The Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord (Chinese: 百眼魔君; pinyin: Bǎiyǎn Mójūn), also known as the Centipede Demon (Chinese: 蜈蚣精; pinyin: Wúgōng jīng), is an antagonist from the 16th-century Chinese classic novel Journey to the West. A giant centipede in his true form, he disguises himself as a Daoist priest and is among the most powerful demons encountered by Sun Wukong during the pilgrimage.[1]
| Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 百眼魔君 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 百眼魔君 | ||||||
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| Centipede Demon | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 蜈蚣精 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 蜈蚣精 | ||||||
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Role in Journey to the West
editThe Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord appears in Chapter 73 of the novel. Tang Sanzang and his disciples arrive at the Yellow Flower Temple (黄花观) seeking lodging. The temple's abbot is a Daoist master who secretly shelters the seven spider demonesses, who had previously fought Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie at the Webbed Hollow. Seeking revenge for his martial spider sisters, the demon lord serves tea poisoned with toxic red dates.[2][3]
Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing drink the tea and immediately collapse in pain. Sun Wukong realizes the tea is poisoned, destroys the cups, and fights the Daoist. When he is unable to defeat Wukong in combat, the demon opens his robes and reveals a hundred glowing eyes beneath his ribs. The eyes emit a blinding golden light that traps and burns Wukong. He escapes by transforming into a pangolin and burrowing underground.[2]
While recovering, Wukong meets Lishan Laomu in disguise, who tells him to seek help from Pilanpo, a bodhisattva who lives in seclusion on Purple Cloud Mountain. According to Pilanpo, the demon king's radiant golden light is so powerful that even the Buddha could not defeat it. Pilanpo confronts the demon at the temple. When he releases his golden light, she throws a magical embroidery needle, made from the sun in the eyes of her son Maori Xingguan, the constellation deity. The needle pierces the light and breaks its power. The demon then returns to his true form, a giant centipede. Pilanpa spares him and takes him to the Thousand Flower Cave to serve as a gatekeeper, while Wukong cures his master and fellow disciples with an antidote.[2][4]
Interpretations
editLiterary scholar Zheng Mingli interprets the Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord as a satire of Ming dynasty Daoism. During the reign of the Jiajing Emperor, Daoist alchemy received strong imperial support, and the emperor frequently consumed elixirs containing toxic heavy metals and mercury in his pursuit of immortality. Wang argues that the demon's disguise as a Daoist priest who brews elixirs at the Yellow Flower Temple is a parody of contemporary alchemical practices. By portraying a supposedly holy priest who uses poisoned tea to harm innocent travelers, the novel criticizes corrupt Daoist clergy and the pursuit of immortality through dangerous elixirs.[5]
Literary scholar and mythology researcher Yang Yi (杨义) interprets the demon's defeat through the concept of mutual restraint (相生相克), a traditional Chinese belief that one thing can overcome another. Yang notes that Sun Wukong is unable to overcome the centipede demon's golden light despite his great powers. However, Pilanpa Bodhisattva defeats the demon because her true form is a hen, a natural predator of the centipede. According to Yang, this episode shows that the novel's world operates through relationships of mutual restraint rather than strength alone.[6]
In the Qing dynasty commentary Xiyou Yuanzhi (西游原旨), the scholar Liu Yiming interprets the Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord through the framework of Daoist internal alchemy. Liu argues that the demon's use of poisonous tea symbolizes misguided "furnace fire" (炉火), a term associated with improper cultivation. He notes that the demon first uses this furnace fire to harm others but is ultimately destroyed by it himself. Liu further interprets the antidote used to cure Tang Sanzang's disciples as the "mind of Yin virtue" (阴德心), which represents moral and spiritual cultivation.[7]
In popular culture
editThe Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord appears as the main antagonist in the 2022 animated film The Westward: Cave of the Qiongqi (西行纪之穷奇地洞), a spin-off of the Hong Kong manhua The Westward.[8]
Black Myth: Wukong
editThe Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord appears as the final boss of Chapter 4 in the 2024 action role-playing game Black Myth: Wukong. The game expands his relationship with the Spider Demons, portraying them as his martial junior sisters. In this adaptation, he is depicted as a ruthless Daoist alchemist who manipulates the Spider Sisters and uses them as tools in his pursuit of greater power and immortality.[9]
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ "西游记中实力最强的十大妖怪排名，南山大王垫底，第一是他" [Top 10 Strongest Demons in Journey to the West, Nanshan Dawang at the bottom, the first is...]. Sina New (in Chinese). September 23, 2021.
- 1 2 3 西游记 [Journey to the West]. 外文出版社. 2003. p. 2432. ISBN 978-7-119-03216-0.
- ↑ Tianfei, Li (2016). "西游记：妖怪的"演化史"" [Journey to the West: The "Evolutionary History" of Demons]. Chinese National Geographic (in Chinese).
- ↑ "西游记十大妖怪，黄眉老祖第四，前三碾压孙悟空！" [Top 10 Demons in Journey to the West]. People's Daily (in Chinese). 6 July 2021.
- ↑ Zheng, Mingli (2001). 西游记探源 [Tracing the Origins of Journey to the West] (in Chinese). Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House. p. 185. ISBN 978-7-5339-1466-0.
百眼魔君的黄花观以及他所炼制的毒药，实际上是吴承恩对明代中后期嘉靖皇帝宠信道士、妄求长生不老药的深刻讽刺。
- ↑ Yang Yi (June 26, 2019). "《西游记》：中国神话文化的大器晚成" [Journey to the West: The Late Bloomer of Chinese Mythological Culture]. 中国作家网 (in Chinese). Retrieved June 9, 2026.
- ↑ Liu, Yiming (刘一明). "西游记百回详注/73" [Detailed Commentary on the 100 Chapters of Journey to the West, Chapter 73]. Chinese Wikisource (in Chinese). Retrieved June 9, 2026.
- ↑ "电影资讯丨《西行纪之穷奇地洞》定档8月19日孙悟空唐三藏热血大战百眼魔君" [Movie News: "The Westward: Cave of the Qiongqi" Scheduled for Aug 19, Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang Battle the Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord]. Guizhou Radio and Television (in Chinese). Retrieved June 9, 2026.
- ↑ "Hundred-Eyed Daoist Master - Black Myth: Wukong Guide". IGN. 15 September 2024.