According to "The Mirror of Immortals in Past Dynasties", Zhong Kui was a native of central and southern Shaanxi, and he was outstanding when he was young. During Tang Wude's reign, he went to Beijing to take the exam, but was defeated because of his ugly appearance. In a rage, he killed the temple steps. The emperor heard about it and gave it a red robe for burial.

It is said that during the Tang Dynasty (6 18-907) in China, Emperor Xuanzong suddenly became seriously ill after going out for a cruise, but failed to be cured by various methods. The emperor was very anxious. One night, he dreamed that a child in red stole his treasure, and the emperor scolded the child angrily.

At this moment, GREAT GHOST, wearing a broken hat, suddenly appeared, grabbed the kid and ate it. When the emperor asked him who he was, GREAT GHOST replied: I am a scholar in Zhong Nanshan, and my name is Zhong Kui. Because the emperor didn't like my ugly appearance, he decided not to admit me. He was killed on the steps of the palace in a rage and engaged in ghost hunting after his death.

Tang Xuanzong woke up from his dream. So he ordered Wu Daozi, the most famous painter at that time, to draw the image of Zhong Kui in his dream. Because the emperor himself was an ardent Taoist believer, with his strong support, Zhong Kui's position of catching ghosts was gradually established.

Extended data:

During the reign of Dezong in the Tang Dynasty, there was a son named Zhong Kui. Although he is ugly, he is very talented and has excellent martial arts. This year coincided with the autumn imperial examination, and Zhong Kui bid farewell to his relatives and friends in Beijing to catch the exam. Zhong Kui travel-stained came to Chang 'an and was very happy when he saw many towers in Beijing, so he wandered in the street.

When he saw a divination pavilion in front of him, he went to the pavilion and said, "Sir, I'm in the middle of an exam. Please give me a good or bad luck to calculate my future. " Said and wrote an "awkward" word. Mr. Juzi carefully looked at the word "awkward", pondered for a moment, and said slowly: "The scientific research articles of" xianggong "will be the best. But your luck is bad. At that time, it will be fierce. "

Hearing this, Zhong Kui thought: A gentleman is alive, so long as he behaves correctly, how can there be a catastrophe? So he didn't take it to heart, paid the money and left. A few days later, Zhong Kui entered the examination room. Zhong Kui looked at the exam questions, immediately "brushed" it and handed it in after writing. On that day, the examiner was Han Yu, assistant minister of the official department, and the deputy examiner was Lu Zhi, a university student.

When they read Zhong Kui's paper, they couldn't help but shine at the moment and say with one voice, "Wizards! Wizards this article is no worse than Li Taibai and Du Zimei! " So I chose Zhong Kui as the first place. After listening to Han Yu's recitation, Dezong said that Zhong Kui, the champion of the new department, was very talented, so he summoned Zhong Kui in Jindian.

At the sight of Zhong Kui's ugly face, Dezong suddenly felt unhappy and thought he was too ugly. At this time, Han Yu hurriedly knelt down and said that people can't just look at appearances. Zhong Kui is really talented. I hope the emperor will think twice. Dezong thought for a while and thought that what Han Yu said was very reasonable, so he said that judging a person really depends on talent.

But at this time, the narrow-minded prime minister Qilu said that the top scholar is both internal and external, so let the emperor choose another one. Hearing this, Zhong Kui pointed to Qilu and cursed him, saying that he was a faint officer. Then he punched Qilu. Dezong was furious, saying that he dared to be presumptuous in front of his face and sent someone to win Zhong Kui. Zhong Kui was so angry that he committed suicide directly.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Zhong Kui