馗ZHONG KUI
NOTES FROM THE THRESHOLD

A DOOR KEEPS ITS OWN WEATHER · SEASON 06

What can
come home?

After the book, the object, and the screen, I return to a doorstep. A local practice can be meaningful without becoming everyone’s rule.

Original editorial illustration of a rain-dark red doorway, an abstract red paper shape, and warm lamplight inside
ORIGINAL EDITORIAL ILLUSTRATION · 2026 · A contemporary imagined threshold, not a historical household, surviving print, or ritual reconstruction.

A word before we begin

A custom record gives a practice a place, a period, and a limit. It does not turn every door with a red scrap of paper into the same story. This season keeps the local address attached.

Source compass

  1. Qing jia lu (清嘉录). A Qing-era Suzhou record including a fifth-month Zhong Kui image practice. It is a local record, not a national rule.
  2. Jingchu suishiji (荆楚岁时记). A regional route into seasonal protective practices; it frames context without proving one universal Zhong Kui rite.
  3. The reading room. This site’s guide to the difference between literary texts, local custom records, visual objects, and modern adaptations.