Journey to the West: A Study of the Kingdom of Bikku – Clarifying the Geographical Misunderstanding between the "Golden Pavilion" and the "Government Relay Station"

Brief Introduction

In Chapters 78 and 79 of Journey to the West, titled "The Bikku King Pities His Son and Dispatches a Dark Spirit; The Golden Hall Recognizes the Demon and Discusses Morality," Tang Monk and his disciples pass through the Kingdom of Bikku and encounter a terrifying tribulation. When reviewing this plot, many readers often confuse the "Government Relay Station" (where the disciples lodge) with the "Golden Pavilion" (where the king houses the young boys), even mistakenly referring to it as the "Golden Pavilion Relay Station." As a piece of knowledge popularization, it is necessary to clarify the true positioning of these two locations in the original text and their key roles in the plot.

Core Knowledge Points

1. Location Distinction: The Golden Pavilion is Not the Relay Station
In the original text, after Tang Monk and his disciples arrive in the Kingdom of Bikku, they lodge at an official Government Relay Station. This was the standard accommodation point for ancient officials and monks in transit. The Golden Pavilion, on the other hand, was a palace structure specifically built by the King of Bikku to house a young boy intended as a "beauty potion ingredient." The two locations serve different functions and are geographically separate; they are not the same place.

2. Plot Function: The Intersection of Clues
The Relay Station is the starting point where the four disciples rest and hear about the national crisis (the king's desire to use a boy's heart and liver as medicine). The Golden Pavilion is the core scene of the White Deer Spirit's conspiracy. It was from the Relay Station that Sun Wukong departed, transforming into a fly to investigate the Golden Pavilion, thereby exposing the demon king's true identity.

3. Cultural Background: The Ancient Postal System
The description of the Relay Station in the book reflects the postal system of the Ming Dynasty. Relay stations not only provided accommodation but also served as centers for information exchange, enabling the disciples to understand local conditions and providing intelligence support for their subsequent demon-slaying efforts.

Connection to Book Content

In the Kingdom of Bikku episode, these two locations together constitute the arena for the story's conflict.

* Hearing at the Relay Station: While resting at the Relay Station, Tang Monk learned from the station official that the king favored a beauty (the White Face Fox) and intended to take the hearts and livers of the people's children to cure his illness. This information triggered the disciples' sense of justice, prompting them to intervene in the event.
* Revelation at the Golden Pavilion: Sun Wukong secretly investigated the Golden Pavilion at night and discovered that the young boy was imprisoned there. Subsequently, in the court, Sun Wukong exposed the beauty as a demon and the boy as a human. Finally, with the help of Manjushri Bodhisattva, they subdued the White Deer Spirit and the Fox Spirit.

Confusing the two would weaken the dual narrative structure of "folk suffering (heard at the Relay Station)" and "court conspiracy (imprisonment at the Golden Pavilion)" found in the original work.

Conclusion

"Golden Pavilion Relay Station" is not an accurate place name in the original Journey to the West; rather, it is a memory fusion by readers of the two key scenes: the "Golden Pavilion" and the "Government Relay Station." Accurately distinguishing between the two helps to more clearly understand how, during the Bikku tribulation, the disciples moved from the peripheral station to the core court, ultimately fulfilling their mission to save the people from disaster. This textual verification reflects the rigor and depth of Journey to the West in its geographical narrative.