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The Order of Wen the Eternally Surprised, better known as the History Monks, are a highly secretive religious organisation in the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, based in the Monastery of Oi-Dong. They are one of a large number of vaguely Buddhist monastic orders that occupy the high Ramtops, near where the Disc's Unnamed Continent meets the Counterweight Continent. The area is described in the books as "Enlightenment country".
The role of The Order
The Order first appears in Small Gods where they are described as having the responsiblity of observing significant events so that they become history, instead of just things happening. They also have responsibility to see history follows the right track, as set out in the huge History Books.
In Thief of Time we learn this is a simplification, and the main role of the monastery is to ensure anything happens at all. To do this, they have a number of methods for moving and storing time. (It having been established as early as Wyrd Sisters that people's preception of time affects its flow on the Disc, the Monks must ensure this does not become a problem.)
They also frequently need to enter the world, to take a more direct hand in events. It is for reason that a number of monks have been trained as ninjas. Many of them have since been retrained by Lu-Tze, who believes most problems can be sorted out without resorting to martial arts.
Because of the Order's control of Time, the valley is permenantly reliving a perfect day, with the cherry blossom beginning to fall. The Order is also sometimes referred to as the Men In Saffron (see Men in Black) and No Such Monastery (see NSA)
Members
Lu-Tze
Main artice: Lu-Tze
Lu-Tze appeared in Small Gods and had a substantial role in Thief of Time, in which we learn that he is not a monk at all, but "merely" a sweeper at the Monastery of Oi-Dong. In fact, he uses the same trick (that no-one notices a sweeper) in the monastery as he does when out in the world, and has learnt as much about the nature of time as some of the higher monks simply by tidying up the classrooms. Everyone knows that Lu-Tze is one of the best, but few realise who he actually is.
Lobsang Ludd
Lobsang was raised by the Thieves Guild of Ankh-Morpork, but was discovered by Soto of the History Monks when he performed the Stance of the Coyote (personalized time shift). Afterwards he was raised in the Temple, where he confounded his teachers by knowing too much. Eventually was apprenticed to Lu-Tze and went out into the world to stop the second Glass Clock, which was being constructed by his temporal double, Jeremy Clockson.
It is revealed that he is the son of Wen the Eternally Surprised and Time. After fusing with Jeremy he inherited all of Time's powers, and eventually took over her role.
It is hinted that he is in a romantic relationship with Susan Sto Helit, who shares his problems of being half human and half anthromorphic personification, Lobsang simply inherited a greater deal of power from his non-human ascendant than she did. His incarnation of Jeremy had romantic inclinations to Myria LeJean, the first embodied Auditor, who shared the feeling but wasn't able to express it, due firstly to Jeremy's nullification and secondly due to her commiting suicide via 10 000 gallon vat of chocolate at the end of Thief of Time.
Other members
- Wen the Eternally Surprised. The founder of the order, and the writer of the History Books. Wen was the first person to fully grasp the nature of time, and is involved in a relationship with the personification of Time. He could be likened to Buddha.
- Clodpool the Apprentice. Wen's extremely stupid apprentice. Wen apparently stated that if Clodpool could learn his teachings, anyone could.
- The Abbot. One of the wisest minds on the Disc, capable of thinking in sixteen dimensions. He has not aquired the "circular-aging" ability of the other monks, however, and must therefore reincarnate. He is about a year old during Thief of Time.
- Qu. A mechanically-minded, white-haired monk with a fascination for things that go bang. Qu invents most of the weaponry that the order's martial artists take on their missions into the world. He is, of course, based on the James Bond character Q.
- Marco Soto. A monk with a huge ponytail, he claims he does have a shaved head and the hair is a separate entity. One of a number of History Monks based in Ankh-Morpork. A student of Lu-Tze, he knows there are many ways for a monk to become invisible, but the best is to be holding a begging-bowl. Devoted to peace and cosmic harmony, as long as no-one touches his hair.
- Soon Shine Sun. Another monk based in Ankh-Morpork. Soon Shine Sun runs the second-hand clothes shop ("shonky" shop) next to the Order's Ankh-Morpork temple. He avoids awkward questions by feigning a near total lack of the Morporkian language.
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