Taizong's hell

Ninth court -
King Du Shi

Next court

Additional Scrolls

Main Gates

Comments

J Series Map

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J Series (J1-J10)

The order of these ten hells is uncertain because, oddly enough, none of the hells are labeled. It is possible that the numerical labels were on a separate piece of paper positioned above the picture but not included when the scrolls were remounted. I could only separate the first five from the second because the first five usually face right and the second left. In terms of other content, there is both a bridge leading off to paradise and punishments being assigned in the first scroll, and Yama's ferocious face is distinctive in the fifth. The tenth scroll with its reincarnation paths is also easy to identify. This set had been temporarily broken up into a group of six and a group of four scrolls, but I managed to re-unite them. (Image: 61 X 111 cm.)

Guanyin appears in many of these hell scrolls (although not in the A series) such as E1, I3, S18 and S19, and yet nowhere is she depicted as having such an impact as here. All eyes are upon her, and prayers are being directed to her. The saved souls appear to have lotus flowers blooming beneath them, and even the demons at the bottom of the scroll looked somewhat surprised when their saw breaks in half. For a description of Guanyin by a Taiwanese spiritual medium who had engaged in a series of hell tours between 1976 and 1979, see Voyages to hell, Chapter 5.