Door Gods

Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong

Guardians painted on doors, famously the generals Qin Qiong and Yuchi Jingde of the Tang.

Door gods guard the entrance between home and the outside world. The earliest were the brothers Shentu and Yulü who bound evil spirits at the peach tree of Dushuo; the best known are the Tang generals Qin Qiong and Yuchi Jingde, painted on palace doors after they stood watch to cure the emperor’s nightmares. Every New Year their images are pasted fresh on the gates, red and gold against the dark.