Class materials for teaching students about Buddhist concepts of hell and heaven.

1. Hell
in Japanese and Chinese Buddhism

2. Representations of heaven and hell in Japanese Buddhism

3. The Jigoku zoshi “Hell Scrolls”, late 12th c. color on paper – multiple scrolls.
Click here for a link to the on-line interactive scroll found within the Nara Museum
Click here for a link to the on-line interactive scroll found in the Tokyo National Museum.
Hell on earth, late Heian era, Japan

4. Consider the following while viewing images
from these scrolls:
• What is the overall environment of hell?
• How are the people in hell depicted?
– How does this relate to the way people are
depicted in other scrolls we have seen?
• Who are the keepers of hell?
– Where do you think these images come from?
• Do you think depictions of hell are
standardized? Why or why not?

22. Hell scenes, woodblock print, Japan, 18th c
What imagery carries over?

23. Hell hanging scroll, Japan,
18th c. ink and color on paper.

24. 10 Kings scroll, Dunhuang caves, China, 10th c. ink/color/paper

25. Rokudo
“The 6 Paths”
- 6 types of rebirth
1. Deva [heavenly being]
2. Asura [titan]
3. Human
4. Animal
5. Gaki [hungry ghost]
6. Hell dweller
*if you can break free of
this cycle, you can reach
enlightenment.

26. Sculpted image of Wheel of Rebirth,
Baodingshan, China, 12th
c, stone.

27. Baodingshan cave site, Dazu County, Sichuan, China

28. Heavens of the Pure Land at Baodingshan, 12th c., China

29. New soul being reborn in a lotus within the Pure Land.

30. Hell tableau at Baodingshan, late 12th c., China

32. King Yama [Jpn. Emma], overseer of all the kings & hells

33. Swordtree Hell – with woman in cangue at left and jailer center.

34. Hell of the Iron Wheel

35. Freezing Hell Hell of Feces and Filth

36. Iron Bed Hell [L] and Hell of the Iron Bed [R]
Karmic Mirror between the two.

37. Boiling Cauldron Hell

38. Hell of Being Cut in Two at the Knees
Woodblock print showing
judicial punishment of being
cut up. China, 18th
c.

39. Individuals being punished
through use of the cangue.

40. Hell for those who Sell Alcohol
Alcohol Sellers
Both images from Great Buddha Bend, Baodingshan.

41. Hungry Ghost ‘hell’, lowest level,
Hell tableau, Great Buddha Bend, Baodingshan.

42. Multiple manifestations of Dizang [Jizo] at Baodingshan
L and R: Dizang as monk; Center: Dizang as Bodhisattva

43. Jizo bosatsu
14th c., ink/color/silk – British Museum
Jizo bosatsu [Dizang bodhisattva],
13th c. gold leaf/wood – Minneapolis Institute of Arts

44. The Gaki zoshi, “Hungry Ghosts Scroll”, late 12th c.
Ink/color/paper – Tokyo National Museum

53. The Gaki zoshi, “Hungry Ghosts Scroll”, late 12th c.
Ink/color/paper – Kyoto National Museum

60. Urabon-e [Ullambana] - The Buddhist Festival of the Dead

62. Meditation on death and decay
In looking at the following images, consider who the audience for them was.

63. Meditation on death and decay

69. Who was the audience for this work?