Journey to the West Characters: The Five Pilgrims and Who Sent Them

The short answer

The party is five, and the pattern that holds it together is punishment turned into service.

Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and the white dragon horse travel west together. Chapter 100 confers rank on all five at once, and the novel calls them the five sages.

Four of the five arrive already condemned. A marshal is beaten and banished, a general is beaten and banished, a dragon prince is hung up awaiting execution, and a monkey is pinned under a mountain. Guanyin does not recruit volunteers; she offers each of them a sentence that can be worked off. Even the monk is a demoted disciple of the Buddha. Read that way, the pilgrimage is less a quest than a parole.

Key facts

Travelling party: 5 — one monk, three disciples, one dragon horse
Recruited by: Guanyin, acting on the Buddha's instruction (chapter 8)
Join chapters: 12, 14, 18–19, 22, 15
Conferral: Chapter 100, all five at once
Become Buddhas: 2 of 5 — Sanzang and Wukong

The five, in the order they join

Origin, offence, recruiter, names, and the rank each one is finally given.

01
The pilgrim himself · chapter 12
Tang Sanzang
玄奘 · 唐僧 · 御弟圣僧
Where he comes from
In chapter 100 the Buddha states that he was formerly the Buddha's second disciple, Golden Cicada, whose true spirit was cast down into the eastern land for slighting the teaching.
How he joins
In chapter 12 Guanyin interrupts his sermon to say that he teaches only the lesser vehicle. He volunteers for the journey, and Emperor Taizong bows with him before the Buddha and calls him “imperial younger brother, holy monk.”
Who names him
The abbot of Jinshan Temple gives him the dharma name Xuanzang (chapter 9). Sanzang—Tripitaka—is proposed by the emperor at the farewell banquet: since the scriptures are said to be in three baskets, he takes his title from the scriptures themselves.
Rank in chapter 100
Buddha of Candana Merit
Commonly got wrong
The novel's monk is not the historical Xuanzang (c. 602–664), who left China without imperial permission and wrote his own travel record. The story of his parents and his infancy also sits differently in different editions—sometimes chapter 9, sometimes a prefatory appendix—so a citation should name the edition.
02
First disciple · chapter 14
Sun Wukong
石猴 · 美猴王 · 齐天大圣 · 孙行者
Where he comes from
A stone monkey born from a numinous rock on Mount Huaguo. After his revolt in Heaven the Buddha pins him under the Mountain of Five Phases to wait for a pilgrim.
How he joins
In chapter 14 Sanzang peels the golden seal from the mountaintop, releases him, and takes him as the first disciple.
Who names him
The surname Sun and the name Wukong come from his first teacher, Patriarch Subhuti (chapter 1). Xingzhe—“the pilgrim”—is a byname Sanzang adds in chapter 14 after seeing how he looks.
Rank in chapter 100
Victorious Fighting Buddha
Commonly got wrong
The tightening-band spell, also called the Mind-Settling True Words, is taught to Sanzang by Guanyin in the guise of an old woman (chapter 14). It is not the monk's own invention or a decree from Heaven. The band vanishes by itself once Wukong becomes a Buddha in chapter 100.
03
Second disciple · chapter 18–19
Zhu Bajie
猪悟能 · 天蓬元帅 · 猪刚鬣
Where he comes from
Formerly Marshal Tianpeng of the Heavenly River. In chapter 8 he says he was beaten two thousand times and banished for drunkenly harassing Chang'e, then took the wrong road while seeking rebirth and entered the womb of a sow.
How he joins
Chapters 18 and 19, at Gao Village. He has married into the Gao family, is exposed by Wukong, retreats to his cave on Mount Fuling to fight, and finally joins the pilgrimage.
Who names him
Guanyin gives him the dharma name Wuneng when she ordains him (chapter 8). Bajie—“eight prohibitions”—is a second, separate name added by Sanzang in chapter 19 because the pig has already given up the five pungent vegetables and three forbidden meats.
Rank in chapter 100
Altar-Cleansing Envoy
Commonly got wrong
He does not become a Buddha or an arhat. In chapter 100 he protests aloud that the others were made Buddhas while he was made an envoy, and the Buddha answers that the post is a rank with real benefits.
04
Third disciple · chapter 22
Sha Wujing
沙悟净 · 沙和尚 · 卷帘大将
Where he comes from
Formerly the Curtain-Raising General who attended the imperial carriage in Heaven. Chapter 8 records that he shattered a crystal cup at the Peach Banquet, was banished to the River of Flowing Sands, and was pierced by a flying sword every seventh day.
How he joins
Chapter 22, at the River of Flowing Sands. Bajie cannot beat him in the water, so Guanyin sends Moksha with a red gourd; at the sound of the name Wujing he surfaces and submits.
Who names him
Guanyin gives him the surname Sha—“sand”—from the river, and the dharma name Wujing (chapter 8). In chapter 22 Sanzang, seeing how properly he bows, also calls him Friar Sand.
Rank in chapter 100
Golden-Bodied Arhat
Commonly got wrong
Chapter 8 says a crystal cup, not a glass lamp. The nine skulls he wears are not ordinary trophies either: they belong to nine earlier pilgrims, they refuse to sink, and in chapter 22 they are strung into a raft that carries Sanzang across the river.
05
Mount · chapter 15
The White Dragon Horse
玉龙三太子 · 西海龙王敖闰之子
Where he comes from
Chapters 8 and 15 both identify him as the son of Aorun, Dragon King of the Western Sea, condemned for burning the luminous pearl in his father's hall and hung in the air awaiting execution.
How he joins
Chapter 15, at Eagle Grief Gorge. He swallows the white horse the emperor had given Sanzang; Guanyin comes in person and turns him into a replacement mount for the journey.
Who names him
He receives no separate dharma name. The novel simply calls him the white dragon horse, the dragon horse, or the third prince.
Rank in chapter 100
Heavenly Dragon Horse of the Eight Divisions
Commonly got wrong
At the conferral in chapter 100 the Buddha calls him the son of a different dragon king and names a different offence—disobeying his father—which does not match chapters 8 and 15. This is an inconsistency inside the novel itself. The conferral text also reads only “heavenly dragon horse of the eight divisions”; the bodhisattva title attached to him in popular retellings does not appear there.

Not travelling, but deciding

The six figures who create the journey without walking it.

Character lists usually stop at the party and the monsters. But almost every turn on the road is set up earlier by a decision in Heaven or on Vulture Peak—including the punishments that produced three of the four companions.

01Celestial actor

Guanyin

Sent east by the Buddha to find a scripture pilgrim, she recruits Wujing, Wuneng, the dragon prince, and Wukong along the way, and teaches Sanzang the tightening-band spell. The party is, in effect, assembled by her.

02Celestial actor

The Buddha

Both the power that pins Wukong under the mountain and the authority that confers the five ranks at the end. He defines where the journey starts and where it stops.

03Celestial actor

The Jade Emperor

Three of the four companions were sentenced by his court: the marshal, the general, and the dragon prince. Their crimes are heavenly administrative matters.

04Celestial actor

Laozi

His crucible fails to destroy Wukong and instead gives him fire-gold eyes. His elixirs and his mounts go on causing trouble for the pilgrims later.

05Celestial actor

The Great White Planet

Twice argues for offering office instead of force. Both Bimawen and Great Sage Equal to Heaven exist because of his proposals.

06Celestial actor

Erlang Shen

The one who actually subdues Wukong in chapter 6. His hunt with the Meishan brothers marks the ceiling of Heaven's military power.

Frequently asked questions

How many main characters does Journey to the West have?

The pilgrimage itself has five: Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and the white dragon horse. Chapter 100 confers rank on all five together and the text calls them the five sages. A separate group of celestial figures—above all Guanyin, the Buddha, and the Jade Emperor—drives the plot without travelling.

What does each of them become at the end?

Sanzang becomes the Buddha of Candana Merit, Wukong the Victorious Fighting Buddha, Bajie the Altar-Cleansing Envoy, Wujing the Golden-Bodied Arhat, and the horse a heavenly dragon horse of the eight divisions. Only the first two become Buddhas, and Bajie complains about it on the spot.

Is Tang Sanzang the historical Xuanzang?

No. The historical Xuanzang (c. 602–664) left China without permission, returned to lead a translation project, and wrote his own account of the western regions. The novel's monk is escorted out by imperial decree, sworn as the emperor's younger brother, given the title Sanzang, and assigned a past life as the Buddha's disciple. Those are literary inventions.

Why does Zhu Bajie have two names?

They come from two different people on two different occasions. Wuneng is the dharma name Guanyin gives at his ordination in chapter 8. Bajie is a second name Sanzang adds at Gao Village in chapter 19, because the pig has already renounced the forbidden foods. Wukong's byname Xingzhe and Wujing's Friar Sand follow the same pattern: the dharma name comes from Guanyin, the everyday name from the master.

Does the white dragon horse count as a member of the party?

Yes. Chapter 100 gives him his own conferral alongside the four others, and the text notes that the horse gave thanks as well. Carrying the monk west and the scriptures east is recorded as his merit.

Primary-text evidence

Every origin, name, and rank above is taken from the chapter where the novel states it.

Where the novel contradicts itself—the dragon prince's father and offence differ between chapters 8, 15, and 100—both readings are shown rather than silently reconciled. English renderings of the conferral titles are this guide's own concise working translations.

Follow Sun Wukong's seven names in order →Meet the 25 major demons they face →Read the complete 81-tribulation ledger →See how YaoBound continues the story →

Published and source-checked: July 2026.

Five travellers.Four of them were sentenced first.