Siya Liang

Siya Liang

30 December, 2024

Sun Wukong, Monkey King, Archetype theory, Collective unconsciousness, Rebel.

Sun Wukong is a main figure in Journey to the West, which embodies Jung’s rebel archetype. By comparing with the images of rebels such as Prometheus, Satan and Nezha, this paper explores the commonalities of rebel archetypes in different cultures, especially the desire for freedom and independence, and reveals the psychological characteristics of human collective unconsciousness and the different understandings of the relationship between individual and collective. The article first analyzes the commonalities between Sun Wukong and other rebel images, and reveals the core characteristics of the rebel prototype. Secondly, it compares the similarities and differences of these images from a cross-cultural perspective, and explores the different national psychology and social significance behind the rebel prototype. Finally, the collective unconscious foundation of the rebel prototype is discussed in depth, and its cultural and psychological needs in modern society are analyzed. This study provides a new perspective for the interpretation of classical literature and the study of universal psychological models.

© 2024, the Authors. Published by ISCCAC

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license