In everyone’s impression, Monk Sha is a simple, honest and hard-working person. However, Monk Sha's first appearance in "Journey to the West" is a complete devil: "Green is not green, black is not black, his face is unlucky; he is not long, he is not short, his legs are bare and his body is bare. His eyes are twinkling. , It's like the two lamps under the stove; the corners of the mouth are like the butcher's fire bowl. The fangs are holding the sword, the red hair is shaggy, and the feet are rushing like the wind. "What is particularly noticeable is his chest. skull necklace. Regarding the origin of this necklace, Monk Sha once explained to Guanyin Bodhisattva: "I have eaten countless people here. I have eaten several people who came to seek Buddhist scriptures. The heads of all the people I ate were thrown into the quicksand and sank to the bottom of the water." No goose feather can float in this water. Only the skeletons of the nine pilgrims floated on the water. I thought they were foreign objects, so I threaded them together and played with them in my spare time."
In "The Poems of Tripitaka of the Tang Dynasty" before "Journey to the West" was written, the Shensha God, the prototype of Monk Sha, also said to Master Tripitaka: "I have eaten you twice, a monk, and I have left you with dead bones." "In the play "Journey to the West" of the Yuan Dynasty, Monk Sha also said: "There is a monk who vows to go to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures. How can you cross my Shahe River? Nine skeletons are still on my neck.”
The skeletons used as necklaces turned out to be Tang Monk’s previous life! And was eaten by Monk Sha nine times! At this point, it is not difficult for us to understand why Tang Monk is often mentioned in "Journey to the West" as the tenth reincarnation of Jin Chanzi. Some scholars believe that hanging the skull around the neck is a way for Monk Sha to show off his military exploits. This way of showing off military exploits actually originated from the customs of ancient primitive tribes. According to research by anthropologists, primitive tribes around the world have a common custom of hunting heads and using human skulls as decorations. Among primitive tribes in Africa, people often eat prisoners of war and leave their skulls as a sign of showing off their war exploits. In addition, the custom of headhunting and head worship are closely related. The famous anthropologist Fraser's "The Golden Bough" contains many records about the worship of hunted heads as gods. "Xing Tian" in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" is a monster whose head was chopped off. Until the end of the Han Dynasty, Cai Yan's "Poetry of Sorrow and Indignation" included the poem "A man's head is hung on the side of the horse, and a woman is carried behind the horse." This is a true record of northern minorities showing off their military exploits with human heads.
In addition, scholars also believe that Monk Sha’s skull necklace has a deeper meaning. In Buddhist Tantric Buddhism, most of the statues of gods and Buddhas such as Vajra, King Ming, and Dharma Protector are decorated with skulls. Some wear skull crowns on their heads, and some wear skull necklaces. For example, the Vajra of Fear is adorned with 50 human heads and strings of human bone beads all over the body. It is said that wearing human bones and skulls on the one hand symbolizes the impermanence of the world, and on the other hand it symbolizes victory over evil and death. The skull on Monk Sha's neck is not an ordinary skull. It is the skull of an enlightened monk. It is for this reason that Tang Monk and his disciples were able to successfully cross the Liusha River that even goose feathers could not float by relying on the skull necklace and Guanyin Bodhisattva's precious gourd. After completing its mission, this string of skull necklaces also dissolved into nine strands of evil wind and disappeared silently.