The Great Emperor of Fengdu

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Immortals and Immortalism
The Heavenly Lords
The Primeval Lord of Heaven
The Heavenly Lord of the Numinous Treasure
The Heavenly Lord of Dao and its Virtue
The Great Jade Emperor
The Heavenly Lord of Supreme Oneness and Salvation from Misery
The Three Great Emperor-Officials
The Four Heavenly Ministers
The Emperors of the Soil
The Queen Mother of the West
The Thunder Patriarch
The Stellar Sovereigns
The Great Perfect Warrior Emperor
Imperial Sovereign Wenchang
The Stellar Sovereign of the Five Planets and Seven Stars
The Four Numinous Animals and Twenty-Eight Constellations
The Big Dipper
The Sixty Daily Spirits of the Celestial Trunks and Earthly Branches
Spirits of Mountains, Rivers, Seas and Thunder
The Great Emperor of the Sacred Mountain of the East
The Primordial Lady of the Emerald Cloud
The Five Supreme Commanders of the Thunder Agency
The Father of Thunder and the Mother of Lightning
The Dragon King
The Master of Rain
The Earl of Wind
Spirits of the Soil and Local Protector Spirits
The City God
The Door Spirits
The Earth Spirit
The Kitchen Spirit
Spirits of Wealth and Longevity
The Spirit of Wealth
The Stars of Luck, Wealth and Longevity
Guardians of Hell
The Great Emperor of Fengdu
The Yamas of the Ten Halls
Perfect Men and Immortals
Guanyin (Avalokitesvara)
The Eight Immortals
The Motherly Matriarch
Emperor Guan
Patriarch Lü Numinous Official Wang
The Water-Margin Lady
The Three Mao Perfect Sovereign Brothers
The Great Life-Protecting Emperor
The Saintly Founder-King of Zhang
The King of the Three Mountains

Origin of the Great Emperor of Fengdu

The Great Emperor of Fengdu ( 酆都大帝 Fengdu Dadi ) is the divinity controlling hell and the dead. Feng refers to the Spirit state located at Guidi in the North, where the mountains are 2600 miles high and 30,000 miles in circumference. There are palaces for divinities and spirits respectively in both upper and lower sections of Fengdu. The six palaces of the upper section are used for the King of Spirits of northern Feng to deal with the guilty. All people come under the king's control after their death. During the Southern and Northern dynasties, the King of northern Feng was known as the Northern Imperial Sovereign, or Northern Emperor, in short. In the Chart of the Ranks of the Perfect Souls ( 真靈位業圖 Zhenling Weiye Tu ), a Daoist scripture written by Tao Hongjing, a famous Daoist scholar during the Qi and Liang dynasties, the Great Emperor of the Northern Fengdu Netherworld ( 酆都北陰大帝 Fengdu Beiyin Dadi ) ranked in the middle of the lowest class, the seventh class.

Mt. Luofeng and Fengdu County in Sichuan

Mt. Luofeng, which was located in northern Guidi, was considered to be the residence of spirits. Since the Song dynasty, Mt. Luofeng was considered to be located in Fengdu county, Sichuan, where various buildings related to hell were constructed at different times. That in turn led to emergence of the Demon Capital ( 鬼都 Guidu ) which became famous nationwide. Originally, at Fengdu, there was a Mt. Pingdu which was one of 72 Daoist sacred sites. It was said that Wang Fangping, who lived in the Western Han dynasty, and Ying Changsheng, who lived in the Eastern Han dynasty, cultivated Dao here. They both finally became Immortals, ascending to heaven in daytime. After that, people mistakenly put their surnames together and produced the wrong title Yingwang, which means 'King of Hell' in the Chinese language. As a result, the sacred Daoist site in Fengdu county became known as the headquarters of hell and the residence for the dead.

The Ruler of Hell

The Great Emperor of Fengdu ranked in the highest class of spirits in hell. In charge of all affairs of hell, he was known as the king of spirits. After people died, they went to hell. Their souls would be judged by the King of Spirits. Normally, he discriminated between the souls according to evils done before they died. In the temples dedicated to the Great Emperor of Fengdu, there used to be 75 offices which controlled affairs such as capturing and chasing spirits. If the living family members atoned for the soul's sins through ritual offerings, the Great Emperor of Fengdu might decide to pardon the sinners and send them to endure hardships. After that, the sinners went to heaven.

Worship

It is not certain what day the Great Emperor of Fengdu's birthday is. Normally, only after their family members died, did Daoist believers worship the Great Emperor of Fengdu to expiate the sins committed by the dead. Since the Qing dynasty, many people practised Yellow Register Rites ( 黃籙道場 Huanglu Daochang ) for themselves when they were still alive. Currently, some people also set up Life Prolonging Rituals when alive. They worship the Great Emperor of Fengdu, praying for healthy and long lives.