What is "fangxiangshi"

The fangxiangshi 方相氏 was a Chinese ritual exorcist who wore a bearskin with four golden eyes, and carried a lance and shield to expel malevolent spirits. His primary duties were orchestrating the seasonal Nuo ritual to chase out disease-causing demons from houses and buildings, and leading a funeral procession to exorcize corpse-eating wangliang spirits away from a burial chamber. From the Han dynasty through the Tang dynasty (3rd century BCE to 10th century CE), fangxiangshi were official wu-shaman specialists in the imperially sanctioned Chinese state religion; after the Tang, they were adapted into popular folk religion and symbolized by wearing a four-eyed mask. In the present day, the fangxiangshi is a masked character in Chinese Nuo opera, and continues as the Japanese equivalent hōsōshi 方相氏 exorcist in Shinto ceremonies.