What is the Hell of Iron Books?

August 6, 2024 10:21 AM

The Wikipedia page about Chinese hells includes the Hell of Iron Books (鐵冊地獄) in a list. What is it? I've tried also searching for "鐵冊地獄" as well as the "Hell of Iron Books" but can't seem to find any details about what's supposed to happen in that hell, though I may have missed it via auto-translation.
posted by ignignokt to Religion & Philosophy (4 answers total)

Note: I'm not an expert on this, but I have a degree in religious studies which focused on Buddhism. This is mostly from some web searches filled in a little with what I remember from class.

If it helps, another translation is Iron Book Hell. I tried that in Google and still didn't find much. 鐵冊地獄 is the 16th level of hell, while the 8th level is 鐵床地獄 (Hell of Iron Beds / Iron Bed Hell). For the 8th level, I did find a description here: "The eighth level, the Iron Bed Hell, punished all evil women who harmed their husbands, committed adultery, and maliciously had an abortion." Based on that, maybe 鐵冊地獄 is for people who read the equivalent of banned books? There isn't really anything about what kinds of punishments the levels include.

Beyond that, your best bet is probably a book on Chinese Buddhism. I found Chinese Buddhism: A Thematic History, which is written for undergraduates and under $30 USD. This reddit question, asking for books on Chinese Buddhism, has some suggestions as well.
posted by Meldanthral at 12:38 PM on August 6, 2024 [2 favorites]

冊 translates as ‘imperial edict’ as well as ‘book.’

Eileen Gardiner [italica] speaks of a “bureaucratic hell” [xxiv], from which Mulian rescues his mother [wiki], prompting Buddha to dissolve all hells.
posted by HearHere at 1:04 PM on August 6, 2024 [1 favorite]

"The Buddhism of Tibet" by Lawrence A. Waddell describes one of the eight hot levels of hell as "Samghāta: concentrated oppression Here the guilty are crushed between animal headed mountains or monster iron books. This last is an especial punishment for monks, laymen and and infidels who have disregarded or profaned the scriptures and also for priests who have taken money for masses which they have not performed."

I have my doubts about the quality of the scholarship (if only because of the book's age) but maybe it's a direction to explore?
posted by Jeanne at 6:29 PM on August 6, 2024 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks, everyone!

I looked at the revision in which that was added to the Wikipedia entry. There’s no citation nor any information on the editor. I’m beginning to think maybe it was made up or mistranslated by the anonymous editor.
posted by ignignokt at 12:09 PM on August 11, 2024