Ao Guang and Sun Wukong

Coming home from his studies without a weapon that suited him, Sun Wukong went from the Water Curtain Cave straight into the Eastern Sea and followed the water road to Ao Guang’s crystal palace. Ao Guang first had his shark officers carry out a great sabre, a nine-pronged fork and a painted-shaft halberd, and Wukong tried each and found them all too light.

The dragon queen and the dragon princess spoke of a divine iron in the treasury that had been shining for days, and Ao Guang took him to see it; at one word — “smaller” — the iron pillar shrank into a golden staff and he took it in his hand. Wukong then stayed in the palace demanding armour, and Ao Guang had to sound the bell and drum to summon the other three dragon kings, who together produced a purple-gold cap, golden mail and cloud-treading shoes.

The moment he had gone, Ao Guang put on court dress, went up to heaven, and charged him before the Numinous Empyrean Hall with seizing the treasure of the sea and extorting tribute from all four seas. On the road west, Wukong often spoke the spell by the water and called Ao Guang up again — now to ask about a water monster, now to order the four dragon kings to bring rain — and Ao Guang came on time each time with his shrimp soldiers and crab generals.