Extermination of Evil

[2] They are thought to have originally been a single handscroll,[1][2] known as the "second edition of the Masuda family hell scroll", that was stored in the Rengeō-in Temple (now Sanjūsangen-dō).

They are thought to be associated with the hell transformation screens then used in Nara for repentance ceremonies at the end of each year, where the devout recited the names of the buddhas at Heijō Palace.

In the painting he is depicted fighting and consuming Gozu tennō, an ox-headed deity worshipped at the Gion shrine (present day Yasaka) in Kyoto (京都市, Kyōto-shi).

He is derived from an Indian patron god of music and believed to protect young people from the fifteen malevolent deities.

[6] Shōki (鍾馗) is a deity told in Buddhist setsuwa (oral tales) to have protected Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.