Magistrates of the Netherworld
The
scribes of
Yan Mo (fig.), who is
also known as
Yan Wang
(fig.),
the king of death
and the counterpart of the
Vedic god
Yama
(fig.).
They
keep record of the good and the bad deeds of humankind,
and as such are the counterparts of
Citragupta
in the Vedic tradition, and of
Suwan
and Suwaan in the Thai
tradition (fig.).
Unlike the aforementioned scribes, the Magistrates of the Netherworld number four
in total, namely one who keeps record of the good deeds of
humankind, one who records their bad deeds, and each of them with a
personal controller, who checks that not mistakes are made. They are typically
found in the main hall of the Emperor of Hell. In Chinese, known as
Yin
Cao De Fu Pan Guan (阴曹地府判官).
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