In 119 BC, Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty prepared to annihilate the remnants of the Xiongnu entrenched in the north of the desert in one fell swoop. When selecting the main generals for the expedition, he selected the famous general Wei Qing, who had previously severely damaged the Xiongnu many times and was famous.
However, when Emperor Wu announced this edict, Wei Qing appealed to the emperor and implored Emperor Wu of Han to grant him the position of commander of the expedition to his nephew.
Emperor Wu of Han and his courtiers were greatly puzzled, but because of Wei Qing's insistence, Emperor Wu still appointed this 22-year-old "relation" as the main general of the expedition, and let Wei Qing lead the partial army to play a leading role.
A few months later, a letter of success was sent back to Chang'an like a snowflake. The remnants of the Xiongnu were completely destroyed and no longer able to compete with the Great Han. The young general held a zen ceremony in the sacred place "Wolf Juxu Mountain" in xiongnu territory to commemorate the fallen soldiers, known in history as "Feng Wolf Juxu".
That's right, the young lord was the famous Huo Goe. After replacing his uncle as the main general, the two worked together to destroy the Xiongnu, becoming a legend throughout the ages. And Wei Qing took the initiative to give this position to the younger generation Huo to get sick, which has also become a good story in people's mouths.
History is the same, and something similar is always playing out. And a casting event two thousand years later also bears similarities with this good story.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" >01 Classic Monkey King</h1>
In 1986, a "Journey to the West" turned out to be a reality, and in that era when television was not widespread, whenever it was time for "Journey to the West" to be broadcast, people would rush to sit in front of the TV and enjoy the program.
The 86th edition of "Journey to the West" is also repeatedly broadcast on various satellite televisions every year, accompanying generations of people through their youth. Today, this classic TV has not faded out of people's vision with the passage of time, but has become an eternal classic in people's hearts.
The various characters portrayed in the play are talked about by people, especially the six-year-old children through their superb acting skills, the image of Sun Wukong is vividly interpreted, making it a classic in people's hearts.
Although the Journey to the West theme has been remade in many different versions in the follow-up, including a variety of Sun Wukong, and their acting skills are also very online, as long as Sun Wukong is mentioned, the first thing that everyone thinks of is definitely played by a six-year-old child.
Because he perfectly displayed the aura and spirit of Sun Wukong, he also became the eternal classic Sun Wukong in people's hearts.
But in fact, when director Yang Jie was casting for Sun Wukong, her first choice was not a six-year-old child, but someone else.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="14" >02 Go south in search of the Monkey King</h1>
In 1981, "Journey to the West" began to prepare for filming, and Yang Jie attached great importance to the selection of actors.
Initially, Yang Jie was ready to select Sun Wukong's actor among the Martial Arts of Peking Opera, but after coming to the troupe, Yang Jie was repeatedly rejected, because many Martial Students at that time believed that the future of singing opera was much higher than that of acting, so when Yang Jie selected Dong Zhihua, Dong Zhihua rejected Yang Jie on the grounds that he was busy at the peak of his career.
Yang Jie also had to find someone else. After several fruitless attempts to find actors in Beijing, Yang Jie decided to go south to Shaoxing to try her luck.
The reason why Yang Jie chose to come to Shaoxing was to visit the "famous" monkey opera master, Zhang Zongyi, the monkey king of the Southern Sect, that is, the father of the six-year-old child. After receiving Yang Jie with his son, Zhang Zongyi showed Yang Jie a unique set of Shaoxing monkey plays in his home.
Yang Jie praised it one after another after admiring it, isn't this the reincarnation of Sun Wukong, so she was more determined to choose a role in Zhang Zongyi's troupe.
At dinner, Yang Jie asked Zhang Zongyi for the information of the members of the troupe, during which Zhang Zongyi introduced to Yang Jie from time to time about his youngest son, the six-year-old child. Yang Jie was anxious to return to the residence to select actors, and did not care too much.
After returning to the residence in the evening, Yang Jie took the list given to her by Zhang Zongyi and began to carefully select, and soon, her eyes stayed on the three words "Liu Jianyang" and stopped moving.
"18-year-old six-year-old boy" and "19-year-old starred in the drama "Flame Mountain" Sun Wukong and the fire", these labels made Liu Jianyang, who was 20 years old at the time, an ideal candidate for Yang Jie to play Sun Wukong in his heart.
The next day Yang Jie went to find Zhang Zongyi and proposed to go to the troupe to look for Liu Jianyang, this time Zhang Zongyi directly opened the door and recommended his son to Yang Jie, the six-year-old child next to him, Yang Jie reacted to this, it turned out that the old monkey king wanted his son to audition for Sun Wukong, no wonder he has been mentioning this young son to himself for the past two days.
Although Yang Jie already had a favorite candidate in her heart, under the strong recommendation of Zhang Zongyi, she still gave the old monkey king enough face, gave up the Liu Jianyang she had previously selected, and chose to take Zhang Zongyi's younger son Zhang Jinlai, who was later played by Sun Wukong, to Beijing for an audition.
With the broadcast of "Journey to the West", the image of Sun Wukong played by six children has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and for a time it has spread all over the country, and the six children have since become the classic image of Sun Wukong in people's hearts.
In contrast, Liu Jianyang, who should have become the protagonist, missed the opportunity to play the "Monkey King" because of the master's "one-vote veto" and did not even see the director.
Giving the opportunity to play Sun Wukong to his own son, but not letting the apprentice audition, some people still think that Zhang Zongyi's move is biased and belongs to the act of favoring his son, but is this really the case? As bystanders, how should we evaluate his choices?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="28" >03 How to view Zhang Zongyi's choice</h1>
In fact, Zhang Zongyi did not use his status to seek personal gain for his son.
At that time, Liu Jianyang was mainly engaged in local drama performances in Shaoxing, and most of his main roots were in the drama industry. And at that time, Liu Jianyang was a "top pillar" figure in the troupe, and if he suddenly gave up his existing job and went to Beijing thousands of miles away to audition, it might conflict with Liu Jianyang's other performances at that time in time and space.
Secondly, we know that 86 "Journey to the West" encountered various difficulties after filming, resulting in intermittent and long shooting time. In this case, Liu Jianyang, as the top figure of the Shaoxing Opera Troupe, if he runs back and forth at both ends, it is not a wise choice for his career.
Moreover, Liu Jianyang's status as a "monkey play" in the theater industry at that time was difficult for others to shake, and Liu Jianyang himself was also very eager to have more descendants to sharpen themselves and try more choices. After casting, Zhang Zongyi also left Liu Jianyang by his side and vigorously cultivated him, so that he gradually had the ability to become the successor of Shaoxing Monkey Drama.
In the days that followed, Zhang Zongyi also used his personal connections to win more resources and stages for Liu Jianyang, and also laid a solid foundation for Liu Jianyang's future development. Moreover, at that time, the status of drama was higher than that of film and television dramas, so it is not out of selfishness that Zhang Zongyi sent his son to the crew.
It has become history, the Sun Wukong played by the six-year-old child has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and Liu Jianyang also has extraordinary achievements and lofty status in the field of drama. The relationship between the two is also very harmonious, and there is no gap because of this matter.
Therefore, for Zhang Zongyi, the beloved disciple and his son, the palms of his hands and the backs of his hands are all meat. His recommendation of his son to audition for Journey to the West does not mean that he gave up Liu Jianyang.
On the contrary, he is trying to cultivate his beloved disciples to make his skills more exquisite and to have a wider platform. It is worth mentioning that Liu Jianyang later became acquainted with Ma Yun and founded his own program "Big Talk Shaoxing" with the help of "Ma Daddy". Compared to six-year-old children, it is no worse.
It can be said that Zhang Zongyi's decision was a choice after weighing the pros and cons, allowing the disciple and his son to develop in two different fields, which not only tempered them, but also strengthened the division.
This win-win situation is due to the choice of Zhang Zongyi 40 years ago. And from the current point of view, his decision at that time was still very accurate. So there are some things that we can't just look at the surface and draw conclusions prematurely. I don't know what everyone thinks about Zhang Zongyi's choice?