The simian technology of voice impersonation
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Many Language Log readers are probably aware of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, who is one of the leading characters in the famous Ming Dynasty novel, Journey to the West. I wrote about him in "'Baton' and 'needle' in space" (6/17/21):
In the 16th-century novel, Journey to the West, the simian hero, Sun Wukong ("Monkey Enlightened to Emptiness") possesses a magical staff, the jīngū bàng 金箍棒 ("golden cudgel / rod / baton") that has transformational properties. One of its forms is that of the dìnghǎi shénzhēn 定海神针 ("numinous needle that stabilizes the sea"), which was actually the original source of the jīngū bàng 金箍棒 ("golden cudgel / rod / baton"). Thus we can see that both of the objects that Martin asked about are attributes of the supernatural simian, Sun Wukong, of Journey to the West. (Of course, the meaning of "baton" for relay racing is also operative.)
In the context of this post, It is pertinent to note that Sun Wukong is capable of flying 108,000 li / tricents (54,000 km, 34,000 mi) in one somersault. For this and all manner of esoteric lore about the magical monkey and the novel in which he appears, see the remarkable website of Jim McClanahan, Journey to the West Research.
This continues the tradition of using terms from Chinese legend and myth for names of objects, equipment, places, etc. in space related research and technology.
Jim McClanahan has issued another installment in his unending stream of deep researches on Sun Wukong (aka "Monkey") and the novel in which he is featured, Journey to the West (Xīyóu jì 西遊記). This one is titled "Archive #46 – A Catalog of the Monkey King’s Magic Powers and Skills" (8/11/24)
Number 22 of Monkey's "Definite powers" is that of Voice impersonation
This power allows him to exactly copy the voice of any figure that he transforms into. He displays this throughout the novel.
Note that Monkey possesses "72 transformations" (qīshíèr biànhuà 七十二變化), so this multiplies his abilities greatly, one could say almost infinitely.
I was prompted to write this post because I thought it was nothing short of amazing that a 16th-century novelist would include voice impersonation among the countless extraordinary skills and powers of the magical monkey Sun Wukong. In light of the growing powers of AI in today's world, I was also prompted to ponder how Sun Wukong's 16th c. voice impersonation powers would stack up against those of contemporary LLMs.
Selected readings
- "Persian peaches of immortality" (1/22/21)
- Diana Shuheng Zhang, "The Reins of Language: The Mantra of the Heart Sutra in The Journey to the West," Sino-Platonic Papers, 286 (June, 2019), 1-61 (free pdf)
- Jan Nattier, "The Heart Sūtra: a Chinese apocryphal text?" Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 15.2 (1992), 153-223. (online)
- Victor H. Mair, "The Heart Sūtra and The Journey to the West", in Wang Gungwu, Rafe de Crespigny, and Igor de Rachewiltz, eds., Sino-Asiatica: Papers dedicated to Professor Liu Ts’un-yan on the occasion of his Eighty-fifth Birthday. Canberra: Faculty of Asian Studies, The Australian National University, 2002), pp. 120-149. Detailed study and complete translation of the preface to the Heart Sūtra on Dunhuang manuscript S2464 which shows, inter alia, that it constituted a prototype for Journey to the West, the earliest kernel of the great Ming Dynasty novel. Also featured in this paper are Liang Wudi, Xuanzang, Avalokiteśvara, and Amoghavajra. In addition, the paper accounts for the narrative elaboration and fictionalization of Xuanzang's pilgrimage to India and demonstrates clearly how the Heart Sūtra ultimately lies at the core of the novel.
John Payne said,
August 16, 2024 @ 10:45 am
On the subject of Sun Wukong and "voice impersonation," I have seen some short videos from Chinese video-sharing apps that dub text with an AI copy of the voice of 六小龄童 as Sun Wukong from the 1986 TV series 《西游记》. Someone with more experience in this area might be better able to explain how it works, but the idea is that an AI has been trained with a large amount, if not all, of the actor's dialogue from the series, in order to map out the totality of his unique renditions of different phonemes. You can find some videos explaining how to use "Sun Wukong voice effects" or "voiceover" by searching "孙悟空配音."