Fear and Faith: The Rhetorical Strategy of the Serpent and Buddha Paths in the Dunhuang Ten Kings Sutra (S.3961)

Abstract

A unique illustrated manuscript of the Ten Kings Sutra from Dunhuang (S.3961) depicts two anomalous paths of rebirth alongside the traditional six: a path of serpents and a path of Buddhas, neither of which is found in canonical Buddhist scriptures or other illustrative paintings. This paper argues that these two paths should be understood as a symmetrical visual and rhetorical strategy designed to serve the sutra’s didactic and ritual functions within the local community. The serpent path visualizes a popular belief linking rebirth as a serpent to dying in a state of anger, functioning as a terrifying warning against the consequences of neglecting filial duties and mortuary rites. In symmetrical opposition, the Buddha path offers the ultimate promise of liberation, symbolizing the goal of rebirth in a Pure Land and eventual Buddhahood, which could be achieved by performing the very rituals the sutra promotes or by resorting to the protection of Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha. This pairing of “fear” and “faith” stands as a uniquely powerful example of the creative localization of Buddhism in late Tang and Five Dynasties Dunhuang, revealing how local communities actively synthesized elite doctrines, popular scriptures, and folk beliefs to create a potent visual narrative that addressed their pressing anxieties about afterlife judgment and liberation.

1. Introduction

During the late Tang and Five Dynasties period, Dunhuang became a center where Buddhism and local culture were integrated. Buddhist scriptures were adapted to meet people’s secular demands. The Ten Kings Sutra, probably composed in or after the 9th century, exemplifies this integration. Teiser’s (1994) thorough study of this sutra has demonstrated that it is a conflation of Buddhist ideas with indigenous deities, Confucian ethical values, and mundane ideology (3; 23–24; 32–35). In this light, the sutra provides valuable information about not only general Buddhist practice but also unique, localized Buddhist thought.

Among the various versions of the illustrated manuscripts of the Ten Kings Sutra, S.3961 (dated to the 10th–11th century CE) presents a unique representation of the six paths in illustrating the last king in the purgatory,1 the Wheel-Turning King of the Five Paths2 (wudao zhuanlun wang 五道转轮王). In that painting, six paths are illustrated from top to bottom as follows: the path of Buddhas, humans, animals, serpents, hungry ghosts, and purgatory (Figure 1). To my knowledge, this is the only instance where the six paths are composed of such unique elements. Three paths among them are particularly perplexing: the paths of Buddhas, humans, and serpents.

The path of humans, among them, may be explained in a straightforward way. Notably, there is no path of celestial beings (tianrendao 天人道) in the illustration. However, the illustration for the path of humans is evocative of the path of celestial beings, as the figure depicted has four arms and a halo. It is conceivable that the character tian (天) has worn away. If this is the case, the human path is absent. Apparently, in place of the human path, the painter has depicted the serpent path. Therefore, to make sense of the absence of the human path, one must first account for the significance of the serpent and Buddha paths.

The serpent path and the Buddha path are particularly confusing. Since a serpent is merely a type of animal, there is no apparent reason for the painter to depict a separate serpent path alongside the animal path.3 Moreover, there is no mention of a “path of serpents” in any known Buddhist scripture, Indian or Chinese. All other versions of the illustrated Ten Kings Sutra have the standard six paths. This highlights how unusual the serpent path in S.3961 is. Likewise, the Buddha path is also bewildering. It is common sense that a Buddha is beyond the cycle of life and death. No Buddhist scripture would support the illustration in S.3961, where a Buddha is depicted as a being within the cycle of rebirth. Even the Pure Land of Buddha is a place from which sentient beings will not retrogress (butuizhuan 不退转 [avinivartanīya]). Unfortunately, although the Ten Kings Sutra is well studied, no scholarly attention has been paid to these two perplexing paths.

Given the mysterious nature of the two paths, this paper aims to provide an interpretation by analyzing relevant Buddhist texts. As a preliminary step, we should first place the interpretative project in a proper framework. In general, there are two possible methods to decode the meaning of the two paths. First, we may decontextualize them from the Ten Kings Sutra, place them in a broader religio-cultural framework, and investigate how the folk Buddhist conception of the serpent and Buddha in that era may have contributed to the emergence of the two paths. Such a project would surely extend beyond the scope of a paper of this length. Second, we may contextualize them within the Ten Kings Sutra and explore how the depiction of them contributes to the implementation of the purpose of the Ten Kings Sutra. In other words, this method is built on the presumption that the depiction is not random but should serve the didactic and ritualistic purpose of this sutra. As Teiser (1994, pp. 29–31, 41) observes, the sutra was composed to promote the offerings to the ten kings, through which a firm connection between the saṃgha and believers can be built. Thus, the sutra not only provides a pragmatic method for lay believers to help their deceased family members but also promotes the economic and religious status of monks, as demonstrated in the example of Chai Feng-ta 翟奉达 (33–34). To fulfill this purpose, the purgatory constructed by multiple local cultural elements is depicted as a linear juridical journey starting from the first king and ending with the last king (250). Such a practical purpose of the sutra is also confirmed by Luan (2005). Therefore, I would like to take the pragmatic purpose of the sutra as the interpretative framework to discuss how the two paths instantiate the author’s attempt to promote the offering ritual.4

Within this framework, I will first discuss the possible reasons for the two paths’ appearance in the sutra and, second, suggest some of their implications for our understanding of the purgatory’s Sinicization. In the second section, I will argue that because the serpent is particularly associated with hatred or anger, especially deathbed anger, it is singled out from other animals as a warning mark for those who do not treat their dying parents properly. In the third section, I will argue that the Buddha path, in contrast to the serpent path, serves as a positive symbol for the wholesome effect of the offering ritual, which may be a simplified representation of the Pure Land, especially the Pure Land combined with faith in Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha. Thus, the two paths as a whole express the central concern of the sutra: the offering ritual was intended to be seen as conforming to indigenous ancestor veneration and filial piety (Teiser 1994, pp. 29, 33, and 41).5 Afterwards, I will suggest in the fourth section that the two paths, although unique to S.3961, indicate a reshaped form of purgatory to replace the inevitable karmic retribution with a controllable offering ritual and the Bodhisattva’s protection. As a consequence, not only is the purgatory distorted to serve dual roles, as both a trial court and hell after the trial (Teiser 1994, p. 26), but the entire cyclical six-path schema is transformed into a linear structure.

2. The Serpent Path as a Warning Mark

This section will discuss the association of the serpent with death and the Ten Kings Sutra. I will argue that the serpent symbolizes a specific unwholesome karma of dying people, thus becoming a warning against improperly treating one’s dying parents. This association happens to align with the practical purpose of the Ten Kings Sutra: to promote the offering ritual for the ten kings.

The serpent is a common symbol in Buddhism.6 Occasionally, it carries a positive or neutral implication. The serpent (nāga) may appear as the protector of Buddhism, which is common in Buddhist statues in India and Southeast Asia. Faure (1987, pp. 338–39) also notes that stories about a Buddhist sage vanquishing a giant serpent are widespread. In China, Faure suggests, the serpent is employed to symbolize a locative worldview that Buddhism, as a foreign religion, intends to overcome (pp. 337–38, 342). In addition, the serpent also serves as a member of the eight legions appearing in the introductory sections.

Nevertheless, the serpent typically carries negative soteriological connotations. Like other animals, the serpent symbolizes several negative karmas, including attachment, jealousy, laziness, and hatred. Nakamura (1973, pp. 131–32), Ambros (2012, pp. 35–36; 2014, pp. 253–54), and Kelsey (1981, pp. 98–101) examine the serpent in Japanese Buddhist stories and conclude that the serpent, as one form of afterlife, symbolizes “attachment to things of this life.” Accordingly, such an attachment is particularly common among mothers as they possess excessive attachment to their children. Chen (2019, pp. 257–58) provides several examples in Chinese Buddhism where rebirth as a serpent is described as the outcome of jealousy, cruelty, and heresy.

Among all the negative karmas symbolized, early Chinese Buddhist scriptures unanimously emphasize the connection between the serpent and hatred. Besides the Fenbieyebao luejing I quoted in footnote 3 and its parallel translation of Foshuofenbieshanesuoqijing 佛说分别善恶所起经, Bozhousanmeijing 般舟三昧经 (Pratyutpannasamādhisūtra, 179 CE), translated by Lokakṣema, suggests that the serpent will cease to hate when meeting someone practicing the samādhi.7 In Xiuxingdaodejing 修行道地经 (Yogācārabhūmi, ca. 3rd–4th century), translated by Dharmarakṣa, it is warned that those who hold hatred towards others will be reborn as serpents.8 Fajupiyujing 法句譬喻经 (The Sutra of the Metaphors on Dharmapada, ca. early 4th century) records a story where four kinds of animals represent a specific type of suffering. Among them, the pigeon symbolizes carnality, the crow greed, the deer fear, and the serpent hatred.9 In Huijiao’s 慧皎 (497–554 CE) Gaosengzhuan 高僧传 (Memoirs of Eminent Monks), a fellow practitioner of An Shigao 安世高 (2nd century) reincarnated as a serpent because of his hatred in the past life and was saved by An Shigao.10 All these texts, spanning from the late Han Dynasty to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, agree on the symbolism of the serpent. Thus, it is clear that although the serpent may stand for various other evil karmas, its original karmic sense is typically associated with hatred or anger.11

However, it seems an insufficient reason for the painter of S.3961 to have created a new path for the serpent, as the serpent is not the only animal symbolizing hatred. For example, in the Fo wei shoujiazhangzhe shuo yebao chabie jing 佛为首迦长者说业报差别经 (Śukasūtra, 6th century), it is taught that all evil deeds arising from greed, anger, and ignorance will cause one to be reborn in the path of animals.12 Moreover, the three evil paths of purgatory, animals, and hungry ghosts appear as a unified form of retribution for evil deeds in multiple Buddhist scriptures. Therefore, there is no solid basis to differentiate the specific karmas that lead to the path of animals from those that lead to the other two evil paths, let alone differentiate the serpent from other animals.

Nonetheless, throughout Chinese Buddhist literature, the serpent appears to be exclusively associated with a particular evil karma: the anger that arises in one’s last breath. While general anger may lead to the path of animals, there is a specific story recorded in the Zhongjinzhuan zapiyu 众经撰杂譬喻 (Collection of Parables, 6th century) that emphasizes how anger in one’s last breath causes reincarnation as a serpent. King Agnidatta explains the cause of his becoming a serpent: “Toward the end of my life, the fan in my servant’s hand dropped on my face, which made me angry. Thus, I was reincarnated as a serpent.”13 At the end of the story, the author admonishes that “for those who are toward the end of their lives, the servants around them must take good care of the dying person’s temperament.”14 A similar story is also recorded in the Darijing yishi 大日经义释 (An Exposition on Mahāvairocanasūtra) of Yixing 一行 (683–727 CE), according to which a monk was reborn as a serpent because he was overcome by anger at the moment of his death.15

Likewise, Sengxiang’s 僧详 (dates unknown) Fahua zhuanji 法华传记 (A Biography of the Lotus Sutra) records a story describing how deathbed anger leads to reincarnation as a serpent and how an offering can save one from being the serpent:

At Linguang Monastery in Jizhou, there was an old monk whose name is unknown. He purely cultivated the precepts and his conduct. For several decades, he always carried an earthenware alms bowl and never allowed another person to handle it. Later, due to some urgent matter, he ordered a novice monk to wash it. The novice’s hand slipped, and he dropped and broke the bowl. When the old monk heard of it, he cried out in shock, greatly regretting it. His resentment and regret were so extreme that he lay down and died. His disciples buried him in the wild. After several days, the novice and the other monks went again to the grave site. They saw a large serpent come out from within the grave. It coiled around the novice from his feet to his head, bent its head down, and looked as if it was about to swallow him. The monks cried out in astonishment and recited vows, saying: “Because of a single alms bowl, you were filled with stinginess, venom, anger, and hatred, and upon death were reborn into a serpent’s body. Instead of repenting your past error, you now wish to swallow and kill a disciple. Why is your sinful karma so great?” They preached extensively on good and evil, performed repentance on its behalf, and made vows for a long time. The serpent then uncoiled itself and departed. The novice, who had been confused, distressed, and terrified, gradually recovered over ten days. He then had a copy of the Lotus Sutra made on the old monk’s behalf and presented it as an offering at the grave. Later, he saw that the serpent at the grave had died, and he knew that its karmic retribution had finally been changed.16

This story exposes the cause and atonement for the sinful karma of being reborn as a serpent. Like King Agnidatta, the monk in this story has been cultivating the precepts for so many years. Both Agnidatta and the monk should have deserved an auspicious rebirth but were unfortunately reborn as serpents only because of the anger at the end of their lives. This highlights the importance of the final mental state of a person, which outweighs other karmas. This conception of the final mental state is still present even in modern China. Hongyi 弘一 (1880–1942), one of the most influential Buddhist figures in modern China, emphasizes the importance of proper care for dying people through the Agnidatta story in his work Rensheng zhi zuihou 人生之最后 (The End of Life) (Hongyi n.d.). He presents the following teaching:

There are cases where someone who should be reborn in good paths after death is driven to evil paths because of anger caused by others’ careless touch. As illustrated by the story of King Agnidatta who fell to the serpent path after death, is this not terrifying?17

Thus, even if a person has been a steadfast Buddhist cultivator for their whole life, the anger in their last breath is sufficient to cause rebirth as a serpent. Since the Tang Dynasty, Chinese Buddhism has attached great importance to the last feeling of a dying person, regarding it as a decisive factor in determining one’s reincarnation. Daoxuan 道宣 (596–667 CE) in his Sifenlü shanfanbuque xingshichao 四分律删繁补阙行事钞 (Simplified and Amended Handbook of the Dharmaguptavinaya) quotes what he attributes to the Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra: “He who practices good deeds for his whole life will be reborn in the evil paths because of his last evil mind; he who practices evil deeds for his whole life will be reborn in the good paths because of his last good mind.”18 Although this statement is absent from Kumārajīva’s (344–413 CE) translation of the Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra, it was accepted by later Chinese Buddhism, given Daoxuan’s great influence.19 Thus, the unusually strong connection between serpent and anger, especially the deathbed anger, provides a doctrinal basis for the serpent to be elevated as an independent path.

Moreover, it is said that after one has been reborn as a serpent, an offering ritual is enough to save the person from the body of a serpent. By making a copy of the Lotus Sutra, the old monk’s life as a serpent was immediately ended. Zhiyuan (智圆, 976–1022 CE), in his exposition of the Niepanjingshu sandezhigui (涅槃经疏三德指归 Exposition of the Three Virtues in the Commentary on the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra), employs the story of King Agnidatta to illustrate the benefit of making offerings for deceased parents.20 According to him, the last mental state of an individual is crucial in determining their reincarnation, so offering rituals that please the dying individual will bring auspicious consequences. Such a method of atonement by offering ritual thus meets the purpose of the Ten Kings Sutra.

There are two versions of the Ten Kings Sutra21: The Foshuo yuxiu shiwangshengqijingtujing 佛说预修十王生七经 (The Sutra of Pre-Practicing Living Seven-Ritual for Ten Kings), and the Foshuo dizangpusa faxinyinyuan shiwang jing 佛说地藏菩萨发心因缘十王经 (Sutra of Ten Kings of the Cause for Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha’s Aspiration). S.3961 is a version of the former, and this sutra clearly reveals its purpose at the beginning: to advocate the offering ritual for the ten kings:

If there are good men, women, monks, nuns, male lay believers, and female lay believers who perform the seven-seven ritual before death completely, make offerings to the three treasures and the ten kings twice22 a month, sign their names and submit their descriptions to the six officers, the Boy of Good Karmas will report to the celestial and nether officers, who will record it. Thus, when they die, they will be sent to happy places without remaining in a transitional state, waiting for the salvation of their sons or daughters, or having to pass before the ten kings.23

Even an extremely evil person can be saved by performing the ritual in advance. However, this might seem irrelevant to the serpent warning, which concerns the manner in which one treats dying people rather than oneself. Interestingly, the sutra is considerate of those who cannot perform the ritual ahead of time. If one fails to do so, then their children should practice the ritual for their deceased parents to save them from suffering in purgatory. This idea is reminiscent of Zhiyuan’s interpretation of post-mortem filial rites.24 In other words, performing the ritual is viewed as part of the proper manner in which sons or daughters treat their dying and deceased parents. If children want to prevent their parents from being reincarnated as serpents, they must take great care when nursing their dying parents. Thus, practicing the ritual is viewed as a positive symbol of filial loyalty, while the serpent path serves as a fearsome warning mark. This motif is well coordinated with other iconographic elements in the illustrated Ten Kings Sutra.

We note that in the illustrations, a contrast is purposefully made between those who do not perform the ritual and those who do. In S.3961’s illustration of the first king, King Qinguang, two kinds of beings are vividly pictured (Figure 2): a man bowing to the king, and others who are naked, wearing shackles on their heads, and being led by purgatory guards. A similar scene is also depicted in other versions of the illustrated Ten Kings Sutra. As Teiser (1994, p. 32) notes, in crossing the River Nai, some can cross the bridge effortlessly while others must struggle in the river and are even dragged into its currents. Teiser regards this contrast as that between good and evil. However, it is clear that this contrast is made not on account of the karmic value, but of the offering ritual. All versions of the sutra depict the scenes in a similar manner; the one stored in the British Museum (registration number 1919,0101,0.80) clearly expresses this contrast. In it, some well-dressed men and women hold Buddha statues and copied scriptures before the kings, and even the kings are shown clasping their hands in homage to statues and scriptures. As Teiser (1988, p. 433; 1994, pp. 1–5) rightly points out, the kings in the sutra are portrayed as government officials. According to the paintings, however, these kings can be “bribed” by offerings to bypass the karmic trial.

With this contrast in effect, people’s fear is intensified and can be transformed into anger. When the segregation is so stark in the illustration, a believer would naturally become fearful, and by this emotional reaction, the offering ritual can be spread among lay people. This fear, in turn, can be easily transformed into anger when one observes that someone else is saved by performing the ritual, while their own children fail to do so. As I have discussed earlier in the preceding subsection, the serpent is widely accepted as symbolizing anger, especially anger in one’s last breath. Therefore, by creating the serpent path, anyone viewing it will be reminded of the miserable outcome of anger. In this situation, people who conform to the principle of filial piety must perform the ritual immediately to ensure their parents are satisfied. After all, what has been done cannot be changed, but the cause of rebirth as a serpent can now be easily counteracted by the offering ritual. This is exactly the purpose of the compilation of the Ten Kings Sutra.

3. Buddha Path as the Promised Fruit

Having clarified how the serpent path may serve the overall purpose of the Ten Kings Sutra, I will now proceed to discuss the Buddha path. I will argue that, in contrast to the serpent path, which serves as a negative warning, the Buddha path may represent a positive outcome used to promise auspicious consequences for those who either perform the offering ritual or resort to the protection of Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha.

Notably, in Chinese Buddhist literature, the Chinese word dao 道 generally conveys three meanings. First, it means teaching; thus, fodao denotes the Buddha’s teaching, or Buddhist doctrine. For example, in the Chang ahanjing 长阿含经 (Dīrghāgama), there are multiple expressions of someone wholeheartedly trusting the Buddha’s teaching (笃信佛道, CBETA n.d.c, 2025.R1, T01, no. 1, p. 28a23). Second, it means practice, and a typical example is the practice of Bodhisattva (pusadao 菩萨道, bodhisattvacaryā). Another meaning is stage (bhūmi); thus, fodao means the stage of being a Buddha. For example, in the Bonihuanjing 般泥洹经 (Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, dates unknown), Buddha is stated to obtain Buddhahood (得佛道, CBETA n.d.a, 2025.R1, T01, no. 6, p. 190c4). Similarly, arhadbhūmi in Chapter 8 of Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra (Vaidya 1960, p. 135) is translated by Kumārajīva as the path of Arhat (aluohandao 阿罗汉道, CBETA n.d.m, 2025.R1, T09, no. 262, p. 29a16). The path (dao) in these senses is certainly disparate from that in the context of the six paths.

Given the above meanings of the path of Buddha, the painter might have misinterpreted them. This is highly possible as we find such a statement in Foshuo hengshuijing 佛说恒水经 (The Sutra on Ganga River, ca. early 4th century): “One transmigrates among the five paths back and forth in birth and death, suffering drastically in the world … After one has heard of the Buddhist scripture and precept, it is still difficult to embark on the path of Buddhas [that is, to have faith in Buddha’s teachings].”25 Since the “path of Buddhas” appears together with the five paths in this context, someone who is not well-versed in doctrine might misunderstand this to mean that sentient beings can embark on the path of Buddhas in the same way they transmigrate among the five paths.

Even more directly, the introductory verses of Miaofa lianhuajing 妙法莲华经 (Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra, 406 CE) praise Bodhisattvas by stating that they relieve the suffering in purgatory and cause one to enter the path of Buddhas.26 This stanza simply means that the Bodhisattva saves the sentient beings in purgatory and initiates them to pursue Buddhahood, that is, starting to learn the Buddhist doctrine. Thus, philologically speaking, the painter’s inclusion of the Buddha path into the six-path schema may be regarded as a misunderstanding.

Nevertheless, if we consider the promised outcome of the offering to the ten kings, it appears that the painter intentionally portrayed the Buddha path as an incentive for people to perform the ritual. For instance, the stanza quoted above can also be interpreted as the Bodhisattva saving one from the purgatory and delivering him/her to the Pure Land, where Buddhahood will necessarily be obtained. This is exactly the spirit of the Pure Land faith. In other words, although the painter’s incorporation of the Buddha path seems a misunderstanding, it is consistent with the Pure Land faith. Thus, I will next discuss the possibility that the Buddha path is a symbol for the Pure Land, a promised destiny described in the Ten Kings Sutra.

The Ten Kings Sutra is clearly associated with the widespread Pure Land faith in the Tang Dynasty. S.3961 (Figure 3) clearly states that the full name of the sutra is Foshuo yuxiu shiwangshengqijingtujing. Moreover, it promises the outcome of copying this sutra at the beginning: “For those who copy this sutra and recite it, when the uncertainty comes upon [i.e., die], the divine kings will necessarily come and guide, and the Bodhisattvas will greet with flowers. They will go to the Pure Land as they wish.”27 Teiser (1994, p. 67) provides the story of Daoming, who is released to the Pure Land by his devotion to the sacred scriptures. It has been acknowledged by Teiser that “rebirth in the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha is important as a general religious goal” (13). In other words, by making the offering, one wished not merely to avoid negative paths like the serpent path, but to enter the Pure Land, which was the ultimate goal.

In the Pure Land, one will necessarily obtain Buddhahood, one of the original meanings of fodao. As Jones (2019, pp. 78–84) observes, Shandao’s 善导 (613–681 CE) key method to construct the Pure Land faith is to make people realize their feebleness in liberating themselves and realize the efficacy of Buddha’s vows in liberating them. Foshuo wuliangshoujing 佛说无量寿经 (The Immeasurable Life Sutra [Sukhāvatīvyūhasūtra], late 3rd century) records the eleventh vow: that Amitābha Buddha will make sure all sentient beings obtain liberation.28 Foshuo amituojing 佛说阿弥陀经 (The Amitābha Sutra, ca. late 4th century) further confirms that all beings in the Pure Land are not liable to turning back (avaivartika).29

Therefore, there is a conspicuous motive for the painter to depict the Buddha path. Suppose that the painter is well aware of the original meaning of fodao, the Buddhist doctrine or Buddhahood, he likely intends to link the ultimate goal of the sutra to the ultimate goal of all sentient beings, attaining Buddhahood. The logic is clear: by performing the offering ritual, one is promised to be reborn in the Pure Land, where he/she is further promised to obtain Buddhahood. If this is the case, it becomes evident that the painter conceives the six-path schema not as a cycle of life and death, but a linear journey from the realm of human beings to the Pure Land or other realms. This can further explain why the path of human beings is absent in S.3961. Perhaps the painter had only two destinies in mind for the deceased: they are either subject to karmic retribution or saved completely by making the offering. There is no third way back to the realm of human beings. Thus, the offering ritual becomes the decisive factor in deciding one’s destiny.

However, when Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha entered and came to dominate purgatory,30 offerings to the ten kings were no longer the only way for one to reach the Pure Land. Although the three western saints are the “orthodox” guides to the Pure Land, some other sources suggest that Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha also plays this role. Ng (2001, pp. 42–45) informs us that some statues in Sichuan and Longmen show that Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha replaced Avalokiteśvara. A 10th-century folk story also suggests that Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha was responsible for accepting deceased souls into the Pure Land (pp. 67–72). Moreover, in the Dunhuang Painting of Preaching Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha (Ch. lviii003, 963 A.D., Yu 2017, p. 89), the preface reads “[the Bodhisattva’s] golden staff shakes purgatory, where lotus flowers bloom; the radiant pearl lights the way for lost souls to the Pure Land.” (金锡震动地狱生莲，珠耀迷途还同净土). It is plausible that Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha’s entry into purgatory was also associated with the Pure Land faith.

Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha’s entry into purgatory created a competition with the offering ritual. Although the ten kings purgatory is not strictly governed by karma in the Indian sense, the ten kings, as the executors, still represent karmic law31. However, Kṣitigarbha’s presence completely nullifies this supposedly objective law. Even though the Ten Kings Sutra never explicitly mentions Kṣitigarbha as a savior, almost all illustrative paintings place him at the end of the sutra. For example, S.3961’s final section depicts Kṣitigarbha saving souls from the iron city (Figure 3). Notably, this section appears disconnected from all the previous sections depicting the ten kings. According to the painting, Kṣitigarbha functions as an independent figure outside the ten kings system. This ambiguous relationship is also reflected in folk stories from the Tang Dynasty:

According to the Zuanlingji (纂灵记), “There was a man from Jingzhao named Wang Minggan. He originally had no moral discipline and never cultivated good deeds. Due to illness, he died. Two people led him to purgatory, and in front of purgatory’s gate, he saw a monk who was said to be Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha. The Bodhisattva taught him to recite this verse: ‘If one wishes to truly know all the Buddhas of the three times, one should contemplate thus: The mind creates all Tathagatas.’ After teaching him the sutra verse, the Bodhisattva said, ‘Reciting this verse can free you from the sufferings of purgatory.’ After the man recited it, he was brought before the King of purgatory. The King asked, ‘What merit does this person have?’ The reply was, ‘He only upholds one four-line verse,’ and the verse was recited as mentioned above. The King then released him.”32

This story, recounted by Chengguan (澄观, 737–838 CE), closely parallels the content of the painting in S.3961. In S.3961, though placed at the end of the sutra, Kṣitigarbha stands before the gate of the iron city purgatory, inside which a man lies suffering on a nail-studded bed. Kṣitigarbha is teaching something to a soul, undoubtedly symbolizing liberation from the purgatory. Moreover, Chengguan’s story provides additional information that may help us understand the relationship between this final section of S.3961 and the previous sections about the kings. According to Chengguan, the verse taught by Kṣitigarbha enables one to bypass the kings’ judgment process, and the kings must release anyone who recites the verse. The final section of S.3961 may convey the same message: however powerful the kings may be, Kṣitigarbha not only nullifies the kings’ authority, but also completely overrules the objective karmic law that they represent.

After Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha enters the purgatory, one can bypass the offering ritual to obtain the promised effect. According to the Foshuo dizangpusajing 佛说地藏菩萨经 (Sutra of Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha, dates unknown), one will be guided to the Pure Land merely by reciting the Bodhisattva’s name, by which the authority of the ten kings is diminished:

Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha, unable to bear witnessing [the suffering], came from the south to purgatory and sat together with King Yama, though on separate seats. There are four reasons [for his presence]: (1) Fear that King Yama might pass judgment unfairly; (2) Fear of errors in the documentary evidence; (3) Cases of those who should not yet have died; (4) Cases where those who have completed their punishment are delayed in leaving purgatory. If there are good men and good women who create images of Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha, copy the sutras of Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha, and recite Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha’s name, these people will certainly be reborn in the western pure land of Ultimate Bliss, traveling from one Buddha-land to another Buddha-land, from one heavenly realm to another heavenly realm.33

This Foshuo dizangpusajing embodies the convergence of the offering to the ten kings, the Kṣitigarbha faith, and the Pure Land faith.34 This highlights the fundamental concern of medieval Chinese people regarding the Indian conception of purgatory: that karmic law might not be absolutely objective, given that judgments were carried out by fallible, bureaucratic kings. Although four reasons are listed to explain why Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha intervenes in the ten kings system, all of them reflect the people’s distrust of the ten kings. As a consequence, the offering ritual will also be questioned. In this case, Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha naturally becomes a more convenient guide to the Pure Land than the three western saints. Therefore, Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha plays two roles in the purgatory as Teiser (1994, pp. 34–37)’s analysis of an image of Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha suggests: he is both the savior in the purgatory and the guide to the Pure Land, where Buddhahood can be obtained.

To summarize, the Buddha path thus serves as an incentive for people to either perform the offering ritual or to resort to the Bodhisattva’s protection. Given the divergence between the painting and the text of the Ten Kings Sutra, one can either choose to perform the offering ritual, which is the original purpose of the sutra, or merely resort to the Bodhisattva. Both ways lead to the same promised destiny: the Pure Land, where Buddhahood is also promised. Thus, the Buddha path is a positive symbol, whereas the serpent path is a negative warning, both of which function to promote the offering ritual and faith in Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha and the Pure Land.

4. Implication: A Linear Six-Path Schema in China

Now, with the meaning and function of the serpent path and Buddha path clarified, it is telling that they constitute a linear six-path schema distinct from the Indian conception of it. Teiser (2016, p. 242) notes that the journey in purgatory, as pictured in the Ten Kings Sutra, is a linear journey. After this linear journey in purgatory, a soul would still need to transmigrate within the cycle of the six paths, as Teiser acknowledges. However, considering the unique serpent path and Buddha path in S.3961, we may have to conclude that this linear journey extends even into the six-path schema.

Given the meaning and the functions of the two unique paths, we should not view them as two special paths in the cycle of life and death. First of all, one can by no means regard the path of Buddha as in the cycle. Even if the painting represents a form of folk Buddhist conception of the afterlife, it is highly improbable that the painter would have regarded a Buddha as a type of sentient being within the cycle. After all, Buddha’s transcendental nature is the basis for the Buddhist soteriology, so it would be self-refuting to juxtapose a Buddha with other forms of sentient beings. Therefore, the painter seems to have taken the Buddha path as a representation of the Pure Land, where all sentient beings’ final liberation is guaranteed by Buddha’s vow. That is, the beings will not return to the cycle. The offering ritual or Bodhisattva’s protection advocated by the Ten Kings Sutra further guarantees people’s entrance into the Pure Land. Thus, whoever performed the ritual or resorted to the Bodhisattva would be released from the cycle. At the same time, the painter intentionally picks the serpent path out of the animal path, thus excluding the human path. This suggests that the painter does not think the soul will return to the realm of human beings; rather, for those who fail to perform the ritual or resort to the Bodhisattva, they will simply be sent to the path commensurate with their karmas, most likely the serpent path, given their deathbed anger towards their children’s failure to do so. Thus, the six-path cycle becomes a linear structure. This linear structure, reshaped by offerings and the Bodhisattva’s protection, is certainly disparate from the Indian or Tibetan wheel of karma, where karmic law is the governing principle. To fully understand the process of the cycling six-path schema becoming linear, we should briefly consider the distinction between the indigenous afterlife imagination in China and that found in Indian Buddhism.

One of the foundational governing principles for the Indian purgatory is the objective karma determined by one’s own deeds. Karma is objective in that whoever performs action X will inevitably obtain effect Y, analogous to a physical law (Harvey 2000, p. 16). In early Indian Buddhism, this causal relation could not be canceled or counteracted by other actions. Although confession can cause a wholesome effect, such a wholesome effect only enables one to shorten, rather than cancel, his/her suffering, as the story of King Ajātaśatru illustrates (F. Wu 2014, p. 110).35 Therefore, what is ultimately real is only this causal relationship. Accordingly, in purgatory, what truly exists is only suffering. There are no demons who monitor purgatory while being exempt from suffering, nor Bodhisattvas who guard suffering beings. Whoever enters purgatory necessarily suffers.

Such an extremely objective mechanism of the cycle can be traced back to the early Indian Buddhist sect Andhaka (Davids 1892, p. 33; Aung and Davids 1915, pp. 345–47) and was fully articulated in Yogācāra doctrine36. According to the Andhaka school, purgatory warders are simply “hell-doomed karmas in the shape of hell-keepers [that] purge the sufferers” (Aung and Davids 1915, p. 345). Vasubandhu provides a compelling argument for this conception of purgatory in his Viṃśatikāvijñaptimātratāsiddhi:

Why are the purgatory warders, dogs, and birds not taken to be real? Because it is unreasonable—that is, they are not purgatory beings. Additionally, they do not suffer. It should not be the case that, for those who torture each other, some of them are purgatory beings while others are warders. Those who have similar forms, sizes, and powers should not be afraid [of each other]. When being set on fire on the land made of iron, [the warders] cannot bear the pain of burning; how can they torture others there? Or, if they are not purgatory beings, how can they be contained in purgatory?37

According to Vasubandhu, purgatory warders cannot be real because their existence would violate the karma that governs the function of purgatory. Vasubandhu’s stance aligns with the Andhaka position that purgatory is the place for suffering, which manifests itself according to one’s karma. Whoever enters purgatory must suffer. Should there be a monitor of purgatory who does not suffer, the karmic law would collapse. Thus, according to Vasubandhu, there is no way to “bribe” the warders to escape if one is doomed by karma to suffer in purgatory.

According to the Dīrghāgama, even Yama, the king of purgatory, must suffer. It states that “There are great purgatory warders who put King Yama on the burning iron… After suffering, [King Yama] continues to entertain himself with women.”38 It appears paradoxical that the King should simultaneously suffer and enjoy in purgatory. This is a more traditional account of purgatory and was later refined by Vasubandhu as outlined above. In any case, karmic law governs all sentient beings in purgatory. The wholesome karma that enables the king to enjoy does not counteract the unwholesome karma that causes suffering in purgatory. Hence, everyone is subject to karmic law.

Compared to the extremely objective form of purgatory, the Chinese indigenous conception of the afterlife points to a well-organized realm, which represents a perfected version of different aspects of ideal mundane life. Schmid (2011, p. 250),39 like Teiser (1994, p. 33), recognized that the discourse of karma was transformed in China, but they did not trace this transformation back to the Chinese indigenous conception of the afterlife. This conception has been variously embodied in tomb art throughout Chinese history. Through a comprehensive historical examination of tomb art, H. Wu (2010, pp. 38–63) summarized the Chinese afterlife through three categories: happy home, celestial environment, and immortal paradise. All three realms represent a better linear destiny after death.

Tomb inscriptions from the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 CE, Buddhism enters China in the late Eastern Han Dynasty) clearly demonstrate the imagination of the afterlife as a well-organized nether society, essentially a duplicate of daily life. For example, the tomb inscription written in the first year of Yanguang (延光, 122 CE) states: “the living belong to Chang’an; the dead belong to the tomb of the tomb governor.”40 The inscription written in the fourth year of Xiping (熹平, 175 CE) states: “the living belong to the west Chang’an; the dead belong to the east Mountain Tai.”41 Such expressions are typical in tomb inscriptions of the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty, the period just decades before Buddhism’s arrival in China. Based on these inscriptions, it is clear that during this period, the concept of an administered underworld was popular in China, where the tomb governor was responsible for accepting dead people, and Mountain Tai42 served as the central government of that world. These inscriptions, which compare Chang’an, the capital of the Han Dynasty, to the netherworld, also suggest that the netherworld is essentially another Chang’an beneath the earth. Although similar to Chang’an above ground, the netherworld is considered superior because it is governed by the Heaven Emperor (tiandi 天帝) or his grandson, the deity of Mountain Tai (taishan shen 泰山神), rather than by fallible human emperors. Thus, the afterlife world becomes a continuation of mundane life with an improved order, thus comparable to the Pure Land, a place that is perfectly organized by Buddha.

Accordingly, the linear six-path schema seems to arise from the indigenous Chinese imagination of the afterlife world. There is no doubt that the making of the Ten Kings Sutra itself represents a mixture of the indigenous culture with the Buddhist conception of afterlife, as Teiser (1994, pp. 1–23) points out. Given that the indigenous Chinese imagination of the afterlife is linear, and the netherworld was conceived as a better realm, the idea of the Pure Land seems to perfectly meet Chinese people’s expectations for the afterlife. Although all versions of the illustrated Ten Kings Sutra contain the element of the Pure Land, S.3961 is the only known manuscript to visualize the Pure Land as a direct destiny after death and incorporate it into the six-path schema. S.3961 thus provides a unique example for our understanding of the Sinicized Buddhist conception of the afterlife. Given the widespread influence of the Ten Kings Sutra during the Song Dynasty, as can be shown in the considerable number of representations of the ten kings in Ningbo, it is also conceivable that such a unique linear schema gradually became a dominant conception of the afterlife following the Five Dynasties period.

5. Conclusions

Although the Ten Kings Sutra and the attached illustrative paintings have been well-studied for decades, their rhetorical strategies for implementing their compilation purposes have not been fully researched. The serpent path and Buddha path are two unique iconographic elements that seem incompatible with the text and other versions of the painting. In this paper, I have provided an interpretation of their meanings in connection to the overall purpose of the Ten Kings Sutra.

Regarding the serpent path, I propose that it serves as a warning for those who refused or failed to perform the offering ritual. It is a scholarly consensus that one of the primary purposes of the sutra is to promote the offering to the ten kings. I have shown how the serpent can be related to this purpose. Although the serpent is among many animals regarded as an unwholesome retribution for evil karmas, it is particularly associated with anger or hatred, especially the anger in one’s last breath. Thus, the serpent plays a didactic role in classical and modern China, reminding people that they should properly care for the dying. Moreover, the illustrations of the sutra intentionally contrast the blessed experience of those whose children performed the ritual with the unfortunate one of those whose children did not perform the ritual. Such a contrast, I hypothesize, could be employed to rouse anger in parents whose children did not perform the ritual. Therefore, the serpent path serves as a warning to children that if they fail to perform the ritual, their parents are liable to be reborn into the serpent path.

Regarding the Buddha path, this paper proposes that it serves as a positive incentive, in contrast to the serpent path. Since the Ten Kings Sutra promises that whoever performs the ritual will necessarily reach the Pure Land, the Buddha path can represent the Pure Land. This is highly likely as, according to the Pure Land faith, all sentient beings will necessarily obtain Buddhahood, which is one of the original meanings of fodao 佛道. This promised effect was later also guaranteed by Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha, whose power gradually overshadowed that of the ten kings during the Five Dynasties period. Therefore, by depicting the Buddha path at the top of the six paths, the painter may convey such a message that anyone who performed the ritual or resorted to the Bodhisattva would reach the Pure Land and become liberated.

Thus, the serpent path and Buddha path further suggest that the six-path schema in S.3961 is a linear one. The absence of the human path suggests that one will not become human again. The meaning of the Buddha path suggests that one will abide in the Pure Land permanently, without transmigrating among the other paths any longer. Thus, by emphasizing the efficacy of the offering ritual and the Bodhisattva’s protection, the schema is no longer a cycle, therefore disparate from its Indian origin. Such a linear conception of the six-path schema may originate from the linear Chinese indigenous imagination of the afterlife, according to which the netherworld is a better place. Therefore, the understanding of the two paths may further contribute to our knowledge of how the Indian purgatory has been reformed in China.

It should be emphasized here that this paper does not intend to provide a decisive interpretation of these two unique paths. It is almost impossible to determine why the artist depicted the two paths this way, as they are completely detached from the texts and other illustrations. No direct textual or visual evidence can be found to conclusively explain what these two paths mean. Given this obscurity, there may be multiple ways to interpret them, as I have pointed out in the Introduction. In other words, all potential interpretations are hypothetical in nature. The interpretation presented in this paper is based on the connection between the two paths and the overall purpose of the Ten Kings Sutra. This interpretation, at least, leads us to a coherent understanding of the meanings and functions of the two paths.