Biography

Zhang Jinlai (Chinese: 章金莱; born 12 April 1959), better known by his stage name Liu Xiao Ling Tong (六小龄童; 'Little Six Year Old Child'), is a Chinese actor, best known for his role as the Monkey King (Sun Wukong) in the 1986 television series Journey to the West (Chinese: 西游记; pinyin: Xī Yóu Jì) adapted from the classic Chinese novel of the same name. Zhang adopted his father Zhang Zongyi's stage name, Liu Ling Tong, and amended it to Liu Xiao Ling Tong.His compelling performance in Journey to the West was greatly praised by critics and helped him win the Best Actor award at the sixth Golden Eagle Awards in 1988. On Sept 27, 2006, he was conferred the Certificate of Mouthpiece of the 3rd International Forum of the China Cultural Industry.In March 1991, he starred in the drama film "New Year's Day" (过年). In the autumn of 1993, he played the role of his father, Liu Lingtong, in the TV series “Monkey Child (猴娃), for which he won the 12th Golden Eagle Award for the best supporting actor in China. In 2000, he starred in the ancient mythological drama "Journey to the West II", for which he won the National Top Ten Outstanding Actor Award from CCTV.

In 2003, he played the role of Hua Tie Gan in the ancient martial arts drama ”Lian Cheng Jue“ (连城诀), which was his first time playing a villainous role. In June 2007, he played both the roles of Wu Chengen and Sun Wukong in the costume drama "Wu Chengen and the Journey to the West" (吴承恩与西游记). In 2009, he acted in the historical drama "War and Peace in the North" (北平战与和).2015, acted in the ancient mythological drama "Shi Dang Dang Zhi Xiong Ceng Tian Dong“ (石敢当之雄峙天东)。

In 2017, he was awarded as a national actor；In the same year he played the role of Master Xuanzang in the documentary "One Belt, One Road - Retracing the Road of Xuanzang" (一带一路·重走玄奘路) and was the chief producer and director of the documentary, which won the Best Documentary Award at the Vancouver International Chinese Film Festival;

In recent years, Zhang has made great efforts promoting Sun Wukong in popular culture, which contributed to increasing the popularity of both the classic novel and the character around the world.Liu Xiao Ling Tong is the only Chinese citizen who was issued with two identity cards, one using his real name Zhang Jinlai, one using his stage name Liu Xiao Ling Tong, due to the huge popularity of his stage name which makes many people wrongly believe it is his real name.