October 15, 2009

A figure of Chinese mythology, Zhong Kui is one of the Chinese famous folk gods and later was brought into the deity system. He is traditionally regarded as a vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings, and reputedly able to command 80,000 demons. His image is often painted on household gates as a guardian spirit, as well as in places of business where high-value goods are involved.

As legend has it, he lived in Zhongnan Mountain in the early Tang Dynasty. He was born with a panther-like head, ring-like eyes, an iron face and curly whiskers. Though very ugly, he was a profoundly learned and talented figure. As a man of integrity, he always upheld justice and feared no evil or mischievous being. In 712 when the emperor ascended the throne, he travelled with Du Ping, a close friend from his hometown, to take part in the imperial examinations at the capital. Impressed by his five poems entitled Holding Banquets in Yingzhou, the chief examiner praised him as a prodigy and enrolled him top of all examinees. During the palace examination, however, a treacherous minister judged him by the appearance, and repeatedly spoke ill of him before the emperor. As a result, he failed to claim championship in the exam. In anger, he committed suicide upon the palace steps by hurling himself against the palace gate until his head was broken. The entire court was shocked. Du buried him. After he became king of ghosts in Hell, he returned to his hometown on the Chinese New Year's Eve. To repay Du's kindness, he gave his younger sister in marriage to Du.

His popularity in folklore can be traced to the event when the emperor was suddenly sick seriously on the way to patrol. He couldn't get better after many treatments and was very anxious. He 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 bigger ghost, wearing the hat of an official, captured the smaller ghost, tore out his eye and ate it. The bigger ghost then 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 to show to the officials. This was highly influential to later representations of Zhong. As the emperor himself is a crazy Taoist adherent, with his great support, Zhong gradually established his position as the god that catches ghosts.

Besides stories of catching ghosts, there are a lot of other stories about Zhong, such as Zhong Kui Married off His Little Sister. There are still countless literary works about him, including dramas, novels and so on.

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