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Antique 18th c Chinese Statue Porcelain Figure Kui XIng God of Examinations. Very rare!

Antique 18th c Chinese Statue Porcelain Figure Kui XIng God of Examinations. Very rare!

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Condition Report: Small chip to head, trident is missing and left hand has repainting. Other hand also has repainting. Further also some small repainted spots on the enamel. Statue is glued to base at the foot. Size 2

In Daoist tradition, Kui Xing is said to have been “bent and hunchbacked, as if he were an actual calligraphy character”, and came to be viewed as a saint of human fortune, particularly with regard to imperial examinations. Late Ming Dynasty scholar Gu Yan-Wu, often referred to as Gu Ting-Lin, wrote of Kui Xing in his Record of Historical Knowledge: “The date of the beginning of modern people’s veneration of Kui Xing is unknown. Since Kui (奎) was taken to be the master of composition, therefore the people established shrines to venerate him. Being unable to sculpt an image of the star (奎), his name was thus changed to [the homophonous character] 魁. Again being unable to directly construct an image of 魁, the character was split into its constituent radicals [鬼 Gui – Ghost/Spirit and 斗 Dou – Ladle/Gourd] and illustrated as such.” Gu’s statement suggests the name change was a creative measure designed to facilitate Kui Xing’s veneration.

As his form developed, people depicted Kui Xing’s right foot standing on a character 鰲 (ao), a giant turtle, in reference to a traditional saying, 獨佔鰲頭, “to stand lonely on the ao’s head”, meaning coming in first in examinations[1]), his left foot support a ladle, a writing brush in his hand, and his body full of vigor and life. Stylized calligraphy of Confucian adages often compose his torso.

Artists have also depicted the ao on which Kui Xing stands as a giant fish (see the image of a temple in Xinwupu, Hubei), or as a realistic-looking turtle (e.g., the statue near Bijiacheng – the “Brush-rest wall” – in Changde, Hunan[2]).

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Additional Information

Primary Material

Type

Region of Origin

Century

18th century

China Dynasty Period

Qing (1661 – 1912)

Emperor

Jiaqing (1796-1820), Qianlong (1735-1796)

Material

Porcelain & Pottery

Condition Report

Small chip to head, trident is missing and left hand has repainting. Other hand also has repainting. Further also some small repainted spots on the enamel. Statue is glued to base at the foot. Size 2