During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty dreamed that a little ghost had stolen the jade flute and Yang Guifei's embroidered sachet. Xuanzong was furious and suddenly saw a big ghost running into the palace. This ghost had shaggy hair and a curly beard, a terrifying face, a horn belt on his head, a blue robe, and leather bindings on his feet. With one arm exposed, he reached out and grabbed the kid, gouged out his eyes and swallowed them in one gulp. Xuanzong was so horrified that he quickly asked who it was. The big ghost saluted Xuanzong and claimed to be Zhongkui of Zhongnan Mountain. During the Wude period of Emperor Gaozu, he went to Chang'an to take part in the martial arts examination and failed. He returned home in shame and died after touching the steps in front of the palace. Fortunately, the Emperor Gaozu gave him a robe to bury him in, so he remembered it in his heart and vowed to eradicate all evil spirits for the Tang Dynasty. After Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty woke up, he suddenly recovered from his illness. Xuanzong ordered the painter Wu Daozi to paint a picture of Zhong Kui based on what he saw in his dream. After the picture was completed, Xuanzong wrote on the painting: "The spirit only responds to dreams, and the disease is completely healed. Martyrs eliminate demons and deserve to be commended. Because of the abnormal shape of the picture, the award shows that there is a division. It should be exorcised at the end of the year. It is appropriate to understand it thoroughly to get rid of evil spirits." It is charming and calms the demonic atmosphere. It is to inform the world and inform the people." According to the order, Wu Daozi's "Zhong Kui's Ghost Hunting Picture" was printed on the engraving board and distributed to the world, so that the world would know about Zhong Kui's power.
This story is the origin of the well-known Zhong Kui, and the version comes from the "History of Tang Dynasty" quoted by the Ming Dynasty. Later novels such as "Ping Gui Zhuan" developed the iconic feature of Zhong Kui's "ugly appearance" into the plot of "Zhong Kui was disliked by Tang Dezong because of his ugly appearance, failed to get the top prize in high school, and committed suicide in anger". Therefore, it is not certain whether this story has been circulated in the Tang Dynasty. However, it has indeed been a practice since the Tang Dynasty for the emperor to give portraits of ministers Zhong Kui as a New Year gift. For example, celebrities such as Zhang Shuo during the Kaiyuan Dynasty and Liu Yuxi later had works handed down to express their gratitude to Zhong Kui. In addition, people also discovered the Tang Dynasty manuscript "New Year's Eve Zhong Kui Drives the Nuo Wen" in the Dunhuang suicide note, which is evidence that Zhong Kui played the leading role in the Nuo ceremony. Therefore, some people estimate that the origin of Zhong Kui's story may be earlier than the Tang Dynasty.
Shen Kuo of the Northern Song Dynasty had already raised questions about the story of Xuanzong's dream of Zhongkui. He said in the "Supplementary Talk" of "Mengxi Bi Tan" that during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, an ancient tomb was discovered in Shangyuan County, Jinling. It was the tomb of Mrs. Zheng, the mother of Zong Ji, the general of the Southern Song Dynasty Zhengxi. From the inscription, it can be seen that Zong Ji had My sister’s name is Zhong Kui. In addition, the Later Wei Dynasty had Li Zhongkui, and the Sui Dynasty generals had Qiao Zhongkui and Yang Zhongkui. Because we know that "Zhong Kui's name has always been far away, and it did not originate from the time of Kaiyuan."
Ming dynasty Lang Ying, Hu Yinglin and others mostly followed his theory, but their conclusions were different. Lang Ying believes that the prototype of Zhong Kui is Yao Xuan, a native of the Northern Dynasties. His real name is Zhong Kui, and his courtesy name is to ward off evil spirits. Hu Yinglin pointed out that the legend of Zhong Kui catching ghosts "has existed since before the Six Dynasties", so Yao Xuan once named Zhong Kui with the word to ward off evil spirits. There were many people named Zhong Kui in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and they may have taken this meaning.
" and other data, it is believed that the so-called Zhongkui system evolved from "Zhongkui". "Zhongkui" is a kind of sharp weapon - vertebrae. "Dagui" is the ceremonial guard of the emperor in ancient times. The upper end is shaped like a vertebra, so it is called "Dagui Zhongkui's head". The people of Qi spoke slowly, dragging the pronunciation of "vertebral column" into two syllables, which became "Zhongkui". The ancients used vertebrae as a sharp weapon in combat, so there is a description in the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Ma Rong Biography" as "Hui ends with sunflowers and Yangguan ax". "The ancients used vertebrae to drive away ghosts, just like the exorcism used as ears" ("Zhongkui", Volume 32, "Rizhilu"). During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, many people named Zhong Kui or Zhong Kui in the hope that they would be like Zhong Kui, a weapon used by the ancients to stab ghosts, to frighten all ghosts. This meaning eventually evolved into the personified "Zhong Kui" in the Tang Dynasty. In recent years, as a large number of documents from the Qin and Han Dynasties have been unearthed, the fact that using vertebrae to kill ghosts was popular in ancient times has been proven. For example, the Qin Jian "Rishu·Jie Pian" says that if a person is entangled by a mourning ghost, he can "knock his heart with spines and peach handles, and he will not come back." Remember the magic of using iron vertebrae to kill ghosts and cure diseases. Therefore, some people think that Gu Yanwu's explanation of Zhong Kui's origin is credible.
Regarding Zhong Kui, people today also have many original researches. However, taking a comprehensive look at the opinions of ancient and modern people, it should be said that all theories are consistent, and the origin of Zhong Kui is still a big mystery in the history of Chinese folk culture.