Spring Light Splendid Zhu Bajie
A thirty-eight episode mythological costume drama starring Xu Zheng and Tao Hong that serves as a prequel to the legend of Zhu Bajie.
Springtime Splendor of Zhu Bajie is a Chinese mainland costume mythological comedy broadcast in 2000. Jointly produced by Jiangsu Television, Suzhou Nanfangpai Culture Communication Co., Ltd., and Zhejiang Cable Television, the series was co-directed by Fan Xiaotian, Meng Ji, and Ye Chongming, with a screenplay by Tiankong. It consists of 38 episodes, each approximately 45 minutes long. The show premiered on Tianjin Cable Channel One on January 25, 2000, and began airing on Beijing Television Channel Two in May, achieving an average viewership rating of 13.1%, with a peak of approximately 17.2%. The plot takes a bold creative leap from the events surrounding Marshal Tianpeng's banishment in Journey to the West: Bajie (played by Xu Zheng) was originally a small pig who escaped from a pigpen; through the magic of Venus Star (played by Sun Xing), he was transformed into a human. He then embarks on a cross-species romance with the fox spirit Xiao Longnu (played by Tao Hong), while navigating entanglements with characters such as the Nine-Tailed Fox (played by Hong Ying), Scholar Zhu, and Tang Sanzang. The series became a hit through its blend of humor, accessibility, mythology, and urban romance, sparking the "Zhu Bajie" series as a franchise and marking one of the breakout roles for Xu Zheng.