Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

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Quelling the Demons

Glossary

Zhong Kui

  • Zhong Kui

    Zhong Kui, or Shōki in Japanese, is a figure from Chinese folklore who appeared to the ailing 8th century Chinese Emperor Xuanzong in a dream and dispatched the demons that were haunting him. Shōki promised the Emperor that he would rid the world of demons.

Past Exhibition

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Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • Modern Chinese Paintings: The Reyes Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford by Shelagh Vainker

    Modern Chinese Paintings: The Reyes Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

    Zhong Kui the Demon Queller derives from Tang legend, having been a poor but ugly scholar in the reign of Emperor Minghuang (712-56), whose unprepossessing looks denied him the recognition his intellect deserved. He is a popular subject not just for professional illustrators such as Gao Made and Cheng Shifa (see cat.no.13 [EA1995.180]), but also for other artists when producing figure paintings (see cat.no. 101 [EA1995.265]). This particularly fiery Zhong Kui is depicted in the style of an opera figure.

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