Chinese Buddhist Hell

Buddhist belief dictates that Hell is closely associated with karma. Every living being is what it is by the results of its actions from earlier lives; good actions result in rebirth in heaven or as a human, while bad actions result in rebirth as an animal, ghost, or in hell. The concept of hell was foreign to early Chinese thought; it was introduced by Buddhism.

“One makes one’s own hell.”

Punishment in hell is not eternal; it is a place of retribution, and you will receive what you have prepared for yourself.

In many later Chinese Buddhist sources, there are varying enumerations of the Hells, varying names and amounts of Hells, either 8, 10, 18, 30, or 64. However, commonly throughout each iteration, the hells follow Buddhist Law relating to the six senses: sight for eyes, hearing for ears, smelling for the nose, speech for the tongue, touch for the body, and virtue for the heart. There exist three hells for each misuse of the sense.

In Buddhist belief, the number 18 is a mystic number; there are 18 schools of thought, blessings, Buddhas, Arhats, vows, 18,000 monks, and 18 hells. There are eight fiery hells and ten cold hells. The fiery hells are located below the earth, below each other. At the end of the sky is a mountain, and this mountain keeps out the light. It is here that the cold hells are located.

Not all who descend to hell are punished.

One tale is of Princess Miao-shen. Princess Miao-shen was killed by her father’s men because she refused an arranged marriage. When her soul traveled to the netherworld she was greeted warmly, instead of being punished. She is not punished for lack of filial piety, but instead praised for her steadfastness in the face of death. The leaders of hell admire her ability to pray and chase away evil and ask her to demonstrate, but she will only pray if all the damned are freed. The courts of hell knew there needs to be a place for punishment and retribution and sent her back to her body. When her soul reenters her body, her memory of hell is not clear, but she describes the place as a desolate and silent land, with no hills or trees, no sun, moon, or stars.

Buddhist hell is a bureaucratic system, with a King, King Yama, officials, record keeper, generals, regents of hell, and other workers.

The Eighteen Sutras of Hell

Hot Hells

Hsien-chiu-hu: Where those who live in this hell fight each other with invisible weapons and fists. They injure each other, but a wind blows and heals, starting the fight again. If someone dies, a person comes and raises him, and the fight starts again. One day in this segment of hell is equivalent to 3,750 years on Earth.
Chü-lu-ts'ui-lüeh: In this hell, a person is put into a fire, burned, taken out and set to fight others, They are then placed back into the fire, burned,and taken out to fight again. One day in this segment is equal of 7,500 years on Earth.
Sang-chü-tu: In this Hell, a person is placed in a fire so hot (there are no words for how hot it is) before, they are lured to the sweet sound coming from the mountains, only for the mountains to crush them when they arrive. This cycle repeats for years until the sentence is paid. A day here is 15,000 Earth years.
Lou-ni-li: In this hell is different. It is further segmented into a red-hot iron village. The condemned are enticed into the village and burned. When they move to smaller places, they are boiled till their flesh falls off. They never rest, always wandering about, burning their bones. They are revived when close to death. In this hell, one day is equal to 30,000 years on Earth.
P'ang-tsu: In this Hell, people are boiled until they are soft. They are placed in a deep, fiery pit and beaten with hot iron rods. The body never dies but is scorched. One day in this hell is the equivalent of 60,000 Earth years.
Ts'ao-wu-pei-tz'u: This hell is a town that is on fire, and the people are crushed with iron; they are never to lie down. One day in this fiery town is equivalent to 120,000 earth years.
Tu-i-nan-ch'ieh: In this hell, people are in a great fire. A door opens, and the people run to it, only for it to shut before they can go through, burning again for years. Then, another door is opened, and they run to it only to fall into a swamp filled with worms. The worms devour the people for years. In this hell, an individual will stay for 640,000 years. One day in this hell is equivalent to 240,000 Earth years.
Pu-lu-tu-pan-hu: Here, fire is everywhere, a person lying down on a bed of fire and roasted, including their bones. When the person dies, they are revived to endure the torture again. The suffering in this hell is the worst of all the hells, 10,000 times the suffering. One day in this hell is equal to 480,000 Earth years.

Cold Hells

Wu-ching-tu: The first of the cold hell begins with scorching the person, pulling them out, subjecting them to freezing cold for years, and then placing them in a fire again. The people are then split in two, crushed, and ground. This punishment goes on for 128 hu (10 pecks) of mustard seed. One seed is removed from the mound every 100 years
Ni-lu-tu: The same as above, except the pile of seeds has doubled.
Wu-lüeh: The pile has doubled again.
Wu-man: And again
Wu-ch: And again.
Wu-hu: And again.
Hsü-chien-ch'ü: and again.
Mo-tou-kan-chih-hu: And again.
Ch'ü-pu-t'u: And again.
Shen-mo: There are now 5,242,880 quarts of mustard seed, and this hell lasts longer than the time it will take to remove this pile of seeds when one seed is taken away every 100 years.

The Exhibit

Library: Moody-Jones