wanted to apprehend any one, they used to make vows to this hideous image and put opium on its mouth. The ti fang shên or local deity, who corresponds to the headman in the country, is close by; this deity knows where every demon resides. His body is white and, like the chicken-footed god, he has a wife and family around him and is worshipped by the yamen runners. In this temple there is also that unseemly idol known as Ho ho wu ch‘ang (赫赫無常), to frighten people into remembering that their days on earth are uncertain, and if they do not repent their end will be destruction. In Kwan Hsien city temple there is a stone city god, which was dug up somewhere in the country; when it was brought to the city the magistrate refused to admit it, saying, as in each city there was only one magistrate, so likewise only one city god could be tolerated, but after a time it was admitted and placed in a corner of the temple. In the lower courts of the city god temple are the ten Buddhist hells, presided over by the shih tien nien wang (十殿閻王) or ten kings of Hades. These are supposed to give a history of the soul’s travail from death till transmigration takes place. These are as follows:
秦廣王. The first of the ten hells, where the spirit goes at death. Here the records of lives are kept; if the individual is very good a pass is given into the Western paradise; if very bad, he is cast into the lowest abyss for ever; if he needs purging he is sent to the other nine kings of Hades and put through their sufferings and terrors till transmigration is reached. The pains in this first hell are hunger and thirst, and there is a mirror to show up the shortcomings of each person.
楚江王. In this court the unfilial have their limbs cut off or are sawn asunder. There are here sixteen minor places of punishment, among which are the black sand cloud hell, manure hell, impaled on pikes hell, hunger and thirst hell, burning thirst, blood hell, axe hell, grindstone hell, weigh up hell, chicken hell (where chickens peck their murderers), dust river hell, cut in pieces hell, double edged sword hell, fox and wolf hell, frost and ice hell. This hell is called the living hell.
