During the prosperous Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, the country was peaceful and the people were peaceful. At that time, at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, there lived a scholar known as "Zhong Xuexue". Although he studied hard, his official career was not smooth. When he was over 50 years old, he had not yet passed the imperial examination, so he had no fame. His wife gave birth to a son because she dreamed of the Kuixing coming down from the sky. Zhong Xuezhen loved him very much, so he named his son Zhong Kui after a dream, hoping that when he grew up, he could dominate the court and win the first prize in the exam, so as to realize his lifelong ambition and honor his ancestors.
A few years later, his parents passed away one after another, leaving only Zhong Kui and his younger sister Meier to depend on each other. Although Zhong Kui was very poor, he had high ambitions. He inherited his father's legacy since he was a child. He studied hard and learned a lot of literary talents and martial arts. He wanted to be named on the gold medal list, honor his ancestors, and do a great career.
A few years later, Zhong Kui was already eighteen years old. He had easily obtained the title of Scholar and Juren, and this year he could go to Beijing to take the imperial examination. But his family was extremely poor and had no financial means, so he was about to miss the exam date. Fortunately, he received generous help from a kind-hearted man, Du Ping, who gave him twenty taels of silver. Zhong Kui was very grateful. After getting the money, he immediately went to take the exam, determined not to go home until he passed the Jinshi exam. Due to the hurry and the hot weather, Zhong Kui accidentally contracted cold and fever on the way. He didn't dare to miss the exam period and live up to Du Ping and his sister's expectations of him, so he stumbled forward. On a dark and stormy night, he came to a ruined temple to spend the night. Late at night, he was encountered by a group of wild ghosts. The wild ghosts saw Zhong Kui's extraordinary arrogance, literary talent and martial arts, and were very jealous. They surrounded Zhong Kui and beat him up, beating them until they were both human and ghosts. However, he himself could not see the ghosts around him at all, and he only felt a violent sensation all over his body. The ground ached, but he managed to hold on and came to the capital to take part in the imperial examination.
Zhong Kui is, after all, a star from heaven who has descended to earth. His essays were excellent. The examiner praised him and admitted him to the top of the list. But when the emperor summoned the number one scholar in the palace examination, he saw that Zhong Kui looked extremely ugly: his dark leopard face and round lamp eyes were very different from ordinary people. The emperor felt very uncomfortable and refused to nominate him as the top pick. The examiner repeatedly tried his best to give advice and strive for it, saying: "Yanzi, who is three feet tall, can be a wise prime minister of Qi; Zhou Chang, who has a stutter, is qualified to be the prime minister of the Han Dynasty. Zhong Kui is talented and should be selected as the number one scholar! Please think twice before taking action!" Zhong Kui also told the emperor about his adventures on the way, but the holy will was determined and would not be changed.
Zhong Kui was a man with a hot temper. He never expected that the emperor would not choose him as the number one scholar because of his ugly appearance, thus putting him out of reach of fame. He was so angry that he shouted repeatedly: "You're going to kill me! You're going to kill me!" After saying that, he slammed his head against a large bronze cauldron next to him. Blood immediately flowed out and he died. Seeing such a violent scene, the emperor felt a little regretful, so he ordered Zhong Kui to be buried with dignity.
Besides, Zhong Kui’s wronged soul came to the gloomy and cold Yama Palace with full of resentment. As soon as he saw the King of Hell, he was filled with nameless fire and shot up. , pointed at the King of Hell and cursed: "You are the blue sky of the underworld. You are supposed to be fair and selfless. Why do you let evil ghosts come to ruin my appearance? You have caused me to lose my reputation and have no face to see my poor sister and Du Ping who saved me." The emperor of the Yang world is a foolish king, and you, the emperor of the Yin world, are just as foolish! This world is in a state of chaos inside and out!" The King of Hell didn't know what was going on, but he saw Zhong Kui yelling and scolding. He picked up a shining golden mace stick in front of Senluo Hall and waved it around randomly. It is a coincidence that this wooden stick is not an ordinary wooden stick. It is the treasure of the Senluo Palace. It was awarded to the King of Hell by the Jade Emperor in the sky. As long as you hold it in your hands, all the ghost soldiers and ghost generals in the underworld will be defeated. No one dared to stop him, including the King of Hell, who was so frightened by him that he hurriedly retreated and hid.
Zhong Kui took this magic stick to hold down the temple and waved it around in Senluo Hall. Unintentionally, he only heard a "dang--", which was deafening and deafening. It turned out to be the Babel Bell! Such a knock alarmed the Jade Emperor in heaven. The Jade Emperor hurriedly asked Taibai Jinxing beside him. Taibai Jinxing counted his fingers and said to the Jade Emperor: "This is someone making trouble in the Senluo Palace. This person was originally the Tiankuixing in the sky, and now he is complaining in the underworld." The Jade Emperor then thought about it. , back then Sun Houhou caused a lot of trouble because he refused to obey the control of heaven. Now Zhong Kui is making trouble again. It's better to reduce big things to small things. He immediately summoned the King of Hell and ordered: "This Zhong Kui was originally a great star in the sky who came down to earth, but he was a genius in the world. He was not recognized for his talent and died when he touched the cauldron. Naturally, he was extremely sad, angry and resentful. Therefore, it is understandable that he caused turmoil in the underworld. Original.
I decided to make him a general to exorcise evil spirits and slay demons, commanding three thousand ghost soldiers, and specializing in managing demons and monsters in the world. There is a Qingfeng Demon-Slaying Sword here, please give it to him on your behalf! "The King of Hell received the Jade Emperor's decree and hurried back to the underworld. By this time, Zhong Kui had already caused a storm in the city. But, with the Jade Emperor's decree, the King of Hell had no way to deal with him. He conveyed the Jade Emperor's decree, He collected the treasures from the palace and gave him the Qingfeng Demon-Slaying Sword. He also gave him a treasure gourd that could transform into ghosts as his personal magic weapon. He also gave him the Book of Magical Skills and the Judge's Uniform, and told Zhong Kui to go to the Tang Dynasty. The emperor asked for a seal in order to drive away ghosts in the world. Zhong Kui heard that he could control the monsters in the world, and he could also eliminate some disasters and do some good things in the world, so he received the imperial edict. Zhong Kui became a god specializing in exorcising ghosts and catching ghosts. However, what really made him famous was the fact that he caught ghosts for Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty and the painting saint Wu Daozi painted for him.
It is said that during the Tianyuan period, Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty returned to the palace after inspecting the martial arts school in Lishan. He was depressed all the time, and fell asleep after a while. In his dream, he saw a little ghost with one foot bare and the other wearing a straw sandal with a belt on his waist. Hanging a shoe and a broken fan, he saw the ghost walking to the dragon bed and stealing the concubine's sachet and his jade flute, so he boldly scolded her.
The kid said with a smile: "I am a kid named Xuhua. Xu is to steal other people's property for fun, and Hu is to make people less happy and add more worries, and turn people's good things into bad things. " Emperor Ming was furious when he saw it being so unreasonable. He was about to call the warriors to catch him. Suddenly, he saw a huge ghost, holding a sword, a gourd hanging on his waist, and wearing black boots. He grabbed it without any effort. The little ghost was broken into two pieces and stuffed into a gourd around his waist. Emperor Ming was shocked and asked who he was.
The big ghost said respectfully: "I am." Zhong Kui, now known as the god of expelling ghosts in the world, came to repay the emperor because he was grateful for the generous burial. Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty felt very ashamed after hearing this, so he named Zhong Kui the "Exorcist God" and traveled all over the world to kill evil spirits. Zhong Kuijian made great achievements in exorcising ghosts and was named the "Exorcist Emperor" by the Jade Emperor.
When Emperor Tang Ming woke up, his mood improved, and he summoned Wu Daozi to the palace with great interest, asking Wu Daozi to paint Zhong Kui's portrait according to his dream. As a painting saint, Wu Daozi naturally did it. His extraordinary skill made him feel as if he had experienced a dream, and he painted Zhong Kui's portrait vividly. The Emperor Ming was full of praise when he looked at the portrait, and he immediately awarded him a hundred taels of gold. : From now on, every New Year's Eve, every household must hang a portrait of Zhong Kui, the great ghost exorcist. From then on, Zhong Kui became famous and became a household name.
On this day, King Yama held a banquet. , a banquet was held for Zhong Kui, the newly appointed general to exorcise evil spirits and slay demons. For a while, there was a lively atmosphere of singing and dancing among the bells, flutes, and palace ladies. Unexpectedly, Zhong Kui fell in love with the scene, and the King of Hell quickly asked him why he was sad.
Zhong Kui replied: "When Wei Chen was alive, he and his sister Mei'er were dependent on each other. Now I think of my sister, who is all alone, so I am very sad. Moreover, she is still young and has never been married. Why don't you ask me to miss you? "The King of Hell said: "Then does your sister have a sweetheart? Zhong Kui said, "Yes, it's Meier's childhood friend Du Ping." ”
It turns out that Du Ping is Zhong Kui’s friend from the same hometown. He is a philanthropic person and usually takes good care of Zhong Kui’s brother and sister. When Zhong Kui went to Beijing to take the exam, he gave him two silver coins to help Zhong Kui take the exam. Du Ping, who was taking the exam with him, buried him in a grand ceremony because of his ugly appearance and was dismissed by the emperor as the first prize. Considering Meier's mood, he never mentioned it. The marriage was about to happen.
The King of Hell saw that Zhong Kui was a close brother and a loyal friend, so he allowed him to lead many ghost soldiers to fulfill his wish.
So Zhong Kui asked him in his dream. He told Du Ping and Mei'er his experience of coming to the underworld. Now that he belongs to the gods, his relatives should be happy and don't have to be afraid. Finally, he told Du Ping and Mei'er that they would choose an auspicious day to get married as soon as possible. For my brother's long-cherished wish.
On the day when his sister Mei'er got married, Zhong Kui selected dozens of ghost soldiers who were boys and girls in their lifetimes and had friendly and pleasant looks, and restored them to their original human forms. Come to give your sister a "brother".
Mei'er was in a trance, feeling that she was riding on a tall horse draped in red and colorful colors. Her brother Zhong Kui was also on the horse, and he raised his hands to her and blessed her, saying, "Congratulations, sister, congratulations, sister."
Mei'er also bowed shyly.
So Zhong Kui led the way, and the procession of seeing off the bride was also very happy and lively. Some were making witty faces, some were telling happy jokes, walking and dancing, cheering for the bride, and they were as happy as the rest of the world.
When they arrived at Dongfang Yubaibai, they heard Du Ping's wedding team coming in front. Zhong Kuicai said goodbye to his sister Meier, and gradually retreated away with many ghost soldiers. Zhong Kui married his sister, fulfilling a wish and repaying a favor. He no longer had any concerns about human family affairs, and he could peacefully become a general who caught ghosts and subdued them.