Famous "Monkey King" actor Zhang Jinlai said he is applying to Guinness World Records to recognize his most successful TV drama "The Journey to the West" at a lecture in Nanjing on Nov. 15.
The 1986 television series "Journey to the West" [File photo]
Zhang, better known by his stage name Liu Xiao Ling Tong, is best known for his role as the Monkey King (Sun Wukong) in the 1986 television series "Journey to the West."
He revealed at a lecture at Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology that he is applying for the most rebroadcast and top rated TV series in the world record for "Journey to the West" since the TV series has been rebroadcast more than 3,000 times. And he also applied for another record: having the most family members playing the same role (Monkey King), including Zhang's great-grandfather, grandfather, father, elder brother (who passed away in a young age), and himself played Monkey King in various plays, operas and TV dramas.
The actor said he already has two records recognized by China Records, a similar organization, like the Guinness World Records, which was established in 1992 and only recognizes and promotes Chinese cultural and folk records. Zhang said his China Records include the longest span 17 years (1982-1999) spent filming and producing a world classic novel-based TV series; as well as the person (and his art gallery) with the largest collection of arts and handicrafts from "Journey to the West."
"The Journey to the West" is a timeless classic Chinese television series based on the classic novel of the same title by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. First shot in 1982 and first broadcast in 1986, the drama tells of the legend of the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD), the Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who traveled to the place later known as India on a pilgrimage to obtain Buddhist scriptures. Protected by his three disciples, he faced many trials and tribulations on his way there and back.
Once the series was broadcast, it received significant approval and high popularity from both Chinese and foreign audiences. It was re-played on TV every year and Zhang Jinlai became a household name for generations. When Zhang asked 1,000 students in a packed-out Nanjing auditorium that who hadn’t seen the TV series, nobody raised their hand.
Zhang is confident that the TV series would get recognition from the Guinness World Records, "There are many TV series that you can enjoy the first time, but when they are played the second time, you will not have mood to watch it again since you have already known the plots. But 'Journey to the West' is different, whenever it is played on TV, you always want to see it again and again."
But as a protector of tradition, Zhang is furious at others who adapted "The Journey to the West" into other versions, especially the films in which the Monkey King and female demon have love affairs.
"I just returned from the Great Britain, and there, Shakespeare's plays cannot be mocked and outrageously adapted," he said, "Respecting and passing on classics is the obligation of the Chinese people. We don't have the right to mock and destroy classic and national culture."
"The Journey to the West" stories and characters have been widely used and have been adapted many times into modern film, television, stage, and other media, even inspired several classic comics, such as the Japanese manga "Dragon Ball" by Akira Toriyama.
Kung fu star Donnie Yen admitted that he has watched Zhang's performance in the TV series so many times and learned from and mimicked Zhang, which defined Yen's acting in his own version of the famous role in the Chinese New Year blockbuster "The Monkey King" earlier this year. The movie became one of the highest grossing movies of all time on the mainland, grossing over US$167 million. Hong Kong actor Aaron Kwok will take Yen's place and play the monkey king in the sequel.
But Zhang may not love the idea of Yen's version of the Monkey king, where the monkey falls in love with a fox demon.
Actor and director Stephen Chow also made two "Journey to the West" movie adaptations. One, called "A Chinese Odyssey," directed by Jeffrey Lau and starring Chow, Ng Man Tat, Karen Mok and Athena Chu, cost 60 million Hong Kong dollars to make but didn't perform well at box offices in 1994-1995. But the two-part film later found a new life on TV, VHS, VCD and mostly in pirated copies and illegal online downloads after 1996 and is now regarded as a timeless cult classic since a new generation of young people has found resonance with the movie's characters and its story of lost love.
Another Chow's adaption, "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons," released in 2013, starring Wen Zhang, Shu Qi, and Huang Bo, grossed 1.244 billion yuan (US$203.5 million) on the Chinese mainland alone and ranked as the second-biggest-grossing Chinese film ever.
Both of Chow’s adaptations differ wildly from the original plots of "Journey to the West." Zhang once openly denounced the adaptations, though the films are highly popular.
Zhang also revealed he is collaborating with Hollywood to make a new Monkey King movie and he will star as the leading role.
Ironically, the Chinese Buddhist world has always dismissed the original and latest adaptations of the "Journey to the West" since the beginning in the 16th century, because they believe the novel "belittles" and "smears" the Tang Dynasty master monk Xuanzang (AD 602–664), who was a very devoted and brave man, scholar, translator, pilgrim and an important historic figure who introduced and spread Buddhism in China. But in the "Journey to the West" plots, Xuanzang become a coward and a helpless monk who needs protection from his disciples with magic powers including the Monkey King to defeat evils.
