A rock “that since the creation of the world had been worked up on by the pure essences of Heaven and the fine savours of Earth” gives birth to a stone egg (11), which then forms a stone Monkey. Monkey joins up with other monkeys, becoming part of their tribe. Upon discovering a waterfall, Monkey jumps through it to discover a cave big enough for all monkeys. He brings the rest of his fellows through the water, and for having discovered a place for them all to live, Monkey becomes king of the monkeys at the Water Curtain Cave on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit.

After several hundred years, Monkey begins worrying about his own mortality, which another monkey informs him is a sign “that religion has taken hold upon your heart” (14). Monkey resolves to leave and find religion for himself so that he might achieve immortality. He first travels to the Southern World, where by observing humans he learns how to wear clothes and imitate how people move and talk. Monkey then travels further, to the Western Continent, where he discovers an Immortal—Patriarch Subodhi—who agrees to take Monkey as a pupil and gives Monkey the religious name of “Aware-of-Vacuity.