Journey to the West (2011 TV series)

Lore & Background

The series features Wu Yue as Sun Wukong, Nie Yuan as Tang Sanzang, Zang Jinsheng as Zhu Bajie, Elvis Tsui as Sha Wujing, and Qian Yongchen as the White Dragon Horse. The cast includes many actors playing multiple roles, such as Ma Jingwu as Subhuti and Taishang Laojun, and Liu Jing (also known as Liu Xiaoqing in some sources) as Guanyin (holding a willow branch). Other notable cast members include Feng Shaofeng as Erlang Shen, Ady An as White Bone Demon, and Shu Chang as Ruler of Women's Kingdom.

Reader's Guide

The 2011 series is significant as a major television adaptation of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, produced by Zhang Jizhong and airing a year after a similarly titled series on Zhejiang Satellite TV. Its 66 episodes cover the journey of the monk Tang Sanzang and his disciples, drawing on the novel's rich mythology. The series features a large ensemble cast, with many actors portraying multiple roles, and its music includes an opening theme with lyrics from the Heart Sutra and an ending theme remixed from the 1986 television series. It remains a notable entry in the long history of adaptations of the novel, contributing to the ongoing cultural legacy of the story in Chinese television.

Did You Know?

• Production started on 12 September 2009.
• The series was first broadcast on 28 July 2011 on TVS.
• The opening theme lyrics are taken from the Buddhist scripture Heart Sutra.
• The ending theme is a remixed version of the 1986 television series Journey to the West's theme song.

Production & Broadcast Context

Journey to the West (2011) is a 66-episode Chinese television adaptation drawn from the classic 16th-century novel of the same name. Principal photography began on 12 September 2009, and the finished series reached mainland Chinese audiences for the first time on 28 July 2011, airing on the TVS network. The project was produced by Zhang Jizhong, who also stepped in front of the camera to portray Taishang Laojun. Notably, this production arrived one year after a separate television series bearing the identical title had already aired on Zhejiang Satellite TV. Despite sharing the same source material and title, the two productions were entirely distinct endeavors, each fielding its own unique cast and creative team. The 2011 version thus entered a landscape where the story had already been freshly reinterpreted on screen, forcing it to carve out its own identity through different performances and a fresh musical identity.

The Core Quintet

At the heart of the 2011 adaptation stands a five-member core cast drawn from the 16th-century novel. Wu Yue portrayed Sun Wukong, while Nie Yuan took on the role of Tang Sanzang. Zang Jinsheng played Zhu Bajie and simultaneously embodied his celestial identity as Marshal Tianpeng. Elvis Tsui brought Sha Wujing to life, a character who also carries the title of Curtain-Lifting General. Rounding out the quintet, Qian Yongchen played the White Dragon Horse. Together, these five performers formed the narrative spine of all sixty-six episodes, anchoring the sprawling ensemble of demons, deities, and mortal kingdoms that populate the series' vast mythological world. The casting choices set this production apart from the 2010 series of the same title that had aired on Zhejiang Satellite TV, giving each character a fresh interpretive lens.

An Ensemble of Many Faces

One of the most striking features of the 2011 production is its extraordinary demand for versatility among its supporting cast. Numerous actors were asked to inhabit multiple, sometimes wildly different, characters across the sixty-six episodes. The most elaborate example is the role of Guanyin, which was divided among five separate performers: Liu Tao portrayed her holding a willow branch, Liang Li depicted her with a fish basket, Stephanie Hsiao took on the Thousand Armed Guanyin, Sattawat Sethakorn played her male form as Avalokiteśvara, and Yang Xiaolin embodied her female form. Beyond Guanyin, actors like Zhang Hengping switched between an evil priest, Guzhi Gong, the Dragon King of the South Sea, and an Interconnected-Arm Gibbon, while Zhao Qiang cycled through the King of the Southern Hill, Fire Tiger of Tail, Gao Cai, and a Meticulous Devil. This multi-role approach allowed a large mythological pantheon to be rendered on screen without requiring an equally large number of individual actors.

Soundtrack & Musical Heritage

The musical identity of the 2011 series is deeply rooted in both Buddhist scripture and the legacy of earlier screen adaptations. The opening theme, performed by Yang Xiaolin, takes its lyrics directly from the mantra of the Heart Sutra, a Buddhist scripture, grounding the series' spiritual narrative in authentic liturgical language from the very first moments of each episode. The closing theme follows a different path: Dao Lang delivers a remixed version of the theme song from the 1986 television series Journey to the West, which had originally been performed by Jiang Dawei. By reinterpreting that familiar melody, the 2011 production creates a deliberate sonic bridge to the earlier adaptation, honoring the prior series while establishing its own distinct musical fingerprint through Dao Lang's updated arrangement.

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