LAST Friday, the reunion of the cast from TV drama Journey to the West on the talent show Trump Card has stirred up a wave of nostalgia in Chinese social media platforms, including Sina Weibo and WeChat.

“I cannot believe so many artists from Journey to the West are standing on the same stage again, although the director and several actors have passed away. The drama has had an irreplaceable position in my childhood,” said Weibo user Xiao Heixiong.

“Even now, I can still recall each character in the TV drama, as I watched it more than five times when I was young,” added another WeChat user, Ling Lingxu.

The cast members from Journey to the West echoed the TV viewers’ opinions. And some of them were so moved, they cried onstage.

“I always want to find a chance to reunite with other artists, but it is hard to achieve that little goal. Now here comes a chance, and I really want to express my appreciation for the talent show,” said actor Zhang Jinlai, who played the Monkey King in the show and is known by his stage name Liu Xiao Ling Tong.

“When we replay some of the classic scenes, many audience members were moved to tears and clapped with all their might. I still feel proud to be part of the drama,” said Ma Dehua, the actor who played Zhu Bajie in the TV show.

The classic fantasy Journey to the West is adapted from the classic novel of the same title.

As one of the four great classics of Chinese literature, the novel is a greatly embellished recounting of a real pilgrimage made during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) by Buddhist monk Xuanzang, as he travelled to India in search of sacred scriptures. With a dragon-prince in the form of a white horse as his steed, Xuanzang is accompanied on his quest by three disciples, the Monkey King Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing.

The series was first broadcast on CCTV in China on Oct 1, 1986. The series became an instant classic in China and is still being praised as the best and most authentic interpretation of the novel.

China Daily/ANN

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2018