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Immediately adjacent to one of the hoops was the inscription, “’As-you-will’ Gold-Banded Cudgel. He found a golden hoop at each end, with solid black iron in between. Highly pleased, Wukong took it out of the ocean treasury to examine it. “Smaller still would be even better,” said Wukong, giving it another bounce in his hands. It would be more serviceable if it were somewhat shorter and thinner.” Hardly had he finished speaking when the treasure shrunk a few feet in length and became a layer thinner. Using all his might, he lifted it with both hands, saying, “It’s a little too long and too thick. Pointing to the spot, the Dragon King said, “That’s it-the thing that is glowing.” Wukong girded up his clothes and went forward to touch it: it was an iron rod more than twenty feet long and as thick as a barrel. The Dragon King accordingly led him to the center of the ocean treasury, where all at once they saw a thousand shafts of golden light. Waving his hands, the Dragon King said, “We can’t move it! We can’t even lift it! The high immortal must go there himself to take a look.” “Where is it?” asked Wukong.

“Take it out and let me see it,” said Wukong. Now compare it to the scene in chapter three of Journey to the West where Monkey procures his magic staff: 1 – Wu Song lifts the stone block ( larger version). His face wasn’t flushed, he wasn’t even breathing hard, his heart beat calmly (Shi, Luo, & Shapiro, 1999, pp. He turned and looked at Shi En and the prisoners. He caught it in both hands as it came down and lightly put it back in its original place. With a sudden twist, he flung it upwards. Wu Song grasped the stone with his right hand and lifted. It dropped with a thud, sinking a foot into the earth. Embracing the stone, he raised it easily, then tossed it away with both hands. He slipped off his tunic and tied the sleeves around his waist. “You really think I can’t lift it? Get back, you men, and watch this.” “That stone weighs three to five hundred catties!” The prisoners on the grounds bowed and hailed them respectfully. The two men walked to the Heavenly King Temple. “There’ll be time enough for that when we come back.” “Probably three to five hundred catties. How heavy is the stone block I saw in front of the Heavenly King Temple yesterday?” “You mean I haven’t got my strength back? All right. It involves the bandit Wu Song lifting a heavy stone block: I now suggest the weight of the weapon was directly influenced by a scene in chapter 27 of the Water Margin ( Shuihu zhuan, 水滸傳, c. While I still agree the great weight cements his position as a superior hero, I no longer believe the number is connected to numerology. So it’s possible the number (infinity multiplied) was meant to convey that the staff was heavy beyond comprehension, something that only a divine hero such as Monkey would be able to wield. Thirteen thousand five hundred is divisible by nine, which Chinese numerology considers to represent “infinity”. I suggested in one of my earliest articles that the weight of Monkey’s staff had a connection to Chinese numerology: Assuming the style of the Python Rearing its Body, he pointed at the bandits and said, “Your luck’s running out, for you have met old Monkey!” (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. How could those bandits have knowledge of this? The Great Sage walked forward and picked up the rod with no effort at all. They could not even budge it half a whit! This rod, you see, happened to be the “As-you-will” gold-banded cudgel, which tipped the scale in Heaven at thirteen thousand, five hundred catties. Sticking the rod into the ground, Pilgrim said to them, “If any of you can pick it up, it’s yours.” The two bandit chiefs at once went forward to try to grab it, but alas, it was as if dragonflies were attempting to shake a stone pillar. The latter quality is best demonstrated in chapter 56 when human bandits attempt and fail to pick up the 8.8 ton weapon: Sun Wukong’s magic staff is famed in popular culture for its ability to grow and shrink but less so for its great weight.