In Eastern and Western legends, we can see that there will be records of "hell" and "heaven" in the books, but the two are not exactly the same. In Western culture, there is God Jesus in "heaven", there will be ancient gods who perform their respective duties, and lively little angels will surround people who ascend to heaven, singing and blessing them.
However, in "hell", there is the devil Satan with a human body and a sheep's head, and there is a blazing fire of boundless karma. People struggled in it over and over again, but could not find the door that opened hell to heaven. In Western culture, most people can go to heaven. As long as they have not committed unforgivable sins such as murder and arson during their lifetime, and after other small mistakes are forgiven by God, they still have a chance to go to heaven. This is why This is why many Christians pray to God to forgive their sins at every turn.
Looking back at China, heaven seems to be the concept of "nine heavens". In Jiuchongtian, there is also a strict hierarchical system as in the human world. These rules divide the gods into several levels. The leaders are the "Jade Emperor" and the "Queen Mother", which are similar to the emperors and queens in the human world. In fact, Jiuchongtian is It is as hierarchical as a human court. Therefore, those who can go to heaven must have made extraordinary achievements, and can ascend to immortality after death, and even become a priest. Therefore, their number is naturally very small.
The destination for most people is boundless hell. There is a judge in hell to interrogate everyone who goes to hell. After the interrogation, they are handed over to the devils to be dragged to various hells to be tortured. The specific amount of punishment depends on the crimes they committed during their lifetime. It can be said that almost no one in China can escape the consequences of going to hell. After suffering the punishment, they can be reincarnated and start another round of life.
However, both the East and the West clearly demonstrate the purpose of relying on "theory of heaven" and "theory of hell" to regulate and restrain people. Regardless of whether heaven and hell really exist, most people will be involuntarily constrained by such remarks to fulfill their most basic moral norms, because they are also afraid from the bottom of their hearts. They can escape for a while, but they cannot escape after death. Calculate the general ledger.
Moreover, the "hell" in folklore is a very scary place. Hell is divided into a total of eighteen levels, and each level is responsible for a kind of punishment for evildoers. During this period, the ground is full of wandering imps. You can't even think of escaping. If you are not punished, you will not be relieved.
Moreover, it is also said in the "Eighteen Mud Plow Sutra": "If people in the world swear faith on April 17, obey the Jade Calendar and act with caution. Those who often talk about the above words to others will have good luck in the next life. As a human being in the human world, you will not be despised, and you will not suffer any disasters such as punishment, water, fire, or physical injuries. "
So, what is there in each level of hell?
The first level is hell, which is dedicated to punishing women with long tongues who sow discord and speak evil words to others. Since a person made trouble with his tongue during his lifetime, then naturally he cannot escape the torture of his tongue after death. The little devils will hold the person tightly and use red-hot iron pliers to slowly pull out the person's tongue. They will also stretch the person's tongue as long as possible to make the person feel the pain. Therefore, this punishment is called "tongue pulling".
The second level is a special scissors hell for those who instigate widows to remarry and have adultery. The devils will use scissors to cut off their ten fingers, which means to stop them from stretching out their hands and meddling in other people's affairs. The third level is the Iron Tree Hell. For those who sow discord in the human world and cause discord between relatives, the punishment is to be hung on a tree with sharp blades as branches until the blood flows into it.
There is no specific punishment in the fourth level. There is only a mirror that can reflect all the ugly behaviors of oneself before birth. This mirror will clearly reflect all the ugly thoughts in the person, allowing the evil person to compare these sins with the various levels of hell. They then go to different hells to receive their punishments, so this is also called: "Evil Mirror Hell".
The fifth level is the steamer hell, which specifically punishes those who gossip about other people's rights and wrongs behind their backs. They must first steam their flesh and blood in a steamer, and then send them to the first level to experience the pain of having their tongues pulled out. .The sixth level of hell is specially designed to punish fire-related sins. Those who deliberately set fires during their lifetime, whether for greed of money or killing, or even just tortured animals with fire, will be tied to a red-hot pillar and burned. punishment.
The seventh level refers to a mountain made of sharp knives. Anyone who blasphemes the gods or slaughters farm animals at will will be punished by climbing up the mountain of knives. On the eighth level, those who did not observe benevolence, justice, filial piety, or were addicted to gambling would be punished by climbing an iceberg. The ninth level is the hell of frying pan. People who rely on uncanny skills to make a living, such as women selling prostitutes and men who indulge in prostitution, will be fined.
The tenth floor is the sheep pit, which is related to animals. People who were butchers or had a habit of killing animals will have the sheep's horns pierced through their lungs, causing bleeding. The eleventh level is the Stone-Crushed Hell. People who have had abortions or slaughtered babies during their lifetime will experience the pain of being crushed by huge rocks and unable to escape after death.
The twelfth level is the mortar hell. Its name is related to agriculture, and the people to be punished are naturally related to agriculture. Anyone who wastes food during his lifetime will be sent to this hell after death to experience the pain of being crushed and ground. . The thirteenth level, Blood Pool Hell , where blood among relatives is thicker than water, but they insulted and abused their relatives in every possible way during their lives. After death, they will be thrown into the blood pool and be washed clean inside and out by the plasma.
The fourteenth level of hell is used to punish those who do not cherish their own lives and commit suicide casually. Since you can give up your life as a human being casually, you will not have the opportunity to be a human being in the next life. Specifically, there seems to be no punishment, and it is called the "hell of wasted death." The fifteenth level is the dismemberment hell, which is used to punish tomb robbers. No matter whether they are caught during their lifetime, they will be dismembered by five horses again after death.
The sixteenth floor is the Mountain of Fire. Those who accept bribes and enrich themselves will have their internal organs burned by the fire. The seventeenth floor, the stone mill, allows corrupt officials and those who bend the law for personal gain to suffer the pain of turning flesh and blood into mud. On the eighteenth floor, those who are short of weight will be split in half from head to toe. Therefore, it is also called: "Knife cuts through hell".
Moreover, according to the records in the "Eighteen Mud Plow Sutra", the eighteen levels of hell are arranged according to the length of the punishment time and the severity of the punishment. Each hell is twenty times more painful and twice as long as the previous hell. Another problem is that the "levels" of the eighteen levels of hell do not refer to the upper and lower levels of space, but are different in time and criminal law, especially in time.
Reference:
["Eighteen Levels of Hell", "Eighteen Mud Plow Sutra"]
