Revealing the unexpected truth about "Journey to the West", Sun Wukong suffered injustice for nearly 4 decades

"Journey to the West" is a classic work associated with the childhood of many generations of audiences, being shown over and over again for 39 years and still as popular as ever. Until recently, someone discovered another secret behind the production process.

According to 163, the film "Journey to the West" has been on air for nearly 4 decades and has become the "spiritual food" of billions of viewers around the world. The film was produced in 1982, at that time the budget was limited, the technical props were rudimentary and to create scenes that made the audience believe in the story of the 4 teachers and students' pilgrimage, director Duong Khiet and his crew had to work very hard.

Among them, the episode "The Monkey King, the Great Sage, Sun Wukong, and the Heavenly Palace" was the most difficult because it had to create a realistic peach garden with a magical and captivating atmosphere. According to the introduction, the peaches in the Queen Mother's garden were very precious:

"In total there are 3,600 trees in the garden. In the front are 1,200 small fruit trees that only ripen once every 3,000 years. If you eat them, you will become an immortal. In the middle of the garden are 1,200 flowering trees that only ripen once every 6,000 years. If you eat them, you will fly like a bird of immortality. In the back are 1,200 fruit trees that only ripen once every 9,000 years. The fruit has purple veins and small seeds. If you eat them, you will live as long as heaven and earth."

Therefore, when the movie was released, seeing Sun Wukong pluck dozens of peaches, take a bite and then throw them away, many viewers criticized this character for being too mischievous, wasteful and not knowing how to be stingy. However, in reality, the actor Liu Xiao Ling Tong who played Sun Wukong at that time could not have taken more bites.

According to the crew, the peaches were all props and not real. They couldn’t find such big, beautiful, fresh peaches full of spiritual energy, so they used bamboo fibers to create a frame, then used powder and dye to paint the outside.

In order for Liu Xiao Ling Tong to be able to act out the scene of eating the peaches deliciously, the film crew hid some real peaches inside the fake peaches. The actor could only take a bite of the real peach, if he took a deeper bite, the prop would be exposed. This detail was only recently discovered, causing the audience to exclaim "I had to watch Journey to the West 50 times to know", "So it turns out Sun Wukong has been wronged for the past 39 years".

Besides the story of the peach blossoms, where truth and falsehood are mixed, there is another equally interesting detail: the peach garden with mist and clouds. To achieve this, director Yang Jie had to move the set to the indoor stadium of a middle school in Beijing, and then use a compressed CO2 film system to create smoke.

Here, the staff brought dozens of real peach trees. Then, they plucked all the leaves from the trees, replacing them with large, beautiful, vibrant prop leaves. Each tree also grew dozens of "giant" peaches, creating a beautiful fairy peach garden scene that attracted viewers.

Also in "Journey to the West 1986", Fire Mountain is one of the most difficult passes that Tang Sanzang and his disciples must overcome. The mountain burns fiercely, blocking the way, forcing Sun Wukong to seek out Princess Iron Fan - wife of the Bull Demon King - to borrow a Ba Xiao fan to extinguish the fire.

With the profound influence of this film, Hoa Diem Son has become a place known to people everywhere, not only as a tourist destination but also as a symbol of the challenges and hardships on the path of spiritual practice and self-conquest.

Nestled in the arid desert of Tubo, Xinjiang, the surface temperature of Mount Fuyan can exceed 70C in the summer, making it one of the hottest natural "fire pots" in the world. So what makes this place so "scorching hot"?

First of all, the volcano is located in the Turpan basin - a land area below sea level, making it easy for hot air to be retained and continuously reflected in a closed space, creating a "heat confinement" effect. In addition, the geology here is mainly red sandstone and dark sedimentary rocks - types of materials that have the ability to absorb extremely strong heat from the sun, turning the ground into a giant "furnace".

Combined with the near total lack of tree cover, the sunlight shines directly onto the bare ground, preventing heat from dissipating – resulting in a “reverse heat” phenomenon that makes visitors feel as if they are walking into a real sea of fire. Throughout history, the volcano has also haunted caravans on the Silk Road due to its harsh climate, lack of water and shade.

Sun Wukong - Luc Tieu Linh Dong surprised with the visual of Journey to the West Hồng Hạnh3 years agoThe extremely idyllic behind-the-scenes photos of the Journey to the West team revealed the beauty of Luc Tieu Linh Dong at the age of at least 23 (filmed by Journey to the West since 1982). Currently, the veteran cast of Journey to the West have all become old names, making...