The Chinese Netherworld’s (or hell) myth runs deeply through China’s history and culture. Emerged from a soup of Buddhist and Taoist folk religion, this concept of reincarnation originates in the yin/yang duality: If there is a physical (Yang) life, there must be an incorporeal afterlife to hold it in balance, an Underworld (Yin).
In this mythology, death is a journey that begins with the death of the physical body. During life, the omniscient gods are said to accompany each living being, recording their deeds, both good and bad. When one dies, its soul is escorted to the Underworld by its two guardians, one with the head of a horse and the other the head of an ox. Survivors of near-death experiences claim to have caught glimpses of the guardians.
The Underworld is governed by a strict set
of laws and jurisdictions. Similar to judgement day, all your kind deeds or
evil sins will be reviewed by the Underworld’s Magistrate. A good soul might be
returned to a new human life cycle. However, only a shining, exemplary soul is
granted immediate release from the Underworld. They must choose how they leave,
whether across the Golden Bridge or the Silver Bridge. A soul who chose the
Golden Bridge travelled into enlightenment and freed itself from the
reincarnation cycle. The Silver Bridge would take the soul to heaven to be
reborn as a god. However, most souls will never get to receive such luxurious
choices. Instead, they are judged and punished by the Magistrates for the sins
they have committed in their lifetimes.
Second Magistrate: The liars and frauds
Third Magistrate: The unjust and slanderers
Fourth Magistrate: The greedy and heartless
Fifth Magistrate: The immoral and murderers
Sixth Magistrate: The sacrilegious
Seventh Magistrate: Those who desecrate
corpses
Eighth Magistrate: Those who don’t respect
family
Ninth Magistrate: The arsonists and the
obscene
Tenth Magistrate: The suicides and deaths by accident
Level 1: Tongues ripped out
Crime: Gossiping
and spreading trouble with words
Level 2: Fingers cut off with scissors
Crime:
Destroying someone else’s marriage
Level 3: Hung in trees of knives
Crime: Sowing
discord within your family
Level 4: Made to face your true self in a
mirror
Crime: Escaping
punishment for crimes while alive
Level 5: Steamed alive
Crime: Being a
hypocrite or troublemaker
Level 6: Chained to red-hot iron pillars
Crime:
Committing arson
Level 7: Forced to climb a mountain of
knives
Crime: Killing
for pleasure
Level 8: Abandoned on a mountain of ice
Crime: Committing
adultery and deceiving elders
Level 9: Fried in vats of boiling oil
Crime:
Committing rape or abuse and making false accusations
Level 10: Gored by animals
Crime: Abusing
animals
Level 11: Hold up heavy boulders until
crushed
Crime:
Abandoning or killing children
Level 12: Forced to swallow hell fire
Crime: Wasting
food
Level 13: Submerged in pools of blood
Crime:
Disrespecting others
Level 14: Perpetual wandering in the wind
and darkness
Crime:
Committing suicide (choosing to subvert the natural cycle)
Level 15: Dismembered and body torn apart
Crime: Raiding
tombs and disturbing corpses
Level 16: Thrown into the hot core of a
volcano
Crime: Theft,
robbery, and corruption
Level 17: Crushed in a stone mill
Crime: Abusing
power to harm the weak
Level 18: Sawed in half
Crime:
Practicing unfair or unethical business
The Tenth Magistrate governs and turns the
great wheel of reincarnation, determining how the souls of the dead return.
They might reincarnate as gods, humans, good demons, bad demons, animals, or
even be returned directly back into hell. With the judgement delivered, one
would then be able to proceed to the Forgiven Bridge on the journey of
reincarnation.
The legendary Meng Po, an old lady who
lives in the Tenth Court, brews amnesia tea for every soul who crosses the
bridge, which makes them forget their past life and punishments, and start
afresh in the new life.
The most extreme cases are those who refused
to drink the tea, due to their reluctance to forget their past, and are willing
to surrender their chance of reincarnation. Those souls would then be forever
stuck in hell, being cycled endlessly back into torment.
One may ask, what makes these souls willing
to give up their chance of reborn and suffer endlessly in the grips of hell? Love
and Hate. The majority of them would be so filled with hatred and vengeance that
saw them turned into horrifying monsters; who would take every opportunity to
seek revenge and inflict harm on others. The story of “The Ghost of
Meng” – however, was one of those extreme rare cases who chose to stay in hell because
of love. It tells the story of a poor servant who had sacrificed her life by
offering to have her heart dug out, in order to save the man she loves - her master. Her love for
him was so deep that she could not bear to forget him, and was willing to
wander perpetually in the dark, lonely Underworld. Generations after
generations, her ghost continued to protect her master, even though he had died
and reborn several lives, and he doesn’t even recognize her anymore – all
because of a promise.
Stay tuned for the next release of “The
Horror Wedding Series”, the tragic story of “The Ghost Of Meng”, which is sure
to tug at your heartstrings!
References
Asia for Educators, Columbia University.
(2021). Living in the Chinese Cosmos | Asia for Educators. Asia for
Educators. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/cosmos/prb/underworld.htm
Britannica. (n.d.). Shiwang | Chinese
mythology. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shiwang
Mark, E. (2021, November 8). Most
Popular Gods & Goddesses of Ancient China. World History Encyclopedia.
https://www.worldhistory.org/article/894/most-popular-gods--goddesses-of-ancient-china/
Werner, E. T. C. (2005). The Project
Gutenberg eBook of Myths and Legends of China (#15250 ed.) [E-book]. PG
Online Distributed.
0 Comments