What is the "ghost culture" in ancient China? What kind of existence are ghosts and gods in hell?

In my hometown, there has always been a proverb, that is, if a person is opinionated or opinionated, he will say that this person is "led by the nose by a ghost." People are holding your hand and walking on the path of sunshine avenue. If you don't go, you will listen to the ghost story and take the ghost road. Isn't it a dead end? It means that a person, regardless of people and ghosts, listens to nonsense and ends up in a tragic end.

Ghost Gate, Huang Quan Road and Wangxiangtai are all nouns of Chinese ghost culture, and they are also jokes of many people in China after dinner. Today, the toilet god will tell you something about the traditional "ghost" culture in China.

What does the word "ghost" mean? Ghosts, go back to their real homes. "Autopsy" records that "the ancients called the dead back". There are also different explanations. In Lun Heng, it is also recorded that "ghost is the essence of the dead". During the Shang Dynasty, our nation collectively referred to the northern minorities as "ghosts", which literally means a terrible place. The ethnic minorities here wear different clothes from the Central Plains, and their behavior is unpredictable, so the word "ghost" is used to describe them.

In Japanese mythology, the word "ghost" also means "invisible" at first, but later in Heian period, this ghost refers to a monster with a big body and horns. Judging from this change, the so-called Japanese monster is probably a savage in the mountains. Because of its uncertain whereabouts, it will be called a ghost by the ancestors of the Japanese.

But whether this ghost means "return" or "human soul", it can be proved that this so-called ghost appeared in the early Oracle Bone Inscriptions period.

So let's not simply think that the word ghost is created by vanity. It seems that our ancestors did see something that looked mysterious and invisible.

People are on earth, where are the ghosts? The space for human existence is in the world, that is, the world of women in Buddhism. It is often said that South Station is not a continent. So where do ghosts live? The opposite of the world is the underworld. The God of the underworld, Fengdu Emperor, also known as the son of heaven in the underworld, is even more awesome than Yan.

This son of heaven is basically responsible for all government affairs and personnel management in the underworld. After the introduction of Buddhism, there was another one in the compilation of the underworld, that is, the earth treasure bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva did not stay in his pure land, but insisted on staying in the underworld, in order to melt the ghosts tortured by hell in the underworld and let them get happiness from their sufferings and get a new life.

There is one more thing to be explained here. I always use the name underworld, because underworld and hell are two concepts. The underworld is where people stay after death. People can still get married and have children here. There are streets, houses and mountains, but it looks like a dead man on a cloudy day during the day.

Only the most heinous people will be sentenced to hell and endure all kinds of torture. This statement was recorded in Liao Zhai written by Pu Songling. Interested friends can go and have a look.

There is a story called "Zhao Tai" in Ghost Record. In this story, the author recorded in detail how Zhao Tai himself died. After his death, he saw two men pick her up and took Huang Ma away.

Walking all the way, I saw a very big city. After two doors, I saw thousands of adobe houses. The streets were full of men, women and children, and there seemed to be thousands of people.

Soon, this Zhao Tai was brought to a man named Fu Jun.. After interrogation, he realized that he had made a mistake and planned to let him go back. On the way back, Fu Jun asked him to visit the hell by the way, so that when he woke up, he told the world that there is hell on earth, and he should know how to respect it, Xiu De.

Yan, what ghosts and gods exist in hell?

Hell exists in both China and the West, but although both are hell, they are different in essence. First of all, China's Hell is a local organization affiliated to heaven. The hell in the west is completely independent of God, and even feels a little feud. The Lord of Hell in China is also a civil servant of Taoist heaven system, while the Lord of Hell in the West is a traitor.

In China's hell system, there are ten Yan kings, namely Qin, Chu, Song Emperor, Five Official Kings, Bian King, Taishan King, Equal King and Wheel King.

Each Yan is in charge of different hell, different charges, and there are countless hell guards under his command. Yan Luowang and Sanskrit Yan Luowang are sometimes translated into Moyamo, Yamaraja and Yan Mo. Deliberately "binding", that is, binding guilty people. I'm afraid many people don't know that the name Yan Luowang, which most people are familiar with now, actually doesn't exist in China's original hell system.

Because Yan is a foreign god, there is a god named Yamaraja in ancient Indian mythology. People have to be tried by Yan Luowang after death, which is recorded in the ancient Indian classic Rigveda. Later, when Buddhism flourished in India, they incorporated such a god and became the patron saint of Buddhism, in charge of hell.

This also shows that there are many Bodhisattvas and Buddhas, who used to be Yan Luowang in hell. They became Buddhists because they saved many fallen souls and gained merits. In The Classic of Asking Hell, there is a detailed record about this Indian Rebecca. But there is a little dog blood, so I didn't write it. Interested friends can learn about it themselves, so I won't say much here.

In fact, the appearance of the concept of Yan mainly benefited from the translation of Buddhist scriptures. China used to be in charge of Mount Tai Hell, Dongyue, and its establishment and management system was completely Taoist. After the introduction of Buddhism, the gentleman of Mount Tai gradually left his post, which enabled Yan to master the rights of the underworld.

Although China's surname Yan originated in India, it was formed too heavily and gradually merged into a hodgepodge. Its content is to combine the Buddhist doctrine of karma and reincarnation with the Taoist system of ghosts and gods, and finally unify the underworld and sit in the right position. In fact, Yan was formed and developed in China, and was finally accepted and believed by all the people in China, mainly because of the desire for judicial justice in ancient labor appointment.

Yan is translated as "the king of equality" by Chinese translators in the Buddhist classic "The Sound and Meaning of the Classics". He believes that Yan can distinguish between good and evil and right and wrong. No matter who and what, they have all been shown in front of Yan's magic weapon "evil mirror", which is not bad at all. Good and evil are clear at a glance, and the final destination is determined by Yan!

Those who do good enter the three good ways, that is, the six ways of heaven, benevolence and cultivation. Those who do evil before their death will enter the three evil ways, the hungry ghost way, the hell way and the beast way. This is why China people think that Yan's incarnation is Bao Zheng, the most famous upright official in the Song Dynasty, and Hai Rui in the Ming Dynasty. Because they are all called blue sky, which means clear sky and calm Wan Li.

Savior-monk

In the Buddhist "The Original Wishing Sutra of the Bodhisattva Diksitigarbha" and "The Ten Wheels Sutra of the Bodhisattva Diksitigarbha", the meaning of the Bodhisattva Diksitigarbha and the reason why he went to hell were recorded.

The word "hide in the earth" means "be patient like the earth and be as quiet as a secret". King Earth Tibetan has boundless blessings and boundless merits, and gives alms to the troubles of all beings in hell, so that they can wash their hearts and repent, achieve bodhi wisdom and practice, get rid of hell and get good results. Mahayana Buddhism has thousands of bodhisattvas and buddhas in Qian Qian. Why is there only Tibetan Bodhisattva in hell to save all beings?

There are several past lives of the Bodhisattva Diksitigarbha in The Original Wish of the Bodhisattva Diksitigarbha. In order to save his parents who suffered in hell, he went to hell and saw all kinds of torture and misery in hell, so he was pitied. So after saving his parents, he made a vow that only by crossing all beings in hell can he become a Buddha.

I would like to add here that there are many things about what people see and feel after death, and what should be paid attention to after seeing the scene after death, which are very similar to the dying records recorded by modern people today. This is very interesting. If a friend is curious about this, you can refer to it.