Text/Figure Zhao Hanqing In the hearts of ordinary people in China, Zhong Kui is the ghost king who receives blessings and exorcises. Therefore, on holidays, when you move and open a shop, you will buy a painting of Zhong Kui and hang it indoors to eliminate disasters and welcome happiness. Zhong Kui's paintings are the favorite things of ordinary people. Mr. Lu Xun said: "It is easy to become a world with local color." Lingbi Zhong Kui painting is a typical representative of traditional folk art in China. Wang Yuncheng in the Ming Dynasty, Buddha Zhang in the Qing Dynasty, and Jin Kun's Bu Xia Dai Bian all thought that Zhong Kui did exist in history. According to legend, Zhong Kui is the reincarnation of the Chinese side in the Great Nuo Instrument. Born in the Tang Dynasty, he was "a clever man" and "upright and brave". He was outstanding in talent and took the exam in Beijing, ranking first. Later, he was jealous of the power traitor and died in anger. Later generations admired his moral character and hated traitors, so they wrote Zhong Kui into a fairy tale to uphold justice, lash evil spirits and classify all kinds of evil deeds in the world, such as "comparing people of all colors with ghosts, distinguishing them one by one and revealing their hidden feelings". Lingbi has been known as "Zhong Kui's hometown of painting" since ancient times. According to the records of Lingbi County, it has been passed down from generation to generation that Zhong Kui is due south and Lingbi comes out of the south slope of Zhongshan. Strong body, smart and wise, and wonderful articles. In his senior year, he went to Beijing to catch the exam and won the top prize. Because of the traitor's jealousy, he fell into Sun Shan. In a rage, he touched the steps and died. When the ghost came to Yamaraja Hall, the prince saw that he was strong-willed, so he was named "the champion who detests evil as hatred" and "the exorcist general". He can go in and out of hell on earth at will, catch ghosts and subdue demons, and the world is at peace from now on. Zhong Kui's loyalty, courage and integrity are known to the Jade Emperor, so he wrote a letter to the Heaven, and sealed the title of "Yi Zheng, the Emperor of Exorcism and Thunder". From then on, Zhong Kui entered heaven, hell and earth at will and became an exorcist. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Lingbi county officials were worshipped by evil spirits, and the county magistrate was uneasy about political affairs and turned to Zhong Kui for help. As soon as Zhong Kui arrived at Lingbi, the evil spirits disappeared. The next day, Zhong Kui said goodbye to him, and the magistrate begged for a long-term peace plan. Zhong Kui instructed: "You can ask the painter to paint my portrait and hang it on the official's son, so that evil spirits will not dare to come." The county magistrate did as he wanted, painted it and hung it on the wall for several days, and it really worked. Since then, people have followed suit, so there are more and more painters in Zhong Kui, distributed in urban and rural areas, who can write the true image of Zhong Kui, thus becoming the "hometown of Zhong Kui painting". According to historical records, the formation of Lingbi Zhongkui Painting Township was related to Yang Fei, a famous painter of Wu Daozi School in Song Dynasty. Yang painted in Sibin Temple very much and in Lingbi for a long time. He once taught Zifa and Lingbi's disciples, which should be the main background of Lingbi's painting town in Zhong Kui. Furthermore, Zhong Kui's paintings are formed due to various factors in the long-term development process. First of all, people have the custom of worshipping Zhong Kui. Secondly, because Zhong Kui's paintings originated from Lingbi, they are dubbed as "Lingjian", and the magical legend of "Living Zhong Kui" is handed down every year. Then there is folklore. Some books say that Zhong Kui is a soul mate. Among them, Jin Wan, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, wrote in the book "No Down Belt": "When writing" Dream Dance Zhong Kui Fu ",its epigram goes:" If you want to be broad-minded for a long time, you will get crooked; It is dangerous to scratch short hair on the skull. "When later painters wrote their images, the Chinese they had to know was Xiao. According to legend, Zhong (Ben) is a wise man, and his descendants are still in Yan State, and most of them use cinnabar to paint their ancestors and feed on goods. There is a county magistrate named Ling You Yingyun ". This has increased the dazzling brilliance and charm of Lingbi Zhong Kui's paintings, making them popular all over the country. Besides, Qi, a scholar in Qing Dynasty, commented on Zhong Kui painted by Ling Bi in "A Copy of Famous Mountains in Zhong Kui": "... Tang Xuanzong dreamed that Zhong Kui beheaded an abandoned ghost and fell ill himself, because he ordered Wu Daozi to paint his portrait all over the world. Daozi's painting can communicate with the gods, just like writing on earth, which gradually loses its truth. Only Lingbi's paintings can't get rid of the original style of Daozi, so the old people pushed it ... ". This kind of praise put Zhong Kui's painting art in a very high position, and increased the popularity of Lingbi Zhong Kui's painting. Most importantly, at the Panamanian World Expo in 19 15, Zhong Kui won the gold medal for his painting "Zhai Guangyuan", which made him famous in the international painting world. /kloc-In the 1980s, Zhong Kui's paintings Lingbi and Sun Huaibin were invited to participate in the Singapore "Chinese Art Festival", and all their works were purchased. In 1990s, Zhong Kui painting by Lingbi Chen Guanglin was sold by its "judges" at an auction in Hong Kong for HK$ 6.5438+RMB 4,000. 2/kloc-at the beginning of the 20th century, Lingbi Malin participated in the "Huizhou Merchants International Conference" and painted Zhong Kui on the spot, which was snapped up by many foreign friends and had a far-reaching influence. In recent years, Cao Jinya, a police painter of Lingbi Public Security Bureau, has won many awards in art exhibitions at home and abroad because of his special identity and unique painting style. His works are collected by politicians, big businessmen, collectors, universities and museums at home and abroad. It is these painters who have made Lingbi Zhong Kui's paintings famous at home and abroad for many times, and made Lingbi the hometown of painting in Zhong Kui. In 2006, Lingbi was officially named "the hometown of painting in Zhong Kui, China" by the state.