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18th century
Photo courtesy of
Minneapolis
Institute of Art
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SHŌKI 鍾馗 - THE DEMON SLAYER
Protector Against Evil Spirits & Illness
Expels the Demons of Plague
Guardian -- Safety of Hearth & Home
Protects Homes with Male Children
Protects Male Heirs to the Chinese Throne
Origin = China
Chinese Name = Zhongkui or Chung Kuei
 
Stone Statue, Taishō Era (1912-1925),
in garden of private home in Kamakura
Below text from Minneapolis Institute of Art
According to Japanese folklore, the spirit of the physician Shōki is able to scare away demons. Families with male children even today hang images of Shōki outside their houses to ward off evil spirits during the Boys' Day festival (Tango no Sekku, May 5 each year, but now a festival for all children of both sexes).
Who is Shōki ? During the early T'ang Dynasty, Shōki was a physician in the province of Shensi, China. He was considered very ugly. Hoping to advance his career, he took the examinations required to enter government service. Although he performed brilliantly, Shōki's dreams of advancement were shattered. Some say Shōki was cruelly cheated out of first place. Others say he was awarded first place by the examiners, who praised his work, saying it was equal to that of the wisest ancients. [Site Editor’s Note. This is perhaps wrong. See JAANUS entry below.]
But when Shōki was presented to the court, the emperor rejected him because he was so ugly. In shame, Shōki took his own life on the steps of the imperial palace, right in front of the emperor. Overcome with remorse, the emperor ordered that Shōki be buried with the highest honors, wrapped in a green robe usually reserved for members of the imperial clan. In gratitude, Shōki's spirit vowed to protect any ruler against the evil of demons.
The popular story of Shōki was adopted from China, where he was known as Chung Kuei. During the Edo Period in Japan (1600-1868), families began to hang banners depicting Shōki inside and outside of their houses during the Boys' Day festival. Boys' Day is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar year. According to ancient tradition, this is a day when evil spirits and bad luck abounds. Images of Shōki ward off danger from the homes of families with male children. <end text Minneapolis Institute of Art>
Shōki the Demon Slayer - Print by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka
Courtesy of Ukiyo-e Museum - Nagoya TV Server
Below Text Courtesy of JAANUS
Shōki 鍾馗 (Ch. = Zhongkui). A god in the Chinese Taoist pantheon known as the "Demon-queller," often depicted in sculpture and painting. A devoted but flawed student, Zhongkui failed the national examination and in despair committed suicide. When Emperor Xuanzong 玄宗 (Jp: Gensō, 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 Zhongkui. In return, the ghost of Zhongkui appeared to Xuanzong in a dream and promised to protect the empire from evil demons. Another version holds that when the Emperor was ill Zhongkui appeared in a dream and killed the demons who had plagued the Emperor, and in gratitude Xuanzong awarded Zhongkui the title. Pictures of Zhongkui 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 Zhongkui under the eaves of a house survives in Japan. In paintings Zhongkui 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 Zhongkui from the Tang period, but a painting attributed to the Nothern Song artist Li Gonglin 李公麟 (Jp: Ri Kōrin, 1049?-1106) seems to be the earliest extant image. In Japan, of the countless paintings of Zhongkui, those by Yamada Dōan 山田道安 (fl.16c, Enkakuji 円覚寺, Kanagawa Prefecture), Kanō 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. <end JAANUS quote>
Shōki figure, often found above entrances to Japanese homes
Photo courtesy of http://ha7.seikyou.ne.jp/home/hatt/ (J site)
For about 10 more photos, please visit:
http://ha7.seikyou.ne.jp/home/hatt/satuei-note.htm
Shōki -- Closeup of Woodblock Print, Bijin-ga, Pre-1920
Photo courtesy of Ichiban Japanese Antiques. On sale at www.fareastasianart.com
Ivory Netsuke, Shōki and Oni (demon), Hidemasa, 19th century
Courtesy www.netsuke-inro.com/Netsuke/Ivory/ivory05.htm
Shōki - Ivory Netsuke
Image courtesy of Sloan's Auctioneers & Appraisers
1701 - 1800 (standing, oni on head)
Shōki, the Demon Slayer. Photo courtesy http://sell-antique.com
 
Above two photos courtesy Mark T. Hacala
Director, Education Institute U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation, Washington, DC
Writes Mark: “I wanted to offer you my understanding of the Shōki statues. They sit over the doors of a great many homes and buildings in Kyoto. Each year I have my students play "spot the Shōki" as we move through the city. A Kyoto cabbie informed my counterpart that some people also place them in their homes above their stoves. In either case, he suggested that Shōki was supposed to be a protector against fire as well as a general-purpose guardian deity.” <end quote from Mark Hacala, April 2004>
Shōki, glaring authoritatively over the eaves of a town house
Copyright (C) 1997 KYOTO Internet Magazine/ City of Kyoto
Says Kyoto Internet Magazine: Eyes wide open, a small earthenware image of the Taoistic immortal, Shōki-san, glares out into space from the roof of a house. Facing the street from above the eaves of Kyoto's town houses, Shōki-san is as intense in these modern times as ever. This legendary character is said to have appeared in a dream of the Tang emperor, Xuan Zung, and brought him back to health by expelling the devil of illness.
Therefore, Shōki-san stands above the eaves, receiving prayers from the house occupants for safety in the home and protection from illness. Shōki-san is easily recognized by his heavy beard and the short sword in his right hand, while the hems of his garments are forever trailing in the wind. There is something strange about those wide, glaring eyes. A closer examination suggests a facial expression that is not without humour. Is there anything more one could ask for in a deity protecting our homes? <end text from Kyoto Internet Magazine>
BELOW TEXT
Source Unknown. Likely from Minneapolis Institute of Art
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Demon-Queller Zhong Kui)
Circa 1745, woodblock print, ink on paper (sumizuri-e) with hand-coloring; urushi-e; pillar print (hashira-e); John Chandler Bancroft Collection, 1901.1201.
Photo: worcesterart.org
Shoki Sharpening Sword
by Okumura Masanobu.
Date unknown. Clarence Buckingham Collection.
Photo: Art Institute of Chicago
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Background. Japan and China. When the Japanese imported Buddhism from China in the 6th century, they also assumed many other aspects of Chinese culture, including their mythology. The popular story of Shōki was adopted from China, where he was known as Chung Kuei. During the Edo period in Japan (1600-1868), families began to hang banners depicting Shōki inside and outside of their houses during the Boys' Day festival. Boys' Day is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar year. According to ancient tradition, this is a day when evil spirits and bad luck abounds. Images of Shōki ward off danger from the homes of families with male children.
Rising Merchant Class. During Japan's Edo period, great cities and a new, prosperous merchant class flourished. Middle-class tastes were significantly different from those of the Buddhist priests and shogunate (the government under a shogun) that had dominated artistic patronage in the past. Members of the new middle class preferred scenes of everyday life and illustrations of folk stories like Shōki the Demon Queller. By the 18th century many artists depicted Shōki in prints for this new audience.
Prints. As a result of this new patronage and the development of a many-colored woodblock printing process, an abundance of printed materials were made available to all. Novels, pictures, and poetry helped inform the Japanese of their own cultural heritage as well artistic styles and themes imported from China. For commoners who could not afford a painting, these new prints offered an affordable alternative.
The long narrow format of PILLAR PRINTS, achieved by pasting together two sheets of paper, was popular and practical. Whereas most prints were pasted into albums, pillar prints were hung in the home. The traditional Japanese house had very few walls, and the sliding doors that divided the rooms were made of paper. Structural wooden pillars were the only place where pictures could be hung.
Masanobu. The artist Okumura Masanobu 奥村政信 (1686-1764) invented the popular pillar print format. He was one of Japan's most important painters and printmakers during the 18th century. By his own account, Masanobu was responsible for dozens of technical and stylistic innovations in printmaking.
Shōki, the Demon Queller. Shōki typically appears as a portly bewhiskered man. He wears scholar's robes, a hat, and heavy knee-high boots and carries a large sword. His large eyes, bulbous nose, and fierce expression are also characteristic features. In this print Shōki rounds a corner in hot pursuit of a demon. His eyes bulge out as he spies his prey. His left hand tenses, while his right reaches for his long broad sword.
Masanobu deftly varies his use of line to convey mood, texture, and mass. The thick, wavy, jagged outlines of Shōki's drapery capture his intense vitality. The fine delicate lines of his wild windblown beard and hair contrast the thicker lines of his bushy eyebrows and mustache. Masanobu uses dramatic shading in light and dark to emphasize the bulk of the figure. Masanobu creatively uses this narrow vertical format to enhance his storytelling. Shōki does not fill the length of the print, but is relegated instead to the lower two-thirds. This position emphasizes his short and portly stature. By cropping from view much of Shōki's arms, one leg, and the ends of his hair and beard, Masanobu gives the impression of catching a quick glimpse of the elusive demon queller.
The characters (the SYMBOLS used in the Japanese writing system) placed in the lower left corner of this pillar print of Shōki, are the artist Masanobu's studio name, Hogetsudo, and his signature, Okumura Bunkaku Masanobu.
BELOW PHOTO AND TEXT:
Text & Photo Courtesy of the Tokyo National Museum
The scroll, however, is a treasure of Nara National Museum.
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Portion of scroll showing Shōki
Late Heian Period, H = 25.9 cm, W = 45.2 cm
Photo courtesy Tokyo National Museum
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All the deities shown here are considered, in China, to be benevolent deities who expel the “demons of plague.” This set was originally mounted as a handscroll that was known as the "second edition of the Masuda family Hell Scroll." After the war, the handscroll was cut into sections and the paintings mounted as hanging scrolls. The acts of each of the gods in exterminating evil are briefly explained in the texts accompanying the illustrations.
A Buddhist tale (J. setsuwa) relates that Shōki, a demon-quelling deity from China, protected the Tang emperor Xuanzong (685-762) from malevolent demons. He is portrayed with large eyes and a thick beard and is wearing a black robe, hat, and tall boots. Here, he is shown strangling a small demon.
This scroll, called the Extermination of Evil (Hekija-e 辟邪絵) or Exorcists Scroll, is conjectured to have been made during the time of Emperor Goshirakawa (1127-1192) in the latter part of the Heian period (794-1185) and kept in the treasure house of Rengeo-in Temple (Sanjūsangendō). <end TNM quote>
Shōki - painting by artist Sesson Shukei 雪村周継 (1504-1589)
Photo Courtesy Kyoto National Museum, http://www.kyohaku.go.jp
LEARN MORE
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 "Shoki The Demon Slayer, Stone Statue, Meiji Era")
 "Shoki The Demon Slayer, Stone Statue, Meiji Era")
