The Ministry of Exorcism is a Taoist invention and is composed of seven chief ministers, whose duty is to expel evil spirits from dwellings and generally to counteract the annoyances of infernal demons.  The two gods usually referred to in the popular legends are P’an Kuan and Chung K’uei.  The first is really the Guardian of the Living and the Dead in the Otherworld, Feng-tu P’an Kuan (Feng-tu or Feng-tu Ch’eng being the region beyond the tomb).  He was originally a scholar named Ts’ui Chio, who became Magistrate of Tz’u Chou, and later Minister of Ceremonies.  After his death he was appointed to the spiritual post above mentioned.  His best-known achievement is his prolongation of the life of the Emperor T’ai Tsung of the T’ang dynasty by twenty years by changing i, ‘one,’ into san, ‘three,’ in the life-register kept by the gods.  The term P’an Kuan is, however, more generally used as the designation of an officer or civil or military attendant upon a god than of any special individual, and the original P’an Kuan, ‘the Decider of Life in Hades,’ has been gradually supplanted in popular favour by Chung K’uei, ‘the Protector against Evil Spirits.’

The Exorcism of ‘Emptiness and Devastation’

The Emperor Ming Huang of the T’ang dynasty, also known as T’ang Hsuean Tsung, in the reign-period K’ai Yuean (A.D. 712-742), after an expedition to Mount Li in Shensi, was attacked by fever.  During a nightmare he saw a small demon fantastically dressed in red trousers, with a shoe on one foot but none on the other, and a shoe hanging from his girdle.  Having broken through a bamboo gate, he took possession of an embroidered box and a jade flute, and then began to make a tour of the palace, sporting and gambolling.  The Emperor grew angry and questioned him.  “Your humble servant,” replied the little demon, “is named Hsue Hao, ‘Emptiness and Devastation,’” “I have never heard of such a person,” said the Emperor.  The demon rejoined, “Hsue means to desire Emptiness, because in Emptiness one can fly just as one wishes; Hao, ‘Devastation,’ changes people’s joy to sadness.  “The Emperor, irritated by this flippancy, was about to call his guard, when suddenly a great devil appeared, wearing a tattered head-covering and a blue robe, a horn clasp on his belt, and official boots on his feet.  He went up to the sprite, tore out one of his eyes, crushed it up, and ate it.  The Emperor asked the newcomer who he was.  “Your humble servant,” he replied, “is Chung K’uei, Physician of Tung-nan Shan in Shensi.  In the reign-period Wu Te (A.D. 618-627) of the Emperor Kao Tsu of the T’ang dynasty I was ignominiously rejected and unjustly defrauded of a first class in the public examinations.  Overwhelmed with shame, I committed suicide on the steps of the imperial palace.  The Emperor ordered me to be buried in a green robe [reserved for members of the imperial clan], and out of gratitude for that favour I swore to protect the sovereign in any part of the Empire against the evil