The scripture on the ten kings and the making of purgatory in medieval Chinese Buddhism
By: Stephen F. Teiser.
Series: Kuroda Institute studies in East Asian Buddhism ;; 9; Studies in East Asian Buddhism ;; no. 9.
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Published: 1994
Place of publication: Honolulu, HI
Language: eng
Number of pages: 340
Subjects: Shih wang ching -- Criticism, interpretation, etc; Eschatology, Buddhist; Hell -- Buddhism; Buddhism -- China -- Doctrines
Other titles: Shih wang ching. English.
Description: Between the seventh and ninth centuries, the Chinese mind became preoccupied with a concept of the afterlife that persists into modern times. To be reborn, the deceased must successfully negotiate passage through ten courts of law, each ruled by a magistrate or king. The pains of transition from death to rebirth can be alleviated by the intercession of the living with contributions to the Buddhist church and bribes of spirit money.

The cosmology, morality, and rituals of the ten kings are described for the first time in surviving sources in an illustrated text, The Scripture on the Ten Kings, which is here translated for the first time.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Glossary and bibliography in English and Chinese.