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Diyu
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| Diyu | |||||||||
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 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 | ||||||||
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| Burmese name | |||||||||
| Burmese | ငရဲ Nga Yè | ||||||||
| Tibetan name | |||||||||
| Tibetan | དམྱལ་བ་ | ||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | Địa ngục | ||||||||
| Chữ Hán | 地獄 | ||||||||
| Thai name | |||||||||
| Thai | นรก | ||||||||
| RTGS | Nárók | ||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||
| Hangul | 지옥 | ||||||||
| Hanja | 地獄 | ||||||||
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| Mongolian name | |||||||||
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Там (Tam) | ||||||||
| Mongolian script | ᠲᠠᠮ | ||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||
| Kanji | 地獄 | ||||||||
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| Malay name | |||||||||
| Malay | Neraka | ||||||||
| Lao name | |||||||||
| Lao | ນະຮົກ Na Hok | ||||||||
| Khmer name | |||||||||
| Khmer | នរក ("Nɔrʊək") | ||||||||
| Sinhalese name | |||||||||
| Sinhalese | නිරය nỉaya | ||||||||
Diyu (traditional Chinese: 地獄; simplified Chinese: 地狱; 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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