When someone dies, they are brought to Hell (DIYU/地獄) by cow head and horse face (Niútóu mǎ liǎn/牛頭馬臉). Here they will cross the bridge to hell (Nai He Qiao/奈何橋) where they are now at the entrance of Hell.
Hell is beneath the sea bed. The kingdom of Hell has 10 palace halls with a respective king in each. In Each of the respective Palaces lies a Court in which the deceased will report to one by one. These courts are known to be as the Ten courts of HELL.
Each court of hell has a different function. To judge, and punish on various sins, crimes and wrong doings we did when we were alive
Court 1 : Mirror of Retribution. Ruled by Qin Guan Wang (秦廣王蔣)
Date of Judgement: 7 days after death
Crime: Violating the code of filial piety
Punishment: Put under heavy slabs and boulders or squeezed in the middle of the grinder
Court 2 : Pool of Filth and Hell of Ice. Ruled by Qu Jiang Wang (楚江王歷)
Date of Judgement: 14 days after death
Crime: Gossiping, Stealing, Wickedness
Punishment: Having your tongue pierced, Made to kneel on steel granules, boiled in a cauldron, disemboweled, and put in a volcanic chamber
Court 3 : Black Rope Hell and Upside-Down Prison. Ruled by Song Di Wang (宋帝王余)
Date of Judgement: 21 days after death
Crime: Corruption and greed, Disobedience and disrespect to elders, violating and state a Confucian principles or being an unjust official
Punishment: Handcuffed and beaten, Have your ribs pierced, body grilled, your lungs, heart, liver, intestines and eyes torn out, Have your heart removed, knees crushed and face scraped by a mental instrument
Court 4 : Lake of Blood and Terrible Bee Torture. Ruled by Wu Guan Wang (五官王呂)
Date of Judgement: 28 days after death
Crime: General Sins, Cheating or evading income taxes, Stealing, Breaking promises
Punishment: Hurled into a torrential river, made to kneel on bamboo spikes, boiled in oil, head struck open, drowned under a heavy stone, have your hands swan off, have your lips split
Court 5 : Sixteen Departments of Heart Gouging. Ruled by Yen Lo Wang (閻羅王包)
Date of Judgement: 35 days after death
Crime: Cruelty to animals and friends
Punishment: Have your heart torn out with hooks or thrown onto protruding swords
Court 6 : Screaming Torture and Administrative Errors. Ruled by Bian Cheng Wang (卞城王畢)
Date of Judgement: 42 days after death
Crime: Stealing from temples committing blasphemy , Killing animals
Punishment: Made to kneel on iron nails, swanned in two, gnawed by rats, have your body chopped in half
Court 7 : Tortured by Mincing Machine. Ruled by Tai Shan Wang (泰山王董)
Date of Judgement: 49 days after death
Crime: Rebelling against authorities , spreading false rumors , using drugs, causing quarrels
Punishment: Torn apart by dogs, Have your tongue pulled out , thrown into a pot of boiling water
Court 8 : Hot Suffocation Hell. Ruled by Du Shi Wang (都市王黃)
Date of Judgement: 100 days after death
Crime: Committing crimes against Confucianism and operating houses for immoral purposes
Punishment: Crushed under carriage wheels, sliced, disemboweled, struck by lighting, and having tongues, arms and legs cut off
Court 9 : Iron Web and Office of Fair Trading. Ruled by Ping Deng Wang (平等王陸)
Date of Judgement: 2 years after death ( Chinese count the first day of death as year 1, so year 2 is actually around 355 days after death/355 days in the lunar calendar)
Crime: Smuggling, committing arson , Writing or painting erotic literature or scenes
Punishment: Attacked by snakes, stung by bees, tortured or trafficking drugs in boiling oil,
flattened between two planks, have your head crushed in an iron ring, skull steamed, bones scraped and tendons pulled out
Everyone goes through these 9 courts and only when your agony is completed and that you have truly repented for any wrongdoing you may have done in your past life/lives, will you then go on to court 10 to your final judgment before rebirth.
Court 10 : The Wheel of Rebirth. Ruled by Zhuang Lun Wang (轉輪王薛)
Date of Judgement: 3 years after death
In the Tenth Court of Hell, the King passes his final judgment and the sinner goes through one of the seven-ways in the Wheel of Reincarnation. Depending on the sinner's past life, he will enter a particular way which will determine how he or she will be reborn.
The sinner will be reincarnated as:
First Way : Wealthy and powerful human
Second Way : Birds
Third Way : Farmers and laborers
Fourth Way : Working class folk
Fifth Way : Dragons, fish, crabs, insects or sea creatures
Sixth Way : Lions, tigers, horses, deer, elephant or other four-legged animals
Seventh Way : Poor, lonely and the destitute
Wheel of Reincarnation / Life
In this Wheel of Reincarnation or the Wheel of life, you will be reincarnated into the 7 ways or the so called 6 realms
The Six Realms
1: God Realm (天道) : Devas ; Blissful State. while the Devas may be referred to as gods, they are not immortal, omniscient, nor omnipotent, and they do not act as creators or judges at death
2: Demi-God Realm (修罗道) : Asura /Titan ; the jealous gods. They are here because of actions in past lives based on egotistic jealousy, envy, insincerity, struggle, combat or rationalization of the world. They may be here because in human form they had good intentions but committed bad actions such as harming others. The Asuras are said to experience a much more pleasurable life than humans, but they are plagued by envy for the Devas, whom they can see just as animals can see humans.
3: Human Realm (人道): Although it may not be the most pleasurable domain to live in, a human rebirth is in fact considered to be by far the most advantageous of all possible rebirths in samsara, because a human rebirth is the only realm from which one can directly attain enlightenment, either in the present rebirth or in a future rebirth in a Deva domain
4: Animal Realm (畜生道): the Animal realm is based on strong mental states of stupidity and prejudice cultivated in a previous life
5: Hungry Ghost Realm (饿鬼道) : This realm is a rebirth based on strong possessiveness and desire which were cultivated in a previous life or lives.
They are constantly hungry and thirsty, but they cannot satisfy these needs. They are said to have narrow necks and large bellies.
6: Hell Realm (地狱道) : is a rebirth based on strong states of hatred cultivated in a previous life or lives. Where you remain in hell & continue to be punish till negative Karma is used up
Rituals
During a Chinese funeral, we hold rituals to help the deceased through the 10 courts.
The first 7 courts are held during the 49 Days to rebirth/afterlife (七七四十九日). On each 7th day for 7 weeks, the deceased appears before each court, but before that they are allowed a small window of time to visit home which is why on the 6th day (not 7th) we hold a ritual to offer food and offerings. These rituals are held in the evening when the sky is dark.
These first 7 courts are the shall we say more challenging courts, where as courts 8 and 9 with less offenders so ruling will be passed quicker. So during courts 8 and 9, the window to visit home is bigger so we hold another ritual during the afternoon on Day 100, and the lunar death anniversary/2 Year/對年. Then a final ritual on the 3rd year (chinese count the first day of death as year 1, just as we count the first day you was born as 1 year old and not 1 day old)
This is why in the olden days, the Chinese mourned for 3 years as this is the full length it takes for rebirth. They used to wear the mourning clothes for 3 years, and not wear any shoes, basically living the most basic lifestyle; and even walking to funerals (no horse and carriage allowed)
The Chinese have since adapted to modern times, and these customs are no longer practical in today's society. We now only wear the mourning clothes during the day of the funeral, and some choose to mourn up until the funeral only, for 49 days, 100 days or 1 year. I haven't heard of any friends or family mourning for the 3 years. During this time there are a number of things we can't do which you can read in my Everything you need to know about preparing a Chinese Funeral.
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