Chinese Mythology · God / Legendary Figure
钟馗 · Zhōng Kuí
The failed scholar who took his own life — and became the underworld's demon-hunter.
钟馗
Zhong Kui topped the imperial examination, then was stripped of his rightful first-place rank because the emperor found him too ugly. Humiliated, he took his own life at the palace gates — and in death became King of Ghosts, a hunter and judge of evil spirits, his fearsome face turned against the very demons that frighten the living.
The origin legend: Emperor Xuanzong of Tang dreamed of Zhong Kui devouring a thieving imp and woke cured of illness. He had the painter Wu Daozi capture the vision, and Zhong Kui's portrait became a New Year talisman hung on doorways to ward off evil.
A fixture of door-guardian art and New Year customs — and the title character of the upcoming game Black Myth: Zhong Kui.
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