How Does Taoism View Heaven, the Human World, and Hell?

  In almost all religions, there are concepts such as heaven, the human world, and hell, and Taoism is no exception. So, how does Taoism view heaven, the human world, and hell?

Heaven
Taoism refers to heaven as the "Upper Realm." Taoist immortals such as the Three Pure Ones, the Four Imperial Celestials, the Five Lords of the East, and the Queen Mother of the West live there. All year round, there are precious herbs, beautiful flowers, flat peaches, and celestial fruits. There are also golden palaces, alchemy furnaces, and boys and girls of the immortals.

The Human World
Taoism calls the human world the "Secular Realm." It is said that people in the secular realm are greedy for wine, sex, wealth, and worldly desires, and they harm their own bodies. Only those who understand the great Tao thoroughly and wholeheartedly practice cultivation can ascend to immortality from the mortal world. According to different cultivation methods and levels of skill, Taoists can enter the Upper Realm and become celestial immortals, or they can roam the rivers and seas and become terrestrial immortals; or they can refine qi, refine the spirit, and refine the essence; and achieve health and longevity.

Hell
From the very beginning, Taoism believed that the God of Mount Tai was in charge of life and death and ghosts. Therefore, it was said that the city of ghosts was located on Haoli Mountain at the foot of Mount Tai. Later, perhaps because Haoli Mountain was too small to accommodate so many ghosts and did not match the status of the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak and the Lord of Mount Tai, all the ghosts were then relocated to Pingdu Mountain in Fengdu, Sichuan. Pingdu Mountain outside Fengdu City was originally one of the Taoist paradises. It is said that the immortals Wang Fangping and Yin Changsheng both achieved immortality here. However, later it became the Taoist city of ghosts and is still very famous today. According to Taoism, after a person dies, they must enter the underworld. Only after being examined can they be reincarnated as a human being again, and some may remain as wandering ghosts forever. After death, the souls of the dead will gather in Fengdu.

When arriving at the city of ghosts, one must first have a road pass, that is, a permit. The road pass is issued by the City God of Fengdu, and it is written on it: "Under the whole world, one must have this pass to be able to reach the underworld of Fengdu for reincarnation and ascension." With the road pass, the next step is to cross the Naihe Bridge. In the eyes of good people, this bridge is like a smooth and open road, but in the eyes of evil people, it is extremely dangerous. Crossing the bridge is really more difficult than ascending to the sky. Under the bridge is the Nai River, also known as the Blood Pool. The water in the pool is not only extremely stinky but also changes between extremely cold and extremely hot. When it is cold, it is like ice, and when it is hot, it is like fire. There are also evil ghosts and poisonous insects in the water. Without exception, the souls of evil people will fall into the pool here and suffer the first torment. After crossing the bridge or crawling out of the Blood Pool, the next checkpoint is to pass through the Gate of Hell. Evil people will inevitably be severely beaten.

After passing through the Gate of Hell, one arrives at the Judgment Office. The person in charge of the Judgment Office carefully examines the merits, demerits, and sins of the detained souls during their lifetime. There are two ways of examination: one is to check the Book of Good and Evil. The ghost soldiers will find out the records of the souls' merits and demerits throughout their lives and put them on a large balance for weighing and comparison; the other is to take the souls in front of the Mirror of Retribution to make their true forms appear, and all the merits and demerits will be replayed once. After the examination, the souls will be divided into two categories: those who have done good deeds will be reincarnated immediately and be reborn as human beings; those who have done evil deeds will be classified according to the types of their crimes and be sent to different hells to suffer. It is said that there are twenty-four hells, and some say there are eighteen layers of hell. All kinds of torture instruments are available, such as hanging upside down, dismemberment, skinning, heart - digging, intestine - washing, sawing... Everything that can be imagined in the human world can be found here. Those who have committed minor crimes can be reincarnated after being punished; those who have committed serious crimes may never see the light of day again. Those who are allowed to be reincarnated also need to drink a bowl of Meng Po's Soup at Meng Po's place to forget the grudges of the previous life and the situations in hell. Then, they will be sent by the ghost soldiers to the respective households where they should go. With a "wow" sound, they will be reborn as a baby coming out of the mother's womb.