Minneapolis Institute of Art

Jade Rabbit: Sun Wukong

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi; Publisher: Akiyama Buemon; Carver: Noguchi Enkatsu

Date

October 1889

Medium

Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

The Monkey King Sun Wukong (Jap.: Son Gokū) is one of the main characters in the Chinese novel The Journey to the West, or Xiyouji (c. 1500–1600 CE). Hatched from a divine stone egg, he is endowed with intelligence and magical powers and gains immortality by eating peaches of longevity he stole from the garden of heaven. Eventually he accompanies the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang on his journey west to India. Yoshitoshi paired the Monkey King with the Jade Rabbit who, according to a widespread belief in Asia, lives on the moon, as the markings on the moon look like a rabbit with a mortar and pestle. The monkey’s gesture with his magical staff refers to a common theme in Japanese art of a monkey trying to catch the moon’s reflection in water.

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