Object Number: Ea6124

Collection: Eastern Art

Object Name: scroll painting

Description: Chinese colourful 'ghost-and-god' painting. Ink and colours on paper, mounted as a scroll. Male and female figures being tried and punished by the King of Hell. This painting depicts the ghosts and souls in hell. The upper part of the painting depicts the judgment scene in the hell. According to the costume, the figure who sits in the middle and wears the green robe is King Yan (阎王, Yang Wang), the god who judges people's crimes. The figure on the left of King Yan holding a long scroll could be Judge Cui reading out names. The woman in red on the left is the ink-grinder. The lower part of the painting depicts scenes of different punishments after judgment. The figure of Buddha on the upper right corner of the painting should be Ksitigarbha (Dizang Wang pusa) , one of the four principal bodhisattvas in East Asian Mahayana Buddhism. Ksitigarbha meditates in hell, so that he can influence all the evil souls in hell. In addition, King Yan holds a Hu (笏) (tablet), which shows his other position as official of the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor is the highest leader of fairyland in Daoism. The mirror is used to play back to the person what they have done wrong in life, as evidence. Finally, the painting is mounted as a hanging scroll, which probably means that it was used to hang on the wall of a Daoist or Buddhist temple for exorcism. There were said to be 18 chambers in Hell into which souls were sorted according to what they had done wrong whilst alive. The worst offenders would have to go through each of Hell's chambers. Carefully painted and gilding added therefore relatively expensive to produce. Maybe belonged to a big temple.

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