Film Name: 大话西游之月光宝盒 / A Chinese Odyssey Part One – Pandora’s Box / 西遊記第壹佰零壹回之月光寶盒
Eighteen years ago, a film flopped at the box office upon release, yet two years later, it suddenly became an overnight sensation, becoming the talk of the town. Even now, in 2013, people still frequently discuss it, hailing it as a timeless classic that never grows old. That film is A Chinese Odyssey. In today’s trendy terms, it’s a time-travel drama spanning five centuries, telling the story of a man who cannot escape the grasp of fate. First, let’s analyze the character relationships and the time-travel elements:
At the film’s opening, we learn that Tang Sanzang sacrificed his life to save Sun Wukong. The Patriarch Bodhi also reveals that after that event, the Jade Emperor was moved and agreed to allow Sun Wukong to be reincarnated, thereby rewriting history.
Thus, the original timeline was: Tang Sanzang died, unable to continue his journey to the West. But after the aforementioned battle, with the Jade Emperor’s approval, Sun Wukong was reincarnated to rewrite history. Consequently, history would become: Sun Wukong saves Tang Sanzang, and they continue their journey together to the Western Paradise.
The key to rewriting history lies with Zhou Xingchi’s character, Zhenzhu Bao, and the Moonlight Treasure Box.
Here is the process of history being rewritten: The “Gang Leader Five Hundred Years Later” used the Moonlight Treasure Box to travel back to “Five Hundred Years Ago,” becoming “Zhu Zhenbao.” At this point, Zhu Zhenbao was already the quasi-Sun Wukong. The first key point: Zhu Zhenbao was struck by Tang Sanzang’s staff, causing the Moonlight Treasure Box in his hand to fly away and send Tang Sanzang through time—thus, Tang Sanzang, who was originally going to kill himself, did not die. History had already changed. The time-traveling Tang Monk arrives in the same timeline as Zhenzhu Bao, only to be captured alongside Zixia and Qingxia by the Bull Demon King. Key detail: When Zhenzhu Bao and Zixia are at the market, they are spotted by Sha Seng and Bajie. Their conversation reveals Tang Monk has already been captured. According to Zhenzhu Bao’s timeline, he and Tang Monk were supposed to be captured together that very night. Later, when Zixia was forced into marriage, Zhenzhuoba encountered the unascended Thirty-Year-Old Maiden. She killed Zhenzhuoba, and only then did Sun Wukong truly reincarnate. Sun Wukong then stormed the Bull Demon King’s wedding ceremony. Finally, using the Moonlight Treasure Box, he transported Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, and the others to a specific point in time.
At the film’s conclusion, we see Wukong and his companions finally landing at the “Bodhi Cave.” The wandering sorcerer explains that five hundred years prior, this very place was the “Water Curtain Cave,” where Sun Wukong battled the Bull Demon King, rescued Tang Sanzang, and ultimately succeeded in retrieving the Buddhist scriptures from the West. However, the second film explicitly tells us that “Zhenzhu Bao” traveled back “five hundred years” and encountered Zixia, who had renamed the “Water Curtain Cave” to the “Spider Web Cave.” In the first film, this location was also the Spider Web Cave “five hundred years ago.” We can conclude that the “true history” is this: Five hundred years ago, it was the Water Curtain Cave; five hundred years later, it became the Bodhi Cave. Sun Wukong was a good monkey who rescued his master and completed the quest for the scriptures. Therefore, both the five hundred years ago where Zhenzhuoba was in the Spider Web Cave and the five hundred years later where the Gang Leader was in the Spider Web Cave are stories from another timeline. Both exist solely to rewrite history. And at the film’s conclusion, don’t Wukong and the others depart from the “Bodhi Cave” to continue their quest? Here, combining this with the earlier point about “the time Tang Sanzang was captured by Bull Demon King during his time travel,” we can deduce that the four disciples setting out from the Bodhi Cave also belong to another timeline.
“A Chinese Odyssey” is such a magical film—viewed at different stages of life, it seems to offer fresh insights each time. Revisiting it now, I even wonder if the character of Supreme Treasure mirrors Stephen Chow himself. It’s said that Stephen Chow’s fame grew inversely proportional to his popularity among people. Some claim he’s a genius in filmmaking but a scoundrel in relationships. The same holds true for Zhenzhu Bao. Destined to be a peerless hero, he shows no heroic spirit toward women, instead being promiscuous and utterly unscrupulous. His habit of loving one woman after another, never knowing whom he truly loves, and constantly lying—this is clearly the behavior of a typical dark Cancer man. This aligns with Stephen Chow’s own zodiac sign—though this interpretation may be grasping at straws. Yet no matter how cleverly this suspected Cancer man navigates life, he cannot escape fate’s cycle. After five centuries of time-traveling, he inevitably encounters Fairy Zixia. Just as Sun Wukong cannot escape Mount Wuzhi under the Buddha’s palm, destiny bestows upon him the title of peerless hero, fearing no escape. Whether this is a tragedy or a blessing remains unclear—perhaps it’s more a sense of helplessness.
Mark Liu described this as a tragedy told through comedy. Whether Zhenzhu Bao truly loves anyone, or why Tang Seng must be so verbose—none of it truly matters. This is a tale where three timelines intertwine, with actors portraying multiple roles. It’s clear the director wanted to show that people bound by fate, even through countless cycles, cannot escape each other. After traversing time and witnessing countless versions of Zhenzhenbao, the monk ultimately renounces all worldly attachments, devoting himself wholly to the Buddha. We, who believe ourselves well-versed in history, know only that the “Water Curtain Cave” became the “Bodhi Cave” and that Sun Wukong defeated the Bull Demon King—yet remain unaware of the hidden mysteries and events that may lie behind these familiar narratives. “A Chinese Odyssey” adopts this voyeuristic perspective, stretching the timeline to reveal the “true story behind the story.” It truly makes one feel how insignificant and ignorant we are in the face of destiny and power—before the Jade Emperor himself.
Please specify：Anime Phone Cases » A Chinese Odyssey Part One – Pandora’s Box 1995 Film Review: Using voyeuristic perspectives and parallel timelines to reveal the inevitability of fate