Dizang and the Three Kings: Constructing Buddhist Hell by Imitating the Bureaucratic System in the Tang Dynasty
The Buddhist ideas and practices of hell were bureaucratized in medieval China. The cult of Dizang and the Ten Kings of Hell was popular from the late Tang Dynasty onward. However, the concept of the Three Kings of Hell (King Yama 閻羅王, the Magistrate of Mount Tai 泰山府君, and the Great Spirit of the Fi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/4/317 |
| _version_ | 1797434273105444864 |
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| author | Xiao Jiang |
| author_facet | Xiao Jiang |
| author_sort | Xiao Jiang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Buddhist ideas and practices of hell were bureaucratized in medieval China. The cult of Dizang and the Ten Kings of Hell was popular from the late Tang Dynasty onward. However, the concept of the Three Kings of Hell (King Yama 閻羅王, the Magistrate of Mount Tai 泰山府君, and the Great Spirit of the Five Paths 五道大神) appeared before that of the Ten Kings and has long been ignored. This article aimed to make a textual comparison of the descriptions of Dizang and the Three Kings in the literature with the bureaucratic system of the Three Departments (sansheng zhi 三省制), which was the central government system during the Tang Dynasty, where the Three Departments performed their respective functions. There are several structural and functional parallels between the underworldly afterlife and the political bureaucracies of the world. The workings of the system in hell changed in texts from different periods, showing the evolution of the Three Departments system during the Tang Dynasty. This case study demonstrated that the system of Dizang and the Three Kings of Hell were constructed based on the official system used in human society and that the underworld was reinterpreted as a bureaucratic system similar to the temporal one. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:29:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1f40796c08e74f588be6bbe06f1babfd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:29:51Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-1f40796c08e74f588be6bbe06f1babfd2023-12-01T21:21:19ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442022-04-0113431710.3390/rel13040317Dizang and the Three Kings: Constructing Buddhist Hell by Imitating the Bureaucratic System in the Tang DynastyXiao Jiang0Department of History, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, ChinaThe Buddhist ideas and practices of hell were bureaucratized in medieval China. The cult of Dizang and the Ten Kings of Hell was popular from the late Tang Dynasty onward. However, the concept of the Three Kings of Hell (King Yama 閻羅王, the Magistrate of Mount Tai 泰山府君, and the Great Spirit of the Five Paths 五道大神) appeared before that of the Ten Kings and has long been ignored. This article aimed to make a textual comparison of the descriptions of Dizang and the Three Kings in the literature with the bureaucratic system of the Three Departments (sansheng zhi 三省制), which was the central government system during the Tang Dynasty, where the Three Departments performed their respective functions. There are several structural and functional parallels between the underworldly afterlife and the political bureaucracies of the world. The workings of the system in hell changed in texts from different periods, showing the evolution of the Three Departments system during the Tang Dynasty. This case study demonstrated that the system of Dizang and the Three Kings of Hell were constructed based on the official system used in human society and that the underworld was reinterpreted as a bureaucratic system similar to the temporal one.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/4/317Three KingsDizanghellbureaucratic systemThree Departments systemTang Dynasty |
| spellingShingle | Xiao Jiang Dizang and the Three Kings: Constructing Buddhist Hell by Imitating the Bureaucratic System in the Tang Dynasty Religions Three Kings Dizang hell bureaucratic system Three Departments system Tang Dynasty |
| title | Dizang and the Three Kings: Constructing Buddhist Hell by Imitating the Bureaucratic System in the Tang Dynasty |
| title_full | Dizang and the Three Kings: Constructing Buddhist Hell by Imitating the Bureaucratic System in the Tang Dynasty |
| title_fullStr | Dizang and the Three Kings: Constructing Buddhist Hell by Imitating the Bureaucratic System in the Tang Dynasty |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dizang and the Three Kings: Constructing Buddhist Hell by Imitating the Bureaucratic System in the Tang Dynasty |
| title_short | Dizang and the Three Kings: Constructing Buddhist Hell by Imitating the Bureaucratic System in the Tang Dynasty |
| title_sort | dizang and the three kings constructing buddhist hell by imitating the bureaucratic system in the tang dynasty |
| topic | Three Kings Dizang hell bureaucratic system Three Departments system Tang Dynasty |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/4/317 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT xiaojiang dizangandthethreekingsconstructingbuddhisthellbyimitatingthebureaucraticsysteminthetangdynasty |