Emperor Xudu
In the Taoist immortal system, in addition to various star gods, thunder gods and ** gods, there are also a large number of underworld gods who also occupy an important position, especially the gods of the underworld represented by the capital of the earth. In Mr. Wang Xun's "Temptation of the Theme of the Mural of the Sanqing Hall of Yongle Palace", the identities of the gods on the right side of the heroine god on the east wall are judged to be the gods of the city, including the emperor of the city, the ten kings of the underworld and other gods of the underworld.
Regarding the gods of the underworld in the murals on the north side of the east wall of the Sanqing Palace, their identification of later scholars mostly followed Mr. Wang Xun's views.
The crown on the left side of the goddess on the east wall stands like a god, and the god is the Emperor of Xudu.
The Emperor of Xudu on the right side of the heroine god on the east wall of the Sanqing Palace.
The Emperor of Xudu on the mural wears a crown on his head, the crown is composed of two parts, the head first wears a crown to the sky, and the crown and the bun are tied firmly with a flute (hairpin used to coil the hair), and the red belt is tied on the crown plate from the back of the left and right ears to tie the jade hanging down and the ears, which can be plugged to avoid hearing and called "filling the ears", and the ring hangs down to the chest. The crown plate is green, painted with the front blue and then the white sun and moon, the crown plate hangs the crown before and after the thirteen threads through the twelve colored beads, and the white Tianhe belt on the crown plate hangs down to the clouds on the ground.
Wear a jade sword at your waist.
Emperor Xudu was dressed in a cyan wide-sleeved robe, white gauze in the middle, and there were no embroidered twelve chapters. The green shawl and the square heart collar (the ornament made of Bailuo on the collar, the upper circle is lower, and the lower part here is not square but cloud-like), which is the most significant feature of the Song Dynasty court clothes, and has the meaning of the sky and the round place. A red knee-covered (a large scarf covering the thighs to the knees) is dressed in yellow, with a leather belt around the waist and a scarf (the predecessor of the Chinese knot), and a white background Ruyi-shaped high head and bare shoes. Holding a wat board is green, with a jade sword on the left waist, "since the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty, men need to wear swords when they are dressed in legal clothes", to show the symbol of power and wealth, and the two Han Dynasty disappeared after that.
Ruyi-shaped split tip high head bare shoes.
The crown shape of the Taoist gods has formed a fixed style by the Yuan Dynasty, which is the emperor's unique dress. However, although the shape of the crown and crown in the murals of the Sanqing Hall of Yongle Palace refers to the court costume system, because the actual situation is more complicated and cumbersome, only the shape is taken and not according to the system. For example, there are as many as forty-five crowns in the mural, of which six male gods belong to the first level of the immortal level in "Shangqing Lingbao**", and only four main gods have crests on their crown clothes, while the rest of the gods have no crown clothes. The Thirty-two Heavenly Emperors in the second level wore nine crowns, while the Emperor Xudu, who was only in the eighth level, wore twelve crowns, which were similar to the main gods of the first level, which shows that the crown clothes in the murals do not necessarily strictly follow the hierarchy of the immortals.
The Emperor is also known as the Emperor of the Northern Yin Dynasty, the Emperor of the Difu Dynasty, and also known as the Emperor of the Northern Yin or the Northern Emperor. As the god of the underworld worshiped by Taoism, he is in charge of the underworld, and is the sect of ghosts and ghosts in the world, with the characteristics of a godhead who helps the dead and survives.
In the pre-Qin period, they did not care much about the world after death, and even if they were enthusiastic about worshiping their ancestors, they would "worship ghosts and gods and stay away". The description of the soul returning to the underworld is "Yellow Spring", and when you pass through the earth to the Yellow Spring, you will meet each other", an underground dark world "Hidden Capital". "The underground netherworld, so it is called the hidden capital".
At the time of the Qin and Han dynasties, under the theory of immortals, the death of a person was not a matter of ashes, but "the soul returned to the sky, and the form returned to the earth", emphasizing that after death, the ghost of a person still continued to have the original connection with the real world. As a continuation of life, one is that there are a few people in the fairy realm who are deified after death, and the other is the underworld similar to the human world, which has become the habitat of most souls. The underworld is a continuation of life in the world, and there is no such thing as rebirth. Death is nothing more than a transformation of a form of existence, a place of life.
On this basis, in the late Western Han Dynasty, the theory of "Mount Tai curing ghosts" appeared in the north. Its supreme ruler is Taishan Fujun, who is in charge of the life and death of the world. This ruler of the underworld is a person in the real world who served after his death, not only does he not have any eerie and terrifying appearances, but he is an elder in the world who understands human feelings and sophistication. More interestingly, this position will be replaced if it is neglected. It is almost the afterlife created after the social organization and management system of the yang world. However, this Mount Tai does not only refer to Mount Tai of the Five Mountains, also known as "Taishan", it is named after the county system since the Qin and Han dynasties, and the name of the underworld that is in charge of the souls of people after death.
Although Buddhism was introduced to the Central Plains as early as the Han Dynasty, "the original style of religion, especially China, the Han, Wei and Jin dynasties, seems to be nothing." It was not until after the Eastern Jin Dynasty that Buddhism, which was originally attached to metaphysics, collided and blended with traditional Chinese Confucianism and Taoism for a long time. Especially since the two Jin Dynasty, the prevalence of translating Buddhist scriptures and the punitive function of the prefecture that preaches reincarnation and karma have spread rapidly among the people, and have been respected by all levels of society.
The earthly mansion with human customs under the rule of the Taoist Taishan Mansion has been strongly impacted by the Buddhist hell reincarnation trial, and the people's consciousness is no longer a continuation of the worldly life, but has become an inevitable link in the never-ending reincarnation. The underworld is no longer a permanent place of residence after death, but a place where the soul is reborn in the next life. The fear of death is no longer death itself, but the terrible judgment of hell after death. Along with the hellish torture that comes from the reckoning of good and evil in this life, the place of rebirth in the next life has become the greatest concern facing the world.
At the same time, the monarch of Taishan Mansion is no longer the supreme god who dominates the underworld, and the one who came into being is the ruler of the "Northern Capital Luo Xu", the Northern Emperor Great Demon King, that is, the Emperor of the Northern Capital, also known as the Northern Emperor.
With the continuous expansion of the influence of Buddhism, the Buddhist doctrine of hell was gradually localized. It not only has some elements of Taishan Mansion and the ghost city of Xudu, but also merges with the Taoist Hades to form a new doctrine of hell.
The term "Xudu" was first seen in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which was formed after borrowing and absorbing the Buddhist concept of hell. "Taishang Cave Xuanling Treasure Present Fate Sutra" in the "Xudu" for "the Northern Emperor of the Great Demon King, in the Great Beihai, the north of heaven and earth", is the name of the Beihai Nine Secluded Mountain, is "the place of the world's ghosts and gods", for the imprisonment and punishment of the sinful soul of the dead;Among the more than 700 Taoist immortals in the "True Spiritual Position Karma Map" written by Liang Tao Hongjing, "the seventh median, the Emperor of Beiyin in the capital of Xudu";The punishment of the Yudu Hell is more clearly defined in the Taizhen Jade Emperor's Four Extremes Mingke Sutra, "Xudu Mountain, in the northern Guidi." There are eight prisons ...... on the mountainThere are eight prisons ...... the mountainThere are eight more prisons ...... under the mountainWhere the twenty-four prisons, juxtapose the north ...... of the Xudu MountainWhoever commits a crime in the metascience, the dead soul is paid to the prison to which he belongs, and as a wrestler iron rod, ten thousand calamities are one plunder, and three plunders are the responsibility of making up for three tu. ”
In Buddhism, there is no distinction between high and low ghosts in hell, and only those who have done in their lifetime are investigated and punished according to the karma they have committed. The lord of hell is the king of Yama, who enjoys a high reputation among the people. Tao Hongjing simply thought that the Emperor of Beiyin was the king of Yama, whose function was to decide sinners, and there was more than one hell.
At the same time, more and more gods were added to the underworld system, forming a situation in which multiple gods were in charge of life and death. For example, the five gods are the images of samurai who guard the five intersections of the "Heavenly Path", "Underground Path" and "Three Evil Paths" (Hell Path, Hungry Ghost Path, and Animal Path), and "hold a bow and arrow with a sword" and "guard the five paths".
The Taiyi Salvation Tianzun, which arose during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, emphasized the function of hell rescue, which is believed to be influenced by Taoism to a certain extent in the process of becoming a Buddhist hell rescuer.
After entering the Tang Dynasty, the prefecture evolved into an institution similar to the bureaucratic system of the time. The king of Yama is no longer the lord of the underworld, but the king of the ten halls of Yama reigns together. Each temple has jailers such as judges, clerks, and ghost guards who perform their duties, and each temple routinely has various kinds of torture to punish the ghosts who have committed evil in their lives. "The king of Yama is like the son of heaven on earth. Taishan Mansion Jun, such as the book of the order. The five gods are like the books of the books. A hierarchical system of the underworld, supplemented by low-level gods such as judges, judges, judges, judges, and good and evil boys, was gradually established.
At the same time, the Ten Palaces of Yama were transformed into the "Ten Palaces True Monarch" under the command of the Emperor of the Northern Yin Dynasty. Because of the integration of the beliefs of the Northern Emperor, after many Northern Emperors became the Emperor Ziwei, the Emperor Xudu, who had the godhead of the Emperor who was in charge of the death and crime of the world, was shrouded in the aura of "saving the suffering and saving the suffering" of Taiyi Tianzun, and the world only knew that the underworld was dominated by the Ten Palaces of Yama.
However, compared with the Buddhist theory of hell, the ghosts who should have been punished can be reincarnated here by favoritism to the king of Hades and judges, and even copying **, setting up fasting and doing the way, reciting repentance, burning incense and lighting lamps, etc., Taiyi Salvation Tianzun can help them get rid of the "punishment of the underworld" and "Kede Shengtian". This kind of hell endowed with human touch is obviously influenced by the Taishan Mansion theory, and it has formed a unique Chinese model of the underworld.