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Nothing is immune from obsolescence these days, not even divinity. Through the surrealism and humor of The Gate God, Liu Dao contemplates the role of tradition and history in a country that has plunged itself into modernity. The gate gods have always been revered, but their heyday came during the Tang Dynasty, when the paranoid Emperor Tang Taizong (唐太宗) commissioned a pair of them – modeled after his two most loyal generals – to be painted over his bedroom doors for protection against his recurring nightmares. Since then, gate or door gods have guarded generations of families from evil spirits trying to break into their homes. [Loo Ching Ling 吕晶琳] |
