Who is the real Monkey King? Chinese actor Zhang Jinlai making a pose with his wax duplicate in an exhibit at Madame Tussauds Beijing. (Photo : China Daily)
Madame Tussauds Beijing, a branch of a renowned wax museum in London, revealed its new collection of wax figure, a replica of Chinese actor Zhang Jinlai in his Monkey King character, China Daily reported on Tuesday.
Zhang, also known as Liuxiaolingtong ("Little Six Year Old Child"), played the character of Monkey King in the 1986 TV series adaptation of the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West."
Monkey King (Sun Wukong), a monkey born out of a supernatural stone in the virtue of Taoist practices, was imprisoned by Buddha in a mountain under the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum after rebelling against the heaven. He later accompanies the monk Xuanzang on a journey to retrieve Buddhist sutras from India.
According to Madame Tussauds's officials, it is their first time to make a wax figure out of a mythological character.
Zhang said that he feels like looking in a mirror while staring at the wax figure, as it perfectly depicts his character and that its eyes convey emotion.
He further said that he commends the expertise of the team who made the wax figure of the mythological character and added that they followed his suggestion of adding some hair on the hands of the Monkey King.
The Chinese actor was invited in London in January, during which his physique was measured by wax figure experts.
According to reports, the whole process of making Zhang's Monkey King wax duplicate took almost four months.
Zhang's fellow character Chi Chongrui, who played the character of Xuanzang (the Buddhist monk in the TV series), along with Ma Dehua and Liu Dagang, who played as Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing (two of the three disciples of the monk) are also present in the event.
In April, Chinese company Ruyi Xinxin Film Investment announced in a conference in Beijing its partnership with American film studio, television production company and motion picture distributor Paramount Pictures to create the 3D film remake of "Journey to the West."
Zhang, along with Chi and Ma, the original casts from the 1986 TV drama series, together with Liu from the 1999 adaptation, will again give life to their respective characters in the upcoming 3D film remake.
