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Immortal Movers: Divine Vehicles of World Religions

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Curatorial and Outreach Assistant Jake Gentry brings you up to speed on some divine modes of transportation used in world religions and folklore!

Trigger Warning: Brief mention of suicide in the Zhong Kui section of this blog.

“Thou man from Shurippak, son of Ubara-Tutu/ Tear down thy house, build a ship!/ Let riches go, seek Life/ Despise possessions, save thy life!/ Bring living things of all kinds into the ship!/ The ship that thou art to build” — Ea to Utnapishtim, the Epic of Gilgamesh (Cottrell, Tablet XI, lines 29-34)

Supernatural means of transport immediately invoke certain images, such as witches on broomsticks, demigods with winged steeds, and angels atop clouds. However, there are many more ways to get around that can be found in world religions and folklore– ranging from the unusual to the perilous. After all, being a divine or mythic figure comes with a certain image to uphold; you can’t very well haul the moon and sun across the sky with a boring old car. Here is a fast (and maybe even a little furious) pitstop into some of the divine vehicles parked in the materials of the Lilly Library!

Mounts, Mortars, Mobile Homes

Baba Yaga’s Turning Hut and Flying Mortar

Illustration of a woman with long braided blonde hair running through a dark forest. She wears a red top with fur trim and a multicolored skirt, and holds a staff topped with a skull on her left side and a child in her right arm. In the background, there's a small hut with a thatched roof perched on chicken legs, surrounded by glowing skulls on stakes. This references Slavic mythology and the tale of Baba Yaga.
Color plate illustration entitled “Home went Vasilissa, lighted by the skull” by Teje Etchemendy. Here, Vasilisa the Beautiful, blazing skull-lantern in hand, flees Baba Yaga’s chicken-legged hut, from Russian Folk Tales (PZ8.1.L866 R9), published in 1970. In her hands, Vasilisa holds her trusty, magical doll, which assists her in getting out of trouble and even the clutches of Baba Yaga, who banished her from the hut after learning the doll was blessed by Vasilisa’s late mother.

Living deep in the woods is not exactly a unique trait among folkloric witches, but claiming a sentient, mobile hut with chicken legs is decidedly unique. This strange abode belongs to none other than Baba Yaga, a cannibalistic and occasionally divine hag in Slavic folklore. Baba Yaga features heavily in Russian fairy tales and myths, such as “Vasilisa the Beautiful” and “The Death of Koschei the Deathless” (known in Russia as Марья Моревна, or “Marya Morevna”). Given the amorphous nature of oral literature tradition, Baba Yaga is portrayed in many differing ways, leaving her eerily enigmatic. While she is almost always depicted as an eater of children (and usually men), she is not always evil and is known to spare those who display manners or do not pry. She is not the hut’s sole occupant either– ghostly, detached hand-spirits roam around the hut and do her bidding, like grinding and gathering wheat. While Baba Yaga may be an ever-shifting figure, her abode retains a fearsome appearance in all of their legends together. Creature-like and gruesome, the “turning” hut is described as “The fence around it was made of dead men’s bones. On the top of the fence were stuck human skulls with eyes in them; as uprights at the gates were men’s legs, the bolts were arms; the lock was a mouth with sharp teeth” (Lord 7).

When not in her hut, Baba Yaga travels in style in true witchy fashion, taking to the skies in a flying, giant metallic mortar which is propelled by an equally large pestle (which seems to act as an unorthodox oar). She is sometimes depicted as carrying a broomstick, which she uses to sweep away any traces she leaves behind (Lord 8). Interestingly, like her hut, the mortar is somewhat sentient and can be summoned by a whistle. The mortar is incredibly fast, and possibly even supersonic, as seen in “Vasilisa the Beautiful,” when Vasilisa describes “Soon a terrible roar was heard in the forest. The trees cracked, the dry leaves rustled, and out of the forest came the Baba Yaga, riding in a mortar, urging it on with a pestle” (Lord 7). While Baba Yaga’s mortar is a bit unconventional, it is nevertheless quite effective– she uses it in the tale “Marya Morevna” to chase after Prince Ivan Tsarevich (Tsarevich being a title given to the sons of Russian tsars) and nearly catches him before she plummets to her demise in a river of flames.

Illustration of Baba Yaga flying in her magical mortar, carrying a broomstick in one hand and a pestle in the other, like an oar. The Aurora Borealis shimmers in the sky next to her.
Color plate illustration entitled “The Baba Yaga flew after him in her iron mortar” by Teje Etchemendy from Russian Folk Tales (PZ8.1.L866 R9), published in 1970. Here, the witch pursues Prince Ivan from the sky, who has stolen a colt from her. The hellish river (sometimes called the River Smorodina, which means “Stinking River”) pictured here is a common landmark in Russian folklore– acting as the threshold between our world and the next. In this case, Prince Ivan had to cross the fiery river to enter the Thrice-ninth Tsardom, a magical, faraway land where Baba Yaga lives.

Broomsticks

Woodcut illustration of three animal-headed demons riding on a broomstick.
Woodcut relief illustration of demons riding on a broomstick, taken from De laniis [sic] et phitonicis mulieribus: Teutonice Vnholden vel Hexen (“Concerning Witches and Female Soothsayers”) by Ulrich Molitor, published in Reutlingen by Johann Otmar in 1489 (BF1565 .M725 1489).

The flying broom– one of the most stereotypical modes of magical transportation– has long been connected to women and witchcraft. Likely stemming from ancient pagan fertility rituals in Europe, the broom became known as the witch’s best friend pretty early on. It was a common enough image for Ulrich Molitor to include it in De laniis [sic] et phitonicis mulieribus: Teutonice Vnholden vel Hexen in 1489, as seen above. His treatise on witchcraft was printed only three years after the more infamous Malleus Maleficarum (“Hammer of Witches”) by Heinrich Kramer, and both works were commonly reprinted together during this time, when Kramer led inquisitions and mass witch hunts in Austria (namely Innsbruck) and Germany. Even back then, witchcraft was demonized through a misogynistic lens, and tools of housekeeping, such as the broom, became a tool of “evil” in the hands of witches. Witches were said to use flying ointment or Hexensalbe (“witch salve” in German) to fly to witches’ sabbaths, where they would dance nude with demons and the Devil. Harmful texts like Molitor’s De laniis [sic] et phitonicis mulieribus and Kramer’s Malleus Maleficarum would go on to influence other famous witch hunts, such as the Salem Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 and 1693.

A not-so-fun fact: Increase Mather had a personal copy of the Malleus Maleficarum in his library, which was likely utilized by his son, Cotton Mather, to research witch-hunting techniques for the Salem Witch Trials (Tarter 1).

Vahana and Vimana of Hinduism

Illustration of the Hindu god Garuda, who has wings. The gods Vishnu and Lakshmi ride on Garuda's back.
Etching plate engraving on wove paper by John Dadley, depicting Hindu gods Vishnu and Lakshmi riding back on Vishnu’s divine mount or vahana, Garuda, from The Hindu Pantheon by Edward Moor, published in London in 1810 (BL1216 .M7 H5 1810).

In Hinduism, vahana (वाहन, meaning “that which carries”) are the representative mounts of the gods, usually an animal or heavenly creature. One of the most famous vahana is Garuda, who is usually depicted as a giant brahminy kite or as a hybridized bird-man, with ornithic traits like wings, talons, feathery plumage, and a beak. Regarded as “the sun bird” or “sun eagle,” Garuda has many things going for him: he is the king of birds, an enemy of snakes, and can fly wherever he pleases (Williams 139). His golden wings or form are said to be so dangerously bright that he hurt the eyes of the gods and was mistakenly worshipped as Agni, the Hindu god of fire (139). In addition, he could generate enough wind with his wings to stall the rotation of the universe (so it is safe to assume that Lord Vishnu is rarely late to parties) (139).

Fun fact: The national airline of Indonesia is Garuda Indonesia, named after Garuda!

Photograph of a wooden structural puzzle in the shape of Pegasus, the winged horse.
Winged mounts are a common motif across world religions and mythologies. Another example among the many is Pegasus, a winged white stallion from Greek mythology. The offspring of Poseidon and Medusa, Pegasus sprang into being from Medusa’s blood after she was beheaded by the demigod Perseus. Bellerophon, another demigod (Greek mythology is chock-full of ’em), tamed and rode Pegasus with the help of the goddess Athena, who provided him with an enchanted, golden bridle. While Pegasus is the name of an individual horse, his stardom has since made the name “Pegasus” a generic term for any winged horse. Image is of Flying Horse, a wooden mechanical puzzle designed by Tad Muroi and manufactured by Wally Lee in Livermore, California, in 1998 (Acquisition Number 024790 in The Jerry Slocum Mechanical Puzzle Collection).

Fun fact: The true term for a winged horse is a pterippus!
Image of a winged chariot with two individuals riding it.
Hand-colored plate engraving of a winged chariot, or vimana, commonly seen in Hindu epics and Sanskrit literature. This illustration is taken from Etienne Alexander Rodriguez’s The complete Hindoo pantheon: comprising the prinicipal deities worshipped by the natives of British India throughout Hindoostan: being a collection of the gods and goddesses, accompanied by a succint history and descriptive of the idols: deduced from original and authentical manuscripts and also extracts from standard authors (BL1216.2 R63 1842), published in Vepery in 1842. Interestingly, vimana usually retain vestigial wheels– as you can see here– even though these divine vehicles do not need flying horses to propel them anymore.

When not using their vahana, some Hindu gods and other divine beings employ vimana (विमान, “measuring out, traversing” in Sanskrit), which were heavenly, aerial vehicles. While vimana can be depicted as winged chariots, they also take the form of floating palaces or abodes, as seen in the Ramayana (500 BCE), where Ravana steals the Pushpaka (“flowery”) Vimana from Kubera, the Hindu god of wealth (Dutt 636-637). Here, unlike the gods’ usual flying chariots drawn by horses, the Pushpaka Vimana is depicted as a giant, golden mansion in the sky that floats on its own. Said to be the first of the vimanas, the Pushpaka Vimana is the invention of divine architect and craftsman Vishvakarma, who created it for Brahma, the Hindu god of Creation, Knowledge, and the Vedas. In some translations, the Pushpaka is described as radiant as the sun and referred to as a car that can travel “everywhere at will” and is “furnished with the speed of the mind” (Dutt 581, 637).

As one would expect, tales of these aerial and vaguely mechanical vehicles have since entered pseudoscience, with proponents of “ancient astronaut” conspiracies equating vimanas to spaceships. A surprisingly older example of alien literature, this idea is explored in-depth in G. R. Josyer’s Vaimānika Śāstra (वैमानिक शास्त्र, Sanskrit for “shastra on the topic of Vimanas”), also entitled “Science of Aeronautics.” Originally published in Hindi in 1959, an English and Sanskrit translation of the Vaimānika Śāstra was published in 1973 by Coronation Press in Mysore, India. Josyer’s work attests to be the creation of Pandit Subbaraya Shastry, a Brahmin who dictated a “previously unknown” ancient Hindu manuscript that he attributes to numerous rishis (Hindu sages or saints), such as Maharshi Bharadwaja, one of the Vedic Seven Sages or Saptarshis (Sanskrit: सप्तर्षि). The Vaimānika Śāstra is a treatise on advanced, ancient Indian technology, and claims that the vimana were aerodynamic flying vehicles or airplanes (Preface of Vaimānika Śāstra, Hare 2). Within this text, vimana were equipped with some wondrous and terrifying technical abilities, such as generating atmospheric waves by rapidly spinning, stunning and frightening victims with thunderous ultrasonic weapons, and turning invisible through the use of camouflaging or cloaking devices (Shastry 4-6).

Illustration of a flying saucer in the sky.
Illustration of a flying saucer from Rosalie Beets’s Arrivals (TL7893.B35 A76 2014), a miniature book illustrated by Sara White in 2014. Over the years, many religious and cultural traditions have been overlaid with modern alien qualities. Vimanas have been purported to be ancient alien spaceships not only in literature like G. R. Josyer’s Vaimānika Śāstra, but also in contemporary media. Vimanas as spaceships appear in multiple episodes of the pseudoscientific American television series Ancient Aliens (2010- present) on the History Channel (the irony is not lost on anyone, I fear).

Blessed Boats

Ra’s Solar Barques

Illustration of an ancient Egyptian boat, steered by a falcon adorned with a circular sun disk.
Hand-colored linocut illustration on Arches paper from Susan Acker’s Ra, the Sun God (BL2450.R2 A18), printed by Splendid Press & Paper Works in 1979 of Ra on the Solar Barque or Mandjet (the Boat of Millions of Years). Ra uses the Mandjet during the morning and daytime to draw the sun across the sky. During this time, he is safe within our world and free from the threat of Apep, the primordial serpent of darkness and chaos. That is, until his voyage takes him beyond the horizon at the end of the day, when he must enter the Duat, the Egyptian underworld, during the night portion of his voyage.
Illustration of an ancient Egyptian boat during the night, with stars in the sky and the moon disk cradled in the boat.
Hand-colored linocut illustration on Arches paper from Susan Acker’s Ra, the Sun God (BL2450.R2 A18), printed by Splendid Press & Paper Works in 1979 of the boat of evening and night, Mesektet. On the night-barque, Ra takes the sun under the horizon and into the underworld, where he, along with other gods who join him, must fend off the daily attacks of the monstrous serpent Apep, who seeks to stop his voyage and swallow the sun, dooming the world to never-ending darkness. Alongside Apep, Ra and his fellow gods must also protect the night-boat from hordes of lesser monsters and demons lying in wait for them on their daily journey.

In ancient Egypt, few gods held more duty or power than the sun god, Ra. Along with being the King of the Gods, creating the universe, and giving life to all living things, Ra also had the daily task of ferrying the sun across the sky. Ra uses different vessels and forms during his journey. At daybreak– the start of his solar journey– Ra is young and spry, taking the form of Ra-Khepri, the scarab-headed god of the morning sun and rebirth (Hart 84). During this time, Ra-Khepri sails the solar barque of the morning and day, known as the Mandjet (Egyptian: mꜥnḏt), otherwise known as the Boat of Millions of Years (Hart 135). As his voyage continues, the day goes on, and he grows older, reaching his prime during midday at the sun’s zenith. Here, Ra-Khepri becomes Ra proper, the falcon-headed god of the sun, adorned with the aten— the sun disk. As evening sets in and twilight draws close, Ra shifts form once more, becoming the ram-headed god Khnum-Ra. Now aged and weary, Khnum-Ra leaves the Mandjet to command the boat of evening and nighttime, known as Mesektet. On the night-barque, Khnum-Ra needs protection as he passes behind the horizon in the west (known as the akhet), which was often seen as the gateway or threshold into the Duat, the ancient Egyptian underworld or afterworld (Hart 6). He is joined by Sia, the goddess of intellect and perception, Heka, god of magical power, Hu, god of authority and command, Set, god of violence, disorder, deserts, and storms, and Mehen, a protective-snake god that would surround the night-barque with his long body (Hart 31, 55, 66, 76, 135).

Picture of a facsimile of the Papyrus of Ani, a copy of the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. The page features anicent Egyptian hieroglyphics and an illustration of Ra riding on his solar barque.
Facsimile of hand-painted illustration on papyrus of Ra on the solar barque, adorned with the divine sun disk Aten, from The Book of the Dead: Facsimile of the Papyrus of Ani in the British Museum (PJ1555 .A3 1890). In this depiction, the falcon-headed Ra sits with an ankh, the ancient Egyptian symbol of life. Atop his head, Ra wears the aten, the divine sun disk. Since Ra has not yet shifted into Khnum-Ra and gained a ram-head, we can deduce that this is still the barque of daytime, the Mandjet. However, this illustration also contains the hieroglyph for star seba (which were modeled after starfish found in the Red Sea), which not only denotes stars, but also spirits of the deceased and the world they inhabit, the Duat. Thus, Ra is headed for the horizon and the underworld portion of his voyage. Emblazoned on the Mandjet is the Wadjet, or Eye of Horus, an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection and health.

Fun Fact: The ancient Egyptian combination hieroglyph Pr-ankh translates as “House of Life,” and denotes a library of papyrus scrolls or scriptorium! The symbol for “library” or House of Life is:

pr anx pr

With his team assembled, Khnum-Ra sails into the Duat on the waters of a subterranean counterpart of the Nile, where he must pass through twelve gates and caverns, each corresponding to one of the ancient Egyptian’s twelve hours of the night (Fun fact: Each hour-gate has its own godly gatekeeper!). While traveling through the gates of night, like clockwork, the demonic serpent Apep, the source of primordial chaos and darkness, attacks the night-barque. As the antithesis of Ma’at, the goddess of truth, order, and morality, Apep wishes to stop Ra’s voyage and devour the sun. Luckily, Khnum-Ra’s fellow gods, like Set, make quick work of the monstrous snake and defeat him, with depictions commonly showing Set slaying the serpent with a spear (Hart 31). However, Apep will return the next night, reborn just as Ra is, to terrorize his counterpart once more. With Apep’s daily vanquish out of the way, Khnum-Ra and co. are free to traverse the Duat and make it back to our world, where Ra resurfaces on the eastern horizon. Renewing the cycle, Khnum-Ra becomes Ra-Khepri again and captains the Mandjet to bring light back to the world. And you thought your morning commute was bad.

Naglfar: Ship of the Dead

While most world mythologies and religions have interpretations of an apocalypse, few get into such gory detail as Norse mythology of ancient Scandinavia. Known as Ragnarök (Old Norse for “final destiny of the gods” or “Twilight of the Gods”), this cosmic cataclysm begins with a trifecta of harsh and successive winters unbroken by summer, along with a myriad of massacres and wars (Simek 83, 259). Cosmic wolves named Skoll and Hati will devour the sun and moon, respectively. Yggdrasil, the great ash tree whose branches bear the Nine Worlds, will tremble, the stars will snuff out, earthquakes will fell mountains, and a mighty flood will surge from the ocean. Alongside these natural disasters, the gods will battle various enemies, such as Fenrir, a monstrous wolf and offspring of the trickster Loki, and Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent, whose serpentine body is long enough to encircle Midgard (the Earth). As these battles wage, Jörmungandr’s thrashing will raise the ocean and allow Naglfar, the ghoulish ship of the dead, to break loose from Muspelheim, the hellish world of fire, and set sail for Earth’s shores.

Illustration of Yggdrasil, the world tree of Norse mythology. The illustration is labeled with the Nine Worlds of Norse mythology, as well some divine creatures.
Illustration of the Nordic world tree, Yggdrasil, labeled with the Nine Worlds and the divine creatures that inhabit the tree, such as the messenger squirrel Ratatoskr (Old Norse for “drill-tooth” or “bore-tooth”) and Nidhogg, a dragon that dwells in Hvergelmir (Old Norse for “bubbling boiling spring”), a serpent-infested hot spring within the icy lower world of Niflheim (Crossley-Holland xxiii). Naglfar, an evil vessel captained by the jötunn Hrymr, will set sail from Muspelheim, the world of fire located at the base of Yggdrasil, to Midgard, our world, located at the tree’s midsection, surrounded by the sea serpent Jörmungandr. Illustration from Kevin Crossley-Holland’s The Norse Myths (BL860 .C9 1982).

“From the east comes Hrym with shield held high; /

In giant-wrath does the serpent writhe; /

O’er the waves he twists, and the tawny eagle /

Gnaws corpses screaming; Naglfar is loose“

— (The Poetic Edda, the Völuspá, lines 50-54)

Illustration of a Nordic-style longship, lined with shields and equipped with a large sail.
Illustration of a Scandinavian Viking ship with a crew of warriors, from Kevin Crossley-Holland’s The Norse Myths (BL860 .C9 1982). Naglfar was often depicted on Viking runestones (such as the Tullstorp Runestone) as a longship vessel like this. Intriguingly, it did have a unique feature that set it apart from other longships– rather than draconic heads adorning its fore and aft ends like traditional Viking ships (called dragon ships, or in Old Norse, drekaskip), Naglfar has been depicted with beakheads, a feature that is not found on Viking ships (McKinnell 114).

Naglfar is a dreadful omen, even at the end times. Composed of the untrimmed fingernails and toenails of the dead, the massive vessel is captained by Hrymr, a jötunn (a fearsome race of trolls or giants in Norse mythology), and ferries the army of the lower worlds, whose ranks include giants and the “screaming” undead (Bellows 21). To make matters worse, Naglfar is fated to deposit its ghoulish legion on the field of Vígríðr (Old Norse for “battle-surge”), where the final battle of Ragnarök will be fought and– since this is an apocalyptic legend– ultimately lost. Surtr, the most fearsome of the fire giants and ruler of Muspelheim, will engulf the Earth in fire with his flaming sword. Luckily, not all is lost forever, and after a flood that consumes the scorched earth, two humans–  Lif and Lifthrasir– will emerge and repopulate a new world watched after by the gods that made it through Ragnarök.

Two-page spread of a colorful illustration of a large ark-like boat among a stormy sea painted in vibrant deep blues and violets.
Illustration of the Preserver of Life from Gilgamesh, translated by William Ellery Leonard and illustrated by Irving Amen, published in 1974 (PJ3771.G5 E5 1974). Boats and catastrophes have been interconnected since the beginning of recorded history– appearing in one of the world’s oldest surviving pieces of literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh. This over 4,000-year-old Sumerian tale features a devastating deluge and a boat in which Utnapishtim, legendary king of Shuruppak (a Sumerian city on the banks of the Euphrates river), uses to escape it. This vessel, known as the Preserver of Life, probably influenced later world religions, including the Genesis flood narrative found in the Christian bible and the Quran.
Illustration of Noah's Ark, with animals leaving the vessel after the biblical flood.
Copper plate engraving of Noah’s Ark by Netherlander engraver Theodor de Bry, from Brevis narratio eorum quae in Florida Americae provi[n]cia Gallis acciderunt: secunda in illam navigatione, duce Renato de Laudo[n]niere classis praefecto, anno MDLXIIII…, which was published in Francoforti ad Moenum [Frankfurt, Germany] in 1591 (F314.L37 L4 1591). In a similar fashion to the Sumerian Preserver of Life, Noah’s Ark (known as Tevat Noaḥ in Biblical Hebrew) allowed Noah, his family, and a mating pair of every animal to survive the Great Flood found in Genesis. Interestingly, the iconic look and nature of the ark differs with various interpretations, such as the interpretation of Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra— a medieval-era biblical commentor– who believed Noah’s Ark withstood the flood by staying underwater for the 40-day duration of the Great Flood before surfacing– which sounds like a biblical submarine in the modern context!

Bonus Round: Fast Friends!

The Donkey, Ox, and Tiger of Zhong Kui

Illustration of Zhong Kui, a figure from Chinese mythology. He has long hair and beard, and wears a robe. A sword is sheathed to his side, and he wears a black hat with flaps on the sides.
Woodcut relief print of Zhong Kui from Tankosai’s Tankosai Gwafu, published in Edo [modern-day Tokyo] in 1767 (NC991.T16 T2). Zhong Kui’s trademark features– towering stature, long and disheveled hair and beard, and large eyes are depicted here. He also has his signature sword sheathed at his side, and he wears a black court official’s cap– called a futou (幞头), which denoted him as an honorary member of Emperor Xuanzong’s court. Zhong Kui’s name is written in kanji (鍾馗) beside his illustration.
Japanese woodblock illustration of a smiling tiger peering through bamboo with large eyes.
Woodcut relief print of a tiger peering through bamboo by Kawanabe Kyosai, in the style of Hasegawa Settan, from Gyōsai gadan, published by Iwamoto Shun in Tokyo in Meiji 20 [1887] (NC991.K22 U7 v.1-4). While this specific tiger is not Zhong Kui’s loyal mount, it is most likely a depiction of the South China tiger (P. t. tigris), which was likely the subspecies that is commonly depicted alongside our favorite demon-hunter.

A not-so-fun fact and possible avenue of charity: The South China tiger is tragically classified as critically endangered and even thought to be extinct in the wild. Save China’s Tigers (SCT) is an international charitable foundation that seeks to save vulnerable big cat species like the South China tiger. A link to their website is here: Save China’s Tigers

Zhong Kui, known also by his Japanese name Shōki and the epithet Demon Queller, is a Taoist deity and folkloric being found in Chinese and Japanese culture. According to legend, Zhong Kui was once a mortal who lived in the Chinese province of Shanxi during the Tang dynasty (618 to 907) (Meyer 1). Incredibly clever and hardworking, he traveled to the capital of Shanxi, Chang’an [modern-day Xi’an], to undergo the imperial examination and become an official in Emperor Xuanzong’s court. Not only did Zhong Kui pass his exams, but he was top of his class, earning the title of Zhuangyuan, which was given to the student who achieved the highest score on the examination. Sadly, Emperor Xuanzong denied him, even with his stellar academic performance, as he deemed Zhong Kui too ugly to be an official (Meyer 1). In the emperor’s defense, Zhong Kui’s appearance was definitely a bit unconventional, with a massive form, untidy hair, long beard, and startling, piercing eyes. With his hard work undermined and life’s goal squashed, a grief-stricken Zhong Kui committed suicide on the steps of the imperial palace by repeatedly bashing his head against the palace gates. Emperor Xuanzong, moved by Zhong Kui’s sorrow or his own guilt, gave Zhong Kui a state burial of the highest rank– an honor usually only reserved for royalty, and retrospectively gave him the title ‘Doctor of Zhongnanshan” (Meyer 1). In the afterlife, Yanluo Wang, the Chinese god of death and ruler of Diyu (the realm of the dead), saw Zhong Kui’s potential and gave him the rank of “King of Ghosts,” which came with the eternal duty of hunting and punishing ghosts and demons.

Page of multiple illustrations of Zhong Kui, a figure found in Chinese folklore and Taoism. The various images of Zhong Kui depicting him fighting demons, branishing weapons, and standing in differing poses.
Woodcut relief prints of Zhong Kui from Kuwagata Keisai’s Higashi no Miyako, published in 1794, under the pseudonym Kitai Masayoshi (NC991.M39 H6). Here, we can see various scenes of Zhong Kui, such as him attacking demons in the middle section or riding his trusty donkey in the middle of the top row.

Years later, Emperor Xuanzong fell deathly ill for a month with fever. While he was unconscious, he dreamt of two fearsome oni (ogre-like demons in Japanese folklore) or ghosts. The smaller demon tried to hastily flee after snagging the emperor’s jade flute and a bag belonging to his consort, Yang Guifei. However, the larger figure seized the thief, slew it, and then promptly swallowed it before introducing himself as Zhong Kui. He promised to protect the emperor from further harm, and the emperor awoke, now free of his fever (Meyer 1). Now, Zhong Kui is regarded as a deity of protection and is called upon to safeguard against evil spirits, demons, and disease. As a guardian spirit, his image is often painted on entryways to defend against supernatural threats. As a divine being, his choice of mount is interesting– while he is occasionally depicted as being carted around by subjugated demons or monsters, he usually is shown riding earthly animals, such as a tiger, a donkey, or an ox. We love a humble Queller of Demons.

About the author: Jake H. Gentry is a 26-year-old gay author, artist, and graduate student. He received his Master of Library Science with a specialization in Rare Books and Manuscripts at Indiana University Bloomington, where he is now also pursuing his MA in Curatorship. He is a curatorial and teaching/outreach assistant at the Lilly Library. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana with his partner and his two cats, Poe and Jiji.

Works Cited and Consulted

Bellows, Henry Adams. The Poetic Edda. Internet Archive, New York, The American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1 Jan. 1970, archive.org/details/poeticedda00belluoft/page/20/mode/2up?q=gnaws%2Bcorpses%2Bscreaming. 

Chen, Y. S. The Primeval Flood Catastrophe Origins and Early Development in Mesopotamian Traditions. Oxford University Press, 2014. Internet Archive, archive.org/details/oxford-oriental-monographs-y.-s.-chen-the-primeval-flood-catastrophe-origins-and/page/1/mode/2up. Accessed 10 Sept. 2025. 

Dutt, Manmatha Nath. The Ramayana. Internet Archive, 1 Jan. 1892, archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.217223/page/n83/mode/2up?q=Pushpaka. 

Hart, George. Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Internet Archive, archive.org/details/RoutledgeDictionaryOfEgyptianGodsAndGoddesses/page/n43/mode/2up?q=apophis. Accessed 10 Sept. 2025. 

Kwan, Natalie. “Woodcuts and Witches: Ulrich Molitor’s De lamiis et pythonicis mulieribus.” 1489–1669, German History, Volume 30, Issue 4, December 2012, Pages 493–527, https://doi.org/10.1093/gerhis/ghs077

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