1288
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Lantern Night Excursion of Zhong Kui is a 1288 unspecified by Yan Hui, a Ming Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a long scroll of demons in ragged clothes dancing, juggling, and beating drums under a full moon. Their faces are exaggerated, almost like masks, and their muscles bulge as they perform tricks. This painting shows a real New Year’s tradition from southeast China. Poor people dressed as demons would parade through towns to scare away bad luck. The artist turned a street ritual into a wild, lively scene. If you like this, look up *china, yuan dynasty (1271-1368)* for more paintings from the same time.
Here, the demon queller Zhong Kui leads a nightly procession of street entertainers with bare, muscular bodies and demonic faces. Some wear shabby clothes, and all perform stunts and tricks to astound and scare the viewer. In fact, a New Year custom in cities of southeast China had the poor, disguised as demons, process through the streets and play their tricks to clear households of evil spirits and welcome the spring. From right to left, a demonic figure leads the procession and beats a drum; another lifts a large rock; one stands on his hands trying to drink; one balances a jar on his…
Zhong Kui was an ancient ghostbuster.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Yan Hui (simplified Chinese: 颜辉; traditional Chinese: 顏輝; pinyin: Yán Huī; Wade–Giles: Yen Hui); was a late 13th-century Chinese painter who lived during the Southern Song and early Yuan dynasties.
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