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The Monkey King
Chinese Puppet show |
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Endowed with immense magical powers, irreverent and sly,
arrogant and unpredictable, the Monkey King is, for all that,
still today the most popular hero of the Chinese world.
Sun Wu Kong, the Monkey King has always functioned as a safety valve in an imperial China subject to the unlimited powers of the often corrupt mandarins. The popularity of the Monkey King is such that he is venerated in numerous temples throughout China. Despite his status as a divinity, he is not inaccessible. He has become, over the centuries, one of the main characters of Chinese opera and puppet theatre. With great humour, Sun Wu Kong upsets the fine order of the Heavenly Palace over which the Jade Emperor reigns. He takes issue with all sorts of gods, devils, immortals and frightful warriors, with no fear or shame, to the great delight of us mortals, the spectators. |
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