My personal guess is that it’s more about making up for regrets.
If you chat with Zhu Bajie, you’ll learn that before Sun Wukong wreaked havoc in Heaven, he traveled with Bajie across the Four Continents—West Niuhezhou, Mount Lingjiu, Mount Fancun, and Mount Sumeru—drinking to their hearts’ content. From Zhu Bajie’s sacred Fuling Sanctuary to Wukong’s Huaguo Mountain, they strolled around to make it clear to the gods that Bajie had no part in Wukong’s rebellion.
But then, when Bajie woke up from his drunken stupor, he was told that his elder brother, the great Sun Wukong, had been killed by Erlang Shen.
How could such a capable and invincible elder brother die so unceremoniously?
Weren’t they supposed to storm the heavens together?
This must be another lie! Surely, his elder brother couldn’t have died.
Refusing to accept Wukong’s death, Bajie became obsessed with finding a way to bring him back. Yet every plan to save his brother ended in failure.
When you first meet him, Bajie remarks:
“Once again, this look—hairy face, monkey features, sharp eyes, and a pointed snout. Just lucky to be alive again, huh? And mute, too.”
And as the Crane Immortal says:
“You foolish monkey, how many lifetimes has it been? Still so clueless about human connections.”
Through countless reincarnations and encounters with chosen ones, Bajie’s regret fermented into an unshakable obsession.
Marshal Tianpeng was always someone who valued loyalty and bonds. Otherwise, how could he, after being banished to the mortal realm for hundreds of years, still rally the 28 Constellations and the 36 Heavenly Generals to risk their lives descending to Earth and fighting Huangmei Monster to save Wukong?
In Journey to the West, Wu Cheng’en once used a poem to describe their relationship:
“Metal subdues wood with its unyielding strength,
Heart Monkey tames Wooden Dragon, their bond in sync.
Metal thrives under wood’s benevolent care,
Wood longs for metal, its virtues laid bare.”
In this metaphor, Sun Wukong is metal, and Zhu Bajie is wood. Despite their bickering along the journey, they were the most compatible pair. When metal yields to wood’s guidance, their combined strength is unstoppable.
When Wukong fought the White Bone Demon three times and left in anger to return to Huaguo Mountain, it was Bajie who persuaded him to come back.
When Wukong was smoked out by Red Boy’s flames and nearly drowned searching for water, it was Bajie who saved him using his meditative healing techniques.
Before the Buddha himself, Bajie even dared to ask why he was granted only the title of messenger instead of a Buddha position—because deep down, he respected Wukong profoundly.
Thus, when the chosen one dons their armor, Bajie would leap with joy and exclaim:
“Ha! You old Bimawen! I knew you weren’t dead!”
And he might even tearfully say, “Elder brother, you’re really back!”
As the old saying goes: “If only I could buy osmanthus wine and relive the carefree days of youth.”
Bajie truly misses his invincible elder brother, which is why he is so obsessed with seeing him again.
Some people hated Wukong to the core; others believed he was invincible. But it wasn’t until his death that they realized he was fallible, that even he could die. And those who loved him hoped desperately for his return.