I enjoyed The Monkey and the Tiger. It’s 2 novellas that are unrelated – except by a lesson/theme in the Chinese zodiac. I have stories I could tell about that. Perhaps I shouldn’t. People in Asia still take it seriously. Same goes for palm reading – and I have a story I definitely won’t be sharing about that. This book is a great excuse for someone to look into Chinese Geomancy.
Van Gulik provides a great and brief introduction to the zodiac and Chinese astrology in the preface and post script. I note a darker tone to the two stories, and that my favorite characters (Ma Joong and Chiao Tai) as well as his family are not present.
The 8 Ways are mentioned and discussed (for these you need the exact date of someone’s birth). Oddly enough google doesn’t provide any useful information about this – but in Taiwan (and, according to Van Gulik, China in the “past”) an analysis of the birth dates (to the minute and hour) and their import according to the Chinese zodiac – of couples intending to be betrothed is still common practice. Or, if this isn’t done, and there is a divorce, then it will be looked at post hoc.
Guan Yin the goddess of mercy is mentioned – v ery briefly on page 117.
Again the theme of degerate children of great men seems to play an important role. This may well be an condern/ influence of the traditional texts from which Van Gulik drew his work.
You can find a paper back as low as 17 cents, and the eBook is available in Kindle – see Amazon.
Source Cited
Gulik, Robert. The Monkey and the Tiger. University of Chicago press, 1992
