CHINESE SUPERSTITIONS - University of Oregon

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(280,000 miles) below the earth (1). Outside, there are mountains,
a wide sea, and a circular mass of iron. This Hindu hell was too
far from China, so it was resolved to place
it in some one of the
provinces of the country. The Taoist Treatise on the Infernal
Regions, Yuh-lih-ch'ao-chwan ^ M #J> ^ (2), solved the problem,
and fixed the site of these sombre realms in the province of Sze-
c/i'wan )\\. They are thus irreproachably Chinese. The legend,
relating this fanciful discovery, near
Fang-tu-hsien ffl fft jf$,
runs as follows :
the city of
is a high mountain, in the side of which
entrance is obtained to the realm of the damned. During the night,
their shrieks and wailings may be heard on all sides, and strike
terror into the hearts of those who inhabit this desolate region.
During the reign of the emperor Wang-lih "H Jff (A.D. 1573-
1620), of the Ming B£j dynasty, the governor of the province, named
Kwoh §|S, had the above entrance forcibly opened. He then provided
himself with a powerful torch, and boldly penetrated into the
interior of the mountain. Proceeding for some time, he discovered
an opening leading down into the earth. Nothing undaunted, he
prepared a strong box, and sitting within it, had it lowered by means
of ropes into the yawning chasm below. After descending about
two hundred feet, he found solid ground, and coming out from his
box, lighted his torch, and set to explore the unknown land. In
reality, he had reached the border-land of Hades, and looking round,
(1)
Eitel. Sanscrit-Chinese Dictionary, p. 81 (Naraka). — Monier Williams.
Buddhism, p. 120. — Edkins. Chinese Buddhism, p. 357 (Earth's prison or
Naraka). — Hardy. Manual of Buddhism, p. 27 (The Narakas). Homer places
the seat of hell as far beneath the deepest pit of earth, as the heaven is above
the earth ; Virgil (JEn. VI. 557) makes it twice as far, and Milton thrice as
far (Paradise Lost. I. 73).
(2) Treatise on the Infernal Regions, Yuh-lih ch'cto-chivan Jf|j;f.
Written by the Taoist monk T'an-ch'i %\ $£, who made an excursion into
the spirit-world, and brought back an account of the place for the benefit of
the living. He describes the government and horrors of hell, and the courts
of the 10 kings. It is a kind of handbook to the underworld. The Buddhist
doctrine of Hades is much modified in the work. Wylie. Notes on Chinese
Literature, p. 224. —China Review. Vol. I. p. 302.