Wu Cheng'en and Journey to the West (2010) 吳承恩與西遊記

Director: Kan Weiping

Screenwriter: Wang Shuqiang / Ding Aimin

Starring: Liu Xiaolingtong / Ma Su / Shi Xiaoqun / Sun Tao / Chi Chongrui / Ma Dehua

Genre: Drama / Biography / Fantasy / Adventure / Costume

Country/Region of Production: Mainland China

Language: Mandarin Chinese

Date: 2010-07-01 (Mainland China)

Episodes: 46

Single episode length: 46 minutes

Also known as: Wu Cheng En and Journey to the West / 吴承恩与西游记

Adaptation: Meta

Summary:

In the movie, the protagonist Wu Chengen is wise and foolish, advocating justice, suave, romantic, poetic, calligraphy and painting, and is unique through the ages; the characters of “Journey to the West” such as Sun Wukong, Tang Seng, Zhu Bajie,
etc. It complements the original characters in the play; the rich and fantastic myths, fantasy, chivalry, bold and interesting artistic expression styles, and modern high-tech three-dimensional expression methods greatly expand the extraordinary imagination of heaven and earth. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Wu Yue, a minor official in Shanyang County, Huai'an, Jiangsu Province, went to Yuntai Temple in Huaguo Mountain with his son, and talked with his old friend Puyin, hoping that his son Wu Cheng'en would be able to study and become an official and honor his ancestors. However, Wu Cheng'en, who has never forgotten his books and is very talented, fell in love with the lively monkeys in the Water Curtain Cave of Huaguo Mountain, and imagined that he could be as free, unconstrained, and omnipotent as the monkeys.

The 76-year-old old master Li has failed the examinations for more than 60 years. On this day, he entered the examination room with a rope and declared that if he failed to pass the first place, he would die. However, Wu Chengen won first place in this exam, and his friend Shen Kun came in second. Master Li, who failed the ranking, was full of regrets, but full of hope for Wu Chengen. Before he died, he asked Cai Ang, the official of the court, to discipline Wu Chengen more, so that he could be promoted to an official in the future, fulfilling his wish. Wu Chengen’s elder sister, Wu Chengjia, was born beautiful. Luo Wanjin, a rich man in Shanyang County, relied on the relationship between Yan Song, the prime minister of the court, and tried every means to marry Wu Chengjia, but the Wu family refused; his son Luo Pang was jealous of Wu Chengen’s talent and had nothing to do; The family formed an indissoluble grievance.

Wu Chengen’s parents, sister, and wife Ye Yun are full of hope for him to study and become an official. Wu Chengen still goes his own way, reading monkey books, learning monkey steps, listening to monkey shows, and getting acquainted with monkey artist Niu Yufeng. Shen Kun and Li Chunfang, good friends from the same hometown, jokingly called Wu Chengen a monkey idiot. Although they tried their best to persuade him to cherish his talents and become an official, they couldn’t resist Wu Chengen’s unshakable stereotypes and his stubborn opinion that he didn’t want to be an official. His friends have to let him take pleasure in monkeys, make monkeys their friends, and take writing Journey to the West as his own ambition. Accompanied by his beloved wife and a monkey, Wu Chengen traveled around the world and returned to Huaguo Mountain, which shocked the court and experienced many challenges.

However, Wu Chengen is determined, cares about the folks, and has fantastic ideas, how the Monkey King was born, the golden cudgel is like a wind, the monkeys make trouble in the Heavenly Palace, the friend Bajie refuses relatives. Yufeng, his wife, saves her husband by dripping blood, and the wits fight the old way such as Huang Feng, beating the Bull Demon King angrily, punishing pirates, and building a monkey garden in righteousness came into being. A mythological masterpiece “Journey to the West”, which symbolizes the perseverance, optimism, and enterprising spirit of the Chinese people, full of ideals, great wisdom, and courage, has finally been completed under the pen of Wu Chengen.

Facing the manuscript of “Journey to the West” written by his late friend Wu Chengen, his good friend Li Chunfang sat upright at the table, wrote “Journey to the West written by Wu Chengen” on the front page, and murmured softly: Cheng En, you are the Monkey King, You are Sun Wukong! You say you are Sun Wukong! Ten years after Wu Chengen’s death, his “Journey to the West” was corrected by Li Chunfang and officially published by Nanjing Shidetang in 1592. On October 8, 2005, the Wu Chengen Memorial Hall was completed and opened in Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province…

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Cheng%27en_and_Journey_to_the_West_(2010)