Monkey Weddings
Monkey Weddings: The monkeys of Wulingyuan live in tribes. Each tribe has its own territory and leader. They occupy mountains as kings, each governing its own domain. Between monkey groups, wars often break out over territory and 'wives,' and internal strife is also common, with each fighting for dominance and refusing to yield. The most brutal and prolonged of these is the struggle for the throne. Perhaps...
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The Monkeys' Wedding
The monkeys of Wulingyuan live in tribes. Each tribe has its own territory and leader. They occupy the mountains as kings, each governing its own domain. Between monkey groups, 'wars' often break out over territory and 'wives,' and within each group there are frequent internal conflicts, with each fighting for dominance and yielding to none. Among these, the most brutal and also the most prolonged is the struggle for the throne. Perhaps with the throne comes everything, especially the ability to obtain a wife to one's liking. According to observation, ordinary male monkeys cannot take wives; even if they occasionally have sexual relations with female monkeys, it can only be done behind the monkey king's back, and the partner can only be one the monkey king does not favor—otherwise, they will face severe punishment.
The monkey king is of course a male monkey. First and foremost, he must have a healthy constitution, having won his position by defeating all rivals through his own physical strength and intelligence, and being one whom all are willing to acknowledge as king and submit to. The monkey king's term of office seems to follow the American presidential system—generally a four-year term before a new selection. The monkey king's first order of business is marriage, the most important matter after taking the throne. Like the old emperors, he has an empress, concubines, and so on. The wedding ceremony on that day is very grand.
On that day, they first choose a suitable place—suitable meaning a stone platform for the monkey king to sit on, with a flat area in front of it. The monkey king sits on the stone platform, with his consort—a female monkey—beside him. The female monkey wears grass fibers on her head, probably serving as a veil! On the flat area, the organizers lead the troop of monkeys to carry out fruits, peanuts, corn, and other foods from the caves, carefully arranging them together. When the guests (including representatives from other tribes) have all arrived, everyone sits in a circle. At this point, the monkey king gives a few 'ao ao' cries, looks around at everyone, beams with joy, then embraces the female monkey, frolicking and tussling. At this point, everyone can begin eating the 'wedding candy.' They eat while calling out, dancing joyfully to their hearts' content. After the merrymaking has gone on for a while, the monkey king, in full view of everyone, entwines himself with the female monkey and begins to make love, his movements extremely quick—once every three minutes. Some rivals present who have not become king, unconvinced and watching with envy, are stirred with lust and, right in front of the monkey king, entangle themselves with other female monkeys and make love. This is precisely what the monkey king hates most, and it must be severely punished—the worst offenders bitten half to death, the lesser ones driven out of the tribe. Of course, there are also female monkeys who, dissatisfied with palace life, secretly carry on affairs with commoners or elope—but these are after all few, because it means risking 'decapitation.'
What is even more interesting is that the children born to the monkey king are still commoners. They do not enjoy royal privileges—quite the opposite of the bad custom of 'father an official, son lives in comfort.' If they want to take wives and marry, they too must rely on their own strength to contend for the throne; only thus can they obtain the legal right to take a wife.