Liu Xiao Ling Tong’s rendition of the Monkey King towers above the rest decades later.
Scores of actors have played Sun Wu Kong, the Monkey King, in various adaptations of Xi you ji (Journey to the West) – but none have done so quite like Liu Xiao Ling Tong.
Liu’s dynamic performance in the 1986 Chinese TV version of the epic tale is to this day the most remembered incarnation of the character throughout China. Across the country, Liu Xiao Ling Tong is synonymous with the names Monkey King and Sun Wu Kong.
Liu, whose birth name is Zhang Jinlai, was born in 1959 to a father whose Shanghai family had been playing the Monkey King character for at least four generations, spanning more than a century. Jinlai’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all well-known for their portrayals of the Monkey King. They had long been disciples of what is known in China as Monkey Art, that is, the craft of training one’s body to move like a monkey in order to play roles like Sun Wu Kong and other monkey characters popular in traditional Chinese opera.
Brought up in an incredible family of artists, Jinlai was the only male performer in his immediate family yet to gain acclaim before landing the role in the 1986 TV version of Xi you ji that made him famous.
Journey to the West
Xi you ji is a novel written by Wu Cheng En in the 1590s that stands alongside San Guo yan yi (Three Kingdoms), Shui hu zhuan (Water Margin) and Hong lou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber) as one of the four major masterpieces of Chinese fiction
The story has been transformed into countless Chinese Operas and has become a tale familiar in most East Asian households, particularly among Chinese in China and all over the world.
The story is a fictional account of real life monk Xuan Zang’s pilgrimage to India to obtain sacred Buddhist texts.
Wu Cheng En’s novel gives the monk three disciples for the journey: Monkey King Sun Wu Kong, Pigman Zhu Ba jie and river spirit Sha Wu Jing.
They have to battle hordes of demons who want to eat Xuan Zang as his flesh is said to give immortality. Overflowing with magic, gods, demons and adventure, the book is also said to be rife with political and social commentary poking fun at the Chinese government and society of the time.
In recent years, filmmakers have tried to recapture the magic with big-budget Hollywood-style epics such as “The Forbidden Kingdom” with Jet Li and Jacky Chan, but the most popular and successful version is still the 25-episode-TV series produced by CCTV (China Central Television) in 1986, directed by Yang Jie and starring Liu Xiao Ling Tong.
Making a name
Before landing the role, Liu was little more than a 23-year-old nobody.
“When introducing me, people always had to say ‘he is the son of the Monkey King Liu Xiao Ling,’” Liu told Thanh Nien. “But after the film released, I was no longer haunted by the immense shadow of my father.”
But it was still his father that provided Liu with the guidance needed to play the role correctly.
His father led Liu to spend time at pagodas where he learned the martial arts necessary for the part. He also took his son to spend hours at the zoo observing monkey’s movements.
Liu said that while the subsequent success of his portrayal of the Monkey King was great, it took him a decade to get over the obsessive typecasting as producers and audiences didn’t want to see him play any other roles.
New and old
After breaking the mold his success created, Liu now plays a variety of parts with a Chinese opera troupe at CCTV in Beijing.
“To keep my freedom, I don’t sign any outside contracts. I don’t have assistant or private driver. I enjoy going to work by the subway,” said Liu. “My life is totally simple and plain.”
Liu complained that there were too many versions of Xi you ji that stray too far from the original.
“Distortions of the great work make me really angry and I don’t forgive them. There are many Xi you ji nowadays, from dirty comedies to skin-flicks. In some American and Japanese versions, they turn Xuan Zang into a girl having a love affair with Sun Wu Kong. That is unacceptable. There is no place for such adaptation in art.”
Expanding horizons, satisfaction
In his older age, Liu said he now wants to play more famous figures.
He’s already played late Prime Minister Zhou Enlai and writer Lu Xun, but remains unsatisfied.
“I want to try other famous historical characters, both in plays and films.”
But the actor also said he accomplished his most important dreams already by playing Sun Wu Kong on stage, on TV and in a new film to be released next year.
Though he said he’d still like to build a Xi you ji theme park, most of his ambitions are closer to home.
“I want to spend the rest of my life teaching Monkey Art with my big family.”
And it looks like he’ll have the chance to do so as his family has already played an integral role in founding and supporting the Monkey King Family Art Museum, which since 2004 has been open to teaching the public about the history, theory and practice of Monkey Art.
“I have a warm family, a good daughter and fans. Having such things is called a lucky life,” he said. “After retiring, I just want to become a guard at the museum. That’s what I call a perfect life.”
The story is a fictional account of real life monk Xuan Zang’s pilgrimage to India to obtain sacred Buddhist texts.
Wu Cheng En’s novel gives the monk three disciples for the journey: Monkey King Sun Wu Kong, Pigman Zhu Ba jie and river spirit Sha Wu Jing.
They have to battle hordes of demons who want to eat Xuan Zang as his flesh is said to give immortality. Overflowing with magic, gods, demons and adventure, the book is also said to be rife with political and social commentary poking fun at the Chinese government and society of the time.
In recent years, filmmakers have tried to recapture the magic with big-budget Hollywood-style epics such as “The Forbidden Kingdom” with Jet Li and Jacky Chan, but the most popular and successful version is still the 25-episode-TV series produced by CCTV (China Central Television) in 1986, directed by Yang Jie and starring Liu Xiao Ling Tong.
Making a name
Before landing the role, Liu was little more than a 23-year-old nobody.
“When introducing me, people always had to say ‘he is the son of the Monkey King Liu Xiao Ling,’” Liu told Thanh Nien. “But after the film released, I was no longer haunted by the immense shadow of my father.”
But it was still his father that provided Liu with the guidance needed to play the role correctly.
His father led Liu to spend time at pagodas where he learned the martial arts necessary for the part. He also took his son to spend hours at the zoo observing monkey’s movements.
Liu said that while the subsequent success of his portrayal of the Monkey King was great, it took him a decade to get over the obsessive typecasting as producers and audiences didn’t want to see him play any other roles.
New and old
After breaking the mold his success created, Liu now plays a variety of parts with a Chinese opera troupe at CCTV in Beijing.
“To keep my freedom, I don’t sign any outside contracts. I don’t have assistant or private driver. I enjoy going to work by the subway,” said Liu. “My life is totally simple and plain.”
Liu complained that there were too many versions of Xi you ji that stray too far from the original.
“Distortions of the great work make me really angry and I don’t forgive them. There are many Xi you ji nowadays, from dirty comedies to skin-flicks. In some American and Japanese versions, they turn Xuan Zang into a girl having a love affair with Sun Wu Kong. That is unacceptable. There is no place for such adaptation in art.”
Expanding horizons, satisfaction
In his older age, Liu said he now wants to play more famous figures.
He’s already played late Prime Minister Zhou Enlai and writer Lu Xun, but remains unsatisfied.
“I want to try other famous historical characters, both in plays and films.”
But the actor also said he accomplished his most important dreams already by playing Sun Wu Kong on stage, on TV and in a new film to be released next year.
Though he said he’d still like to build a Xi you ji theme park, most of his ambitions are closer to home.
“I want to spend the rest of my life teaching Monkey Art with my big family.”
And it looks like he’ll have the chance to do so as his family has already played an integral role in founding and supporting the Monkey King Family Art Museum, which since 2004 has been open to teaching the public about the history, theory and practice of Monkey Art.
“I have a warm family, a good daughter and fans. Having such things is called a lucky life,” he said. “After retiring, I just want to become a guard at the museum. That’s what I call a perfect life.”
Reported by Nguyen Le Chi
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