19 The Murdered King


high-definition creative commons posters depicting The Murdered King from The Journey to the West, together with further information.

A ghostly king visits the monk Tripitaka in a dream, revealing that a treacherous magician drowned him in a well three years ago and usurped his throne. Upon waking, the travelers find the king’s white jade tablet left behind. The disciple Monkey then uses this token to convince the crown prince of the fraud, sending the prince back to the palace in secret to verify the truth with his mother.

This is a metaphor for Saṁsāra’s delusion. The magician usurping the throne represents how humanity is easily deceived by worldly illusions, mistaking the false for the true. The king’s three-year suffering in the well represents karmic retribution. Ultimately, Tripitaka’s compassion and Monkey’s golden-edged tablet symbolize the Dharma piercing through ignorance, guiding the prince toward ultimate truth.

use j/k or left/right arrow
to navigate through the photos below

19-The-Murdered-King-01

19-The-Murdered-King-02

19-The-Murdered-King-03

19-The-Murdered-King-04

19-The-Murdered-King-05

19-The-Murdered-King-06

19-The-Murdered-King-07

19-The-Murdered-King-08

19-The-Murdered-King-09

19-The-Murdered-King-10

19-The-Murdered-King-11

19-The-Murdered-King-12

19-The-Murdered-King-13

 

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License