Author: Deng
Set foot on Huang Quan Road and set foot on Naihe Bridge;
Goodbye to the forgotten river and meet at the station in my hometown.
Trembling carved sansheng stone, a bowl of Mengpo soup;
I haven't been together in my last life, and I have no chance in this life.
In China, it is said that after people die, there will be black and white fickle people in the underworld to capture people's souls and bring them to the underworld for trial by Justice Yan Luowang in order to decide whether they are immortals. Or reincarnate as a human being again; Or go to eighteen layers of hell to suffer. A person's soul has to go through many customs to report to the underworld, and it is a long way; Huang Quan Road is the floorboard of these customs and distances; The other refers to a section of this road called Huang Quan Road.
Some people think that people will die when they reach the age of death, which is a normal death. People who die normally have to go through the gate of hell first. After this, the soul will become a ghost, followed by the road of death, which is the road to death.
There are many ghosts in the dead end. They are the people who died before natural death. They can't go to heaven, they can't be reborn, and they can't go to the underworld. They can only wander on the road of death again, and only report to the underworld after waiting for natural death, at the mercy of Yan Luowang.
There are flaming flowers on the other side of the yellow road. The flowers on the other side of the river are generally considered to be flowers that grow along the Santo River. There are a lot of flowers blooming there, which looks like a carpet paved with blood from a distance. It is called "the road of fire" because of its fiery red color, and it is also the only scenery and color on this long yellow road.
People followed this flower to the prison of the underworld. The legend of floral fragrance has magic power, which can arouse the memory of the deceased before his death.
Walking through Huang Quan Road, there is a river called Forgetting River, and there is a bridge called Naihe Bridge in the world. Crossing the Naihe Bridge, there is an earthen platform called Wangxiangtai. There is an old woman who sells Meng Po soup by Wangxiangtai. Forget that there is a stone by the river called Sansheng Stone. Meng Po Tang makes you forget everything, and Sansheng Stone records your past life.
There is a universal theory of Yin and Yang in China culture, which holds that the earthly world is the world of the dead, and the place to live after death is the underworld. At least before the Zhou dynasty, people thought that people were divided into souls, and the combination of soul for yang and soul for yin formed people. After death, the soul and spirit go to heaven, and the soul and spirit return to earth. The evolution of human past life, present life and afterlife is explained by spirit and spirit. The elf world is divided into three realms: earthly world, heaven of God in heaven and underground hell.
Death may be the earliest concept of the underworld in China's religious belief.
Later, after Buddhism was introduced into Han Dynasty, influenced by it, a systematic hell system was developed on the basis of Taoism, that is, eighteen layers of hell. The concept of hell is greater than hell, and the concept of hell is greater than hell. The underworld generally refers to the space where the deceased is located, so it is not limited to the underworld, and may even overlap with the earth in space and people cannot perceive it; Hell refers to the place where the dead are detained and punished, which can be said to be the prison and execution ground of the underworld; However, after death, ordinary people may still smile in the grave, just like living on the earth. Good people even become immortals and gods after death and enter heaven.
Fengdu Emperor (Du Feng's Northern Yin Emperor) and the other four ghost emperors in the Five Kingdoms, such as Yan Luowang or Yan Luowang. , is the master of the underworld, in charge of people's life and death gods, such as been earth god (been earth emperor), Taishan Shentian Qi Wang (Dongyue emperor), earth treasure king, Huang Chengshen, etc.
Graves are considered to be people's residences in the underworld after death. Traditionally, people will dress up a grave as a room in the normal and ideal life of an adult. Shuowen: "Tomb, nothing." "Buried, hidden." In early China, there were tombs but no graves. According to historical records, after the death of Yao, Shun, Yu,, and so on, underground tombs were used. The Book of Rites Tan Gong: "The tomb of the ancients is not a grave." Later, tombs above the surface and buildings on the ground appeared in the cemetery.
In Chinese religious belief, life is the afterlife, and after death, it is to enter the underworld, or the underworld. The concept of hell is greater than hell, and the concept of hell is greater than hell. According to Taiping Jing, people in the world, "Heaven knows that it is good and earth knows that it is evil", and those who do good will have "no evil words" in Cao Yin's life book, "God sees good, moves his life, and lives a long life", which will not only lead to longevity, but also make future generations blessed, and those who do good will become gods. Those who do evil will be convicted and punished in the evil Cao hell after death, and there will be opportunities to turn over a new leaf in the future. After Buddhism was introduced into China from India, Taoism was influenced by it and developed the concept of eighteen layers of hell.
Probably from Zhang Daoling in the Han Dynasty, there were three great officials, namely the celestial official, the local official and the water official, who were in charge of heaven, earth and water respectively, while the local official was in charge of all the affairs of hell. It is generally believed that after the death of ordinary people, the dead soul will belong to Mount Tai, and the God of Mount Tai, Dongyue the Great, is the master of the underworld. Later, when Du Feng was regarded as the entrance to the underworld, Fengdu Emperor, the God of Du Feng, was regarded as the master of the underworld. The functions, attributes, subordination and jurisdiction of Dongyue Emperor and Fengdu Emperor are almost the same, and it is generally believed that these two gods are the same.
Legend has it that when the deceased went to Naiheqiao, it was impossible to commit a crime before his death. He will be pushed into the "blood pool" by cattle and horses on both sides and suffer from insects, ants and poisonous snakes, but it is very simple for the dead who do good deeds to cross the bridge. Naihe Bridge is the only place where ghosts are reborn after a trip to Yamaraja in Shidian. There will be an elderly goddess named Meng Po, who will give each ghost a bowl of Meng Po Tang, so that they can forget the memory of past lives and be reborn in the afterlife.
Naihe Bridge is also the legendary first pass to hell. On the left is the Golden Bridge, and on the right is the Silver Bridge. It is said that people who walk the Golden Bridge can be promoted and made rich, and people who cross the Silver Bridge can be healthy and safe. However, when you reach the underworld, you must first cross the middle Naihe Bridge. Jinqiao and Yinqiao can only go when they return to the sun.
After the introduction of Buddhism, the people were influenced by Buddhist thought and thought that hell was the worst of the six divisions in the wheel of karma. What people know as "heavy prison" means "eighteen layers of hell". Eighteen layers of hell are in charge of the ten halls of Yan Luowang. Among them, it is considered to be the eighteen layers of hell that make the undead suffer the most, and it is a nose hell. The ghost-burning king, incarnated by Taiyi to save the god of suffering, is the Lord of hell, governing all the gods in hell, and is also the extraditor and rescuer of the dead. At the same time, the Bodhisattva, the Tibetan king in Buddhism, is also the leader of hell, ruling the Yan Luowang in the Tenth Hall and saving all beings in hell. He swore that "hell is not empty and it is not a Buddha."