Tuning in to the Power of TV

“Journey to the West” first aired on CCTV in 1986 but the show’s influence still runs strong. Witness the adoring students who sit for hours on university auditorium floors for a chance to listen to Liuxiaolingtong(六小齡童)， the actor who starred in the lead Monkey King role and brought the classic novel to life for generations of Chinese.

Our editor Liz Tung managed to catch him amidst the racket of a busy teahouse-turned-mahjong gambling den to grab the inside track on how his love for his older brother， who tragically passed away from leukemia before he could perform the role， spurred him to overcome his introverted nature and make becoming Sun Wukong (孫悟空) his life’s work. Seeing as he spent so many years wedded to the role， we hope we uncovered something of where the monkey stops and the man begins (see page 28).

Zhu Beijing explains how in 30 short years CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala seized the public’s imagination and grew into the televisual juggernaut that it is today， forcing aside thousands of years of New Year’s tradition in the process. The show now dominates the airwaves for four hours before the bell tolls midnight on New Year’s Eve， and watching it has become a Spring Festival tradition in its own right for millions of Chinese. However， increasingly vociferous critics and intense competition have forced the show to adapt to survive， launching the careers of some of China’s favorite TV sons and daughters in the process (see page 40).

Adaptation is also a hallmark of the Xinhua Dictionary， the pages of which chart the ongoing battle between language and culture in modern China. Huang Xiaocao leafs through more than 30 years of the dictionary， from its first edition in 1953， which contained illustrations of everything from pigeons to artillery， through the Cultural Revolution， when definitions heralded the proletarian struggle， to the emergence of a slimmed-down text that includes terms gleaned from slang and sex scandals (see page 60).

The World of Chinese has undergone massive changes over the last year， culminating in the launch of our new website last month. Please let us know what you think of the changes at www.theworldofchinese.com， as well as what you’d like to see in the year ahead， either via the site or by email to editor@ theworldofchinese.com.

Warmest regards in the Year of the Dragon，