NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY, 10TH-11TH CENTURY

The god of successful examinations and literature, Kuixing is generally depicted standing on a fish, tortoise or dragon, with one arm raised holding a pen and the other holding an ingot.

The modeling and demeanor of the present figure relate to a pair of painted wood guardians from an early Song dynasty temple in Dingzhou, Hebei province, illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji, diaosubian 5, Wudai Song diaosu, Beijing, 1988, fig. 79. These stylistic elements derive from Tang dynasty prototypes, such as an earthenware figure of a guardian illustrated in Tangdai yishu, Xi’an, 1991, fig. 62, p. 69 which is modeled in a similarly spirited and expressive pose.