ENG
With ruby eyes and jade adorned,
Wielding its blades, fierce and scorned.
When justice falters to show,
An iron fist will strike the blow.
Tang Monk often advocated for kindness, while Sun Wukong was known for his punishment of evil.
At Kui-Mu Wolf's abode, upon learning of the princess's suffering and her reluctance to leave due to her feelings for the yaoguai and children bore for him, Sun Wukong ordered Bajie to throw the yaoguai's children from the height, reducing them to two lumps of flesh.
At Old Yang's house, after learning of the unfilial deeds of the old couple's son and seeing how they indulged him for the sake of incense offerings, he proceeded to behead the son despite Old Yang's pleas.
Sun Wukong's nature was to show no mercy to villains and evildoers; he delighted in eradicating evils and yaoguais. The numerous blood debts on the journey to the West, though each had its reasons, were mostly attributed to the monkey.
The world knew of the other three pieces of armor, but they were unaware that the mantis was actually transformed from the Great Sage's gauntlet. It seems the gauntlet inherited the Great Sage's ruthlessness, for it played tricks on Zhu Bajie with the same cunning.
The passage opens with a short poem that sets the tone: it describes something with ruby eyes, jade decoration, and blades that acts like an "iron fist" when justice is not shown. That image frames the rest of the text — a force that punishes without mercy when it thinks moral order has failed.
Two characters are set up as moral opposites. Tang Monk is described as someone who often advocates kindness and compassion. Sun Wukong, by contrast, is known for punishing evil with little mercy. The poem and these descriptions together imply a blunt, punitive approach to wrongdoing coming from Wukong or things connected to him.
Two specific violent incidents illustrate Wukong’s ruthlessness. At Kui-Mu Wolf’s house a princess was suffering but refused to leave because she loved the yaoguai (a demon) and had borne him children. Sun Wukong ordered Zhu Bajie to throw those children from a height, and they were reduced to two lumps of flesh. At Old Yang’s house, Wukong learned that the couple’s son had been unfilial and that his parents had indulged him for the sake of incense offerings; Wukong beheaded the son despite Old Yang begging for mercy.
The text emphasizes that Wukong’s natural inclination was to show no mercy to villains and yaoguais and that he took pleasure in eradicating them. It says that many of the blood debts accumulated during the Journey to the West were mostly blamed on the monkey, even though each killing had its own circumstances. In other words, Wukong’s zeal for punishment led to many brutal outcomes and a reputation for violence.
Finally, the lore reveals a twist about objects linked to Wukong: the world knew of three pieces of armor, but people did not know that the mantis armor was actually a transformation of the Great Sage’s gauntlet. That gauntlet kept the Great Sage’s ruthlessness and later used trickery against Zhu Bajie. The implication is that Wukong’s violent character influenced not just his actions but also the behavior of items associated with him, and that his brand of justice caused lasting harm and controversy.