Poem with Netsuke in the Shape of a Demon Queller

Luisa A. Igloria

Nov 12

In the story of the demon queller from the Ming  dynasty, Zhong Kui travels with a friend from his hometown to take a civil service exam in Xi'an,  where the eight thousand strong terracotta army  continues to stand guard over the emperor buried  there. Though Zhong Kui scored high in his exams,   according to folklore he was denied certification and sentenced to the capital of hell because his  bulging eyes and ungainly figure made him most  unattractive. He was so angry and upset that he  bashed his head repeatedly against the pillars  of the imperial palace until he died. You could say   he wanted to go in a big way, make the royals feel remorse. Perhaps it worked, because then  the gods of the underworld turned him into   the king and vanquisher of ghosts—eighty  thousand demons did his bidding, and if any  one of them should ever think to cross him,    he'd tear out its eye and eat it with relish like a quick pickle. Zhong Kui's likeness  is carved into many objects, including those   miniature fasteners called netsuke. There's one  of him brandishing a sword at demons around  his bed: smaller than a Matchbox car, it sits   unlabeled in a glass case at the Hermitage  Museum up the road. Once, it might have cinched tight a coin-filled purse dangling   from a sash around your waist. Once, it   might have bared its teeth, sensing a hand  coming close, ready to snatch or touch.