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18th century
Photo courtesy
of Minneapolis Institute of Art
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SHOKI - THE DEMON SLAYER
Protector Against Evil Spirits
Origin: China
Zhongkui or Chung Kuei = Chinese Name
Last Update Aug. 9, 2004 = Added Photos/Text
 
Above: Meiji Era Stone Statue
in garden of private home in Kamakura
Below text from Minneapolis Institute of Art
(courtesy http://www.artsmia.org/)
According to Japanese folklore, the spirit of the physician Shoki is able to scare away demons. Families with male children even today hang images of Shoki outside their houses to ward off evil spirits during the Boys' Day festival (Tango no Sekku, May 5 each year, but now a festival for all children of both sexes).
Who is Shoki ?
During the early T'ang Dynasty, Shoki was a physician in the province of Shensi, China. He was considered very ugly. Hoping to advance his career, he took the examinations required to enter government service. Although he performed brilliantly, Shoki's dreams of advancement were shattered. Some say Shoki was cruelly cheated out of first place. Others say he was awarded first place by the examiners, who praised his work, saying it was equal to that of the wisest ancients. But when Shoki was presented to the court, the emperor rejected him because he was so ugly.
In shame, Shoki took his own life on the steps of the imperial palace, right in front of the emperor. Overcome with remorse, the emperor ordered that Shoki be buried with the highest honors, wrapped in a green robe usually reserved for members of the imperial clan. In gratitude, Shoki's spirit vowed to protect any ruler against the evil of demons.
The popular story of Shoki was adopted from China, where he was known as Chung Kuei. During the Edo Period in Japan (1600-1868), families began to hang banners depicting Shoki inside and outside of their houses during the Boys' Day festival. Boys' Day is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar year. According to ancient tradition, this is a day when evil spirits and bad luck abounds. Images of Shoki ward off danger from the homes of families with male children. <end text Minneapolis Institute of Art>
Shoki the Demon Slayer - Print by Yoshitoshi
Courtesy of Ukiyo-e Museum - Nagoya TV Server
http://nagoyatv.com/ukiyoe/yoshi/horror2.html
Artist Sesson Shukei (1504-1589)
Photo Courtesy Kyoto National Museum
http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/indexe.htm
Shoki figure, often found above entrances to Japanese homes
Photo courtesy of http://ha7.seikyou.ne.jp/home/hatt/ (J site)
For about 10 more photos, please visit:
http://ha7.seikyou.ne.jp/home/hatt/satuei-note.htm
Shoki -- Closeup of Woodblock Print
Bijin-ga, Pre-1920
Photo courtesy of Ichiban Japanese Antiques
On sale at www.fareastasianart.com
Ivory Netsuke
Shoki and Oni (demon), Hidemasa, 19th century
Courtesy www.netsuke-inro.com/Netsuke/Ivory/ivory05.htm
Shoki - Ivory Netsuke
Image courtesy of Sloan's Auctioneers & Appraisers
1701 - 1800 (standing, oni on head)
Shoki, the Demon Slayer
Photo courtesy http://sell-antique.com
 
Above two photos courtesy Mark T. Hacala
Director, Education Institute U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Washington, DC
Writes Mark: "I wanted to offer you my understanding of the Shoki statues. They sit over the doors of a great many homes and buildings in Kyoto. Each year I have my students play "spot the Shoki" as we move through the city. A Kyoto cabbie informed my counterpart that some people also place them in their homes above their stoves. In either case, he suggested that Shoki was supposed to be a protector against fire as well as a general-purpose guardian deity." <end quote from Mark Hacala, April 2004>
Shoki, glaring authoritatively over the eaves of a town house
Copyright (C)1997 KYOTO Internet Magazine/ City of Kyoto
www.city.kyoto.jp/koho/kyoto_ime/iro_ka_e/m_14e.html
Eyes wide open, a small earthenware image of the Taoistic immortal, Shoki-san, glares out into space from the roof of a house. Facing the street from above the eaves of Kyoto's town houses, Shoki-san is as intense in these modern times as ever. This legendary character is said to have appeared in a dream of the Tang emperor, Xuan Zung, and brought him back to health by expelling the devil of illness.
Therefore, Shoki-san stands above the eaves, receiving prayers from the house occupants for safety in the home and protection from illness. Shoki-san is easily recognized by his heavy beard and the short sword in his right hand, while the hems of his garments are forever trailing in the wind. There is something strange about those wide, glaring eyes. A closer examination suggests a facial expression that is not without humour. Is there anything more one could ask for in a deity protecting our homes? <end text from Kyoto Internet Magazine>
BELOW RESEARCH
Source Unknown, but likely from Minneapolis Institute of Art
http://www.artsmia.org
Background
Japan and China. When the Japanese imported Buddhism from China in the 6th century, they also assumed many other aspects of Chinese culture, including their mythology. The popular story of Shoki was adopted from China, where he was known as Chung Kuei. During the Edo period in Japan (1600-1868), families began to hang banners depicting Shoki inside and outside of their houses during the Boys' Day festival. Boys' Day is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar year. According to ancient tradition, this is a day when evil spirits and bad luck abounds. Images of Shoki ward off danger from the homes of families with male children.
Rising Merchant Class. During Japan's Edo period, great cities and a new, prosperous merchant class flourished. Middle-class tastes were significantly different from those of the Buddhist priests and shogunate (the government under a shogun) that had dominated artistic patronage in the past. Members of the new middle class preferred scenes of everyday life and illustrations of folk stories like Shoki the Demon Queller. By the 18th century many artists depicted Shoki in prints for this new audience.
Prints. As a result of this new patronage and the development of a many-colored woodblock printing process, an abundance of printed materials were made available to all. Novels, pictures, and poetry helped inform the Japanese of their own cultural heritage as well artistic styles and themes imported from China. For commoners who could not afford a painting, these new prints offered an affordable alternative.
The long narrow format of PILLAR PRINTS, achieved by pasting together two sheets of paper, was popular and practical. Whereas most prints were pasted into albums, pillar prints were hung in the home. The traditional Japanese house had very few walls, and the sliding doors that divided the rooms were made of paper. Structural wooden pillars were the only place where pictures could be hung.
Masanobu. The artist Masanobu (1686-1764) invented the popular pillar print format. He was one of Japan's most important painters and printmakers during the 18th century. By his own account, Masanobu was responsible for dozens of technical and stylistic innovations in printmaking.
Shoki, the Demon Queller. Shoki typically appears as a portly bewhiskered man. He wears scholar's robes, a hat, and heavy knee-high boots and carries a large sword. His large eyes, bulbous nose, and fierce expression are also characteristic features. In this print Shoki rounds a corner in hot pursuit of a demon. His eyes bulge out as he spies his prey. His left hand tenses, while his right reaches for his long broad sword.
Masanobu deftly varies his use of line to convey mood, texture, and mass. The thick, wavy, jagged outlines of Shoki's drapery capture his intense vitality. The fine delicate lines of his wild windblown beard and hair contrast the thicker lines of his bushy eyebrows and mustache. Masanobu uses dramatic shading in light and dark to emphasize the bulk of the figure.
Masanobu creatively uses this narrow vertical format to enhance his storytelling. Shoki does not fill the length of the print, but is relegated instead to the lower two-thirds. This position emphasizes his short and portly stature. By cropping from view much of Shoki's arms, one leg, and the ends of his hair and beard, Masanobu gives the impression of catching a quick glimpse of the elusive demon queller.
The characters (the SYMBOLS used in the Japanese writing system) placed in the lower left corner of this pillar print of Shoki, are the artist Masanobu's studio name, Hogetsudo, and his signature, Okumura Bunkaku Masanobu.
PHOTO BELOW AND TEXT:
Courtesy of the Tokyo National Museum
www.emuseum.jp/cgi/pkihon.cgi?SyoID=1&ID=w003&SubID=s000
 All the deities shown here are considered, in China, to be benevolent deities who expel the "demons of plague." This set was originally mounted as a handscroll that was known as the "second edition of the Masuda family Hell Scroll." After the war, the handscroll was cut into sections and the paintings mounted as hanging scrolls. The acts of each of the gods in exterminating evil are briefly explained in the texts accompanying the illustrations.
A Buddhist tale (J. setsuwa) relates that Shoki, a demon-quelling deity from China, protected the Tang emperor Xuanzong (685-762) from malevolent demons. He is portrayed with large eyes and a thick beard and is wearing a black robe, hat, and tall boots. Here, he is shown strangling a small demon.
This scroll, called the Extermination of Evil (Hekija-e) or Exorcists Scroll, is conjectured to have been made during the time of Emperor Goshirakawa (1127-92, r. 1155-58) in the latter part of the Heian period (794-1185) and kept in the treasure house of Rengeo-in Temple (Sanjusangendo). <end text from Tokyo National Museum>
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