User:Lfarthing19/Monkey

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Sun Wukong (the "Monkey King"), a character who figures prominently in Chinese mythology, is the protagonist in the classic comic Chinese novel Journey to the West.

Monkeys are prevalent in numerous books, television programs, and movies. The television series Monkey and the literary characters Monsieur Eek and Curious George are all examples.

Informally, "monkey" may refer to apes, particularly chimpanzees, gibbons, and gorillas. Author Terry Pratchett alludes to this difference in usage in his Discworld novels, in which the Librarian of the Unseen University is an orangutan who gets very violent if referred to as a monkey. Another example is the use of Simians in Chinese poetry.

The winged monkeys are prominent characters in L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz books and in the 1939 film based on Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Oriental art of Japan in particular uses monkeys in many artworks and literature. Many of these monkeys are depicted as foolish and often regarded as a rather evil spirit and has been known to tarnish crops and steal. The “manlike” Behavior made the monkey “weird and objectional”. The evil spirit of the monkey led to the monkey becoming a deity for many religions and since the monkey was manlike “He could be loaded with the sins of the community and be killed or chased back into the woods as a scapegoat.”

Another primary factor of the stories of monkeys and their relation to man is their fertility. By having one or two children they are like men in these stories and their children are believed to live long and prolific lives.