Lightning-struck Wood Heavenly Master Zhong Kui Pendant

New Year prints often carry the four characters “Heavenly Master Zhong Kui.” The Daoist title of Heavenly Master properly belongs to the Zhang Daoling line; Zhong Kui is a figure of legend, and the two had nothing to do with each other. Folk usage hung the most imposing title on him and it became habitual. That is the easy way folk custom works, not a formal rank conferred by a teaching. Zhang the Heavenly Master’s title has been borrowed very casually — talisman writers and geomancers all call themselves heavenly masters — and Zhong Kui got the label too.

There are several versions of Zhong Kui’s story; the one most told has Emperor Xuanzong of Tang down with malaria, seeing a small ghost at its mischief in a dream, then a large ghost in a battered hat and blue robe that seizes the small one and eats it, calling itself Zhong Kui, a metropolitan graduate of Zhongnan who failed because of his looks and dashed his head against the steps. The emperor woke well and had Wu Daozi paint what he had seen. That is legend, not history, but it fixed Zhong Kui’s appearance. Wu Daozi’s painting is recorded in Song notebooks; the painting may not be genuine, the story kept going.

A wooden plaque is lighter than copper and does not drag at the neck, but wood fears sweat. Worn against skin for one summer, the back goes black and will not wash out. To keep it longer, wear it over a collar, or hang it on a bag instead. Do not use too fine a cord: the hole in a wooden plaque is small, a thin cord cuts in, and the edge of the hole crumbles. In summer the back can raise a white bloom, salt from dried sweat; wipe it off. A bag cord should be detachable, so you can change bags without cutting it.

Lightning-struck wood for a plaque: the face follows the shape of the piece, the back is flattened, and the thickness is whatever the wood allows. Whether the grain runs along the long side or across it shows at a glance; a plaque with cross grain warps in damp, and once warped it will not press flat. The charred face from the strike usually stays at the edge, black and glossy, and the boundary where it meets the plain wood is the best part to look at. The back is mostly left flat, both to sit against skin and to show whether it is one solid piece.

Around the Dragon Boat Festival this plaque moves quickly. Hanging Zhong Kui pictures, mugwort and drinking realgar wine are all old rules against sickness, and among the paintings connected with him there is “Zhong Kui marrying off his sister,” which carries a festive note. For an elder or a friend who has just moved, it is a fair gift. Some find the face fierce; that is unfamiliarity — once you are used to it, it looks friendly. Customers buy it to hang in the car too, saying a fierce face keeps trouble off. I do not take that up.