In a Shenyang art studio in 1984, Xin Kuanliang’s wolf-hair brush hovered over rice paper, a single drop of red cinnabar ink poised to fall. Snow swirled outside while four artists huddled under a dim lamp, debating fiercely whether azure or indigo should color Sun Wukong’s robes in the battle against the Red Boy. This three-year artistic odyssey culminated in five volumes of color illustrated Journey to the West books – a timeless beacon of Eastern aesthetics. Lin Zhen’s Monkey King radiated defiance through piercing golden eyes; Zhang Xiushi’s Banana Leaf Fan whipped up Dunhuang-style clouds; Fei Changfu’s fiery Flaming Mountains blazed with Tang Dynasty grandeur. As the original Havoc in Heaven film underwent its eighth color layer on the press, the master printer’s fingers were stained vibrant hues – a testament not only to technical mastery but a solemn homage to tradition.
They were boundary-breakers, capturing the soul of the High Tang in the 1980s. "We weren’t just drawing gods fighting; we were painting the romance etched in the Chinese soul," remarked Yin Jinan, a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA). Amidst a flood of Western comics, these artists swam upstream: Nezha’s Wind-Fire Wheels echoed Han Dynasty lacquerware; the White Bone Demon’s lair mirrored Kizil cave murals; even the curve of the Somersault Cloud whispered of the brushwork in The Nymph of the Luo River. Princess Iron Fan’s robes in Borrowing the Fan Thrice unfurled like Dunhuang caisson ceilings, each fold hiding legends of the Nine-Colored Deer. The piercing gaze of the Earth-Hearing Beast in True and False Monkey Kings evoked, as Feng Yuan of the Central Research Institute of Culture and History noted, "a contemporary echo of Gu Kaizhi’s lifelike spirit." This bold deconstruction and reimagining of tradition stunned Western publishers at the 1987 Frankfurt Book Fair as a "three-dimensional poem of Eastern aesthetics."
Looking back, their work stands as cultural resilience in a frosty era. In the bitter winter of 1986, Master Li at Shenyang Printing Factory guarded the plates for Defeating the White Bone Demon Three Times in a -20°C workshop. The comic market had collapsed, print runs plummeting from 100,000 to 5,000. Yet, the team insisted on the intricate eight-color process. As the final plate was exposed, Master Li breathed steam: "This isn’t printing; it’s passing on the torch of civilization." This stubborn dedication transformed the books into a "Moonlight Treasure Box" for collectors. In 2019, a pristine first edition set sold for 120,000 RMB at Guardian Auctions, inscribed by its owner: "This is no commodity; it is the artists’ 1980s blood-ink testament to China."
In late autumn 2024, Gen-Z illustrator Xiao Lin wept before the Battle Against Red Boy originals at Tsinghua Academy of Arts. "We don’t need to chase Japanese cel animation style; our own heritage holds the finest aesthetic DNA." These books that nourished a generation are now reborn with astonishing vitality on Bilibili and Xiaohongshu. Young creators deconstruct motifs into "Guochao" designs, trace cloud patterns digitally, and even decode "Sun Wukong’s anti-burnout philosophy." Professor Li Chen of Luxun Academy of Fine Arts wrote movingly in the reprint preface: "Touching these images, your fingers trace the frost on the 1984 studio window, the unfaded mineral hues of Dunhuang sands, and Wu Cheng’en’s sigh after writing 'the Monkey’s heart returned to righteousness.'"
108,000 miles - Just a heartbeat across forty years.
This journey surpassed the pilgrimage’s trials: from Frankfurt’s spotlight to rural Guangxi classrooms; from Paris art school archives to New York sinologists decoding Eastern narratives. As Liaoning Fine Arts Publishing House and Sanseking revive this classic, CAFA Professor Yu Yang states: "We aren’t just reprinting paper; we’re awakening dormant cultural DNA."
From 1984 to 2025, from lead type to the digital age, The Finest Journey to the West, forged by four generations, remains a cultural mirror. Reproducing these scenes on Sanseking accessories, we hear echoes from that Shenyang studio:
When the Golden Cudgel parts the clouds, our childhood rushes back!
The Monkey King shattering heavens five centuries ago; the silhouettes of master and disciples by the Flowing Sands River; the sunset glow churned by the Banana Fan at Flaming Mountain… These images, etched in our blood, are timeless Chinese totems. The Finest Journey to the West, awarded 2025’s Top Ten IP Gold Prize, reimagines the epic in masterful ink. Now, this millennial romance returns to you, burning brighter than ever.
Within a single card, worlds unfold.
In 2025, Sanseking partners with Liaoning Fine Arts Publishing House to distill The Finest Journey to the West scroll into a poet’s retreat for card collectors.
In the late spring of 2024, the Sanseking team encountered Liaoning Fine Arts' prints and the artists' original notes – yellowed pages densely annotated: "Cloud pattern here references Yulin Cave 3," "Nezha armor color based on Tang gold/silver artifacts." Our Design Director gently closed the archive: "True collaboration is a high-five with 5,000 years of civilization." We vowed to share the divine spirit of Chinese art, embodying our founding ethos: "Use the language of the world to convey Chinese culture." After a year of meticulous preparation, our inaugural series, Havoc in Heaven, arrives this June.
108,000 miles - Merely the span of an unwavering heart.
"If this life can serve the nation long, why must we enter the Jade Gate alive?" – On this three-decade cultural quest, we set sail on cards as our vessel, carrying the Monkey King’s undying spirit and Xuanzang’s steadfast starlight, rewriting the Eastern epic for the digital age. Now, grasp this timeless passport with us. Let every crisp shuffle of cards resound like the gavel of justice, proclaiming the continuation of civilization.
Let binders hold tales of time.
Let playmats unfurl miles of sunset clouds.
This westward journey, destined for collecting history, awaits your open palm.
After all, within every Chinese heart, there should reside a Finest Journey to the West.
