Diyu

Diyu
Illustration from the Jade Record: Tortures being meted out in the Sixth Court of Hell
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese地獄
Simplified Chinese地狱
Burmese name
Burmeseငရဲ
Nga Yè
Tibetan name
Tibetanདམྱལ་བ་
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetĐịa ngục
Chữ Hán地獄
Thai name
Thaiนรก
RTGSNárók
Korean name
Hangul지옥
Hanja地獄
Mongolian name
Mongolian CyrillicТам
(Tam)
Mongolian scriptᠲᠠᠮ
Japanese name
Kanji地獄
Malay name
MalayNeraka
Lao name
Laoນະຮົກ
Na Hok
Khmer name
Khmerនរក ("Nɔrʊək")
Sinhalese name
Sinhaleseනිරය
nỉaya

Diyu (simplified Chinese: 地狱; traditional Chinese: 地獄; pinyin: dìyù; lit. 'earth prison') is the realm of the dead or "hell" in Chinese mythology. It is loosely based on a combination of the Buddhist concept of Naraka, traditional Chinese beliefs about the afterlife, and a variety of popular expansions and reinterpretations of these two traditions. The concept parallels purgatory in certain Christian denomininations.

Diyu is typically depicted as a subterranean maze with various levels and chambers, to which souls are taken after death to atone for the sins they committed when they were alive. The exact number of levels in Diyu and their associated deities differ between Buddhist and Taoist interpretations. Some speak of three to four "courts"; others mention "Ten Courts of Hell", each of which is ruled by a judge (collectively known as the Ten Yama Kings); other Chinese legends speak of the "Eighteen Levels of Hell". Each court deals with a different aspect of atonement and different punishments; most legends claim that sinners are subjected to gruesome tortures until their "deaths", after which they are restored to their original state for the torture to be repeated.


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