The Origin of Gatekeepers A Brief Introduction to the Origin of Gatekeepers

1. According to legend, in Dushuo Mountain in the East China Sea, there is a big peach tree covering 3,000 miles, and its branches extend all the way to the ghost gate in the northeast, where all ghosts come in and out. There are Er Shen, Shen Tu and Mao Yu under the tree. They specialize in monitoring the behavior of ghosts. When they found out which ghost was running amok, they tied it up with a rope made of mangwei and fed it to the tiger, while all ghosts in the world were afraid of tea and lived in seclusion. Therefore, people painted portraits of Shen Tu and Mao Yu on two mahogany boards. Put it by the door to protect it from ghosts. This is the earliest goalkeeper image in legend. And the saying that folk mahogany can exorcise evil spirits also comes from this.

2. However, the door gods recorded in the real history books are not Shen Tu and Lei Yu, but an ancient warrior named Cheng qin. According to the biography of Han Guang written by Ban Gu, the portrait of Cheng qin, an ancient warrior, was painted on the gate of King Guang Chuan (Quping), wearing shorts and holding a sword.

3. In the Tang Dynasty, the position of goalkeeper was replaced by Zhong Kui, the champion of Qin, Qin and Central South China.

4. There are two versions about how Qin Qiong Jingde became a goalkeeper. One is from The Journey to the West: Jinghe Laolong made a bet with a fortune teller and broke the dogma. The Jade Emperor sent Wei Zhi to supervise the execution of Lao Long at three noon. The day before, Lao Long asked Tang Taizong to intercede for him, and Tang Taizong readily agreed. The next day, Emperor Taizong announced that Wei Zhi had entered the DPRK and left Wei Zhi to accompany him to play Go. Unexpectedly, at three o'clock at noon, Wei Zhi dozed off and dreamed of beheading the old dragon. Lao Long resented Emperor Taizong's treachery, pestered him, and made trouble in the palace every day, which made the six gods of Emperor Taizong uneasy. Knowing that the emperor was afraid, Wei Zhi sent two generals and Weichi Gong to guard the palace gate. Sure enough, the old dragon dared not make trouble. Emperor Taizong remembered their hard work of guarding the door at night, so he asked the painter to paint their portraits and stick them at the palace gate. The result still worked. As a result, this move began to spread among the people, and Weichi Gong became a keeper.

5. The other is seen in The Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties: At one stage, Li Shimin was in a bad mood. When he sleeps at night, he often hears bricks and tiles thrown outside the bedroom and ghosts screaming, which makes the harem restless every night. He was afraid and told his minister about it. General Qin said: "I have been an officer all my life, killing enemies like melons and collecting corpses like ants." Why are you afraid of ghosts? " I am willing to guard the palace gate with Jingde. "Li Shimin agreed. Nothing happened that night. Since then, I have put two generals on guard every night. Later, Li Shimin was worried about their hard work, so he ordered the painter to draw a full-length portrait and hang the two guards at the door as usual, and the evil spirits disappeared. If you are good on earth, you will follow, so the gatekeeper has spread to the people. Up to now, people have always attached importance to the images of Qin Qiong and Jingde.

6. In addition, Zhong Kui, Han Xin and Xiao He, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, Zhao Yun and Ma Chao, Yue Jiajun and Yang Jiajiang, Hehe Erxian and other figures are also folk guardians.