Editing Diyu (section)

==Eighteen levels of Hell==
[[File:The ghost of Yue Fei.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|The headless ghost of [[Yue Fei]] confronting the recently deceased spirit of [[Qin Hui]] in the Sixth Court. The plaque held by the attendant on the left reads: "Qin Hui's ten wicked crimes." From a 19th-century Chinese [[Hell Scroll (Nara National Museum)|Hell Scroll]].]]

The concept of the eighteen hells started in the [[Tang dynasty]]. The Buddhist text ''Sutra on Questions about Hell'' ({{zh|t=問地獄經|labels=no}}) mentioned 134 worlds of hell, but was simplified to the Eighteen Levels of Hell in the ''Sutra on the Eighteen Hells'' ({{zh|t=十八泥犁經|labels=no}}) for convenience. Some literature refers to eighteen types of hells or to eighteen hells for each type of punishment.

Some religious or literature books say that wrongdoers, regardless of being punished or otherwise when they were alive are punished in the hells after death. Sinners feel pain and agony just like living humans when they are subjected to the tortures listed below. They cannot "die" from the torture because when the ordeal is over, their bodies will be restored to their original states for the torture to be repeated.<ref>[http://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&res=962317 Xue, Fucheng. ''Yong'an Biji'' (''Notebook of Yong An'')].</ref><ref>{{cite web |script-title=zh:瀕死經驗（六則）|trans-title=Near-death Experience (Six Parts)|url=http://xn--1qq22qc0dpvm9wk.net/%E5%9B%A0%E6%9E%9C%E6%84%9F%E6%87%89%E4%BA%8B%E8%B9%9F/%E7%80%95%E6%AD%BB%E9%AB%94%E9%A9%97/D%E7%80%95%E6%AD%BB%E9%AB%94%E9%A9%971.htm|website={{lang|zh-hant|italics=no|佛教淨土宗.net}}|access-date=8 January 2015|language=zh|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183710/http://xn--1qq22qc0dpvm9wk.net/%E5%9B%A0%E6%9E%9C%E6%84%9F%E6%87%89%E4%BA%8B%E8%B9%9F/%E7%80%95%E6%AD%BB%E9%AB%94%E9%A9%97/D%E7%80%95%E6%AD%BB%E9%AB%94%E9%A9%971.htm|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |script-title=zh:敦煌文献中的《还魂记》写本 ）|trans-title=Manuscript of ''Huan Hun Ji'' among the Dunhuang Manuscripts |url=http://public.dha.ac.cn/content.aspx?id=301052650440|website=The Grottoes of Dunhuang Information Network|access-date=8 January 2015|language=zh}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1={{lang|zh-hant|潘重規}} [Pan, Chonggui]|script-title=zh:敦煌變文集新書  |title=Dunhuang Bian Wenji Xinshu |date=1994|publisher={{lang|zh-hant|文津出版社}} [Wen Jin Publishing House]|location=China|url=http://www.eywedu.com/dunhuang/078.htm|access-date=8 January 2015|language=zh|script-chapter=zh:九、唐太宗入冥記 |trans-chapter=Volume 6: Chapter 9: Emperor Taizong of Tang's Journey to the Underworld}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1={{lang|zh-hant|黎澍}} [Li, Shu]|editor1={{lang|zh-hant|慧淨法師}} [Huijing]|script-title=zh:地獄見聞錄  |trans-title=Records of Observations of Hell|date=March 2006|publisher={{lang|zh-hant|淨土宗文教基金會}} [Pure Land Sect Foundation]|location=Taipei|edition=3rd|url=http://www.pureland-buddhism.org/%E6%B7%A8%E5%9C%9F%E5%AE%97%E5%8F%A2%E6%9B%B8/%E5%9C%B0%E7%8D%84%E8%A6%8B%E8%81%9E%E9%8C%84/|access-date=8 January 2015|language=zh}}</ref><ref>[http://www.xuefo.net/nr/article1/6474.html {{lang|zh-hant|泰国上校真实因果轮回见证}}]</ref>

The eighteen hells vary from narrative to narrative but some commonly mentioned tortures include: being steamed; being fried in oil cauldrons; being sawed into half; being run over by vehicles; being pounded in a [[mortar and pestle]]; being ground in a [[Mill (grinding)|mill]]; being crushed by boulders; being made to shed blood by climbing trees or mountains of knives; having sharp objects driven into their bodies; having hooks pierced into their bodies and being hung upside down; drowning in a pool of filthy blood; being left naked in the freezing cold; being set aflame or cast into infernos; being tied naked to a bronze cylinder with a fire lit at its base; being forced to consume boiling liquids; tongue ripping; eye gouging; teeth extraction; heart digging; disembowelment; skinning; being trampled, gored, mauled, eaten, stung, bitten, pecked, etc., by animals such as mice, wasps, maggots, and leeches.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Eighteen Hells
|-
! # !! Version 1 !! Version 2 !! As mentioned in ''[[Journey to the West]]''
|-
| 1 || Hell of Tongue Ripping<br>{{lang|zh-hant|拔舌地獄}} || Naraka Hell<br>{{lang|zh-hant|泥犁地獄}} || Hell of Hanging Bars<br>{{lang|zh-hant|吊筋獄}}
|-
| 2 || Hell of Scissors<br>{{lang|zh-hant|剪刀地獄}} || Hell of the Mountain of Knives<br>{{lang|zh-hant|刀山地獄}} || Hell of the Wrongful Dead<br>{{lang|zh-hant|幽枉獄}}
|-
| 3 || Hell of Trees of Knives<br>{{lang|zh-hant|鐵樹地獄}} || Hell of Boiling Sand<br>{{lang|zh-hant|沸沙地獄}} || Hell of the Pit of Fire<br>{{lang|zh-hant|火坑獄}}
|-
| 4 || Hell of [[Nieh-ching-t'ai|Mirrors of Retribution]]<br>{{lang|zh-hant|孽镜地狱}} || Hell of Boiling Faeces<br>{{lang|zh-hant|沸屎地獄}} || [[Fengdu]] Hell<br>{{lang|zh-hant|酆都獄}}
|-
| 5 || Hell of Steaming<br>{{lang|zh-hant|蒸籠地獄}} || Hell of Darkened Bodies<br>{{lang|zh-hant|黑身地獄}} || Hell of Tongue Ripping<br>{{lang|zh-hant|拔舌獄}}
|-
| 6 || Hell of Copper Pillars<br>{{lang|zh-hant|銅柱地獄}} || Hell of Fiery Chariots<br>{{lang|zh-hant|火車地獄}} || Hell of Skinning<br>{{lang|zh-hant|剝皮獄}}
|-
| 7 || Hell of the Mountain of Knives<br>{{lang|zh-hant|刀山地獄}} || Hell of Cauldrons<br>{{lang|zh-hant|鑊湯地獄}} || Hell of Grinding<br>{{lang|zh-hant|磨捱獄}}
|-
| 8 || Hell of the Mountain of Ice<br>{{lang|zh-hant|冰山地獄}} || Hell of Iron Beds<br>{{lang|zh-hant|鐵床地獄}} || Hell of Pounding<br>{{lang|zh-hant|碓搗獄}}
|-
| 9 || Hell of Oil Cauldrons<br>{{lang|zh-hant|油鍋地獄}} || Hell of Cover Mountains<br>{{lang|zh-hant|蓋山地獄}} || Hell of Dismemberment by Vehicles<br>{{lang|zh-hant|車崩獄}}
|-
| 10 || Hell of the Pit of Cattle<br>{{lang|zh-hant|牛坑地獄}} || Hell of Ice<br>{{lang|zh-hant|寒冰地獄}} || Hell of Ice<br>{{lang|zh-hant|寒冰獄}}
|-
| 11 || Hell of Boulder Crushing<br>{{lang|zh-hant|石壓地獄}} || Hell of Skinning<br>{{lang|zh-hant|剝皮地獄}} || Hell of Moulting<br>{{lang|zh-hant|脫殼獄}}
|-
| 12 || Hell of Mortars and Pestles<br>{{lang|zh-hant|舂臼地獄}} || Hell of Beasts<br>{{lang|zh-hant|畜生地獄}} || Hell of Disembowelment<br>{{lang|zh-hant|抽腸獄}}
|-
| 13 || Hell of the Pool of Blood<br>{{lang|zh-hant|血池地獄}} || Hell of Weapons<br>{{lang|zh-hant|刀兵地獄}} || Hell of Oil Cauldrons<br>{{lang|zh-hant|油鍋獄}}
|-
| 14 || Hell of the Wrongful Dead<br>{{lang|zh-hant|枉死地獄}} || Hell of Iron Mills<br>{{lang|zh-hant|鐵磨地獄}} || Hell of Darkness<br>{{lang|zh-hant|黑暗獄}}
|-
| 15 || Hell of Dismemberment<br>{{lang|zh-hant|磔刑地獄}} || Hell of Dismemberment<br>{{lang|zh-hant|磔刑地獄}} || Hell of the Mountain of Knives<br>{{lang|zh-hant|刀山獄}}
|-
| 16 || Hell of the Mountain of Fire<br>{{lang|zh-hant|火山地獄}} || Hell of Iron Books<br>{{lang|zh-hant|鐵冊地獄}} || Hell of the Pool of Blood<br>{{lang|zh-hant|血池獄}}
|-
| 17 || Hell of Mills<br>{{lang|zh-hant|石磨地獄}} || Hell of Maggots<br>{{lang|zh-hant|蛆蟲地獄}} || [[Avīci]] Hell<br>{{lang|zh-hant|阿鼻獄}}
|-
| 18 || Hell of Sawing<br>{{lang|zh-hant|刀鋸地獄}} || Hell of Molten Copper<br>{{lang|zh-hant|烊銅地獄}} || Hell of Weighing Scales<br>{{lang|zh-hant|秤桿獄}}
|-
|}