Demon Queller
By Kano Sukonobu (1730-1790)
Edo Period, 18th century
Color on silk
61 x 112 cm
Cat. 266106
© The Field Museum
Shoki, the demon queller or demon slayer, is a Chinese legendary figure who is one of the most popular subjects for both Chinese and Japanese artists. Paintings with his image are often seen in ordinary households, since people believe he can dispel demons and guard their houses.
The story about Shoki is as follows: Emperor Xuan Zong of the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907) in China was tortured by nightmares in which imps kept disturbing him. One day he dreamed that a big bearded demon appeared and swallowed the imps. The big demon then revealed himself as Zhong Kui (the Chinese name for Shoki), a scholar who failed in the imperial exam and killed himself. The Emperor was touched and summoned Wu Daozi, one of the most famous painters in Chinese history, to paint a portrait of Zhong Kui. Wu did, and the Emperor was impressed by how Wu's portrait resembled the image of Zhong Kui in his dream. This is the prototype of Zhong Kui's image: a big man wearing a Chinese scholar's robe and floppy-eared cap, heavily bearded, angry, always holding a magic sword and violently fighting against demons.
However, here we have a rare and most unusual portrayal of Shoki -- he is standing behind his spirited horse with his back facing us. Although we can still see his beard flying, Shoki is not in the act of chasing or killing demons as he is conventionally painted. He seems to be in a quieter and more peaceful mood.
Kano Sukenobu, better known as Eisenin II, was the fifth head of the Kano school of artists at the Kobikicho Atelier, the most predominant of three Kano studios in Edo (Tokyo), then the capital of Japan. The Kano school, founded by Kano Masonobu during the Muromachi period (1392-1573), is the biggest and the most influential pictorial school in Japan. This painting is representative of the academic style of the Kano school which is a mixture of Chinese ink painting with Japanese native decorative painting.
(Commentary by Juan Peng)