Monkey King: Honestly, this guy deserves a whole book all to himself, which is no doubt what he would tell me if he knew I were writing this glossary. Sun Wukong, or the Monkey King, is also known by other names, the most famous being “The Great Sage Equal to Heaven.”
As legend goes, the Monkey King was born when he hopped out of a stone. He then went to live on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, where he reigned as king. The Monkey King’s power (and ego) grew, until one day he dared to go up to Heaven to ask the Jade Emperor to grant him a title, just as he had all the great immortals. The Jade Emperor mocked the Monkey King, but instead of suffering a lesson in humility and returning to Earth like anyone else would, the Monkey King wreaked havoc on all of Heaven. Nobody could stop him—except Erlang Shen, who caught him and trapped him under the Five Finger Mountain, where he stayed for five hundred years. That’s a long time to go without food, water, bathroom breaks, or Wi-Fi. Finally, the Monkey King was released—under the condition that he protect a monk on a dangerous journey to the west to obtain the Buddhist scriptures.
Special skills include shape-shifting (with seventy-two transformations); traveling 34,000 miles with a somersault; manipulating weather; using his hair to create copies of himself and save his master; and being the single most annoying being to ever walk planet Earth.
Nián: Nián means “year.” It also happens to refer to a big, fearsome demon.
The nián plays a big role in Lunar New Year celebrations. The story goes that a long, long time ago, a bunch of scary monsters dominated Earth. Those creatures included the nián. Every Lunar New Year eve, the nián would do annoying things like mess up the festivities and eat humans, which made it kind of hard for people to enjoy themselves. One Lunar New Year, when the nián was doing its mass-destruction thing in a particular village, an old man came along. He saw the panic, and he asked why everybody was running around screaming. After the villagers explained, the old man showed the nián his red underclothes. For some reason this scared the monster more than anything the humans had threatened it with, like weapons, animal patrols, and mass pollution. (I’m kidding. It was actually the color red that had scared the beast.) The villagers took the old man’s lead and flashed the nián with their underclothes, too. The nián stopped its rampage and ran away.
Red became the lucky color of the Lunar New Year. During every Lunar New Year since, people put red paper on their doors, and they beat red drums and set off red firecrackers to make a racket and scare off the nián. And in case you’re wondering, yeah, the mysterious old man was probably a god in disguise.
Red Prince/Red Boy: Known as the “Red Boy” in Journey to the West, the demonic Red Prince has also been called the Boy Sage King and is the son of the Bull Demon King and Princess Iron Fan. He cultivated his fire-controlling powers for more than three hundred years, and he reigns over the Fiery Mountains. Like most demons, he’s not exactly the biggest admirer of humans.
Yāo guài: The term “yāo guài” refers to demons in general. They’re usually evil animal spirits or vengeful celestial beings that practice Taoism, a philosophy developed from Laozi’s teachings centered on humility and religious piety, to hone their magical powers. With this power, they do fun stuff like plot total world domination. Usually, their greatest goal in demon-life is to achieve immortality and become deified into gods.
FAMILY TERMS/HONORIFICS
Ba (or bà ba): Ba means “father.” Related: “dad,” “paternal figure.”
Dà shèng: Dà shèng translates to “The Great Sage, Equal of Heaven.” It’s the Monkey King’s preferred title, and if you want to live, you should probably address him with that.
Dì di: Dì di is a respectful term for younger brothers that older sisters should use, unless those brothers are behaving badly.
Ér zi: Ér zi is a term of endearment for a son. It is also a term for less-than-endearing sons.
Jiě jie: Jiě jie is a respectful term for older sisters that all little brothers should use, with no exception.
Niáng niang: Niáng niang is a term of respect for mother figures, usually those who hold high status, like empresses and goddesses (yes, even the ones with evil tendencies).
Nǚ ér: Nǚ ér means “daughter.”
Shī fu: Shī fu means “master.”
Sūn nǚ ér: Sūn nǚ ér means “granddaughter.”
Sūn zi: Sūn zi means “grandson.”
Ye Ye (or yé ye): Ye Ye means “paternal grandfather.”
OTHER TERMS
Diyu: The Chinese version of the underworld or afterlife, Diyu is ruled by a deity named King Yama. It’s where both average Joes and bad guys go in the afterlife. So rather than being just a place of punishment, this realm is also a purgatory where souls await reincarnation into the next life. The capital of Diyu is Youdu. Imagine being in a waiting room for a really, really, really long time, listening to endless moaning and wailing, and eventually being greeted with scary demons wielding sharp, painful tools. Basically, it’s like the dentist’s office.
Hungry Ghost Festival: The Hungry Ghost Festival takes place during the Ghost Month, which is also referred to as the Seventh Month, since it takes place during the seventh month of the lunar calendar. People celebrate by burning incense and hell money and placing offerings to the dead on the altar. All the spirits come up from Diyu to eat, drink, have fun, and basically mooch off their living relatives on Earth.
Jiā yóu: Literally translating to “add oil,” jiā yóu is a term of encouragement used
