Journey to the West (1986 TV series)

Journey to the West
Promotional screenshot
Genre	Chinese mythology, shenmo, fantasy, adventure
Written by	Wu Cheng'en (original story) Dai Yinglu Zou Yiqing Yang Jie
Directed by	Yang Jie Xun Hao Ren Fengpo
Starring	Liu Xiao Ling Tong Wang Yue Xu Shaohua Chi Chongrui Ma Dehua Yan Huaili Cui Jingfu Liu Dagang
Theme music composer	Xu Jingqing
Opening theme	Ganwen Lu Zai Hefang (敢问路在何方) performed by Jiang Dawei
Country of origin	China
Original language(s)	Mandarin
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	25 (season 1) 16 (season 2)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Wang Feng Ruan Ruolin
Producer(s)	Yang Jie
Location(s)	China
Cinematography	Wang Chongqiu
Production company(s)	CCTV China Television Production Center 铁道部第十一工程局
Distributor	CCTV China Television Production Center
Release
Original network	CCTV
Original release	1 October 1986 – 1999

Journey to the West is a Chinese television series adapted from the classic novel of the same title. The series was first broadcast on CCTV in China on 1 October 1986. The series became an instant classic in China and is still being praised as the best and most authentic interpretation of the novel. Unadapted portions of the original story were later covered in the second season, which was released in 1999.

Season 1 has 25 episodes and covers 74 chapters of the novel. The first trial episode was aired on 1 October 1986, and filming lasted until 1987. It was aired as a whole series in 1988. With the limited but relatively new special effects, the series received a viewership rate of 89.4% in 1987. The series has been rebroadcast every year since then. As of 2012, the series has been repeated on Chinese local channels more than 2,000 times.

Season 2 has 16 episodes (covers another 25 chapters of the novel). Filming began in 1998 and finished in 1999. It was broadcast on CCTV in 2000. The internal story of the second season has the four protagonists relating to Emperor Taizong of Tang via flashbacks of their travels and adventures, (namely those episodes not depicted in the first series) upon their return to China. Season 2 differs from the format of the first season, as most episodes end on a cliffhanger, with conflicts being resolved and new ones encountered in the middle of episodes in a more fluid timeline.

The music for the series was mainly composed by Xu Jingqing (许镜清).

The original lead actors of Journey to the West (1986) — Liu Xiao Ling Tong, Chi Chongrui and Ma Dehua — reprised their roles in Wu Cheng'en and Journey to the West, a 2010 television series about Wu Cheng'en and his inspiration for writing the novel Journey to the West. Sha Wujing, however, was portrayed by Liu Dagang because Yan Huaili, who played the character in 1986, died in April 2009.