​Ox-Head and Horse-Face

Water colour on water colour paper

Photo shop to modify various parameters to achieve the effect

297mm*420mm

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Ox-Head and Horse-Face are two guardians or types of guardians of the underworld in Chinese mythology. As indicated by their names, both have the bodies of men, but Ox-Head has the head of an ox while Horse-Face has the face of a horse. They are the first beings a dead soul encounters upon entering the underworld; in many stories they directly escort the newly dead to the underworld.

In their duties as guardians of Diyu, the realm of the dead, their role is to capture human souls who have reached the end of their earthly existence and bring them before the courts of Hell. Souls are then rewarded or punished based on the actions performed in their lifetime.

I chose to create them because they are so famous in China almost everyone knows Ox-Head and Horse-Face, and because they were merely oxen and horses in their previous lives, but after death they can become public servants in hell, which for once reflects the Buddhist concept of equality of all beings.