In folks culture known as Yan Wang (閻王) or Yan Luo Wang (閻羅王), whereas in Taoism, they are officially known as Shi Dian Ming Wang (十殿冥王/明王) or Shi Dong Zhu (十洞主) - literally known as Lords of Nether Realm and in other contexts, such as Buddhism or Hinduism, they are being addressed as Yama Kings.
Due to influences by other Religions, there's also the existence of these Ten Lords, so till today, a lot of Folks still have some confusions on them by mixing them up or calling the wrong titles.
In Taoism, these 10 Ming Wang are actually the manifestation of the 10 Directional Lords of Salvation for the Suffering Souls (十方救苦天尊化身), which they are the 10 manifestation of Lord Tai Yi 太乙救苦天尊 (the key person in the Salvation of Suffering in Taoism).
Why is there a need for so much Ming Wang to be manifested for the looking after of the souls?
Due to the whole Universe is so big, wide and infinite dimension, Lord Tai Yi has to manifest himself into 10 other Lords in-order to salvage the million suffering souls in the whole Universe in a split second, and these is why, the 10 manifested Ming Wang are needed for this task and of cos, each of them is given other specified tasks to look into, etc.
Here's the intro on the 10 Directional Lords and Ming Wang:
東方玉寶皇上天尊(化身一殿秦廣王)
East Yu Bao Huang Shang Tian Zun
(manifest into 1st court Lord Qin Guang)
南方玄真萬福天尊(化身二殿楚江王)
South Xuan Zhen Wan Fu Tian Zun
(manifest into 2nd court Lord Chu Jiang)
西方太妙至極天尊(化身三殿宋帝王)
West Tai Miao Zhi Ju Tian Zun
(manifest into 3rd court Lord Song Di)
北方玄上玉晨天尊(化身四殿五官王)
North Xuan Shang Yu Chen Tian Zun
(manifest into 4th court Lord Wu Guan)
東北方度仙上聖天尊(化身五殿閻羅王/森羅王)
North East Du Xian Shang Sheng Tian Zun
(manifest into 5th court Lord Yan Luo/Sen Luo)
東南方好生度命天尊(化身六殿卞城王)
South East Hao Sheng Du Ming Tian Zun
(manifest into 6th court Lord Bian Cheng)
西南方太靈虛皇天尊(化身七殿泰山王)
South West Tai Ling Xu Huang Tian Zun
(manifest into 7th court Lord Tai Shan)
西北方無量太華天尊(化身八殿都市王)
North West Wu Liang Tai Hua Tian Zun
(manifest into 8th court Lord Du Shi)
上方玉虛明皇天尊(化身九殿平等王)
Upper Yu Xu Ming Huang Tian Zun
(manifest into 9th court Lord Ping Deng)
下方真皇洞神天尊(化身十殿轉輪王)
Lower Zhen Huang Dong Shen Tian Zun
(manifest into 10th court Lord Zhuan Lun)
Larger Res-Pic at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/taoism_deity_singapore_2007/photos/album/251114378/pic/list
十殿冥王寶誥
ReplyDeleteShi Dian Ming Wang Bao Gao (Praise Incantation)
至心皈命禮
Zhi Xin Gui Ming Li
東岳阿衡。北都酆應。
Dong Yue Ah Heng, Bei Du Feng Ying
掌管善惡。掌握生死。
Zhang Guan Shan E, Zhang Wo Sheng Si
正氣堂堂。親躋一律。
Zheng Qi Tang Tang, Qin Ji Yi Lv
聖心耿耿。恩怨兩忘。
Sheng Xin Geng Geng, En Yuan Liang Wang
明明孽鏡前高懸。
Ming Ming Nie Jing Qian Gao Xuan
黑黑陰形而環列。
Hei Hei Yin Xing Er Huan Lie
任強梁而莫展。
Ren Qiang Liang Er Mo Zhan
縱奸佞以難施。
Zhong Jian Ning Yi Nan Shi
福善而昇天堂。
Fu Shan Er Sheng Tian Tang
福遙以沉地獄。
Fu Yao Yi Chen Di Yu
報應明顯。因果昭彰。
Bao Ying Ming Xian, Yin Guo Zhao Zhang
六道仰恩。四生哀命。
Liu Dao Yao En, Si Sheng Ai Ming
大悲大願。大聖大慈。
Da Bei Da Yuan, Da Sheng Da Ci
冥府十王。慈仁真君。
Ming Fu Shi Wang, Ci Ren Zhen Jun
冰心鐵面天尊。
Bing Xin Tie Mian Tian Zun
Thanks for the post. But do the 10 Directional Lords of Salvation for the Suffering Souls (十方救苦天尊化身), which are the 10 manifestations of Lord Tai Yi 太乙救苦天尊 have their own statues, I mean before their ming wang (netherworld form)?
ReplyDeletebro i dont understand somethin .. yan luo wang is actually the 5th hell king .. but u says that officially known as Shi Dian Ming Wang (十殿冥王) or Shi Dong Zhu (十洞主)
ReplyDeleteso u mean he also the head of 10 kings ??
but when we say 十殿冥王 we are sayin abt the 10 kings ma .. so why sayin 十殿冥王 is sayin yan luo wang ??
another thing is yan luo tian zi is known as the son of yu huang but u say is jiu ku tian zun ??
den is cheng huang also 十殿冥王 ??
Till today, no one had really seen the real form of the 10 Lords. But hahahahahaha.. I have the rough drawing on them :P
ReplyDeleteWill look for someone who have affinity with them to dedicate the statues one day ;)
Hahahahaha.. like what I posted in the intro, due to the mix-up culture and teachings from the other religions, people tend to address them wrongly. to be more accurate, the 5th Court Lord shall be address as Sen Luo Wang and not Yan Luo Wang or Yan Wang.
ReplyDeleteYan Luo Wang and Yan Wang is the overall address title for all the 10 Courts of Hade Lords or shall I said, that's only mend for the other Chinese Religions and not Taoism (even till today, some Taoists still cant differentiate who is who and who shall go with what title).
Yan Luo Tian Zi is a new title that given by Mortals to Bao Gong only, not really the son of Jade Emperor, this is the mistaken part created by the Folks Belief (almost all folks believed that Bao Gong is being born to this world by the order of Jade Emperor, etc etc).
Cheng Huang can be Shi Dian Ming Wang, only if he has the enough accumulated credits and merits or in his previous life, he is one of the manifestation of Lord Tai Yi... this is out of the control of us Mortals :P
wah .. chim .. nevermind i think find one day talk wit u easier haha thanks anyway
ReplyDeleteWahahahaha... sure sure :P
ReplyDeleteI think u will hav to write down all the stuffs that u wanted to ask... if not.. me old liao.. also cant remember which to share with you ;)
haha i also old liao also cant remember haha .. think 3 cups of coffee also not enough
ReplyDeletewahahahahaha.. anyway.. on the day we meet, just talk talk la.. I'm sure most of the topics will pop up along the way. :)
ReplyDeletehaha lookin forward of that den ..
ReplyDeletehi 十殿冥王... nice to know you... -_-
ReplyDeletedsfz
Sorry that today can really meet up with you all, due to some meeting stuffs to settle. Will try to make it on the next gathering :P
ReplyDeletehaha no worries man !!
ReplyDeleteBesides Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism and other Chinese Related Religions, in Thailand (their own native beliefs) also believe in Ten Courts of Yama aka Yan Luo.
ReplyDeleteBut due to the great influence of Buddhism, nowadays, seldom you will see the native beliefs that active.
how long this web have started
ReplyDeletedo u have the tah er pe story ..the underground deities ???
ReplyDeletePls refer back to the posting on Da Er Ye Bo.
ReplyDeleteNew pics added (shidianyanluo_new05092008_01.jpg - shidianyanluo_new05092008_06.jpg)
ReplyDeleteNew pics added (10court_01.jpg - 10court_02.jpg)
ReplyDeleteNew pics added (sdmw_01.jpg - sdmw10.jpg).
ReplyDeleteFor Larger Res-pic, you all can proceed to the following link:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/taoism_deity_singapore_2007/photos/album/251114378/pic/list
New pics added (shidianyanluo_new08042010_01.jpg - shidianyanluo_new08042010_10.jpg)
ReplyDeletegood,so we fear for our sin
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty hard to find these statues in Singapore. Any heads up for us?
ReplyDeleteI can say, good ones are really hard to see, especially this type of nice and official ones.
ReplyDeleteI guess I have to make special trips overseas of find someone who can carve it out for me. :)
ReplyDeletehaha, maybe. Best is in Taiwan, but the price will be a bit high.
ReplyDeleteCan I know which part of Taiwan sells such products? Thanks for letting me know.
ReplyDeleteYou can go to Taipei where Long Shan Si Temple is. There is a street known as Statue Street, maybe you can find some there.
ReplyDeletecan you let me know where can i download these pictures of the 10 chambers of hade in high resolution?
ReplyDeleteGo to the link pasted on top, you will be able to get the pictures.
ReplyDelete