In a word, the Monkey King gained some special functions through the elixir, especially the fighting ability of the body. In Wu Cheng'en's version of The Journey to the West, the Monkey King stole the elixir and made it into a piece through samadhi in his body, so he possessed the magical power of copper head and iron brain. The question is, why did he succeed in stealing the elixir of life?
There are two theories about this. The first is that the old man was dissatisfied with serving the Jade Emperor and deliberately let the Monkey King steal to eat. Because these furnaces of Dan medicine are all for "honoring the Jade Emperor and doing the Dan Yuan Conference". The old man was not satisfied with his status as the jade emperor's courtiers, so he deliberately took no precautions and let the Monkey King steal the elixir.
There is some truth in this statement, but there are still some loopholes. If the old gentleman doesn't want to serve the jade emperor, he should have many ways to get rid of it, or find other reasons to make the elixir impossible. There is absolutely no need to give the fruits of labor to a monkey king like Monkey King. So the old man was unprepared, and the Monkey King stole the elixir. Are there any other reasons?
In fact, there is another detail that is easily overlooked in the original work, and that is the reason why there is no one in the old gentleman Fontaine. The original wrote, the Monkey King "that is, the whole clothes hit it, without the old gentleman, four people were cold and cheerless. It turned out that the old gentleman and the ancient Buddha burning lanterns preached on Zhu Lingdan's platform. In the pavilion on the third floor, all the fairies, generals, officials and bureaucrats stood around and listened. The Great Sage went to the Danfang, but he couldn't find it, but he saw a fire in the kitchen next to the Danzao. There are five gourds on each side of the furnace, all of which are refined Dan medicine. "
Completely different from other versions of The Journey to the West's story, here is an ancient Buddha burning a lamp. In the system of Journey to the West, the ancient Buddha burning lanterns is the past Buddha of Buddhism, ranking first. He has nothing to do with that old gentleman. His visit is very puzzling. What is even more incredible is that the reception specifications given by Lao Jun are so high.
Lighting the lamp and the lecture of Laojun, with full participation. As can be seen from this detail, the relationship between the burning lamp and the old gentleman is very unusual. Therefore, it is not excluded that the ancient Buddha who lit lanterns came at this time under the orders of the Buddha, which provided a very good opportunity for the Monkey King to steal the elixir. Otherwise, a green ox essence is enough for the Monkey King to drink a pot. The arrival of the ancient Buddha burning a lamp is the key to the Monkey King's success. the Monkey King was not killed by heaven after eating the elixir. So, this is the double insurance that the Buddha gave to the Monkey King. If it's not a conspiracy between the old gentleman and the burning lamp, it must be a conspiracy between the Buddha and the burning lamp. Generally speaking, burning Buddha played a great positive role in the Monkey King's life.