"Three Beats of the White-Bone Demon" is a classic story in the four famous classics "Journey to the West", which means that after three times of beating the White-Bone Demon, the monster was finally defeated.
Summary of the story
The four masters and disciples of Tang Monk went to Baihu Ridge to collect scriptures. In Baihu Ridge, there lives a corpse demon White Bone Spirit. In order to eat Tang Monk's meat, he transformed into a village girl, a woman, and an old man. Sun Wukong saw through all of them. The White Bone Demon was afraid and turned into a gust of wind to escape. Sun Wukong beat all the fake bodies of the village girl and woman to death.
But Tang Monk did not distinguish between human beings and monsters. Instead, he blamed Sun Wukong for committing crimes wantonly, injuring both his mother and daughter, and violating the precepts. The third time the white-bone spirit turned into a white-haired old man again and was discovered by Sun Wukong. Tang Monk wrote a letter of derogation and drove Sun Wukong back to Huaguo Mountain.
The story in detail
A dozen: A young village girl appeared in the mountains. Wukong said: "It is a goblin, and it is here to lie to you." After saying this, he walked towards the goblin. A blow to the face. After beating the goblin's stand-in to death, the goblin escaped.
Two dozen: An eighty-year-old woman appeared on the hillside, holding a bent bamboo stick and walking towards her crying step by step. When Wukong saw that it was the goblin again, he didn't say anything and hit him with a stick (look at my old Sun's stick). The goblin escaped again.
Three dozen: Wukong hid the golden hoop next to him, stepped forward to face the goblin, and said with a smile: "You can hide it from others, but you can't hide it from me! I recognize you, the goblin." Wukong pulled out the golden hoop. Bang, afraid that the master would recite the incantation, did not take action immediately. He secretly called the gods and ordered: "This goblin has come to deceive my master again and again. This time, I must kill it. You bear witness in mid-air." All the gods all Watching from the clouds. Wukong picked up the golden cudgel and killed the goblin with one blow. The goblin turned into a pile of bones after death.
About the author
Wu Chengen, male, Han nationality, named Ruzhong, also known as Sheyang Jushi, also known as Sheyangshanren, was a writer of the Ming Dynasty.
The ancestral home of Wu Chengen’s family is Andong (now Lianshui, Jiangsu Province). His ancestors moved to the lower reaches of the Huai’an River at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. Five generations have passed since Wu Chengen’s arrival. His father was a businessman. During his lifetime, he very much hoped that his son would be able to get a good name and named him Cheng'en. He has been diligent and studious since he was a child, and has a memory that will be remembered forever. Proficient in painting, calligraphy, lyrics, and Go.
In the fourth year of Longqing (1570), Wu Chengen returned to his hometown from Prince Jing's Mansion in Qizhou (now Qichun, Hubei Province) and began to write "Journey to the West".