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Little Crown Prince Zhang
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| Little Crown Prince Zhang | |
|---|---|
| Journey to the West character | |
| First appearance | Chapter 66 |
| In-universe information | |
| Alias | Third Prince of the Flowing Sand Kingdom |
| Species | Deity |
| Affiliation | Great Sage Zen Temple |
| Weapon | Paper-white spear |
| Master | Great Sage National Preceptor King Bodhisattva |
Little Crown Prince Zhang (Chinese: 小张太子; pinyin: Xiǎozhāng Tàizǐ) is a deity and character in the 16th-century Chinese classic novel Journey to the West. In the narrative, he serves as the principal disciple of the Great Sage National Preceptor King Bodhisattva (大圣国师王菩萨) and aids Sun Wukong in his battle against the Yellow Brows Demon.
Beyond the novel, literary historians have traced the character's origins to early Yuan dynasty theatrical plays and regional flood mythology surrounding the Huai River. He is considered a folkloric form of Muzha, one of the disciples of the historical Tang monk Sangha, and is worshipped as the local flood-protecting deity known as the "Sizhou Zhang Great Sage" in the lower Yangtze River region.
Role in Journey to the West
[edit]Little Crown Prince Zhang is introduced in Chapter 66. When Sun Wukong is trapped and defeated by the Yellow Brows Demon (黄眉怪) at the Lesser Thunder Monastery, he travels to the Great Sage Zen Temple on Mount Xuyi (盱眙山) in Sizhou to request the aid of the National Preceptor Wang Bodhisattva.[1]
The Bodhisattva declines to leave the temple in order to maintain a suppression seal on the newly captured Water Ape Great Sage (水猿大圣). Instead, he dispatches Little Crown Prince Zhang and four divine generals to assist Wukong. Before fighting the demon, Little Prince Zhang tells Wukong about his past. He says he was originally the Third Prince of the Flowing Sand Kingdom (流沙国). Because he was weak and often sick when he was young, his father sent him to become a monk under the National Preceptor Wang Bodhisattva. There, he later learned martial arts and magical skills.[1]
Armed with a paper-white spear (楮白枪), the Prince confronts Yellow Brows and fights bravely. However, the demon utilizes a magical cloth sack (后天人种袋) to vacuum up the Prince, the four generals, and Wukong's other celestial allies. The Prince remains captured until Maitreya Buddha arrives to permanently subdue the demon and release the prisoners.[1]
Literary origins and folklore
[edit]Historical prototype
[edit]While the Bodhisattva's historical prototype, the Tang dynasty monk Sangha, had three disciples, none of them were royal princes. Historians believe the title "Crown Prince" (Taizi) came from Emperor Suzong of Tang, who gave royal crown prince robes to Sangha's temple as a sign of imperial devotion. Over subsequent centuries of oral transmission and folkloric adaptation, the existence of the royal robes morphed into the legend of a literal royal prince serving by the monk's side.[2]
In regional folk religion
[edit]The character of Little Crown Prince Zhang later developed into a larger figure in regional Chinese folk religion outside of Journey to the West. In the Jingjiang storytelling text Great Sage Precious Scroll (大圣宝卷), the character appears under the mortal name Zhang Changsheng (张长生). According to the story, he was originally a celestial being who was banished to the mortal world after breaking a heavenly glass bowl. After being reborn into a mortal family, he became a disciple of Guanyin and later achieved enlightenment after defeating the Huai River water demon known as Shuimu (the Water Mother).[3]
In his 2018 study, folklorist Chen Yongchao noted that the character may have developed from stories about the historical monk Sangha and his disciple Muzha (木叉). According to Chen, local storytelling traditions and later Yuan and Ming dynasty literature gradually transformed these older figures into the character of Little Crown Prince Zhang. He also noted that the scroll strongly connects the character with the Great Sage beliefs of Mount Lang (狼山) in Nantong and includes many local folk legends that are still known today.[3]
The Yuan zaju prototype
[edit]According to a literary analysis, the origin of Little Prince Zhang can be traced to the earlier Yuan dynasty zaju (operatic play) version of Journey to the West written by Yang Jingxian. In the play's seventeenth act, the Queen of the Women's Kingdom makes a passing reference to a figure named Monk Zhang (张僧), stating: "Wuzhiqi captured Monk Zhang on Turtle Mountain" (巫枝祇把张僧拿住在龟山上). Because this early theatrical character shares the surname "Zhang," a Buddhist background, and a direct narrative link to the water demon Wuzhiqi, the analysis suggests that Ming dynasty author Wu Cheng'en likely adapted "Monk Zhang" into the martial disciple "Little Prince Zhang" when finalizing the novel.[4]
Jianghuai water mythology
[edit]The character and his master are closely connected with flood myths from the Jianghuai region. In a literary analysis, Wu Liuqi identified the National Preceptor Wang Bodhisattva as a fictional form of the Tang dynasty monk Sangha, who was worshipped in local folklore as the "Sizhou Great Sage". According to Southern Song and Ming dynasty legends, Sangha defeated the Huai River monster Wuzhiqi, also known as the Water Mother. In Journey to the West, Little Crown Prince Zhang states that he and his master had previously defeated the Water Mother. Because of this, Wu Liuqi viewed the character as a direct link between Journey to the West and the flood legends of Jiangsu province.[5]
Modern ritual worship
[edit]In the lower Yangtze River region, the literary figure of Little Prince Zhang merged with local religious practice. In places such as Jinhu, ritual texts like the Water Mother Confession (水母忏) are still used today. In these traditions, the flood-protecting local deity known as the "Sizhou Zhang Great Sage" (泗州张大圣) is viewed as a combination of the monk Sangha, his disciple Mucha, and the theatrical figure Little Crwon Prince Zhang.[6]
In popular culture
[edit]Little Crown Prince Zhang appears as a major supporting NPC in the 2024 game Black Myth: Wukong, where he is called the "Third Prince" (小张太子). The game expands his story as the Third Prince of the Flowing Sands Kingdom. Unlike the rest of his family, he avoids becoming a rat demon because he had left the kingdom earlier to study under Wang Bodhisattva. In the game's story, he later fights against Yellowbrow alongside four divine generals, but they are defeated. The generals become corrupted monsters, while the Prince blinds and deafens himself to resist Yellowbrow's magic. Players later meet him imprisoned in the Pagoda Realm, and completing his side quest rewards materials used to craft his famous Chu-Bai Spear (楮白枪).[7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Wu Cheng'en. "66". Journey to the West.
- ^ Wang, Yucheng (王育诚) (2008). 江淮神祇考 (A Study of Jianghuai Deities) (in Chinese). Jiangsu People's Publishing House. pp. 112–115.
- ^ a b Chen, Yongchao (陈泳超) (2018). "靖江《大圣宝卷》的信仰与文学渊源 (The Belief and Literary Origins of the Jingjiang "Great Sage Precious Scroll")". Journal of Sun Yat-sen University (Social Science Edition) / 中山大学学报(社会科学版) (in Chinese) (3). Retrieved 26 May 2026.
- ^ "淮河水神与《西游记》 (The Huai River Water God and Journey to the West)" (in Chinese). Huai'an Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (淮安政协文史). Retrieved 26 May 2026.
杨景贤杂剧《西游记》第十七折《女王逼婚》中，女王曾说到"巫枝祇把张僧拿住在龟山上"。这个佛门的张僧与小张太子同姓张，大概不是偶然的巧合，依我看来小张也是从张僧那儿承袭来的。
- ^ ""无支祁"是什么意思？ ("What does Wuzhiqi mean?")". China Writer (中国作家网) (in Chinese). 7 November 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2026.
小张太子，可能是杨讷《西游记》杂剧中说的张僧...大圣国师王菩萨，原型一般认为是唐代高僧僧伽...南宋王象之在《舆地纪胜》中记载，盱眙有"圣母井在龟山灵济庙内，俗传泗州僧伽降水母于此。"
- ^ Zhu, Jiayi (朱佳艺) (2018). "地方性知识的转换：降水母传说流变考 (The Transformation of Local Knowledge: A Study on the Evolution of the Legend of Subduing the Water Mother)". Chinese Folklore Society (中国民俗学网) (in Chinese). Retrieved 26 May 2026.
金湖《水母忏》讲述：水母娘娘带九条龙放水去淹泗州城。水母扮作卖水人进城，泗州张大圣装作买水，破除水母法术。
- ^ Teressa, Charlene Maria (12 December 2024). "Black Myth: Wukong - Who Are The Rat Princes?". TheGamer.