Princess Iron Fan
Encyclopedia
Princess Iron Fan is a fictional character from the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West
. She is the wife of the Bull King and mother of Red Boy
. She is a beautiful goddess living in an underground cave awaiting her husband's return, but also angry at him for his affair with a foxy vixen woman, Princess Jade Face. She refused to lend the Monkey King (Sun Wukong
) her fan to subdue the flaming mountains.
The pilgrims encounter an extremely hostile range of volcanic mountains and can only pass if the volcanoes become inactive. Her fan, made from banana leaves, is extremely large and has magical properties, as it can create giant whirlwinds. Sun Wukong wants to borrow her fan, but she turns him down as the monkey has been on bad terms with her husband before. Sun Wukong, however, is crafty and has ever better tactics for subduing his enemies. He transforms into a fly and flies into her mouth, down her throat, and into her belly. Once inside, the monkey kicks and punches Princess Iron Fan's insides until she is in so much pain that she gives him a fake fan which intensifies the flames instead of putting them out. Having barely escaped from the fire, Sun Wukong returns, pretending to be her husband through shape shifting and obtains the fan. Soon afterwards, the real husband comes home, angry at what has happened, he pretends to be the Pig (Zhu Bajie
) also through shape shifting and offers to carry the big fan. Lost in the moment of victory, Sun Wukong carelessly believes the Bull King and hands over the fan.
, "The Fires of Jealousy".
The last few episodes of Dragon Ball
also adapt this story when Goku tries to turn off the fire that burned down the Ox king's home.
In the adaptation in the 1996 Journey to the West series, the Princess and Bull King has already known Monkey since childhood (they went to the same school that taught Monkey his fighting abilities) and were willing to give him the fan. But their obnoxious son, Red Boy, refuses to let his mother give the fan, thus forcing Monkey to enter her chest to force her to give him the fan.
Journey to the West
Journey to the West is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It was written by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century. In English-speaking countries, the tale is also often known simply as Monkey. This was one title used for a popular, abridged translation by Arthur Waley...
. She is the wife of the Bull King and mother of Red Boy
Red Boy
Red Boy was a character featured in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. Red Boy was also known as the Boy Sage King , and had been the son of Princess Iron Fan and the Bull Demon King, a former sworn brother of Sun Wukong...
. She is a beautiful goddess living in an underground cave awaiting her husband's return, but also angry at him for his affair with a foxy vixen woman, Princess Jade Face. She refused to lend the Monkey King (Sun Wukong
Sun Wukong
Sun Wukong , also known as the Monkey King is a main character in the classical Chinese epic novel Journey to the West . In the novel, he is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices...
) her fan to subdue the flaming mountains.
The pilgrims encounter an extremely hostile range of volcanic mountains and can only pass if the volcanoes become inactive. Her fan, made from banana leaves, is extremely large and has magical properties, as it can create giant whirlwinds. Sun Wukong wants to borrow her fan, but she turns him down as the monkey has been on bad terms with her husband before. Sun Wukong, however, is crafty and has ever better tactics for subduing his enemies. He transforms into a fly and flies into her mouth, down her throat, and into her belly. Once inside, the monkey kicks and punches Princess Iron Fan's insides until she is in so much pain that she gives him a fake fan which intensifies the flames instead of putting them out. Having barely escaped from the fire, Sun Wukong returns, pretending to be her husband through shape shifting and obtains the fan. Soon afterwards, the real husband comes home, angry at what has happened, he pretends to be the Pig (Zhu Bajie
Zhu Bajie
Zhu Bajie, also named Zhu Wuneng, is one of the three helpers of Xuanzang in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. He is called "Pigsy" or "Pig" in many English versions of the story....
) also through shape shifting and offers to carry the big fan. Lost in the moment of victory, Sun Wukong carelessly believes the Bull King and hands over the fan.
Adaptations
An adaptation of this occurs in the 24th episode of the Japanese television adaptation SaiyuukiMonkey (TV series)
Monkey is the dubbed English language version of the Japanese television series , based on the classic sixteenth century Chinese novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en. It was originally produced by Nippon Television and International Television Films in association with NHK.The series ran for...
, "The Fires of Jealousy".
The last few episodes of Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995; later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the...
also adapt this story when Goku tries to turn off the fire that burned down the Ox king's home.
In the adaptation in the 1996 Journey to the West series, the Princess and Bull King has already known Monkey since childhood (they went to the same school that taught Monkey his fighting abilities) and were willing to give him the fan. But their obnoxious son, Red Boy, refuses to let his mother give the fan, thus forcing Monkey to enter her chest to force her to give him the fan.