“I was too ugly to be appointed and had no opportunity to serve the government of the living.”
(Painting by emperor 20a-09, Xiànzōng 宪宗, the Chénghuà 成化 emperor of the Míng 明 dynasty, about 1485.)
Emperor Xuánzōng 玄宗 = an infatuated monarch
YÁNG Guìfēi 杨贵妃 = his flirtatious concubine
ĀN Lù shān 安禄山 = a rebel
ZHŌNG Kuí 钟馗 = a hideous demon now in the service of the Jade Emperor to exorcize demons
Emperor Xuánzōng 玄宗 of the Táng 唐 dynasty (reign 12a-9, 700s AD) is famed for his beautiful concubine, YÁNG Guìfēi 杨贵妃. He was so utterly infatuated with her that he eventually allowed the empire to fall into the hands of her protégé, the rebel ĀN Lù shān 安禄山. In the end, a coalition of the emperor’s own soldiers forced him to order that she hang herself, after which he abdicated and retired to mourn her.
However there is also a story of this emperor and his beloved concubine that is associated with the Dragon Boat Festival (Duānwǔjié 端午节). The Dragon Boat Festival occurs in the fifth lunar month, which is sometimes called the “poison month” (dúyuè 毒月) or the “evil month” (èyuè 恶月) because it is when disease is especially dangerous and plagues are most likely to emerge across the land.
His imperial majesty was traveling in the vicinity of Mount Lí 骊山 in Shǎanxī 陕西 province when he came down with a severe illness and his temperature fluctuated wildly, and the voyage had to be stopped to allow him to recover.
In a delirious slumber, he dreamt he was visited by a small demon. It wore a red skirt and had a great shoe on one foot while the other was naked. It came in and stole the scented bag belonging to the concubine Yáng Guìfēi and a jade flute, and then scampered off. (We are ignoring the obvious Freudian symbolism here, right?)
Shortly thereafter, in came a very much larger demon, with a long blue robe and a black hat, who chased after the smaller demon, caught him and ate him. He turned and looked at the emperor.
“Who are you?” asked emperor Xuánzōng.
“I am ZHŌNG Kuí 钟馗. Although I rose to the academic rank of a state doctorate (jìnshì 进士), I was too ugly to be appointed and had no opportunity to serve the government of the living. However now I serve the Jade Emperor by exorcizing demons.”
When the emperor awoke, his fever had vanished, and he was well again, so he knew that his illness had been caused by the small demon that Zhōng Kuí had destroyed.
He told his dream to the court painter, WÚ Dàozǐ 吴道子, who painted the scene. This painting, called “Zhōng Kuí Seizes the Demon” (Zhōng Kuí Zhuō Guǐ Tú 钟馗捉鬼图) or simply “Zhōng Kuí Picture (Zhōng Kuí Tú 钟馗图) has been reproduced in paintings and prints ever since that time and displayed at the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in commemoration of this event, and in gratitude for Zhōng Kuí’s efforts on behalf of humans.
[For another story about Zhōng Kuí, and a picture of him, click here.]