the bridge to Hell

the bridge to Hell

Naihe bridge is a necessary place for people to be reincarnated in Chinese Taoism and folk mythology. Beside Naihe bridge, there will be an elderly female god named Mengpo, who will give each Ghost a bowl of Mengpo soup to forget the memory of the previous life, so that they can be reincarnated into the next life.

Note: Naihe has nothing to do with Buddhism. The Sanskrit translation of narakade is "hell", and its transliteration is "naroka", not "Naihe".

legend

There are two popular views about Naihe bridge. One is that there is a river in the earth, which is called Naihe. The other is that the meaning of "helpless" in Chinese just corresponds to the regret and helplessness of one's wish in reincarnation.

Historical records

It is recorded in the fourth volume of xuanshizhi: "when you travel more than ten miles, you can reach one water, which is not several feet wide and flows to the southwest. Looking at Xi, Xi said, "the so-called Nai River in this custom originates from the underground.". "Seeing is seeing, and the water is bloody, but the fishy and filthy can't be near." Because there is a bridge on the river, it is named "Naihe bridge". The bridge is narrow and smooth. It is guarded by day and night. Under the bridge, the blood river is full of insects and snakes, the waves are rolling, and the fishy wind blows. The ghost of the villain falls into the river, just like the description in the tenth chapter of journey to the West: "copper snake and iron dog fight for food, and there is no way out when they fall into the Nai River forever.". I can't help but think of the horror of Naihe in the underworld. Journey to the West Chapter 10: the judge said: Your Majesty, it's called Naihe bridge. If you go to the world, you must have a biography!

In Chinese Folklore: after death, the soul must cross the Nai River Bridge. The good will cross the bridge smoothly under the protection of gods or Buddhas, and the evil will be driven into the blood River to suffer. "Fengdu religious customs survey" has a detailed description of this The bridge is divided into three layers (or three bridges). The ghosts of good people can safely pass through the upper bridge. Those who are good and evil cross the middle bridge. The ghosts of evil people cross the lower bridge. Most of them are stopped by ghosts in the muddy waves under the bridge and are bitten by copper snakes and iron dogs. Every year at the incense Festival, pilgrims fight to throw paper money or copper into the pool, and sprinkle fried rice into the pool, thinking that they can give it to hungry ghosts. Many elderly pilgrims like to walk on the bridge, thinking that they can avoid the pain of crossing the Naihe bridge after they die. " It can be seen that before the founding of the people's Republic of China, some good men and women went to the bridge to burn incense and paper, and to give alms. They only wanted to be protected by gods or Buddhas after death!

describe

It is said that there is a road called huangquan Road, a river called Wangchuan River, and a bridge called Naihe bridge. Walking across Naihe bridge, there is a local platform called wangxiangtai. Beside the platform, there is an old woman named Mengpo selling Mengpo soup. There is a stone called sanshengshi by the river of Wangchuan. Mengpo soup makes you forget everything. Sanshengshi records your past and present lives. We walk across the Naihe bridge and have a last look at the world on the wangxiangtai. We drink a cup of water boiled in the river of forgetting Sichuan. Why do we have to ask for "this life is predestined"?

This bridge is the boundary, starting a new cycle.

Qingshi bridge deck, five grid steps, Qiaoxi for women, Qiaodong for men, left Yin right Yang. "If anyone dies at the age of 97, he will wait on the bridge for three years.". Looking back on the past thousand years, a hundred year agreement. Maybe the love between husband and wife in this life begins here and ends here.

However, thousands of feet under the bridge, clouds winding, waiting for the next life is what road, no one knows. The agreement of the next life is just a follow-up of this life. After drinking Mengpo soup, I have forgotten everything. The meeting of the next life is just a new beginning.

Naihe bridge, the parting of the previous life, the meeting of this life, but the reunion of the next life.

"Mengpo soup" is an ancient Chinese legend, which is recorded in an ancient book of Lanzi family. In that legend, people are reincarnated from generation to generation. The end of this life is but the beginning of the next. People who cycle from generation to generation can't have the memory of the past, just because everyone will drink Mengpo soup on Naihe bridge before reincarnation. Therefore, walking on the Naihe bridge is the last time for a person to have the memory of this life. At this moment, many people are still clinging to the wishes of the past life, but deeply understand that these wishes will not be realized in the end, and they will send out a long sigh. This is the reason why the bridge connecting the reincarnation of different generations was named Naihe bridge.

legend

There is such a legend, do you know? It is said that people have to go through huangquan road after death and Naihe bridge after reincarnation. On Naihe bridge, there is a kind old woman named "Mengpo", who keeps cooking a pot of soup seasoned with "forgetting". Those who want to reincarnate must drink the soup made by Mengpo. After drinking this bowl of Mengpo soup, they will forget all the previous life. Therefore, people always don't remember the last life. There is also a legend that the ingredients of that bowl of Mengpo soup are the tears of this life shed by reincarnated people. When they drink, they taste the past one by one, and then they will forget.

Naihe bridge (1)

From the perspective of Chinese folk culture, bridges and their symbolism are even more used to establish connections or form transition and intermediary between people and ghosts, life and death. In contrast to "myth" and "fairy tale", there is another kind of unique "ghost story" in Chinese folk word-of-mouth literature. Although we often use "a series of ghost stories" to describe someone's absurd or untrustworthy words, the "bridge" repeatedly appearing in folk "ghost stories" is not accidental. In our view, it is not absurd. In Chinese folk belief, "ghost" is a kind of negative supernatural existence caused by death. In many ghost stories spreading all over China, bridges are often haunted by ghosts, especially the ghosts of drowning people. The ghosts of the dead who died in water or fell from the bridge are always on or off the bridge or at the end of the bridge to find substitutes for themselves so that they can reincarnate. In this sense, the bridge is not only the place where the ghost of the dead breaks away from the underworld and reincarnates to the world of the dead, but also the place where the new dead continue to emerge and go from the world of the dead. The alternation and transformation of life and death are realized through the bridge.

Differences and connections in Japan, there are also ghosts or spirits of the unjust dead wandering on the bridge, often in the "bridge general request" when people fall into the water. Some kind-hearted water ghosts, who can't bear to drag others into the water as substitutes, can't be reincarnated immediately in the ghost talk, but they can often be promoted in the underworld, or finally can always move the underworld king of hell, or even get the permission of the king of hell to reincarnate. There is a story called "Lu a Tang". It says that there used to be a Lujia bridge on the Lianqi River in Baoshan. The Lujia house is in the south of the bridge and the Tangjia house is in the north of the bridge. The two families benefit from the bridge together. Therefore, the two sides agree to repair the bridge in turn in March every year. One year, when the Lu family was repairing the bridge, unfortunately, a man fell into the water and became a water ghost. In March of the next year, the water ghost dragged the bridge mender of the Tang family into the water and made himself reincarnated in the world. From then on, when the bridge was built in March every year, someone would fall into the water and die. People were afraid, so they did not dare to build it again, resulting in the abandonment of the bridge. Later, a man named Lu a Tang, who came from the Tang family to the Lu family, volunteered to be a ghost for the dead, so that everyone could rest assured to repair the bridge. After Lu a Tang became a water ghost, he not only didn't have the heart to drag others into the water, but also protected the bridge builders under the bridge. As a result, he was highly praised by Lu and Tang. Later, all those who passed the bridge had to bow their hands at the head of the bridge to show their respect for Lu a Tang before crossing the bridge. Once a year, when the bridge was built in March, the incense offered to Lu a Tang was more prosperous, and finally the "land" of Lu and Tang families was disturbed. After the land Lord went to heaven to tell the Jade Emperor, the jade emperor made Lu a Tang the bridge God of the land bridge and gave him a ghost beating stick. From then on, lujiaqiao will be safer, even if there is a drowning person, he will not be drowned, because after being granted the title of bridge God, Lu Atang is determined to eliminate harm for the people. Sometimes, some people are driven by ghosts, but as long as they run to the bridge, they will be protected by the bridge God Lu Atang. Interestingly, there are some ghost stories about bridges, in which female ghosts often give birth to children in the underworld and ask for food on or at the end of the bridge for babies. One of the stories said that the baby was named bridge and later won the first prize. In addition, there is even the story that the king of hell ordered Yin Cai, his confidant assistant, to govern the water ghost, and ordered him to build a floating bridge for people, so as to make atonement for his contributions.

There is a story about mengpozhuang in the eighth volume of Xiefeng written by Shen Qifeng in Qing Dynasty: Ge Sheng returns to life without drinking enchanting soup. Once upon a time, there was a Geisha named LAN Rui. She had a beautiful sister, Yu Rui. Yurui and Gesheng fell in love deeply, but because Gesheng was very poor, he couldn't afford to marry Yurui. Later, Lanrui died of illness, while Gesheng died because he couldn't stay with Yurui all his life. After Ge Sheng died, he came to the hell. The king of hell saw that he had died innocently and sentenced him to be a human being. When GE Sheng heard the order, he was ready to give birth again. Ge Sheng was walking alone when he came to a shed full of Luoteng. I saw hundreds of men and women scrambling to grab the ladle and quickly scoop water from the stove. Because he was tired of walking and felt dry, he also wanted to drink the water in the ladle. At this time, a woman came out from behind the shed. Ge Sheng took a closer look and found that it was LAN Rui. LAN Rui asked why he came here, and Ge Sheng told her all about it. When LAN Rui knew this, she whispered to ge Sheng, "don't you know this is Mengpo village? Fortunately, today, Mrs. Meng went to celebrate Mrs. Kou's birthday and ordered me to take charge of the ladle temporarily. If you, like those people, drink this spoonful soup, you will have no way back to life. " When GE Sheng heard this, he couldn't help feeling lucky. Later, under the guidance of LAN Rui, Ge Sheng found his way back to the world. Tea at Mengpo Village

Chinese PinYin : Nai He Qiao