Naihe Bridge In Chinese Taoist concepts, Naihe Bridge is the only place where ghosts prepare to be reincarnated after going through the ten palaces of Yama. Here there will be an older female deity called Meng Po, who will give everyone Ghosts drink a bowl of Meng Po soup to forget their past life memories so that they can be reincarnated into the next life. The word Naihe comes from Sanskrit, which means hell. Legend has it that when the dead come here, the guilty ones will be pushed into the "blood river pool" by the bull-headed and horse-faced people on both sides and tortured by insects, ants, and poisonous snakes. However, it is very easy for the dead who have done good deeds to cross the bridge. The word "Naihe" in Chinese also means helpless and helpless. Overview There are two popular sayings about this bridge, one is called Naihe Bridge and the other is called Naihe Bridge. There is a certain connection between the two, but there are differences. Naihe Bridge/Naihe Bridge abyss bridge (a Buddhist place); the Bridge of No Return "Naihe" is the name of the river in hell according to Buddhism. This is recorded in the fourth volume of "Xuan Shi Zhi": "After traveling for more than ten miles, we came to a water that was not many feet wide and flowed to the southwest. When I asked Xi, Xi said: 'This is called the Nai River, and its source comes from the underworld. '. If you look at it, you will see that the water is full of blood and filthy. "Because there is a bridge on the river, it is called "Naihe Bridge". The bridge is dangerous, narrow and smooth, and is guarded day and night by the God of Day and Night. The blood river under the bridge is full of insects and snakes, the waves are rolling, and the fishy wind is blowing against your face. Evil ghosts fall into the river, just like the description in Chapter 10 of "Journey to the West": "Brass snakes and iron dogs compete for food, and they will fall into the river forever with no way out." It makes people think of the horror of Naihe in the underworld. "Journey to the West" Chapter 11: The judge said: Your Majesty, that is called Naihe Bridge. If you go to the human world, you must pass it on! Folklore: After death, the soul of a person must cross the Naihe Bridge. The good ones are protected by gods and Buddhas and can cross the bridge smoothly, while the evil ones are thrown into the Blood River Pool to suffer. The book "Investigation of Religious Customs in Fengdu" has a detailed description of this: "...the bridge is divided into three levels (or three). The ghosts of good people can safely pass through the upper bridge, those who are both good and evil can pass through the middle bridge, and the evil ones can pass through the middle bridge safely. Ghosts who cross the lower bridge are often blocked by the ghosts and thrown into the filthy waves under the bridge, where they are bitten by copper snakes and iron dogs. Every year during the incense gathering, pilgrims compete to throw paper money or copper plates into the pool, and throw fried rice into the pool. , thinking that they can give to hungry ghosts. Many elderly pilgrims like to walk on it, thinking that after passing through this bridge, they will avoid the pain of going to Naihe Bridge." It can be seen that before the founding of the People's Republic of China, some religious men and women went to the bridge to burn incense and paper. , the piety of giving money and materials, just hoping that the Buddha can protect you and cross the Naihe Bridge after death! Edit this paragraph to describe it. It is said that there is a road called Huangquan Road, a river called Wangchuan River, and a bridge on it called Naihe Bridge. After passing Naihe Bridge, there is an earthen platform called Wangxiangtai. Beside Wangxiangtai, there is an old woman selling Mengpo soup. There is a stone by the Wangchuan River called Sansheng stone. Mengpo soup makes you forget everything, and Sansheng stone records you. past and present lives. We walked across the Naihe Bridge, took one last look at the human world on the Wangxiang Terrace, and drank a cup of Wangchuan River water. "We are destined to have no share in this life," so why force it? This bridge is the boundary and a new reincarnation begins. The bluestone bridge deck has five steps, with women on the west of the bridge and men on the east of the bridge, yin on the left and yang on the right. "If someone dies at the age of ninety-seven, he will have to wait on the bridge for three years." A thousand years of looking back, a hundred years of agreement. Perhaps the relationship between husband and wife in this life began here and ended here. However, thousands of feet below the bridge, clouds and mist are lingering, and no one knows what it is like to wait for the next life. The agreement in the next life is just a follow-up to this life. After drinking Meng Po soup, everything has been forgotten. The meeting in the next life is just a new beginning. There is no bridge, no parting in the past life, no meeting in this life, no reunion in the next life. "Meng Po Soup" is an ancient Chinese legend, which is recorded in an ancient book of Lanzi's family. In that legend, people are reincarnated from life to life. The end of this life is just the beginning of the next. People who cycle from life to life cannot have the memory of the past life, just because everyone will drink Meng Po soup on the Naihe Bridge before reincarnation, which makes them forget their past lives. Therefore, walking on the Naihe Bridge is the last time a person has memories of this life. At this moment, many people are still clinging to their unfinished wishes from the previous life, but they deeply understand that these wishes will not be realized in the end, so they will let out a long sigh. This is also the reason why this bridge connecting the reincarnations of various lives is named Naihe Bridge. There is a beautiful legend that Naihe Bridge can connect to gods, immortals, and heaven, as well as ghosts, underworld, and hell. From the perspective of folk culture, bridges and their symbolism are even more commonly used by people to establish connections or form transitions and mediations between humans and ghosts, life and death. In contrast to "myths" and "fairy tales", there is another unique type of "ghost tales" in Chinese folk word-of-mouth literature.
Although we often use the phrase "a bunch of lies" to describe what someone says is absurd or unbelievable, the repeated appearance of "bridge" in folk "ghost stories" is not accidental. In our opinion, it is not absurd. . In Chinese folk belief, "ghosts" are a type of negative supernatural beings caused by death. Among the many myths spread throughout China, bridges are often haunted by ghosts, especially the ghosts of drowned people. The ghosts of those who died in the water or fell into the water from the bridge are always looking for substitutes for themselves above and below the bridge or at the left and right ends of the bridge, so that they can be reincarnated. In this sense, the bridge is not only the place where the ghosts of the dead leave the underworld and reincarnate into the underworld, but also the place where the new dead continue to emerge from the underworld to the underworld. The alternation and transformation of life and death are realized with the bridge as the intermediary. of. Differences and Connections In Japan, there is also a saying that the ghosts or resentful spirits of the wronged dead wander on the bridge, often distorting the bridge planks and causing people to fall into the water during the "Bridge Call". Some kind-hearted water ghosts who cannot bear to drag people into the water and serve as substitutes, although they cannot be reincarnated as humans immediately in the ghost stories, they can often be promoted in the underworld, or they can eventually impress the king of hell, and even get the permission of the king of hell to reincarnate as a human. There is a lie titled "Lu Atang", which says that there was originally a Lujiazhai Bridge on the Lianqi River in Baoshan. The south of the bridge was the Lujiazhai and the north of the bridge was the Tangjiazhai. People of the two surnames wanted to benefit from this bridge, so the two parties agreed to open it every year. The bridge will be repaired on a rotational basis in March. One year, when the Lu family was building a bridge, unfortunately a man fell into the water and became a water ghost. In March of the next year, the water ghost dragged the Tang family's bridge builder into the water as a substitute, reincarnating himself back to the earthly world. From then on, when the bridge was being repaired in March every year, someone always fell into the water and died. People were afraid and did not dare to repair it, causing the bridge to become abandoned. Later, a man named Lu Atang, who married into the Lu family from the Tang family, volunteered to be the scapegoat so that everyone could build the bridge with peace of mind. After Lu Atang became a water ghost, he not only couldn't bear to drag others into the water, but also protected the bridge builders under the bridge. As a result, he received drink offerings and sexual offerings from the Lu and Tang surnames. Later, anyone passing by this bridge had to bow their hands at the end of the bridge to show respect for Lu Atang before crossing the bridge. When the bridge is being built every year in March, the incense offered to Lu Atang becomes more prosperous, and finally disturbs the "land" of the Lu and Tang families. After the Earth God went to heaven to sue the Jade Emperor, the Jade Emperor named Lu Atang the Bridge God of Luqiao and gave him a ghost-killing stick. From then on, Lujiaqiao became safer, even if someone fell into the water, they would not drown, because after Lu Atang was named the Bridge God, he devoted himself to eliminating harm for the people. Sometimes, people are driven away by ghosts, but as long as they run to the bridge, they will be protected by the bridge god Lu Atang. Interestingly, in some ghost stories about bridges, there are often scenes of female ghosts giving birth to babies in the underworld, and begging for food for the babies on the bridge or at the head of the bridge. One of the stories says that the baby was named Qiao and later won the top prize. In addition, there is even a rumor that the King of Hell ordered his trusted assistant Yin Cai to control the problem of water ghosts and ordered him to build floating bridges for people to atone for his sins. Meng Po: It is said that Meng Po was born in the Western Han Dynasty. She studied Confucian books since she was a child. When she grew up, she began to recite Buddhist scriptures. When she was still alive, she never recalled the past and never thought about the future. She just wholeheartedly advised people not to kill but to be vegetarian. Until she was eighty-one years old, she was still a virgin. She only knew her surname was Meng, so people called her "Lao Nai Meng". Later, Mrs. Meng went to the mountains to practice Buddhism until the Later Han Dynasty. Because at that time, people who knew the causes of previous lives often revealed the secrets of heaven. Therefore, God specially appointed Mrs. Meng as the god of the netherworld and built a memorial platform for her. It is said in "The King of Hell's Sutra on Naihe Bridge" that after the ghosts were punished in each hall, they were sent to the next hall in order, and finally transferred to the tenth hall and delivered to the wheel-turning king. The tenth hall is in charge of the reincarnation of ghosts. All ghosts who are sent here to prepare for reincarnation will first be taken to the Forgetting Platform controlled by God Meng Po to drink mist soup to make the ghosts forget their previous lives. According to legend, the method of making Mengpo soup is to first take the ghosts who are judged in the Tenth Palace to be sent to various places to become human beings, and then add medicinal materials collected from the world to make a wine-like soup, divided into five flavors: sweet, bitter, pungent, sour, and salty. All ghosts who are ready to be reincarnated must drink Meng Po's ecstasy soup. If there is a cunning ghost that refuses to drink, a hook knife will appear under its feet to trap its feet, and a sharp copper pipe will pierce its throat, forcing it to No ghost is immune to the intoxication of sex. Meng Po opened a Meng Po shop in the underworld, and the place where she lived was called Meng Po Village. There is a story about Meng Po Village in Volume 8 of "Xie Feng" written by Shen Qifeng of the Qing Dynasty: Ge Sheng returned to life without drinking the ecstasy soup. Once upon a time there was a singing prostitute named Lan Rui, who had a younger sister Yu Rui who was as beautiful as a flower.
Yu Rui and Ge Sheng fell in love deeply, but Ge Sheng was very poor and could not afford to marry Yu Rui. Later Lan Rui died of illness, and Ge Sheng died in love because he was unable to stay with Yu Rui for a lifetime. After Ge Sheng died, he came to the underworld. King Yama saw that he died innocently and sentenced him to be reborn as a human being. After hearing the order, Ge Sheng prepared to reincarnate again. Ge Sheng was walking alone in a daze, and suddenly came under a shed covered with rose vines. I saw hundreds of men and women scrambling to grab the ladles and hurriedly scooping water from the stove to drink. Ge Sheng was tired from walking and felt his mouth was dry, so he also wanted to go up and drink the water in the gourd. At this time, a woman came out from behind the shed. Ge Sheng took a closer look and saw that it was Lan Rui. Lan Rui asked him why he came here, and Ge Sheng told her everything. After Lan Rui found out, she gently said to Ge Shengfu: "Don't you know that this is Meng Po Village? Fortunately, today Meng Po went to wish Mrs. Kou a birthday and ordered me to be in charge of the ladle temporarily. If you are like those people, you can also If you drink the ecstasy soup in this ladle, you will have no way out." Ge Sheng couldn't help but feel happy when he heard this. Later, under Lan Rui's guidance, Ge Sheng found the old path and returned to the world. There are beautiful women drinking tea at Meng Po Village. In addition, in the "Meng Po Soup" in Wang Youguang's "Wu Xia Proverbs" of the Qing Dynasty, there is also a description of ghosts being given ecstasy soup: after a person dies, the first thing he passes by is Meng Po Village. The soldiers escorted the ghost past the wall of Mengpo Village to the Hall of the King of Hell for interrogation. After the judgment is made, the deceased will be entered into the transfer book. All ghosts who are sentenced to reincarnation will walk back from Meng Po Village. At the door of Meng Po Village, an old woman stood there to greet visitors, who walked up the stairs and entered. The villa is full of carved beams, painted pillars, and red balustrades; inside the house, everything is exquisite and gorgeous, with curtains made of pearls and jade, and a large table carved with jade can be seen in the hall. After the visitor entered the house, the old woman called out three girls. These three girls were Meng Jiang, Meng Yong and Meng Ge. The three of them were all wearing red skirts and tops with green sleeves hanging down. They were all as beautiful as flowers and jade, and they were as beautiful as heavenly beings. They called to the husband in a soft voice, and even brushed the mat with their hands to invite the guest to sit down. After the visitor sat down, the maid served tea. There were three beauties standing by, each serving tea with their slender jade fingers. The jade rings jingled and the fragrance was overwhelming. In such a situation, it was really hard to refuse to drink. As soon as I took the tea cup, I felt dizzy. I took a sip and felt it was extremely cool. It could quench my thirst and I couldn't help but drink it all. At the end of the drink, I suddenly saw a spoonful of turbid mud settling at the bottom of the cup. When I looked up, I found that the originally beautiful and charming beauty and the old woman had become frozen skeletons. When I walked out of the door, I saw that the original carved beams and painted buildings were all rotten wood. It was like being in the wilderness and forgetting everything in my life. Just when he was panicking and suffering, he suddenly burst into tears and fell to the ground, turning into a little baby who knew nothing. The fusion and confusion of the two versions of Naihe Bridge: The folk belief of Naihe Bridge has a long history in China. "Xuan Shi Zhi" written by Zhang Du of the Tang Dynasty mentioned that Naihe came from the underworld. In ancient China, there has always been the concept that the underworld and the earth are separated by rivers, and the souls of the dead must use bridges to make the transition. Duan Chengshi of the Tang Dynasty wrote "Youyang Miscellaneous" mentioned the underworld, and said: "... there is water flowing from east to west,... a bridge is decorated with gold and jade, cross the north of the bridge, and enter a city,... it is suspected to be the underworld." Later, the traditional Chinese concept of the underworld coincided with the Buddhist concepts of hell and reincarnation, and gradually formed the popular belief of Naihe and Naihe Bridge. Around the Southern Song Dynasty, folk underworld legends gradually determined that the ghost capital of the underworld was Fengdu County in Sichuan Province. Since then, successive dynasties have built ghost mansions in Fengdu, including the often-said Yin and Yang Realm and Naihe Bridge. The Naihe Bridge in Fengdu Ghost Mansion is probably the most famous bridge in China. According to the records of "Survey on Religious Customs in Fengdu" published by anthropologist Mr. Wei Huilin in 1935, in Fengdu Ghost Mansion, through the mountain gate is the Main Hall. In front of the hall is a stone arch bridge called Naihe Bridge, and under the bridge is The stone pool is the Blood River Pool. The east end of the Naihe Bridge is the Ksitigarbha Hall, and the west end is the Blood River General Hall. It is said that the Naihe River is the first pass for ghosts to pass. In order to echo this kind of "nonsense", Zhu Chun, King of Shu Xian in the Ming Dynasty, built three continuous-arch stone bridges in Pingdu Mountain, Fengdu, and called them Naihe Bridge. It is said that in the old days, before crossing the Naihe Bridge here, pilgrims would first burn incense and paper to pray for God's blessings. The monks in the temple often deliberately applied tung oil on the bluestone bridge surface, causing people crossing the bridge to slip. , scared half to death, so that you can get more money for incense. Chongqing·Fengdu Ghost Town·Naihe Bridge: In front of the famous mountain Lioyang Palace, there are three stone arch bridges side by side. The three bridges are all built on flat ground and are exactly the same size and shape.
Each bridge is only about four feet wide, with carved stone railings on both sides. The bridge deck is slightly curved, paved with bluestone, and has two steps at each end. A square pool spans under the bridge, and the bottom of the pool and the bridge wall are all inlaid with stone strips. According to records: the bridge was built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. It was built as a viewing object in front of the Lioyang Palace by Zhu Chun, King of Shu Xian in the Ming Dynasty. It has been more than 500 years ago. It was later changed to "Naihe Bridge" by Buddhists, and the stone pool under the bridge was called "Naihe Bridge". "Blood River Pool". Summary: There are many myths about Naihe Bridge in various parts of China. It may be said that there is the Naihe River in the underworld, and there is a bridge on the river called the Naihe Bridge; or it is said that on the way to the underworld there is a "blood pool", "bloody pool", or "blood river pool", and there is a bridge on the pool called the Naihe Bridge. According to Gu Yanwu's "Shandong Archaeological Records", people even identified Naihe and Naihe Bridge as a real river near Tai'an, Shandong. It can be seen from the above that Naihe Bridge is an authentic Buddhist term, while Naihe Bridge is a unique product of the Chinese. It is a product that combines the Chinese view of "hell" and the Buddhist view of reincarnation. So, when to use the Nai River Bridge? When will Naihe Bridge be used again? Based on the information provided by netizens, we can draw a preliminary conclusion without strict research: if it involves Buddhism and focuses on crossing the bridge, you will have to suffer, or if you cross the bridge, you have to pass many tests. If you fail to pass, you will fall under the bridge and cannot be reborn. , then use the Naihe Bridge. At the same time, what follows the Naihe Bridge is not Wangxiangtai and Granny Meng’s soup, but the Six Paths of Reincarnation or a pool of blood that cannot be reborn; if you just cross the bridge to report to the Hall of Hell in the underworld, use Naihe Bridge. Although you still have to suffer when you cross the Naihe Bridge, the Naihe Bridge seems to have weakened the meaning of suffering and become a must-pass when entering the underworld. It also emphasizes the helplessness and nostalgia for the human world of the half-human and half-ghost souls who have not yet entered the underworld. The Naihe Bridge does not have this meaning. The Naihe Bridge only scares people away and serves only to filter out good and evil ghosts.