CHINESE SUPERSTITIONS - University of Oregon

— IV —
aim of Buddhism, a sorry end for its deluded adherents. The later
doctrine of a Western Paradise, a substitute for Nirvana, too abs-
truse to be grasped by the common people, and hateful to the
Chinese, has never totally eradicated or suppressed the original aim.
The ruler of the infernal region is Yama, the Vedic god
dead (1). Though he lives in a palace, and is served by
of the
a multitude
of demon-lictors, still he is not exempt from punishment. Three
times every dav he is seized by a band of devils, and a stream of
molten copper poured down his throat, thus causing him excrucia-
ting pain (2).
The hells lie deep down in the Buddhist world, and are situa-
ted 20,000 yoganas (280,000 miles)
below the earth. Outside are
mountains, a wide sea, and a circular mass of iron. These sombre
regions are divided into 10 Departments or Courts (3),
istered by a President or Demon-king. The government
is the exact counterpart
each admin-
of Hades
of Chinese administration. All the courts
are conducted with an amusing measure of officialdom, lictors and
other paraphernalia of the Yamen (4). With regard to the punish-
ment, it has been already stated that it is not eternal, but rather of
a temporary character, until the soul is purified, so that it can pass
again to a new phase
of existence. As to the tortures endured in
these hells, it may be said of them that they
combine all that is
horrible to the senses. Every form of torment, physical and mental,
is found there. The extremes of cold and heat, cutting, Haying,
racking, slow-burning, harrowing with red-hot prongs, insulting
and tantalizing, have to be endured by the victims according to their
(1) Yama, or Yen-lo-ivctng 1$ %§. 3i. Edkins. Chinese Buddhism, p. 219.
Chinese Superstitions. Vol. V. p. 557. note 1 : p. 596. note 2 : Vol.
p. 25o.
VII.
(2 Eitel. Sanscrit-Chinese Dictionary, p. 173. — Waddell. The Kud-
.iln-.ni of Tibet, p. '.10.— Chinese Superstitions. Vol. VII. p. 251.
(:') The legend of the 10 departments dates from the Sung $£ djmasty
12''' century).
(4) China Review. Vol. 1. p. 303.— Wieger. Moral Tenets and Customs
in China, p. 393. note 8.