Sh?ki and Demons, late 19th century, Aoki Toshio, Japanese, 1854 - 1912, 20 ¡Ñ 48 in. (50.8 ¡Ñ 121.92 cm) (image)52 ¡Ñ 53 in. (132.08 ¡Ñ 134.62 cm) (mount) (approximate), Ink and color on silk, Japan, 19th century, A grotto-like space is filled with demons playing musical instruments, arm wrestling, quarrelling, and even, it would seem, preaching. Contemptuously surveying the scene is Sh?ki, the Queller of Demons. A deity from China¡¦s Daoist pantheon, Sh?ki became a popular figure associated with Boys¡¦ Day celebrations during Japan¡¦s Edo period. Rather than slaying the demons, as dictated by legend, the artist has cast Sh?ki as an overlord among his minions.