I’ll start of saying I really like American Born Chinese. I love the animation, I love the way the story is told, and I love that it has a poignant message without the grittiness of some of the other novels we’ve read. (I’ve enjoyed all those as well, but there is a lightness to ABC’s heaviness that I really enjoy whereas the others were very aware of their heaviness)

What stood out to me was the Christian imagery in the Monkey King’s story. I first noticed it with the appearance of the emissaries of Tze-Yo-Tzuh. This was on page 67 in ABC. They happen to be a lion, an ox, a human and an eagle. In Revelations 4:6-7 it talks about 4 beasts that surround the throne of God and give glory to His name. I thought it was cool that Yang chose to use such blatant (at least blatant for me) references to the throne room of Heaven. I couldn’t really understand why he would use such a Christian reference when the rest of the Monkey King’s universe is much removed from a Biblical reality.

Yang squeezes in  Christian imagery again on page 215. This time he doesn’t say it in the dialogue he shows us a traditionally Christian Christmas scene, but with a twist. The Monkey King says he became an emissary of Tze-Yo-Tzuh by completing his test of virtue. The panel suggests that he was among the wise men who visited Joseph, Mary and infant Jesus in the Nativity story. There is a small nod at Biblical verse because the Monkey King says he had to make his journey west to complete his test of virtue. This is funny because the Wise Men are known to have come from the east (Matthew 2:2)

I wonder why Yang has chosen to add such a heavy dose of Christian religious imagery into the novel. There are other religions with virtuous pillars that Yang addresses but he chooses to focus so much on images specific to Christianity i.e. the Nativiy.

If anyone has any insights as to why he does this it”d be great to hear!