Six‑Eared Macaque

The Six‑Eared Macaque appears as a distinct supernatural being in Wu Cheng'en's Journey to the West (episode spanning chapters cited around 56–58, notably chapter 58). Within the novel's cosmology the Buddha identifies him as one of four "spiritual primates" that do not fall under the usual ten categories of beings; he emerges in the pilgrim journey as an impostor who seeks to replace Sun Wukong and claim the pilgrim rewards. Later retellings and adaptations sometimes reuse or rework the figure, but the primary origin and narrative function derive from the Ming‑dynasty novel.

In the primary text the macaque's outward form is that of a macaque/monkey indistinguishable from Sun Wukong; contemporaries in the story cannot tell real from fake. The salient physical marker invoked by the name is that he is a six‑eared macaque—the Buddha later "transforms it back into a six‑eared macaque" when exposing and subduing him. The sources do not provide a longer, consistent visual catalogue beyond this emphasis on six ears and exact similarity to Wukong.

In the narrative his central ability is flawless impersonation of Sun Wukong—so convincing that ordinary tests and other deities cannot distinguish him (he even responds correctly to the Headache Sutra). The Buddha describes him as near‑omniscient, "knowledgeable of past and future and comprehensive of all things," a quality linked in the text to his six ears and wide eavesdropping. As one of the "spiritual primates," he matches Sun Wukong in martial ability and resists defeat in direct combat until the Buddha adjudicates. His stated goal in the episode is to supplant Wukong and obtain the monk's rewards; when revealed by the Buddha he attempts to flee, is trapped under a giant golden alms bowl by the Buddha's hosts, and is subsequently killed by Sun Wukong.