Page 111 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

OV E RVI EW 7I

Among the terms used in the Lingbao corpus to refer to the otherworldly
realm for sinners is diyu ±il!.r~ ("earth prisons"). Traditionally understood as
introduced by Buddhism, this term meshed well with the Chinese image of
the otherworld as a subterranean penal institution. While punishments and
tortures, based on Han penal codes as well as on Buddhist hells, are elaborately
described, Lingbao scriptures focus on saving the inhabitants of hell, and on
the numerous rites to do so. Influenced by the Buddhist ideas of universal
salvation (*pudu) and the transfer of merit, these rites erase the names of the
unfortunate from the registers of the dead, inscribe them in the registers of
transcendents, and either cause their transfer to the Heavenly Hall (tiantang
~ ) or ensure a propitious rebirth.
In the early tenth century, Buddhist and Chinese ideas on the otherworld
coalesced in the appearance of the Buddhist Shiwangjing + .x.~~ (Scripture
of the Ten Kings; Teiser I994). A few centuries later, Taoism responded with
similar scriptures on the tribunals of the ten Perfected Lords (zhenjun 1{tt),
one with the most complete bureaucracy being the Difu shiwang badu yi ±il!.Jff
r.x. Wlt1~ (Liturgies for Salvation from the Ten Kings of the Earth Admin-
istration; CT 2I5; Teiser I993, I37). In the twelfth century, *Shenxiao rituals,
developing out of Lingbao funerary ceremonies, involved saving the dead
from hell through meditation and visualization techniques. In the last several
centuries, ideas on hell which developed in Taoist and Buddhist contexts have
continued in popular morality books (*shanshu).
Amy Lynn MILLER

m Boltz J. M. I983; Campany I990; Eberhard I967, 24-59; Miller A. L. I995;
Nickerson I997; Robinet I993, 2I6-20; Sakamoto Kaname I990; Sawada Mizuho
I968; Seidel I987a; Seidel I987e; Teiser I993; Teiser I994; Thompson I989; Xiao
Dengfu I989; Yti Ying-shih I98I
* Fengdu; DEATH AND AFTERLIFE; OTHERWORLDLY BUREAUCRACY; REBIRTH