In the history of Chinese film and television, the entanglement between Liu Xiaolingtong and Sun Wukong is legendary. This story stems from a heavy entrustment from his second brother, Xiao Liulingtong.
At the last moment of his life, Xiao Liulingtong held his brother's hand tightly, his eyes full of expectation. He entrusted his family's artistic tradition to Liu Xiaolingtong, hoping that he could interpret the role of Monkey King to the extreme.
This trust is like a big mountain, pressing on the shoulders of the six-year-old child.
Liu Xiaolingtong is well aware of the great responsibility, and he not only keeps his promise to his brother in his heart, but also is full of reverence for traditional culture. He understands that the Monkey King is not just a character, but also an important symbol of Chinese culture.
If you want to play this role well, you need to put in unimaginable effort.
The opportunity came just right. When CCTV decided to shoot "Journey to the West", Liu Xiaolingtong successfully got the opportunity to play the Monkey King with his solid skills and unique understanding of the role.
This made him both excited and apprehensive.
Standing on the set and facing the camera, the six-year-old child had an extremely complicated mood. He understood that from this moment on, he was not only himself, but also the Monkey King in the minds of countless people for thousands of years.
He silently vowed that he must perform this role to the fullest, live up to the expectations of the audience, and live up to his brother's entrustment.
However, the ideal is plump, and the reality is skinny. The six-year-old soon discovered that it was much more difficult than he thought to become a perfect Monkey King. The first thing he faced was a physiological challenge: he had 200-degree astigmatism and 400-degree myopia, which was undoubtedly a huge obstacle for Sun Wukong, who needed to show "fiery eyes".
However, Liu Xiaolingtong was not intimidated by these difficulties, but these challenges stimulated his fighting spirit even more. He secretly determined that no matter what the cost, he would play this role well.
This is not only a responsibility to the audience, but also a commitment to my brother and family traditions.
At this point, Liu Xiaolingtong's life will be completely changed, and he has begun a journey of the Monkey King.
In order to ensure the production quality of "Journey to the West", CCTV decided to shoot an episode of "Demon Removal and Black Chicken Country" for trial broadcast. It was originally a great opportunity for the six-year-old child to show his talents, but it almost became a turning point in the reputation of the entire Monkey King family.
At the filming site, director Yang Jie kept reminding the six-year-old child: "You don't have monkey spirit!" This confused the six-year-old child, who had always been confident. He has been scratching his ears and cheeks, jumping around, how can he lack monkey energy? .
The crux of the matter was that the shot was shot in medium and close-up shots to capture the monkey's expression, but the six-year-old child wore a mask and could barely make any expression other than his eyes.
What's worse is that the six-year-old child suffers from 200-degree astigmatism and 400-degree myopia, and he can't even distinguish between men and women, let alone perform a fiery eye.
In the face of these difficulties, Liu Xiaolingtong was under tremendous pressure, but he still worked hard to complete the filming of the pilot episode with his love for the role and the expectation of the audience. He believes that his efforts will be recognized by the audience.
However, the response after the trial broadcast was like a basin of cold water poured on the head of the six-year-old child. Criticism poured in, and viewers were unrelenting in pointing out that the six-year-old's eyes were blank and he looked like a sluggish hunter rather than a clever Monkey King.
Looking at the mountains of complaint letters in front of him, the six-year-old child's heart was like a knife. He locked himself in his home for weeks, afraid to go out and see people. The self-confidence of yesteryear is gone, and in its place is a deep sense of self-doubt.
He began to question himself whether he was really up to the task and whether he could fulfill his brother's trust.
During this difficult period, the six-year-old child experienced a huge gap from full self-confidence to being hit hard. He kept going back and forth over every detail of the shoot, trying to figure out what was wrong.
At the same time, he is also thinking about how to improve his performance and how to let the audience see a real Monkey King.
This setback was an important turning point in his acting career for Liu Xiaolingtong. This not only made him realize his own shortcomings, but also inspired his determination to pursue perfection.
Since then, the six-year-old child has begun a difficult and long road of transformation.
The six-year-old boy had already made up his mind and began the arduous training. In order to become a "sharp eye", he devoted himself to character building and tried all kinds of methods.
Every morning, he would go to see the sunrise. He forced himself not to blink for twenty minutes until he burst into tears. This process was painful, but he gritted his teeth and persevered, because he knew that this was the only way to become the real Monkey King.
At noon, he would go and watch others play table tennis. The eyes moved quickly with the ball, and it was a long time to look at it. The exercise made him dizzy, but he firmly believed that it would strengthen the flexibility of his eye muscles and help shape the Monkey King's agility and agility.
At night, the six-year-old child would light an incense stick in the dark room and stare intently at the incense stick. The smoke irritated his eyes and tears flowed, but he refused to give up.
This kind of extreme training allowed his eyes to gradually adapt to various light changes, which laid the foundation for his future performance of "Fiery Eyes".
In addition to his own training method, he also heard that eating fish eyes is good for his eyesight, so he took the initiative to take all the fish heads of the crew, regardless of other people's strange eyes, and insisted on eating them every day.
This almost paranoid behavior fully demonstrates his extreme devotion to the role.
During this time, the six-year-old child devoted himself wholeheartedly to the role, and in addition to training and rehearsals, he was thinking about how to more perfectly interpret the role of Monkey King. Family and friends are worried about his persistence, but the six-year-old child seems to be enchanted and deaf to the outside world.
He delved into every detail of Sun Wukong like an obsession, such as his eyes, expressions, movements, and even his inner world. He threw himself into it, gradually forgetting himself and completely immersed himself in the world of Monkey King.
Hard work pays off. After years of hard work, the six-year-old child has finally developed a breathtaking "fiery eye". When he stood in front of the camera again, his eyes were like torches, and his eyes revealed wisdom and alertness, which amazed everyone.
At this moment, Liu Xiaolingtong experienced an unprecedented sense of achievement, he knew that he was one step closer to the real Monkey King, but at the same time, he also understood that this was just the beginning, and he still needed to go through a long road of cultivation to become a perfect Monkey King.
Since then, the six-year-old child has worked harder to study the role and constantly break through himself. His performance has also become more natural, more and more like a real Monkey King. This arduous road of transformation not only allowed him to successfully create a classic image, but also completely changed the trajectory of his life.
It took a total of six years to shoot "Journey to the West", and in these six years, Liu Xiaolingtong devoted himself to the role of Monkey King, he not only strived for perfection in performance, but also personally completed many dangerous stunt shots, interpreting this classic role with his life.
When filming the scene of the battle with the red boy, because there was no special effects technology at that time, the six-year-old child had to face the test of fire realistically. He was suffocated by the burn, and it took him a long time to recover.
Despite this, he insisted on continuing to shoot, because he knew that this was the only way to present the most realistic results.
When the six-year-old child was filming a scene of hanging Weiya, he unfortunately had an accident of breaking the steel wire, fell to the ground from mid-air, and passed out on the spot. This accident frightened all the crew, and everyone couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
Later, a Hong Kong director was surprised when he learned about this, he said: "There is no insurance for such an important role, you are acting with your life!" "。
However, these dangers and injuries did not shake the determination of the six-year-old. On the contrary, they strengthened his attachment to the role of Monkey King. He is convinced that only by devoting himself wholeheartedly and fighting with his life can he truly interpret the role of Monkey King.
Liu Xiaolingtong devoted himself to the role of Sun Wukong for six years, almost forgetting himself, his every move, smile and smile were full of monkey aura and wit.
This devotion to the devil eventually created an unforgettable image of the Monkey King.
During the filming process, the six-year-old child paid hard sweat and even risked his life. But it is this kind of wholehearted dedication and dedication that makes the image of the Monkey King he created deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and has become an important milestone in the history of Chinese television.
After the broadcast of "Journey to the West", the Monkey King played by Liu Xiaolingtong successfully entered the hearts of the audience and became the collective memory of a generation. However, with the development and change of the times, this classic image has also begun to face new challenges and problems.
At the age of 63, he successfully set a Guinness World Record with an astonishing performance of "300 blinks in 30 seconds". This feat not only amazed Sa Beining who was present, but also showed his dedication and love for the role.
The birth of this record is the result of his years of hard training for "fiery eyes", and it is also a proof of his unremitting pursuit of the role of the Monkey King.
However, just when he was proud of his accomplishments, an unexpected challenge arose. In one TV show, a schoolboy boldly questioned the value of "Journey to the West," calling it "cultural dross."
This evaluation was like a hammer, and it deeply hit the self-confidence that the six-year-old child had built up over the years.
In the face of criticism from elementary school students, Liu Xiaolingtong tried to explain patiently, and he asked the boy if he had seen the new version of "Journey to the West", hoping to find a resonance point. However, the boy's answer was even more poignant, not only pointing out that there were problems with the adaptation, but also asking rhetorically why it couldn't be adapted like "Transformers".
At this moment, the six-year-old child felt unprecedented embarrassment and powerlessness. He once thought that his understanding and interpretation of the Monkey King had reached the extreme, but he did not expect that it would become an outdated symbol in the eyes of the new generation of audiences.
Despite the difficulties, the six-year-old child did not give up. Using Chaplin as an example, he illustrated that classics do not go out of style, while also trying to arouse people's attention to traditional culture.
He made it clear that although the aesthetics of young people can be considered when remakes, the essence of Journey to the West culture cannot be changed.
This experience made the six-year-old deeply aware that in an era of rapid change, it is a huge challenge to keep classic works alive. He began to think about how to adapt to the aesthetic needs of audiences in the new era while maintaining the essence of Journey to the West culture.
Although Liu Xiaolingtong was questioned a little, he still firmly adhered to his beliefs and guarded this role that he had devoted his life to in his own way.
Looking back on the past, Liu Xiaolingtong deeply felt that his life seemed to exist to create the role of Monkey King. From accepting the trust of his brother, to overcoming many difficulties, to accepting the doubts of the new era, every step is closely connected to this character.
For Liu Xiaolingtong, "Journey to the West" is not only a TV series, but also a true portrayal of life. He saw how people were under the pressure of Sun Wukong in real life, holding Zhu Bajie's belly, with the hairstyle of Sha Seng, imitating Tang Seng's submissiveness.
He lamented that the former youthful frivolity has passed, in exchange for the compromise and helplessness of life.
However, it is precisely because of his deep understanding of the Journey to the West culture that Liuxiaolingtong is more determined to guard the essence of this culture. He is convinced that even in today's era of rapid change, the wisdom and philosophy conveyed in "Journey to the West" still have its unique value and significance.
Today's six-year-old child can no longer get rid of the imprint of the role of Monkey King, which has been deeply integrated into his life and has become a part of his life. Despite all the doubts and challenges, he remained steadfast in his beliefs and spent his life interpreting this classic role.
The story of Liu Xiaolingtong is not only an entanglement between an actor and a character, but also a person's insistence on cultural inheritance. His whole life has been for a role, and this insistence may be an important factor in the inheritance of classics.