Zhong Kui

Sources The earliest extant reference to Zhong Kui appears in the Supplementary Notes to Dream Pool Essays by the Northern Song scholar Shen Kuo, which mentions a Zhong Kui portrait then attributed to the Tang painter Wu Daozi together with its inscription. By the Ming anthology Tianzhongji (, Records from Mount Tianzhong), quoting Tang Yishi (), the story of Zhong Kui catching ghosts had taken on its standard form. Tang dynasty customs attested in practice From the High Tang onward, it became customary for the emperor to bestow Zhong Kui portraits on ministers at year's end, and several sources record the practice: • Zhang Yue's Memorial of Thanks for the Bestowal of a Zhong Kui Portrait and Calendar (), describes how the imperial gift of a Zhong Kui painting and a new almanac was woven into New-Year celebrations during Emperor Xuanzong's reign. • Liu Yuxi submitted two analogous memorials in Emperor Dezong's reign: Memorial, on Behalf of Vice-Minister Li, Thanking for a Zhong Kui Portrait and New Calendar () and Memorial, on Behalf of Chancellor Du, Thanking for a Zhong Kui Portrait and New Calendar (). Both record that the court distributed Zhong Kui paintings, so officials could ward off evil at year's end. • ''New-Year's Eve Invocation to Zhong Kui for Performing Nuo to Expel Evil'' () recorded in Dunhuang manuscript, shows Zhong Kui acting as the evil-repelling protagonist in New-Year Nuo rites. Taken together, these accounts indicate that by the time of Emperor Xuanzong, Zhong Kui's evil-quelling image was already widespread in both court ritual and popular custom. Later reinforcement of Zhong Kui's image In literary works such as Zhong Kui: The Complete Chronicles (), The Tale of Quelling Ghosts () and The Tale of Slaying Ghosts (), Zhong Kui is further portrayed as an incorruptible champion of justice who rids the world of evil on behalf of the people, and is held in deep popular esteem. In summary, Zhong Kui's true origin remains unresolved; his figure and worship are the cumulative result of folk practice, religious ritual, and literary-artistic creation across a long sweep of history. Tales and cultural reference In the Supplementary Notes to Dream Pool Essays, Shen Kuo records seeing a painting, then attributed to Wu Daozi (), the renowned Tang painter, together with an inscription recounting a dream of Emperor Xuanzong. According to the inscription, during the Kaiyuan reign, Emperor Xuanzong (, also known as Tang Minghuang) returned to the palace after supervising military exercises on Mount Li, fell ill, and remained unwell for more than a month. One night, he dreamed of two ghosts: a small red-trousered spirit—shod on one foot, the other shoe hanging at its belt, bamboo fan in hand—who snatched Consort Yang's (, Yang Guifei; Taoist name Taizhen) purple sachet and the emperor's jade flute and raced about the hall, and a larger, fearsome figure in a battered cap and blue robe, one sleeve stripped and both legs bound in hide, who seized the thief, gouged out its eyes and swallowed them. The emperor asked the larger ghost his name. He replied, "My humble name is Zhong Kui—once a failed candidate in the imperial military examination". Waking up, Xuanzong thereupon ordered the court painter Wu Daozi to depict the dream exactly as he had seen it. Wu completed the commission, and when the painting was presented, the emperor marvelled that the image corresponded to his vision in every detail. In the painting, ghost-servants hoist banners and parasols, sound horns and bear a bridal palanquin, lending a celebratory air to a subject otherwise devoted to evil-banishing. For this reason, the painting stands apart from sterner counterparts (such as Driving Away Evil in Dragon Boat Festival (), Zhongkui Catching Ghosts (), and Shenshuand Yulü (). According to folklore, Zhong Kui travelled with Du Ping (), a friend from his hometown, to take part in the state-wide imperial examinations held in the capital city Chang'an. Though Zhong Kui attained great academic success through his achievement of top honors in the major exams, his rightful title of "Zhuangyuan" (top-scorer) was stripped from him by the then emperor because of his disfigured and ugly appearance. ==Popularization in later dynasties==

Zhong Kui's popularity in folklore can be traced to the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang China (712 to 756). According to Song dynasty sources, once the Emperor Xuanzong was gravely ill and had a dream in which he saw two ghosts. The smaller of the ghosts stole a purse from imperial consort Yang Guifei and a flute belonging to the emperor. The larger ghost, wearing the hat of an official, captured the smaller ghost, tore out his eye and ate it; then, he introduced himself as Zhong Kui. He said that he had sworn to rid the empire of evil. When the emperor awoke, he had recovered from his illness. So he commissioned the court painter Wu Daozi to produce an image of Zhong Kui to show to the officials. This was highly influential to later representations of Zhong Kui. ==Iconography and worship==

In ancient depictions, Zhong Kui is usually depicted in a blue robe and a battered cap, summed up by the terse line "Cap ragged, robe blue, horned belt at the waist". Today, the prevailing image shows him in vermilion court robe and a black gauze cap, sometimes carrying a sword at his side, at other times holding a folding fan, while he stands upon a subdued ghost. Five diminutive ghost-servants surround him, each bearing a specific object— a lantern, a seal, a parasol, a horse-lead and a gourd—an image known by the folks as "five-ghost portage", thought either to ferry wealth or to symbolise five ghostly aides able to subdue the Five Plague Gods. A bat usually hovers beside Zhong Kui: it scouts for evil spirits and, because in Chinese "蝠" (fú, bat) homophones with "福" (fú, fortune), also conveys a wish for blessing. In the Tang dynasty, Zhong Kui worship first took shape, and its earliest complete record links him to Emperor Xuanzong. Tradition relates that Xuanzong once dreamed of Zhong Kui chasing away a malignant spirit from the palace; on waking, he ordered the court painter to set down the figure so that it might guard the precincts and rout evil, thereby securing Zhong Kui's title of "Ghost-Repelling Deity". Tang scholar-officials such as Zhang Yue and Liu Yuxi record receiving Zhong Kui portraits as seasonal gifts. The Dunhuang manuscripts likewise preserve ritual texts, among them New-Year's Eve Invocation to Zhong Kui for Performing Nuo to Expel Evil, which shows that his image had already assumed an important place in state ceremony. In the Song and Yuan periods, Daoism placed Zhong Kui on the divine register, honouring him as "Sage Lord Who Bestows Fortune and Guards the Household" () and charging him with protecting dwellings, banishing evil and ushering in good fortune. Among common folks, his worship deepened as well: at Chinese New Year, house-warmings, shop openings and temple fairs, people would hang his portrait or perform the rite of "Zhong Kui Dance" () to drive away evil and secure peace. In this rite, a performer portraying Zhong Kui dons vermilion court robe and a mask, brandishes a sword or holds a symbolic bat, and enacts the banishment of calamity together with the bestowal of blessings. In addition, the Ming-period medical classic Bencao Gangmu (, Compendium of Materia Medica) records that portraits of Zhong Kui were burnt to ash and combined with other herbs to make pills used against obstructed labour, malaria and similar ailments, showing that his worship extended even into folk medicine. In the present day, Zhong Kui worship remains active across many regions of China, flourishing above all in Zhouzhi, Shaanxi (held to be his native county), throughout the Jiang–Huai region, in southern Fujian (Minnan) and in Taiwan. Devotees employ images, rites and dramatic performance to intensify his twin symbols of evil-banishing and fortune-bringing. == Legacy ==

Zhong Kui and his legend became a popular theme in later Chinese painting, art, and folklore. Pictures of Zhong Kui used to be frequently hung up in households to scare away ghosts. His character was and still is especially popular in New Year pictures. The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force named an interceptor fighter, the Nakajima Ki-44 as Shōki in World War II after him. ==In art==

Twentieth-century painter Quan Xianguang (b. 1932) painted Zhong Kui as a burly, hairy man holding a sturdy sword in his bared right arm. File:Dai Jin. The Night Excursion of Zhong Kui. 189,7x120,2. Palace Museum, Beijing.jpg|Dai Jin's The Night Excursion of Zhong Kui (15th century), depicting Zhong Kui undertaking a night patrol while being carried in a sedan chair by four demons File:Zhong Kui in a Wintry Grove.jpeg|Wen Zhengming's Zhong Kui in a Wintry Grove (Ming dynasty), matching Ge Hong's Master Embracing Simplicity that states that ominous creatures often haunted forests, which is why Zhong Kui is needed there File:Zhong Kui and Spiders, Zhou Xun.jpg|Zhong Kui and Spiders by Zhou Xun (1649–1729), depicting Zhong Kui eyeing spiders dangling down from above (a rebus or auspicious pun for 'joyful things') File:清 任頤 鍾馗 軸-Zhong Kui MET 2002 208 2 O.jpg|Ren Yi's Zhong Kui (1883), in which Zhong Kui appears as an elegant but somewhat eccentric scholar, with his sword sheathed and a blossom in his hair, as he decorously reads File:Auspicious_Omen_of_Abundant_Peace.jpg|Auspicious Omen of Abundant Peace (Qing dynasty), humorously depicting Zhong Kui being shocked as he looks at his grotesque visage in the mirror File:Zhong Kui, xylograph, late 19th or early 20th century.jpg|Zhong Kui is seen waving his sword at five bats representing the five blessings, as if symbolically bringing these fortunes down to someone as recipient, depicted in a late 19th or early 20th century xylograph File:Zhong Kui, the Demon Queller.jpg|Zhong Kui, the Demon Queller (17th century), in which Zhong Kui rides an ox while quelled demons carry his sword or lead his ox File:Zhong Kui, the demon queller, 16th century.jpg|A 16th-century painting, depicting a seated Zhong Kui File:Zhong Kui, by Lu Xue.jpg|A 17th-century painting by Lu Xue, depicting Zhong Kui with demons File:Zhong Kui painted by the Shunzhi Emperor.jpg|A painting by the Shunzhi Emperor (r. 1643–1661) of the Qing dynasty File:Shoki2 detail.jpg|A detail of Okumura Masanobu's Shōki zu (Shōki striding), dated . File:Zhong Kui and his Assistants Under Willows.jpg|Fei Danxu's Zhong Kui and his Assistants Under Willows (1832), depicting Zhong Kui and his demon helpers File:Zhong Kui, by Min Zhen.jpeg|Zhong Kui by Min Zhen (1730–after 1791), depicting Zhong Kui riding a quadrupedal creature File:Zhong Kui, 1776.jpg|A 1776 painting by Min Zhen, in which Zhong Kui sits and leans on a chair File:Zhong Kui and Demons Crossing a Bridge.jpg|Zhong Kui and Demons Crossing a Bridge (16th century), depicting Zhong Kui on a donkey File:Zhong Kui Appreciating Plum Blossom, 18th century.jpg|Zhong Kui Appreciating Plum Blossom (18th century) File:Masayuki tsuba omote.jpg|Copper tsuba depicting Shōki, by Masayuki Tsuba (1695–1769) ==Temples==

• Zhong Kui Temple () in Guanqiao, Hunan • Shuiwei Zhengwei Temple () in Xizhou, Changhua • Guang Lu Temple () in Zhuqi, Chiayi • Wu Fu Temple () in Wanhua, Taipei • Zhong Nan Old Temple (), Batu Pahat, Johor • Shōki Shrine () in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto ==In popular culture==

's Zhongshan Going on Excursion (13th or 14th century), depicting Zhong Kui and his sister setting out on a hunting expedition, with a retinue of subjugated demons carrying Zhong Kui's sword, household goods, pots of wine, and even smaller demons that they have captured The Dance of Zhong Kui () developed under the Song dynasty and was adapted into opera under the Ming. It is also a form of ritual for exorcism and purification purpose. this tradition still survives today across China, both in the north especially the Huyi District of Shaanxi and in the south especially She County of Anhui, and Taiwan. Zhong Kui was a minor deity in the 2015 expansion "Tale of the Dragon" of the videogame Age of Mythology. Not available in Age of Mythology: Retold. Zhong Kui was released as a deity in the video game Smite in 2013. In 2025, Game Science announced Black Myth: Zhong Kui, a videogame based on Zhong Kui as main character. ==See also==