Monkey King Worshiped as God in Fuzhou

Most Chinese associate the Monkey King (or Qi Tian Da Sheng) with the monkey-turned-demon-slayer in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) epic novel. 

 

But in Fuzhou in east China's Fujian Province, he is worshiped as a tutelary deity. 

According to China Daily, the origin of the Monkey King belief has many versions: ape worship, a monkey Buddha, a monkey demon converted by a goddess into the heavenly cause – there are a thousand Monkey Kings in a thousand priests' eyes due to a lack of historical records. 

 

One thing is certain: people in Fuzhou were worshiping the Monkey King long before the classic literary work "Journey to the West" made the dramatis personae a household name. Historical records suggest the city had a temple for the monkey in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Some academics say the belief can be traced to the ancient worship of apes. 

 

"Prehistoric Chinese in the mountains worshiped monkeys. The powerful Monkey King figure in the novel met the believers' expectation for an almighty god and made the belief more popular", according to Gan Mantang, a sociology professor at Fuzhou University. 

 

Vague as his identity might be, the monkey god never lacks followers. 

 

Belief in the Monkey King is prominent in Fujian Province, and in Fuzhou, he is worshiped in about 700 to 800 temples, it is claimed. 

 

In the 1990s, Qitian Temple the temple regarded as the Monkey King's "ancestral temple" on Fuzhou's Pingshan Mountain registered 243 offshoot temples, including in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore.