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Throughout the study of Eastern Mythology there has been one topic that has stumped majors. A lesser known story that had only been mentioned in a few written stories in passing, of a battle between a Monkey Demon and the Shinto Goddess Amaterasu. Most unusual about this supposed tale is that the two entities are from entirely different regions. The Monkey demon bein known to have originated in China and Amaterasu being of Japanese origin. How such an encounter was documented when no other encounters like it are known of put a lot of skepticism on the tale being a genuine account. That is until the discovery of a collection of ink paintings depicting the encounter; attributed to an artist known as Issun, believed to have followed Amaterasu and credited with multiple contemporary artistic depictions and writings of the goddess. Long ago there was Monkey Demon from a far away land who craved battle, to prove her strength and superiority (consistent with other accounts of the Chinese figure likely featured). She had bested many foes in her homeland but still desired more powerful foes as to assert herself as the strongest under the heavens. That is when she caught wind of a powerful foe to best, a goddess in mortal form residing in a land far from hers. for many days and nights the monkey demon rode the clouds through sea and sky to reach this land. Residing a lodging more humble than her stature may suggest, the monkey found Amaterasu, and curtly challenges her to a battle (The art depicts her taunting and chiding without remorse). It appears that Amaterasu would only accept if the battle were made official instead of a street fight, creating a battle arena under the heavens to contain their power and not damage the land or mortals. After that the images are a little scatter shot and some are missing, as if the artist were attempting to document the fight in real time. Evidently the battle was great and lasted nearly 5 days. Their punches were like lightning, changing the direction of the winds, created waves, and shook the Earth. According to the images, the monkey demon appears to have at one point attempted to remove Amaterasu's clothing while her back was turned. It can't be determined why Amaterasu would have turned her back in the middle of a fight, though theories suggest they were following a similar round structure to modern-day boxing, and she was returning to her corner. In return for the Monkey demon's mischief, the goddess full sprint headbutted the monkey demon in the gut, this apparently leading to a rather undignified scuffle between the two that lasted half a day until they were broken up and could return to their honorable battle. There are no known surviving records that depict the end of this tale. No image is known to exist clearly depicting the victor, and no written records have a conclusion either. Still, this is a curious tale of two differing cultures and mythologies meeting. |
