Hell Afterlife English I— Louise S. McGehee School 2004 Alex and Melanie (Blogiopi)

Chinese Beliefs on Hell The Underworld is a mix of Taoist, Buddhist, and traditional folk legends. Yen Lo Wang was the King of Hell in Chinese mythology (God of Death). In China, Cypress symbolizes death and afterlife, & China oranges symbolize the renewal and celebration of life. People with negative karma are reborn in hell until their karma becomes positive, and they are then reborn as humans or ghosts (Buddhist belief). (Windsteig, Oliver) (“Chinese New Year”)

Stages of Hell An evildoer would be presented to the city of ghosts. Then, he/she would cross the Naihe Bridge to reach the Gate of Hell. The levels/chambers of hell are located in the Fengdu Mountains, each with it’s own god. Sinners come to the mountains and are transferred to one of the chambers for punishment. Finally, the sinners were given the Drink of Forgetfulness by Lady Meng-Po to erase their memory and be reborn.

Wheel of Life In the last stage of hell, the sinner would be given another chance. The process included spinning around, gradually getting faster, and then shooting off into the body of a new life. If the sinner had repented enough, he/she would be reborn as a baby. If the sinner had not repented enough, he/she would be reborn as a slug.

Ten Courts/Levels of Hell When evildoers would arrive in hell, they would arrive at the 1 st court and exit through the last court. Depending on their evil deed, they would arrive at one of the courts in- between. 1)Mirror of Retribution (Qin- Quang Wang) 2)The Pool of Filth and the Hell of Ice (Qu-Jiang Wang) 3)Black Rope Hell and the Upside Down Prison (Song-Di-Wang) (“Chinese Symbol Vocabulary Collection”)

Ten Courts/Levels of Hell (Continued) 4) The Black Lake of Blood and the Terrible Bee torture (Wang-Wu-Guan) 5) 16 Departments of the Heart Gouging (Yen-Lo- Wang) 6) Screaming Torture and Administrative Errors (Bian- Cheng-Wang) 7) Torture by Mincing Machine (Tai-Shan-Wang) 8) Hot suffocation Hell (Du-Shi-Wang) 9) Iron Web and Office of Fair Trading (Ding-Deng- Wang) 10) The Wheel of Rebirth (Zhaung-Lun-Wang)

Chinese Hell (Afterlife) “Plant good deeds and you'll harvest good deeds; do evil deeds and you'll receive the same”— Chinese summary of retribution The myths on hell still exist in China today. Many sculptures of the punishments of hell can be found in the Tiger Balm Gardens in Hong Kong and Singapore. (Bryant, Darren) (“Other places visited”)

Works Cited Blogiopi. January January Bryant, Darren. “Chinese Beliefs in the Afterlife.” Tsinoy. August January “Chinese Symbols Vocabulary Collection.” Chinese Symbols Cip-Art Cd-Rom. 07 January translation.com/chinese/h/hzz108.htmlhttp:// translation.com/chinese/h/hzz108.html “Chinese New Year.” Wales South East. 07 January _ny.shtml?8 _ny.shtml?8 “Deputy Benefits” Deputy Bennett’s Le.E.O’s gifts. 07 January Traditions and Beliefs.” Women Central. May January

Works Cited (Continued) “Other Places Visited.” Submarine Baseph. 11 January Saunders, Chas & Peter Ramsey. “Chinese Mythology: Feng- Du.” God Checker January mythology.php?diety=Feqng-du mythology.php?diety=Feqng-du Saunders, Chas & Peter Ramsey. “Chinese Mythology: YEN-LO-WANG.” God Checker January mythology.php?diety=YEN-LO-WANG mythology.php?diety=YEN-LO-WANG “What is Hell?” Truth or Tradition? Christian Education Services. 06 January e=article&sid=455 e=article&sid=455 Windsteig, Oliver. “Fotos USA west.” Members Chello January