Welcome to the Diyu - Quite Literally the “Earth Prison”

Found yourself wandering through the Diyu? Now, you truly have everything to fear.

Posted by Grace Ni
Haw Par Villa’s Ten Courts of Hell Attraction.
(Photo source: https://owlcation.com/humanities/The-Horrific-Chinese-Ten-Courts-of-Hell)

According to an anonymous writer in the American Periodicals Series II in 1825 and to put it simply: “Among the Chinese, the anticipations of death are distressing”. [1] The Afterlife was a gruesome scene to the Chinese and any step out of line was sure to be looked after and punished for. Depending on your belief system, after you died, you were either sent to the 18 levels of Hell or the Buddhism-influenced 10 Courts of Hell, and neither typically had any scenic stops you would want to stop and look at.

In each layer or court, souls are punished for the faults they made when they were alive. In “Calling Home the Soul of the Dead” written by Sung Yu in 290 B.C., souls were warned not to travel to the lower regions of the world and into the Diyu where “the king of demons whose fingers were dripping with human blood was chasing souls to devour them”. [2] In the 18 Levels of Hell, each level had an assigned punishment to give to the assigned crime of the level and the lower you descend into the Diyu, the more heinous the crime the soul committed in his or her time on Earth. The sinners feel all of the pain and agony just like as if they were living humans; however, they can not “die” from the torture because when the torture is over, their bodies are restored to their original form and then are tortured again. According to Xiao Dengfu in his book Conceptions of "Hell" in the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties and in order from just below the surface of the world to the deepest parts of the Diyu, here are the 18 Levels of Hell:

Level of Hell in the Diyu Crime Committed in the Earthly World Punishment
1. The Chamber of Tongue Ripping Stirring up trouble with misinformation and gossip Having your tongue ripped out
2. The Chamber of Scissors Breaking up the marriage of others Fingers are cut off by scissors
3. The Chamber of Iron Cycads Breaking apart your own or someone else’s family Hung on iron trees with spikes pushed through you
4. The Chamber of Mirrors of Retribution Escaping punishment for your crimes on Earth You’ll be shown your “true form” in this realm and forced to look at yourself day in and day out for your designated time in this chamber
5. The Chamber of Steamer Being a hypocrite
Being a troublemaker
Forced into a steamer over and over again with all the other hypocrites and troublemakers
6. The Forest of Copper Column Arson Bound to columns of glowing copper
The Mountain of Knives Killing other specifically with a knife for no just reason Forced into climbing a hill of knives that has no summit
8. The Hill of Ice Deceiving the weak and the elderly
Being an adulterer
Left naked in the freezing cold
9. The Cauldron of Boiling Oil Rape
Theft
Being an abuser
Falsely accusing others
Boiled in fried oil
10. The Chamber of the Ox Animal Abuser Either trampled alive or you’ll be “bullied” by the very animals you abused
11. The Chamber of the Rock Infant Killer
Abandoned Your Baby
Forced to hold a heavy rock that will eventually crush you while you're surrounded by putrid-smelling water
12. The Chamber of Mortars and Pestles Voluntarily wasted food Force-fed by demons with hell-fire
13. The Pool of Blood Not respecting others Soaked in blood from head to toe
14. The Town of Suicide Committing suicide (voluntarily altering the karmic course of the Incarnation) Eternal wandering in a desolate city with winds of sorrow and the rain of pain as your only constant companions
15. The Chamber of Dismemberment Raiding Tombs
Disrespecting the Dead
Body will be torn to pieces
16. The Mountain of Flames Robbing others
Being corrupt
These criminals will be thrown into the flames of an active volcano
17. The Yard of Stone Mil Abuse of Power
Oppressor of the weak
Body will be crushed in a stone mill
18. The Chamber of Saw Exploiters of the Law
Engagers of unfair practices in business
Sawn into half by demons

However, according to Buddhist traditional thought, the Diyu is seen as a purgatory that serves to punish and renew spirits in preparation for reincarnation. Thus, the 10 Courts of Hell were created: a subterranean maze with various courts to which souls are taken after death to make up for the sins they committed when they were alive and their finish line is to gain the approval of the last “Yama” king to continue their journey towards reincarnation. In Buddhist mythology, the word Yama is descriptive of a wrathful god who is said to judge the dead, preside over Hell, and look after the cycle of the afterlife. [3] Much like the different levels in the non-religious, more traditional Hell interpretation, each of the courts in the 10 Courts of Hell version of the Diyu center around a particular crime or sin the soul committed when they were alive on Earth. But differing from the Levels, the Courts’ end to their punishments are all decided on by the King of the Court, but until the King of the Court allows the soul to pass, they are to continuously be tortured.

According to M. Kennelley SJ in his book Researches into Chinese Superstitions, these are how the 10 Yama Courts are depicted in Buddhist tradition:

  1. Court 1: The Court of King Qinguang (秦廣王)
    • King Qinguang differentiates the good from the evil by rigorously assessing past deeds
    • The good and the virtuous then cross over a golden bridge to reach paradise, while the wicked are dragged to face a magical mirror to confirm their sins
    • This is the one of the two courts of hell that do not execute any punishments
  2. Court 2: The Court of King Chujiang (楚江王)
    • Robbers and the physically violent are shoved into volcanic streams to be burned alive
    • Corrupted officers, burglars, and compulsive gamblers are thrown into an icy cavern to suffer freezing torment
    • For those guilty of defilement of sacred placesdefilement of sacred places such as religious institutions, eternal drowning awaits in the Pool of Defiled Blood
  3. Court 3: The Court of King Songdi (宋帝王)
    • The ungrateful, the disrespectful, and those who escaped from prison are punished by having their hearts ripped out
    • Drug addicts, drug traffickers, tomb robbers, and unrest inciters are chained to hot copper pillars to be grilled alive
  4. Court 4: The Court of King Wuguan (五官王)
    • King Wuguan is the patron god of all taxmen and business investors
    • There’s a huge mortar, in which tax dodgers, rent dodgers, and business crooks are pounded to bits by spiky pestles
    • For those not filial to their parents or were disrespectful to their siblings, they are grinded on an immense grindstone
    • The City of Unnatural Death is also in his court
      • This walled city accommodates those who died unnaturally or unjustly, so that they can view the sufferings of their enemies before proceeding to their own punishments or reincarnation
      • The concept of a city in the middle of hell exists in other cultures as well
  5. Court 5: The Court of King Yanluo (阎罗王)
    • Those who had plotted for the death or money of others are thrown onto a mountain of knives
    • King Yanluo’s title is frequently used by the Chinese to refer to hell in general
      • 十殿阎罗 - “shi dian yan luo”
      • Yanluo is the Chinese pronunciation of Yama (i.e. the Buddhist Lord of the Underworld)
  6. Court 6: The Court of King Biancheng (汴诚王)
    • Those who have indulged in pornography, misused books, broken laws, or wasted food were sawed in half
    • Cheaters, foul-mouth individuals, and kidnappers are left skewered on a tree of knives
  7. Court 7: The Court of King Taishan (泰山王)
    • For liars, rumormongers, and gossipers, they have their tongues torn out
    • Rapists, conspirators for rape, and those who have forced others to their deaths are boiled in oil
  8. Court 8: The Court of King Dushi (都市王)
    • Those who have caused “trouble” for their parents and families, or who have cheated during examinations are tied to racks and have their abdomens split and their intestines pulled out.
  9. Court 9: The Court of King Pingdeng (平等王)
    • Robbers, murderers, rapists, and arsonists are stripped and dismembered
    • Also, those who are guilty of neglecting the old and the weak are punished by being slowly crushed under massive boulders
  10. Court 10: The Court of King Lunhui (轮回王)
    • No physical punishment in this court
    • Souls are brought before King Lunhui here are considered redeemed and ready for reincarnation
    • Before reincarnation, all souls drink the coup of Granny Meng (孟婆汤), a magical potion that erases all memories of past lives

We can see that the two versions of the Diyu have many similarities - both punish intensely for mostly the same crimes. For example, both versions punish gossipers by ripping out their tongues; but, for some crimes like arson, it is true that arson is punished in both realms, however, they use different tactics. In the Levels, arson is punished by being tied to a burning copper pole, but in the Courts, arson is punished by being stripped down and dismembered. We also see that the same torture tactics are used but for different crimes in the different realms. For example, in the Levels, the reason why one would be hung on iron trees is because they broke apart either their own or someone else’s family, but in the Courts, the reason why one would be hung on iron trees or “skewered on a tree of knives” is because they were cheaters, foul-mouth individuals, or kidnappers.

This connection shows that many of the traditional thoughts of what should and shouldn’t be punished in society stayed much the same, even to this day.

Citations:

  1. CHINESE HELL. Recorder and Telegraph (1825-1825); Sep 30, 1825; 10, 40; ProQuest, pg. 160
  2. Chinese Hells: The Peking Temple of Eighteen Hells and Chinese Conceptions of Hell by Anne S. Goodrich
  3. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha by Nanamoli & Bodhi 2001 pp. 1029–1036
  4. Researches into Chinese Superstitions M.Kennelly SJ, T'Usewei Printing Press Shanghai 1922.