Puti Zushi- Chinese GodDeity"Patriarch Subhuti"

The Mountain of Heart and Mind

Sun Wukong crossed the sea on a raft, driven by a single desire: to transcend mortality. On the far shore he found the Mountain of Heart and Mind (Lingtai Fangcun Shan) and within it the Cave of the Slanting Moon and Three Stars. Both names spell out the character for "mind" (xīn). Here lived Puti Zushi, whose name itself spans both traditions: Pútí (Bodhi) is Sanskrit for enlightenment, Zǔshī (Ancestral Master) is a Daoist honorific. He accepted the monkey as a disciple, gave him the surname Sun, and bestowed the religious name Wukong, "Awakened to Emptiness."

The Three Strikes on the Head

Puti Zushi taught Sun Wukong Daoist longevity practices and meditation, but the monkey was unsatisfied with the lesser paths. He wanted the secret of true immortality. The patriarch struck Sun Wukong three times on the head and clasped his hands behind his back. The other disciples understood nothing. Sun Wukong alone grasped the hidden message: arrive at the master's chambers at the third watch. There, in secret, Puti Zushi transmitted the true teaching. He gave Sun Wukong the seventy-two earthly transformations and the cloud-somersault, which carries its rider 108,000 lǐ in a single leap.

Expelled and Erased

When Sun Wukong showed off his new abilities before the other disciples, transforming into a pine tree to applause and laughter, Puti Zushi expelled him on the spot. The display was reckless, the patriarch declared, and would bring disaster. He issued one final command: never reveal who had taught him.

Sun Wukong departed. Puti Zushi vanishes from Journey to the West entirely. He is never mentioned again by the narrator, never sought out, never explained. The novel's most powerful teacher ceases to exist after the second chapter.