Tributes have been pouring in for Yang Jie, director of the most watched Chinese TV series, Journey to the West. She passed away on Saturday at the age of 88, according to actors that Yang used to work with.

Yang was China's first ever female producer and among the very first generation of China’s TV directors. She is best known for her pioneering work in the industry, but especially for her directorial work in the 1986 television series Journey to the West, which was adapted from the classic novel of the same name. 

Liu Xiao Ling Tong, the actor who played the Monkey King, posted a message on Weibo earlier on Monday to pay tribute. “Yang was a great loss to Chinese television. If there was no Journey to the West, I would not have made any of my achievements.”‍

Born in Hubei Province in 1929, Yang once worked at China National Radio and China Central Television. She was listed as one of China's top ten television directors in 1988. 

Yang's Journey to the West has been hailed by many as a classic, having been rebroadcast more than 3,000 times since it was first screened in 1986. 

It was really a feat in the 1980s, a time before computer animation technology. Let's take a look back at the TV series Journey to the Success.