Mount Huaguo or Flowers and Fruit Mountain, is a major area featured in the novel Journey to the West (16th century). A number of real-world locations have been connected with the Mount Huaguo, although the eponymous mountain in Lianyungang, Jiangsu is most commonly identified as its source of inspiration. According to folklore, when Guanyin Bodhisattva passed through Flower Fruit Mountain, she meditated on a large rock. Imbued with divine essence, the stone miraculously gave birth to Sun Wukong. In a folktale, the mother goddess Nüwa sacrificed herself, transforming into thousands of colorful crystals to repair the sky. One of these crystals fell onto Flower and Fruit Mountain, where it absorbed the essence of the sun and moon, eventually giving birth to a stone monkey.

Description

In the novel, this mountain is located in the country of Aolai (傲來) in the Eastern Continent of Superior Deity, also known in Anthony C. Yu's translation as the "Pūrvavideha Continent". It is known as the birthplace of Sun Wukong (the Monkey King), a protagonist of the novel. The large mountain has many demons and monkeys in its population and contains many hidden areas, such as the Shuilian Cave. After Sun Wukong bravely rushes through a large waterfall and into this cave, every individual in the mountain acknowledges him as their king. After Sun Wukong becomes king, this mountain becomes exceedingly civilized and well-trained for various future conflicts, such as war. This can be seen in the fact that Sun Wukong often left this mountain for various reasons, including his eventual task of protecting the Tang monk Tang Sanzang on his journey to India. Due to the natural and civilized ways of this mountain set by Sun Wukong, this mountain continues to thrive even after 500 years of conflict. A "Water Curtain Cave" or "Shuilian Cave" is featured within the novel Journey to the West, written in the Ming Dynasty. Very early on, Sun Wukong becomes the king of this cave, and it is generally used for all the monkeys to train within and generally rest. Before such an event, Wukong, with his bravery, nominated himself to be the monkey that would rush through the Mount Huaguo's great waterfall in order to see what was behind it. He discovered Following this, Wukong After many points following this, Sun Wukong returned to the Water Curtain Cave for miscellaneous reasons, either while returning from his celestial master, or because of an issue with his enlightened master, Sanzang.

Prototype

The subject has been widely discussed by scholars, and several real-world mountains have been named as "real" Flower Fruit Mountain, becoming popular tourist attractions in China. There is no consensus among Chinese academics regarding the true prototype of Flower Fruit Mountain.