A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

In Griggs’s Shan tale, a younger Chinese traveler marries the queen of a monkey country. Her subjects build a palace in a treetop and bring food every seventh day. Their child is also a monkey and speaks to his visiting uncle. The community has households, a ruler and ministers; its anger begins when the visitor kills one of its members without provocation.

When the human monkey king sides with his brother and attacks the protesting subjects, a monkey cut in two becomes two whole monkeys. Severing hands or legs likewise multiplies his opponents. The brothers escape only by releasing stinging insects, spiders and snakes from a bamboo tube. The account neither names this community vanaras nor identifies its queen with a known monkey deity. Its unusual regenerative multiplication distinguishes these beings from the ordinary animals in the collection.

Talking monkeys whose divided bodies become additional monkeysSpecific historical witness
01

Origins & earliest records

Shan traditions of the hill and water country, Burma/Myanmar

02

Records & interpretation

Full relevant tale and introduction directly read; historical spellings preserved.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Shan Folk Lore Stories from the Hill and Water Country

    William C. Griggs, collector/reteller

    Introduction dated Bhamo, 1902; The Two Chinamen, pp. 32–44, especially pp. 35–39

  2. 02

    Shan Folk Lore Stories, in The Red Miriok / Shan Folk Lore Stories (combined edition)

    W. C. Griggs; combined volume published by American Baptist Publication Society · 1903

    Bibliographic witness only: unpaginated title and copyright pages independently inspected in original scan; publication line says January1903, copyright1901and1902. This does not establish the date of the separately transcribed Gutenberg witness or of first publication.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

William C. Griggs, Shan Folk Lore Stories from the Hill and Water Country

Shan traditions; introduction dated Bhamo1902. The Two Chinamen, pp. 32–44, especially pp. 35–39

Complete relevant narrative and introduction read from Gutenberg32375. Early English spelling retained; no invented individual narrator, modern standardized transcription or physical anatomy. Publication date distinguished from dated introduction. Original combined-volume title/copyright pages independently viewed: archive item redmiriokshanfol0000anna, cached griggs-redmiriok-6.jpg and-7.jpg in public/assets/credited/_audit; publishedJanuary1903. Separate bibliographic witness, not a claim that full original scan text was collated.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical folktale collectionGriggs, Shan Folk Lore Stories, The Two Chinamen, pp. 32–44, especially pp. 35–39Research access: 2026-10-05
  2. Primary bibliographic scanCombined volume title and copyright pages, published January1903Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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