{"id":1943,"date":"2011-06-30T13:22:54","date_gmt":"2011-06-30T05:22:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.happybonsai.com\/?p=1943"},"modified":"2011-06-30T13:22:54","modified_gmt":"2011-06-30T05:22:54","slug":"zhong-kui-feng-shui-chinese-japanese-mythology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/happybonsai.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/30\/zhong-kui-feng-shui-chinese-japanese-mythology\/","title":{"rendered":"Zhong Kui \u2013 The Ghostbuster in Chinese and Japanese Mythology"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bonsai<\/a>
Portion of scroll showing Sh\u014dki; Late Heian Period; a treasure of the Nara National Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Only until recently have I learned from a Japanese bonsai friend that Zhong Kui (\u937e\u9997 in Chinese) is not only a well-known mythology character in Chinese culture, but also in the Japanese culture. Well, I shouldn\u2019t be too surprised since there is so much in common between the two cultures.<\/p>\n

In Japanese, Zhong Kui is called Shoki.<\/p>\n

The Story of Zhong Kui<\/h3>\n

It is said that Zhong Kui is the deity who is the king of 80,000 ghosts and demons. According to folklore, Zhong Kui (712-756 AD) was a physician in the Tang era, a man with a very ugly appearance. To advance his career, he took the national examination at the capital and performed brilliantly, scoring the highest among all applicants. But due to his ugly appearance, Zhong Kui was rejected by the emperor. In shame and anger, Zhong Kui committed suicide in front of the emperor. Regretted his wrong committed, the emperor ordered that Zhong Kui be buried with the highest honor. After death, Zhong Kui became the king of ghosts in Hell, and in gratitude, Zhong Kui vowed to be a vanquisher of evil spirits.<\/p>\n

\"Bonsai<\/a> \"Bonsai<\/a>
\nThe bat is often seen together with Zhong Kui as a symbol of good fortune and happiness.
\n\"Bonsai<\/a>
\nLook closer, you will find a red bat on the tip of Zhong Kui’s folding fan.<\/p>\n

Protector against Evil Spirits & Illness<\/h3>\n

In China, like many other Feng Shui items, Zhong Kui\u2019s paintings and statues are often placed at the household entrance as a guardian spirit, as well as in places of business with high-valued goods. In Japan, during Edo-period (1615-1868), Shoki was very popular. People hung images of Shoki outside their houses to ward off evil spirits during the Boys\u2019 Day festival (May 5 of each year). Nowadays, Shoki is relatively neglected, except in Kyoto, where residents still decorate their houses with Shoki\u2019s statues to ward off evil and illness, and to protect the male members of the family.<\/p>\n

\"Bonsai<\/a>
Zhong Kui has also become one of Peking Opera\u2019s most popular and beloved characters.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Only until recently have I learned from a Japanese bonsai friend that Zhong Kui (\u937e\u9997 in Chinese) is not only a well-known mythology character in Chinese culture, but also in the Japanese culture. Well, I shouldn\u2019t be too surprised since there is so much in common between the two cultures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13,5],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/happybonsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1943"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/happybonsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/happybonsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happybonsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happybonsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/happybonsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1943\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/happybonsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happybonsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happybonsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}