‘Sun Wukong’: The Legendary Superhero and His Influence on Korean Pop Culture
K-content often draws influence from the fabled superhero, as evidenced by SEVENTEEN’s recent hit song ‘손오공’ and Lee Seung-gi’s popular K-drama ‘A Korean Odyssey,’ among other works
In the fantasy K-drama 'A Korean Odyssey,' Lee Seung-gi plays Son Oh-gong, the great sage (based on Sun Wukong), an extremely adept immortal banished to the human realm with his skills sealed owing to his craftiness and arrogance. Photo courtesy of tvN; HanCinema
He is an unstoppable force with a razor-sharp memory and unrivaled strength—the fabled superhero Monkey King Sun Wukong—who has deeply inspired a variety of cultures and countries, including Korea. The king and guardian of the monkeys, Sun Wukong, is a highly competent combatant possessing exceptional powers, notably, the ability to shift into different objects and creatures, the capacity to clone himself, and the skill to wield magic.
Within Wu Cheng’en’s 16th-century Chinese classic Journey to the West, Sun Wukong originated from a stone, earning his expertise through Taoist practices. He resisted the will of heaven, and consequently, the Buddha locked him beneath a mountain. Centuries later, with the monk Tang Sanzang and two other disciples, he set off for the West (India) to retrieve Buddhist sutras. They encountered difficulties and perils along the way but triumphed over them, with Sun Wukong protecting his troops throughout.
In terms of study findings, the monkey king is the poster child for an underdog who advances in status solely based on his perseverance and qualities, notwithstanding lacking a backup and a foundation to stand on. As a result, he is a role model for everyone. It is not strange, therefore, that a figure of this prominence is important to Korean culture and that he frequently serves as a source of inspiration for both its art and entertainment.
The name Sun Wukong grabbed me just a few days ago when I came across SEVENTEEN’s latest offering, their most recent song “손오공” (Korean of Sun Wukong), aka “Super.” The lyrics of the song, the allusions to the character, and the many analogies the boys make between him and themselves stand out as much as the K-pop idols’ outstanding display of the brilliant tune.
The references are obvious if you pay close attention to the words. “I looked at the ground and kept going to the top/Faced everything like I’m so proud, I always win/It’s key that you’ve got a strong will/The future’s not going anywhere, not until I let go…,” in addition to “Don’t break till we make it/ Feels like I turned into Sun Wukong…,” emphasize the hero’s rise in status through his trust in himself and zeal; the extent of his power and prowess.
“Hop on our cloud and get all around” makes it clear that he can leap clouds. His weapon, a “power pole,” is mentioned in the song’s latter verses. The band members and the enormous group of dancers performing behind them are a stunning allegory of Wukong’s capacity to create duplicates of himself to build an army. For that matter, Wukong himself is an allegory who stands for human intellect, thought, and instinct, and SEVENTEEN has successfully captured his spirit in this song.
A Korean Odyssey (2017), the fantasy television series created by Park Hong-kyun, Kim Jung-hyun, and Kim Byung-soo, is also a contemporary adaptation of Journey to the West (starring Lee Seung-gi, Cha Seung-won, Oh Yeon-seo, Lee Hong-gi, and Jang Gwang), in which Lee Seung-gi plays Son Oh-gong, the great sage (based on Sun Wukong), an extremely adept immortal banished to the human realm with his skills sealed owing to his craftiness and arrogance.
He, like Wukong, holds the superpowers of pyrokinesis, levitation, telekinesis, and bodily incarceration and seeks to accomplish noble deeds to reclaim his immortality from heaven. However, he gets entangled with Jin Seon-mi (Oh Yeon-seo’s character, based on Tang Sanzang) and must defend her from otherworldly forces or jeopardize his objectives. In the course of events, he clashes with Woo Ma-wang (Cha Seung-won’s character based on the Bull Demon King) in a bleak world where evils abound.
Super Monkey Returns (2011), a sci-fi adventure film directed by Shin Jae-ho, is a further instance of a story in which the mythical heroes from Journey to the West are reintroduced in modern-day Korea. In the film, set in contemporary Seoul, demons from the distant past are erroneously let loose into the world. Engaging the same men who once vanquished them will be the only way to stop them. Scientists utilize the DNA extracted from relics to bring back Son Oh-gong (Kim Byeong-Man as the monkey king), perhaps the one who can stop the dark forces, together with Jeo Pal-gye (Ryu Dam), Sa Oh-Jung (Han Min-kwan), and the Samzang monk (Min Ah-ryung), in an effort to redeem the world once again.
