Session 27: The Emperor Returns to Life after Touring the Underworld

Session 27: The Emperor Returns to Life after Touring the Underworld

After failing to keep his promise to save the Dragon King, Emperor Taizong is summoned to the Underworld to face judgment. Guided by Judge Cui Jue, he tours the eighteen levels of hell, witnessing the karmic consequences of human actions. Stripped of earthly wealth, he is forced to sign a mysterious I.O.U. to aid hungry souls and negotiate his return to life.

Session Focus:

We will explore why Emperor Taizong was summoned to the Underworld and why he was given a guided tour of the eighteen layers of hell. We will also reflect on the symbolic meaning behind the Emperor—who once commanded the wealth of an empire—having to borrow from the living world by signing an I.O.U.

Key Questions for contemplation:

Q1. What was the reason Emperor Taizong had to die and be taken to the Underworld?

Ten Kings heard the Emperor’s statement they bowed and replied, "Even before that dragon was born it was written in the registers of the Southern Pole Star that he was destined to die at the hands of a personnel minister, as we have long been aware.”

Q2. Why were the Ten Kings of the Underworld already aware that the Dragon King was fated to die at the hands of Minister Wei Zheng?

What does this suggest about fate and cosmic law in Journey to the West?

"We have gourds, Eastern melons and Western melons, or water−melons, here, but no pumpkins, no Southern melons," said the Ten Kings.

Q3. Why are Southern melons (i.e., pumpkins) not found in the Underworld, while other melons are?

Q4. What is your key takeaway from Emperor Taizong’s journey through the eighteen layers of hell?

"I came here empty−handed," Taizong replied, "so where could I possibly get any money?"

"Your Majesty," the judge replied, "there is a man in the world of light who deposited a certain amount of money in the underworld. If Your Majesty is prepared to sign an I.O.U., I will endorse it, and we can borrow his store of money to distribute among these hungry ghosts; then we will be able to continue on our way…”

Q5. Why did the Emperor, who ruled an entire empire, have no money in the Underworld, while a man in the human world had made a deposit in the underworld?

A hundred years flow by like water.

A lifetime's career is no more than a bubble,

The face that yesterday was the color of peach−blossom

Today is edged with snow.

When the white ants' line of battle collapses, all is illusion;

"Repent, repent," is the cuckoo's urgent call.

He who does good in secret can always prolong his life;

Heaven looks after the one who asks no pity.

Q6. This verse appears at the beginning of Chapter 11. Why do you think it was placed there?