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).

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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.

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It is said to have a total of Ten Courts that rule the Netherworld, each administered by a Magistrate. The ten Magistrates oversee the torture of souls after death, according to their moral failings during life. Each soul is judged by the First Magistrate before being sent to the appropriate Magistrate for a fitting punishment that can be summarized according to the nature of their crimes:

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

What form of punishment awaits them? From minor punishments such as facing your true self against a mirror, to the distinct, horrific punishments of being dismembered, steamed alive, etc. these souls might be required to pass through and endure the torment of multiple levels (total 18 levels) given by demon torturers, before being allowed to leave, if at all:

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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


Once a soul has passed through all the required levels of punishment and endured them for the length of time mandated by the Magistrates, it comes before the Tenth Magistrate.

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.

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Failure to sip Meng Po’s bittersweet tea may explain how some infants appear to speak or remember their previous life. Perhaps some souls slipped out of the Netherworld haunted by these memories.

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.