Chinese · Classical Chinese · 9th-10th c. CE
The Scripture of the Ten Kings
Anonymous Chinese Buddhist
The text that organises the Chinese underworld into ten courts with a presiding magistrate for each. Yanluo belongs to this Buddhist-derived material, not to the far older Shanhaijing.
Read The Scripture of the Ten Kings in full at the linked edition →Hierarchies from this text
What this text attests · 2
| Name here | Rank given | # | Powers described |
|---|---|---|---|
| The courts of the dead | — | The ten tribunals in order, with the intervals at which the dead appear before each and the offerings the living make at those dates. | |
 Yanluo = Yanluo Wang | King of the fifth court | — | Presides over one of the ten courts of Diyu, each with its own magistrate, clerks and registers of every soul's allotted span and deeds. |