"King of Hell" Journey to the West encountered a spiritual problem while filming, and it has yet to be resolved.

The role of King Yama, played by veteran actor Liu Jiang in Journey to the West 1986, has become a classic monument. However, behind that success are mysterious stories, there are even rumors that he got cancer because of the role.

From "Villain Boss" to Classic King of Hell

Liu Jiang entered the art world at the age of 16. With his refined acting, he was often assigned villain roles in many famous films. But the most classic role is the role of King Yama in "Journey to the West", making his name a familiar name to everyone.

It is worth mentioning that the King of Hell was the last character to be cast, because the actors at that time were hesitant and afraid of "getting into bad luck" when playing the role of the "boss" of the underworld. It was not until Liu Jiang volunteered that director Yang Jie gathered the full cast. Initially worried, but after Liu Jiang changed his costume, the whole crew was amazed by his "top-notch" demeanor.

Mysterious stories and unexplainable spiritual experiences

While filming "Journey to the West", Liu Jiang repeatedly encountered strange things. On the first day of filming, he felt a cold wind behind his head and heard strange noises while sitting on the throne of the King of Hell. He thought it was the logistics creating the atmosphere, but when he turned around, there was no one there.

Even more strangely, even though he knew the moves by heart, Liu Jiang unconsciously acted differently while filming. Director Yang Jie intended to blame him, but later realized that his performance was even more perfect than expected. Once, while filming, Liu Jiang saw two extras in ghostly costumes appear in front of him. He thought they were careless, but the entire crew confirmed that no one was there at the time.

QQ revealed that director Yang Jie wanted to stop filming, but Liu Jiang was determined to finish. Even after the film wrapped, he went home and for a long time, before going to sleep, he still heard the shouting echoing as if he were still in the limestone cave - where the underworld scene was filmed.

Cancer and a life of kindness: The end of a giant art tree

Perhaps because of too many mysterious events, after the success of "Journey to the West", Liu Jiang refused to appear in the famous Spring Festival Gala. He said: "The character I play belongs to the underworld, I am afraid that I will bring bad luck to myself, if I spread that bad luck to the Spring Festival Gala, it will not be good at all". This further fueled speculation about the spiritual influence of the role.

In real life, Luu Giang is an extremely kind and humble person. He devoted his life to art, working in showbiz for more than 60 years. Sadly, this actor has been diagnosed with cancer three times.

According to page 163, one of the reasons could be due to weight issues. To complete the villain role well, Luu Giang always kept his weight over 80kg while his height was only 1m65. Maintaining a high weight for a long time could have affected his health.

Despite his cancer, Liu Jiang still lives a long life and maintains his mental clarity. On August 21, 2019, Xingshipin posted a video of the actor writing calligraphy when guests came to visit. When he finished writing, a person gave him a thumbs up to compliment his handwriting, and he even grabbed the person's hand, intending to bite it playfully.

According to Ifeng, Liu Jiang drank tea, did physical exercises, and raised birds every day. He had a group of close friends who often met and talked about their experiences in maintaining their health. In May 2020, the actor breathed his last at the age of 95, mourned by his relatives, friends, and fans.

Many people believe that perhaps because Liu Jiang did many good deeds, he was blessed by heaven and did not have to suffer much pain from illness. However, the public still regrets that the entertainment industry lost a dedicated veteran actor, who left behind an immortal King of Hell in the history of Chinese cinema.

In fact, not only Luu Giang, some other actors in the "Journey to the West" film crew also encountered strange things, such as "Quan Am" Ta Dai Phan with his thrilling "heavenly blessings". This made the public believe that there was a mystical power accompanying the classic gods on the screen.

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