The models for these fearsome warriors were two of the first Tang emperor’s most loyal generals, Qin Shubao and Yuchi Jingde. According to the legend, the emperor was being harassed each night by an unruly ghost and was thus unable to sleep, so he asked that the pair stand guard overnight to protect him from this unwelcome visitor. Apparently, the emperor subsequently spent a peaceful night, but, not wanting to impose further on his generals, he ordered his servants to hang giant portraits of the generals to perform the guard duties. It was a practice that caught on quickly with ordinary Chinese keen to ward off evil spirits and attract good luck.The first two photos are of ancestral halls in Shui Mei, a village in the Kam Tin area, about 30km west of Fanling:
Cheaply printed posters of the generals in highly stylized poses are widely used in Hong Kong, especially around Chinese New Year, but the generals portrayed here have been rendered in meticulous detail (and are considerably larger than those seen on a typical poster). Note that the pair are shown facing slightly to one side. This means that Yuchi Jingde (the dark-skinned one) must always be posted on the left-hand door, and Qin Shubao on the right. If this is not done, both guards will be facing away from each other, which would allow an intruder to walk between them unseen, and for good luck to slip away unnoticed.
There are two points to make about these images: (1) both figures carry ‘standard’ weaponry—a halberd by Yuchi Jingde and a pole sword by Qin Shubao; and (2) Yuchi Jingde was an ethnic Uighur, but although in the second image he is portrayed as having darker skin than Qin Shubao, his features are obviously Han Chinese. This is a common mistake, as you will see below.
The next photo is of the King Law Ka Shuk Ancestral Hall in Taipo, which I came across entirely by accident because I went the ‘wrong’ way:
Qin Shubao has a more pronounced beard than usual, but the weaponry is standard.
I described the recently developed cycle tour around the village of Chau Tau in Easter Island, in which I didn’t mention an obvious public building, possibly the village office, a short distance away from the route:
Once again, Yuchi Jingde has darker skin, but I don’t think that anyone would perceive an ethnic difference here. However, the most intriguing aspect of this pairing is the weaponry. Or, rather the lack of effective weaponry. I took the next photo six years ago when I was trying to develop a circular route through the area:
These doors no longer exist, but they were probably part of an older building that was in the same location as the previous image, because the ineffective weaponry is the same. I wonder why! There must be some esoteric significance.
I visited San Tin for the first time this winter. Two of the village’s historical buildings do not feature door gods; however, this is the entrance to the Man Lung Fung Ancestral Hall:
Unfortunately, this hall, despite being a declared monument, is not well looked after. Damage to the door gods is obvious in this photo, but elsewhere in the building, plaster mouldings are being obscured by large quantities of black moss.
During my initial visit to San Tin, I also came across a few minor halls, including this one:
Here, there is no attempt to establish a difference in ethnicity, both guards are holding pole swords, and—do my eyes deceive me—both are holding nunchaku in their other hands!
I consider the final image to be the most astonishing in this collection:
Part of the reason for my assessment is that this pair are not guarding an ancestral hall, temple or other historical building. I photographed them on the closed gate of quasi-industrial premises in an area east of Fanling that I was exploring at the time. The two guards were quite widely separated, but it is the style that I find especially intriguing. These are not Tang Dynasty soldiers; they are characters in a Chinese opera! And they are holding iron cudgels with which to beat you to a pulp if you dare to cross them.
Notice that although they are facing inwards, they are not standing firm, like traditional door gods, but are walking away from each other. I assumed that they must simply be stuck-on images, but when I looked closely, I was surprised to discover that these figures had been hand-painted. On an industrial site! Wow!
earlier posts in this series
More Door Gods
More Door Gods #2
More Door Gods #3
Interesting collections with a range of variation on how they dress, what weapons they hod and the ethnicity that they are...
ReplyDeleteThere are no standards for how these guardians at the gate should dress, but as I’ve pointed out, there is a standard for what weapons they should be holding!
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