(ECNS) -- Chinese actor Zhang Jinlai, better known by his stage name Liu Xiao Ling Tong, has played down Japan's potential encroaching on China's well-known cultural icon "Monkey King."
Son Goku, a fictional character and the protagonist of the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama, is likely to be selected as an ambassador of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Some Chinese Internet citizens said Goku, although a worldwide renowned Japanese character, is based on Sun Wukong or Monkey King, a main character in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. They suspected the Tokyo Olympic Committee's choice an appropriation of Chinese intangible heritage property.
But Zhang, a household name for performing Monkey King, told Global Times that he doesn't see any act of Japan robbing a Chinese cultural heritage.
Goku borrows a lot from Sun Wukong, in terms of appearance, weapon and personality, but Goku is not Sun Wukong in traditional Chinese culture, he added.
The actor, now in Hong Kong for a cultural exchange, said the image of Monkey King as an iconic figure comes from Chinese literature and operas and acts as a cultural totem of the Chinese people.
He said he once proposed to use Sun Wukong as a mascot of Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008 but some worried that the fictional character appeared to be too aggressive. Zhang said he still hopes the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics, to be held in Beijing and Zhangjiakou, will use Sun Wukong as a mascot.
Zhang also hoped Sun Wukong can become a friendship bridge between countries and peoples.
