Imagining the Supernatural Grotesque: Paintings of Zhong Kui and Demons in the Late Southern Song (1127-1279) and Yuan (1271-1368) Dynasties.
- Resource Type
- Theses
- Authors
- Tsai, Chun-Yi Joyce
- Source
- Dissertation Abstracts International; Dissertation Abstract International; 76-07A(E).
- Subject
- Art history
Asian studies
Religious history
- Language
- English
Summary: This study fills a gap in Chinese demonology---which had focused largely on visual and textual sources before the Six Dynasties and after the Ming dynasty---by examining images of demonic creatures from the Song and Yuan periods. It enriches cross-cultural studies of monsters and the monstrous by offering an analysis of comparable Chinese examples. It contributes to studies of Song-Yuan painting by focusing on a category of images that have been understudied because they were at odds with literati taste. Finally, it adds to scholarship on Zhong Kui by offering new readings on three well-known paintings of the Demon Queller and synthesizing studies on him in literature, religion, and folklore.