comedy to compose a novel of the same name.
In Duong Canh Dien’s Journey to the West, the character Ton Ngo Khong has a younger brother, which is Thong Thien Dai Thanh. Thus, during the Yuan Dynasty, the graves of the two brothers were placed side by side.
Currently, public opinion is still constantly debating around the question of real graves – fake graves, is Ton Ngo Khong real or just a character born from the rich imagination of the ancients.
However, some scholars believe that Ton Ngo Khong is the prototype of a person named Xa Phung Trieu, whose legal name is Thich Ngo Khong. In 751, Thich Ngo Khong followed Truong Quang Thao on a mission to the Western Region. Due to a serious illness, he had to stay in Kien Da La (now in Pakistan) to recuperate but could not return to the capital. While seriously ill, Wukong made a vow: “If I can recover from my illness, I will cut my hair and become a monk”.
After recovering from illness, Wukong fulfilled his promise to become a monk. In 757, Wukong accepted the shaman Tripitaka as his master, and went to the West to participate in translation and missionary work, leaving behind many legends and legends. It was not until 789 that Thich Ngo Khong returned to the capital.