Either way, he was punished by the Jade Emperor, who had him struck 800 times with a rod and exiled to earth,[1] where he was to be reincarnated as a terrible man-eating sandman, orc, ogre, troll, oni, demon, monster, or hulk.

He still carried the weapon he had in Heaven, a magic wooden staff (made from a species of evergreen tree that grew on the moon, holds within it a solid-gold core and the outside is decorated with "countless pearly-threads"), which is named "Xiangyaobaozhang" (降妖寶杖, lit.

Like Sun Wukong's Ruyi Jingu Bang, Wujing's Xiangyaobaozhang is capable of growing, shrinking, lengthening and shortening at will.

A necklace consisting of skulls made him look even more terrible; according to one story, an earlier group of nine monks on a pilgrimage west to fetch the scriptures met their end at the hands of Wujing.

Later, Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion, and her disciple, Prince Moksha, came searching for powerful bodyguards in preparation of Tang Sanzang's journey west.

When Wujing does meet Tang Sanzang, he is mistaken for an enemy and attacked by Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie.

Sha Wujing is the end result of embellishing a supernatural figure mentioned in Monk Hui Li's (Chinese: 慧立) 7th-century account of the historical Xuanzang called Daciensi Sanzang Fashi Zhuan (Chinese: 大慈恩寺三藏法師傳, A Biography of the Tripitaka-master of the Great Ci'en Monastery).

After several days without liquid, Xuanzang had a dream where a tall spirit wielding a ji (halberd) chastised him for sleeping on such an important journey to get scriptures from India.

[6] The compiler of the Jōbodai shū explained: "This is the reason for the name Spirit of the Deep Sands (Shensha shen, 深沙神).

The Jōbodai shū also mentions the god manifested itself before the famous Chinese Buddhist monk Faxian (c. 4th century) during his pilgrimage to India.

"[9] Shensha Shen only helps him to pass over the deep sands with the aid of a magic golden bridge after Tang Sanzang threatens him with heavenly retribution.

Sha Wujing also aids Tang Sanzang pass over the Flowing Sands River by tying his nine skulls into a makeshift raft.