Handscroll Zhongkui, China, 18th CenturyChina's Tang Dynasty (618-922 AD), whose capital Chang'an (present day Xian) was the largest city in the world, continued the practice of earlier Dynasties to offer imperial examinations for civil servant positions within the government. During that time, a young man named Zhong Kui went to take the examinations and took for a traveling companion, a friend from his village, Du Ping. According to legend, Zhong achieved the highest possible scores on his tests and was awarded the highest honors, but when the emperor saw him at the presentation, Zhong's grotesquely disfigured head caused the emperor to withdraw his award. Zhong was so upset, he committed suicide on the spot by repeatedly slamming his head into a gate at the palace. Shortly thereafter, his friend Du Ping buried him.When Zhong Kui met Yama, the wrathful Hindu god who presided over Naraka (similar to hell, where unpleasant tortures await each guest for a lengthy period of time before rebirth into a higher world), he so impressed Yama by his intelligence and because he was committed to damnation in hell for his suicide, Yama made him the King of the Ghosts, forever to hunt, capture, maintain and order ghosts.He returned to his hometown on Chinese New Year's and to repay Du Ping for his kindness, offered his younger sister in marriage. To this day, his image protects homes and businesses from intruding demons and evil spirits.This anonymous, oversized Chinese ink-and-color handscroll illustrates the Wedding Procession of the Sister of Zhong Kui , the Demon Queller. In this painting, the closely attended bride sits on a palanquin carried by demons, as she leads the procession. She faces backward to watch her brother, Zhong, riding on a donkey while Du Ping rides a buffalo, as demons, with grossly distorted heads, carry supplies needed for the event.Provenance: The Carmen M and Allen D Christensen Collection, Atherton, CAPreviously on loan to the Iris and B Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University, Loan number L.8.16.2008, Qing Dynasty (1644-1910 AD), probably 18th century. 65 x 16.5 inches