WEBVTT - Demon Eaters and Possessed Tools 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:05.840 Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:14.319 Works dot com. Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:17.320 your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:19.239 And of course, if you've been listening to the show 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:21.360 for a while, you probably know that just about every 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:25.080 year we bring out some Lunar New Year themed content 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:27.400 and uh, this year, Lunar New Year fell right on 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:31.560 a Tuesday. Yeah, so how could we say no to that? Um? Now, 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:35.839 whether you celebrate Western New Year or you or you 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:38.400 like a good Lunar New Year or trip both or 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:40.320 Chinese New Year, well, I think there's always room for 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:43.519 both celebrations because you can you can shoot for your 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:48.360 Western New Year, you can make your various goals and resolutions, 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:51.520 and you can you have a good month to try 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:53.320 them out and fail with them, and then you have 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:55.880 another shot. You can say, all right, well I'm gonna 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:57.640 go for Lunar New Year. This is gonna be my 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:00.600 new beginning, because that first New Beginning didn't really take 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:03.320 off like I wanted it to. And if you feel 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:06.640 like you're early on you've already had your year kind 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:09.360 of infested with a lot of negative energy, you can 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:12.840 have some exorcisms, that's right. So that is one of 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:15.080 the things we're gonna be talking about in this episode. 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:19.160 It's this this episode, it might seem like something of 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:22.479 a of a potpourri episode, but but there there's there's 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:25.960 definitely a string connecting all of these together about the 0:01:26.000 --> 0:01:30.560 exorcism of spirits, the exorcism of you can I mean, 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:32.959 you can even just think of them as negative emotional 0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:36.640 states and associations from your life as you head into 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:39.440 some sort of new phase, which is kind of at 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:42.160 the heart of so many of our approaches to a 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:46.080 new year, we'll think about what most New Year's resolutions 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:48.960 actually are. I don't have empirical evidence for this, but 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:52.320 my gut feeling is that the majority of New Year's 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:56.160 resolutions are to stop doing something you see as a 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:59.600 negative presence in your life or reduce doing something you 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:02.520 see a sort of like a demon on your back. Right. Yeah. 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:04.480 And now there's been pushback against that, and a lot 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:06.600 of people say, we what we need to do. If 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:09.400 we are going to set little resolutions, in addition to 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:13.200 making them reasonable, we should try and make them more positive, 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:16.680 like things I Am going to do. Uh. And then, 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:19.840 of course realizing that you need to make it attainable. 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:22.400 I don't know, making an attainable sounds kind of scary 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:25.760 because then you'd have to actually do it. Yeah, but 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:27.840 then yeah, if you set it up too if you 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:29.919 set up too much of an obstacle, if the resolution 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:31.880 is too great, then you're just guaranteed to fail and 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:34.480 you're gonna feel bad about that. Anyway, what was it 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:36.520 we said one year in the past? We uh, we 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:39.359 decided the best New Year's resolution is that every year 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:43.840 you should decide you're gonna live forever. Maybe so, and 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:46.840 that might as well, right. Uh So we do have 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:49.520 to point out that this new year, there's a lot 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:54.120 of enthusiasm for the uh, the the ideas, the teachings 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:58.000 of Marie Condo. Oh yes, I've been hearing all about this, 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:00.440 and I will say so, I have not watched her show, 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:03.200 I've not read her stuff. I don't really know anything 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:06.680 about this except what I've gleaned second hand from the culture. 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:10.880 But I I sense that there is inherent controversy and 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:14.280 misunderstanding about her whole thing. But basically, what I gather 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:17.680 is that she's for sort of cleaning, cleansing your physical 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:23.679 surroundings and purging yourself of unnecessary, unwanted objects. Yeah, that's 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:25.760 that's my understanding. A lot of people have been watching 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:29.080 her Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Condo, which which 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:32.880 was of course released January one, twenty nineteen, clearly aiming 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:38.160 for New Year's resolution minded folks. Uh. And she uses 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:41.119 what is what she calls the con Marii method, which 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:43.360 is said to be inspired by Shinto principles about the 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:46.120 spirit of things in one's life. And yeah, the basic 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:50.360 idea is throw out the stuff that isn't necessary and 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:53.520 doesn't believe the quote is spark joy. Oh yeah, I've 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:56.800 heard all about sparking joy. Yeah, and you know, I, 0:03:56.920 --> 0:03:58.400 you know I, I see no problem with that. I 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:01.920 like that idea. I'd like to try and limit the 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:04.400 clutter in my own life. And if something isn't making 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:07.680 you happy, and it's a physical object and it's not necessary, 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:10.880 it's not holding up a bookcase or anything or enabling 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:12.640 you to make a living, like, what is it? What's 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:15.600 it doing right? Well? And I also certainly think that, 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:19.080 and I think I'm sometimes guilty of this myself, that 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:22.559 hanging on to lots of old objects and not getting 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:25.839 rid of them can essentially be a way of avoiding 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:29.640 processing and thinking about your own past, you know, Like 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:31.680 it can be a way like if you've got stuff 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:34.400 from previous years that you just know you're not going 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:36.440 to use again, but you don't want to go through 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:38.080 it and see what you need to get rid of. 0:04:38.440 --> 0:04:40.960 That can often just be because you don't, you know, 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:43.440 you're kind of afraid to sit down and think about 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:45.800 what's been going on in your life, so like you 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:48.880 don't do it. Yeah, Or one of my favorites when 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:52.080 you find a box of old stuff that is quote 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:55.000 unquote meaningful, but you forgot you had it. You have 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:57.440 like looked in this box in years, and you ask youself, like, 0:04:57.520 --> 0:04:59.880 I think this stuff was dead to me, and I 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:03.080 have brought it back to life by finding it. Maybe 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:05.600 it should have just stayed dead. Sometimes dead is better, right, 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:10.359 As a wise man once said, Uh so, you know, 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:12.480 not to spend a lot of time on mary condo, 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:14.960 but I imagine with with her work, Yeah, you're going 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:17.000 to see people who really dig it, who really get 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:20.080 enthusiastic about it, people who have a lot of problems 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:22.560 with it, people who try it and experience success, and 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:25.640 people who try it and find that, well, here's another 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:31.679 self help um guru whose advice has not fixed my life. 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:33.880 And I think that's part of the course with with 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:39.400 most teachings, uh that are aimed at changing the shape 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:42.080 of your life. I guess the more religious way of 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:44.000 thinking about it would be that these objects have like 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:48.000 a spirit to them, or spiritual energy. You obviously don't 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:49.479 have to think that there's such a thing as a 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:52.560 spirit in an object to recognize that objects have significance. 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:57.000 You know, the objects around you. They trigger certain like 0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:01.159 cascades of memories and and and react actions and emotions, 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:03.599 and so in a certain way, they can sort of 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:07.039 have a spirit, even if they don't literally have a soul. Right, 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.800 It's something that we have clearly projected through our own 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:14.279 imaginations or own memories and even just through the like 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.400 the nature of of building being a tool building and 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:21.960 tool acquiring an object acquiring species. Yeah, I mean, is 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:25.800 there any other species that acquires objects in the way 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:28.520 we do? I mean, you could think about like birds 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:32.039 that build, you know, bower birds building building nests with 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:36.760 with strange attractive objects. But there is really nothing like 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:39.880 us in terms of all the objects we we bring 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:42.479 to surround ourselves with. Now you might think about a 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:44.760 lot of those objects is like, well, that's because we 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:48.479 are you know, primates with tool using intelligence, and most 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:50.840 of these objects are tools that we've figured out how 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:54.240 to use, but most of them you don't ever actually use. 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:57.320 They actually are more like the bower bird that you know, 0:06:57.360 --> 0:06:59.360 most of them are not your kitchen knife that you 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:01.840 use every day. They might be a tool that could 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:04.479 maybe do something, but you never do that thing or 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:07.000 you never use them. So it is more like you're 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:10.280 just building a nest with strange bits of string intensil, 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:13.520 and it's not even attracting a mate or keeping your 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:17.360 in in the sense your collection of bubble heads or 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:20.840 you're like grandfather's collection of bubble heads. Whatever it happens 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:22.600 to be like something you even have you don't even 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:26.520 have direct emotional attachment to. Perhaps like it's it's no 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:29.880 longer winning you mates, it may be getting in the 0:07:29.920 --> 0:07:33.880 way of your relationship with your existing mate. Um. Yeah, 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:38.320 so it's it's this weird byproduct of the human experience. Yeah. 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:40.640 Of course, then again, we we have a very complex 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:43.800 way of appreciating our aesthetic surroundings, and some of these 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:46.360 artificial objects we surround ourselves with are part of that. 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:48.400 So I guess I walked in here wondering if I 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:50.480 was going to have a take on the like whole 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.840 like purging all your unwanted old objects thing. I don't 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:56.080 have a take on it. I guess I just I'm 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:59.160 gonna say, do it if you want to do it. Well, 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:04.040 there's my boring pronouncement, folks. Well here's the definite fact. 0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:07.600 Marie Condo was not the first individual to say, hey, 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:10.120 it's a new beginning, maybe I should throw a few 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:12.480 things away. Right to think that the new year is 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:16.600 a time to exercise old demons, whether metaphorically in the 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:21.480 modern age or quite literally in the mythological context, that's right. 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:23.560 So in this episode of Stuff to Blow your Mind, 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:26.280 we are going to We're going to continue to explore 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:28.800 these themes, and in doing so, we're gonna waltz between 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:33.200 Chinese and Japanese myths and legends. And first of all, 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:36.000 we are going to meet a demon slayer. I love 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:39.080 a good demon slayer. Yeah, so this is gonna be 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:43.280 what Buffy. No, no, no, this is the true fact. 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:47.200 Buffy did slay demons in addition to vampires. Most for 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:49.200 the vampire thing. I guess it looks better on a 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:53.040 calling card. Most of the interesting ones were more demon 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:56.400 than vampire, I think. Yeah, the vampires became less essential 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:59.240 as the series went on. But but no, we're talking 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:04.120 about one of the greatest did not the greatest demon slayer, 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:09.400 demon queller, demon defeat exorcist of all time, demon eater, 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:16.079 demon eatery ghost banisher. Uh demon I Gauger, Yes, I Gouger. 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:19.679 He was a man, a spirit of of many skills. 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:24.600 We're talking about zen Quay, the demon queller from from 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:28.479 Chinese legend in mythology. There are a lot of fantastic 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:32.400 paintings of zen Quay that I have found all over 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:35.280 the internet. There's just a rich artistic tradition with this 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:38.199 guy who's got this severe face that's sort of part 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:40.880 of his mythology. That he's kind of like like nasty 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:44.040 looking in the face, but that he's this real tough 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:47.920 guy with a beard who's usually found commanding a troop 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:51.199 of demons to do his will. Yeah, he's he's kind 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:53.560 of a vulcan figure to a certain extent. Yeah, And 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:57.319 he's he's often kind of like this squat maybe slightly 0:09:57.400 --> 0:10:01.880 ugly or ourid, disfigured individual. The depictions range from him 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:06.040 just looking like an eccentric um like middle aged scholar 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:10.480 to looking like an outright like troll with like red 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:14.320 or dusky skin, you know, like he It varies a lot. 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:18.080 Sometimes he's kind of serene seeming. Sometimes he is accompanied 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:23.000 by demons. Other times he is like actively perpetrating violence 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:26.560 against the demons, sometimes in a procession of demons as 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:30.040 if on parade, sometimes being carried in a sedan chair 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:34.360 by demons. So uh I actually, so there are different 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:38.440 versions of the story about him, different details regarding with 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:41.600 conflicting details, conflicting details about how he came to be, 0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:44.760 what his role was, who tasked him with this role? Well, 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:46.880 tell me one version of the story, Robert, Okay, this 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:49.320 is the first version I came across in a book 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:52.720 of Chinese mythology. So they got the idea. Here's during 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:56.679 the eighth century uh Emperor Ming of Time who lived 0:10:56.720 --> 0:11:00.880 six eighty five through seven sixty two. Uh an historic 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:04.560 individual suffered a fever one night and was assailed by 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:09.040 a rampaging demon dressed in red trousers. And though he 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:11.439 asked the demon what its name was, and the demon said, 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:16.520 my name is quote emptiness and desolation, and the Emperor 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:18.560 was just powerless to stop it. You know, it's just 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:22.960 still suffering under this fever. It's this demons running around 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:25.560 like cat in the hat, just messing anything up. I 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:28.640 think in some other tellings of it, it's running around 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:31.160 with a flute and a purse that it has stolen 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:33.720 from the emperor, which I think is a nice wrinkle 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:36.600 on everything, because here we see the introduction of objects, 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:40.959 objects with some sort of value or or or or 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.440 spirit to them. So who will come in to save 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:46.360 the emperor from this horrible ghost like figure. Well the 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:48.480 Emperor calls for his guards, of course, but you know 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:50.360 that that doesn't do any good. I don't even think 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:53.200 they just they show up. Instead. What happens is a 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:57.880 great frightening apparition storms into the chamber dressed in tattered 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:02.079 robes and a torn bandanna. It grabs this red demon up, 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:07.840 crunches it down into a ball cartoon style and then 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:11.400 swallows it whole well. And then the spirit introduces itself 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:14.920 to the Emperor as zong Quai, the soul of a 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:18.960 talented scholar who committed suicide after failing to achieve top 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:23.280 honors in the public examinations. The public examinations would have been. 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:26.080 This was like the test to determine like where you 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:29.320 were going to be professionally in society, so like if 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:31.959 you get a good score, you would get some kind 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:34.960 of good position in government service. Yeah, exactly. So it 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:39.400 was a huge, huge deal, not no mine or test. Okay, 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:43.360 So he he fails in achieving the score that he 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:47.120 was going for, and different versions of it play this differently, 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:50.640 and some he is kind of cheated out of top scores. Yeah. 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:52.640 I think I've read one where he did get a 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:55.480 top score but then something bad happened to him. Anyway. 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:57.800 I think there's a version where the emperor at the 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:01.800 time made fun of him for physical appearance and that 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:04.920 led to the despair that ends in suicide. So they're yeah, 0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:07.520 there are different versions of exactly how it goes down, 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:11.760 but in all of them he ends up dying the 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:14.040 death of a suicide And is uh and is this 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:17.680 reduced to this raith like form? But here here's the 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:21.199 important detail. Since the imperial family had shown him honor 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:23.679 and buried him in green robes like a member of 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:27.720 the imperial household, despite his shame, he'd sworn to protect 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:31.880 the emperor and his successors from the demons of despair. Okay, 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:35.800 so you've got this beyond the grave demon fighter figure 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:39.720 who's paying back the debt of his honorable burial. Right, yeah, 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:44.320 you have a vengeful ghost who kills demons, kills rogue spirits. 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:47.280 Uh and and essentially as the I've seen him described 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:51.520 as the immortal exorcist of Chinese mythology. And so the 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:53.760 emperor in this case and this story ends up putting 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:55.920 up a picture of him to honor him and to 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:59.640 an invoke his presence over any you know, rogue spirits 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:02.680 that might mess with his demeanor. And so this hanging 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:05.440 up of a picture of gen Qui does sort of 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:08.200 become a tradition, right Oh, yes, absolutely, generally you know, 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:12.720 by doorways. So yeah, he's this tragic figure, clearly talented 0:14:12.760 --> 0:14:16.880 and driven. And again the details very depending on the telling. 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:20.520 In one of them, I ran across. So he he dies, 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:23.840 and he ends up in the tin hells of dai U, 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:27.480 where the Tin Yama King's reside over the dead. And 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:32.239 here the lords of the underworld recognize zen Quays potential 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:35.320 and they offer him the position of King of Ghosts, 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:39.920 thus tasking him with policing unruly spirits and demons, which 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:43.320 I think is a pretty awesome origin story as well. Yeah, 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:45.920 in fact, I I like that one more because it's 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:48.840 you know, the the the agency here is not with 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:52.680 the Emperor but with the lords of Hell. Yeah, they're like, hey, 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.080 look we've got some spirits out here, some demons. They're 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:57.760 given the tin hell is a bad name. I actually 0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:00.560 need you to go out and police them one by one. 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:02.640 Like that's a whole that's a TV series right there. 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.880 Like he's a cowboy or he's like an outlaw who's 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:08.960 given a bounty to go collect or exactly. Yeah, and 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.200 this type of figure I feel like this does this 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:16.560 trope does show up in in even modern fictions. Certainly 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:19.960 there are plenty of modern fictions that actually use zen 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:23.080 Quay as a as a title character. You will find 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:27.600 zen Quay to this day in Chinese television shows, movies. 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:29.840 I think I saw there was a video game apparently 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:34.040 video games, the opera, um, etcetera. So he's he's no 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:37.600 minor figure, as will continue to discuss. So, but basically 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:42.400 he's roman about out on the land, uh, putting down rogues, 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:45.520 spirits and ghosts and demons. Oh yeah, he's putting him 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:48.440 to the sword. He's a he's gouging out their eyes. 0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:51.560 There's there's a painting or a tradition in paintings that 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:54.000 show him gouging out the eye of a demon. So 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:58.160 he's pretty ruthfully, he's a frightening figure, you know. With 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:00.120 then again, there's a long tradition of having like a 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:03.560 frightening figure to frighten away the demons and the spirits 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:07.480 and and all the malicious uh unseen entities that might 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:11.440 mess with with your health and happiness, and and he 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:13.840 is he is one of them. So he's like a figure, 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:18.000 a legendary figure embodying the spirit of apotropaic magic, the 0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:22.800 magic of warding off evil spirits and curses and stuff exactly. Now, 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:26.040 as you mentioned earlier, not only is he happy to 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:31.120 quell and uh and slay and sometimes mutilate and eat 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:34.760 the demons that are running about, but he'll also bend 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:37.760 them to his will. He'll make them serve him, carry 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:41.360 him around on a litter for example, um as well 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:45.360 as his sister who in the tellings U he's part 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:49.600 of his gratitude to the emperor is Uh is betrothing 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:52.440 his his sister to the emperor, I believe. So you 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:55.440 end up with these illustrations such as the gong Kai 0:16:55.600 --> 0:17:00.160 scroll from the Late Song dynasty, which depicts Zong eat 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:02.160 it in a litter carried and the litter is carried 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:05.199 by two male demons, while another litter is carrying his 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:08.399 sister carried by two female demons. And then you have 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:13.000 two demon attendants carrying a dog a package. All in all, 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:17.560 it's an eighteen demon servant entourage marching across this scroll. 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:22.120 And there are also seven smaller captured demons, some trust 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:25.199 up or in one case imprisoned in a jar like 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:28.280 an octopus filling a beer bottle. Yeah, so he's not 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:31.399 like in a sence, he is like the original Ghostbuster, 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:35.080 but he's not content to just shove the captured ghosts 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:37.600 into the containment unit. No, he is here to to 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:40.920 make all the slimmers and what have you uh carry 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:44.800 him about and then aid him in his ongoing war 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:48.360 against the demons. This is an awesome scroll, by the way. 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:50.600 I mean I mentioned earlier that there's a really cool 0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:54.800 artistic tradition and this is one great example. The demons though, 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:57.960 so they're doing his will, But often the demons also 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:00.119 appear to be kind of having a good time, like 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:05.119 they'll be jumping about and doing cartwheels and sometimes playing instruments. Maybe, yeah, 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:08.280 there is there is definitely a sense of a of 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:11.000 a parade to what we're seeing here, and it's a 0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:15.679 type of parade that to certainly too Western audiences, it 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:19.360 instantly makes one think of these crampus parades that one 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:23.399 sees where you have both um good st Nicholas marching 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:28.560 through the street, but also the unruly or slightly unruly crampuses. 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:32.720 And indeed, uh that that actually is there's actually a 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:35.480 strong comparison to be made between these two when we 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:39.040 start looking at some of the associations that Zong has 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:42.679 with New Year's exorcisms in Chinese traditions. Oh yeah, so 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:44.840 we started with the idea of the lunar new year 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:48.640 and with exercising the old. So how does zen Quai 0:18:48.760 --> 0:18:52.240 tie back into that? Obviously I can begin to see 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:56.119 the exorcism part. Oh yes, yeah, so, so I have 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:59.320 actually a wonderful passage here I want to read. This 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:02.600 is from a late eighteenth century description of festivities in 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:06.080 Han Xiao from Wu Zimmu, as quoted by Sherman E. 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:11.760 Lee in an Artibus Asia article from nine quote. On 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.080 the four day of the twelfth Lunar month, regardless of 0:19:15.119 --> 0:19:19.000 poverty or wealth, all prepare vegetarian food and sweet dishes 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:22.960 to sacrifice to Zal, the stove god. On the market 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:25.439 streets are poor beggars three to five men in a 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:30.800 company costumed as the figures of such as spirits and demons, 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:35.479 Panguan zong Quai and his younger sister, beating gongs and 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:38.879 striking drums from house to house they beg for money. 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:42.040 The end of the twelve month is termed chu Ye, 0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:46.520 the eve of change. The official and commoner families, whether 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:49.600 of greater or small households, prepare wine, sweep the gates 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:52.480 and beams, remove the dust and dirt, clean the halls 0:19:52.480 --> 0:19:56.959 and doors. Change the door guardians. Door guardians are are 0:19:57.000 --> 0:20:01.040 a tradition h Chinese households with opi on the doors 0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:04.000 or by the doors uh you know, guarding the household. 0:20:04.240 --> 0:20:09.880 Interestingly enough, one has seen uh Santa Claus when when 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:16.240 transferred into modern Chinese holiday traditions, Santa Claus has sometimes 0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:21.439 been utilized as twin doric guardians and hang pictures of 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:24.919 Zong Quay, so again helped put it put up a 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:27.840 picture of Zong to help keep the bad spirits away, 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:30.800 and the passage continues. In the forbidden interior of the 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:34.400 Imperial Palace, a great exorcism is carried out in a 0:20:34.400 --> 0:20:38.080 demon expelling ceremony. Face masks are placed on the head, 0:20:38.119 --> 0:20:42.359 and clothes and costumes with multi colored embroidered designs are worn. 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:47.880 Hands grasp golden spears, silver Halbard's painted wooden knives and swords, 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:52.800 multi huge dragons and phoenixes, and many colored flags and pinions, 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:57.160 and for amusement, the musicians are costumed as Panguan, Zong, Qua, 0:20:57.720 --> 0:21:02.119 Zao Yun, etcetera. And the Forbidden interior, the drumming and 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:06.480 blowing begin and the exorcism of evil spirits proceeds at 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:10.560 the don Hua gate and goes around a dragon pond bay. 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:13.439 So this is this in a nutshell, you know, it 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:17.560 throws in a number of different New Year's traditions in 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:20.359 Chinese culture. But also there is this sense of of 0:21:20.400 --> 0:21:25.320 the parade, the spectacle uh and people embodying themselves and 0:21:25.480 --> 0:21:29.040 kind of a Mummers tradition as the spirits, spirits and 0:21:29.080 --> 0:21:32.920 demons that are serving zen Quai or even zen Quay himself, 0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:35.919 but also the idea of linking the New Year with 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:40.359 a type of exorcism and purging ritual exactly. Yes, you know, 0:21:40.440 --> 0:21:44.040 and Zong remains an important part of Chinese New Year iconography. 0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:48.160 You'll see him in parades certainly as ceremonial wall hangings 0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:50.879 as well. And again he remains a popular figure in 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:54.399 Chinese opera, TV, movies, video games. For instance, there's a 0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:58.040 two thousand fifteen film titled zhen Quai Snow Girl in 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:01.800 the Dark Crystal that centers around our demon hunter. I 0:22:01.840 --> 0:22:04.720 assume it's a different Dark Crystal than correct, no relation 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:07.000 to Hintston at all. But I bet if you had 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:10.200 a Gartham infestation, he would get him right out of Yeah, 0:22:10.200 --> 0:22:12.960 he could clear some Gartham right out, sweep him right 0:22:12.960 --> 0:22:15.880 out of the out of the tomb. Alright. So, thus 0:22:15.920 --> 0:22:18.800 far have we spoken mainly of Chinese mythology. But the 0:22:18.840 --> 0:22:22.560 interesting thing about dozen Qua is that he travels. He 0:22:22.640 --> 0:22:27.000 travels eventually over into Japanese traditions as well as due 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:31.320 depictions of demon and spirit processions. In Japan, he's known 0:22:31.400 --> 0:22:34.679 as shokai and the oldest images a date back to 0:22:34.760 --> 0:22:37.080 the twelfth century. So we're going to take a quick 0:22:37.080 --> 0:22:38.800 break and when we come back, we're going to pick 0:22:38.880 --> 0:22:43.600