''Journeys to The Under-World'' (), also known as ''Voyages to Hell'', is a Taiwanese novel describing what Yangsheng (楊生), a
planchette handler, saw and heard when he followed his master
Ji Gong
Ji Gong (, 22 December 1130 – 16 May 1209), born Li Xiuyuan and also known as "Chan Master Daoji" () was a Chan Buddhist monk who lived in the Southern Song. He purportedly possessed supernatural powers, which he used to help the poor and st ...
to
hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
on the instruction of the
Jade Emperor
The Jade Emperor or Yudi ( or , ') in Chinese culture, traditional religions and myth is one of the representations of the first god ( '). In Daoist theology he is the assistant of Yuanshi Tianzun, who is one of the Three Pure Ones, the three ...
. The story is about the consequences resulting from actions during the life of a person. It contains journeys made by Ji Gong and Yangsheng to each level in hell to warn those in the living world with an evil heart. Each chapter contains detailed descriptions of their observations and interviews with souls being punished in hell.
Author
The author is a Taiwanese writer, Yang Zanru (; born 1951), who refers to himself as "Yangsheng" () in the book. He became a Buddhist monk in 1997 and adopted the Buddhist name "Shenglun" ().
Production
According to the author, the production of these accounts were painstakingly achieved by the use of
''fuji'' (planchette writing) with
Ji Gong
Ji Gong (, 22 December 1130 – 16 May 1209), born Li Xiuyuan and also known as "Chan Master Daoji" () was a Chan Buddhist monk who lived in the Southern Song. He purportedly possessed supernatural powers, which he used to help the poor and st ...
as the guide and Yangsheng as the medium.
佛法山全球資訊網
The details and conversations of each journey were written in Chinese characters on the planchette board during each ''fuji'' session, which was a very tedious and time-consuming process. The visits were generally made at night.
Collection of material for the book started in 1976 at Sheng-hsien Tang (聖賢堂) in Taichung
Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...
, Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. The project was completed and published in Chinese in 1978.
See also
* Jade Record
Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...
* Chinese spiritual world concepts
Chinese spiritual world concepts are cultural practices or methods found in Chinese culture. Some fit in the realms of a particular religion, others do not. In general these concepts were uniquely evolved from the Chinese values of filial piety ...
* Inferno (Dante)
''Inferno'' (; Italian language, Italian for "Hell") is the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri's 14th-century Epic poetry, epic poem ''Divine Comedy''. It is followed by ''Purgatorio'' and ''Paradiso (Dante), Paradiso''. The ''Infern ...
Notes
References
* ''Voyages to Hell'' (1978). VoVi: Bangkok, Thailand. ASIN B000F3P88Q
External links
Voyages to Hell
*
Comics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Journeys to the Under-World
1976 novels
Bangsian fantasy
Taiwanese novels
Visionary fiction