Ch: Zhong Kui. A god in the Chinese Daoist pantheon known as the Demon-queller, often depicted in sculpture and painting. A devoted but flawed student, Zhong Kui failed the national examination and in despair committed suicide. When Emperor Xuanzong (Jp: *Gensō 玄宗, 685-762) heard of this extreme act he had the degree and title Doctor of Zhongnanshan (Jp: Shūnanzan-no-Shinshi 終南山の進士) posthumously bestowed on Zhong Kui. In return, the ghost of Zhong Kui appeared to Xuanzong in a dream and promised to protect the empire from evil demons. Another version holds that when the emperor was ill, Zhong Kui appeared in a dream and killed the demons who had plagued the emperor, and in gratitude Xuanzong awarded Zhong Kui the title.
Pictures of Zhong Kui were hung in homes to protect or rid them from demons, especially at the Boy's Festival on May 5, and the practice of placing a small statuette of Zhong Kui under the eaves of a house survives in Japan. In paintings, Zhong Kui is usually shown with large eyes, a bushy beard, and wearing black robes and an official's cap. He is often depicted drawing a large sword or using it in battle with demons. Records mention images of Zhong Kui from the Tang dynasty, but a painting attributed to the Northern Song artist Li Gonglin (Jp: Ri Kōrin 李公麟, 1049?-1106) seems to be the earliest extant image. In Japan, of the countless paintings of Zhong Kui, those by Yamada Dōan 山田道安 (fl. 16th century; Engakuji 円覚寺, Kanagawa Prefecture), Kano Tan'yū 狩野探幽 (1602-74), Watanabe Kazan 渡辺華山 (1793-1841), and Tanomura Chikuden 田能村竹田 (1777-1853) are well known.