What is a life and death book?

The book of life and death is a noun in myths and legends, which refers to one of the three books of heaven, earth and man, namely the book of heaven, the book of mountains and seas and the book of life and death of man. From Hong Mai's Yi Jian Jia Zhi Zheng Lin Regeneration to Journey to the West's Battle of the Plain.

Interpretation—

In superstition, an abstract name that records people's life and death.

In the ancient mythology of China, it was generally owned by the underworld and kept by the judges in Yan Luowang. People in ancient China believed that the book of life and death recorded the birth and death of all life in the three realms of heaven, earth and man. In most cases, the contents of the life and death book are doomed and unchangeable. Yan Luowang needs to strictly follow the contents of the book of life and death, and send his people to perform dizzying deaths and other actions.

In the fairy tales of Journey to the West, the contents of the book of life and death can be modified at will. In The Journey to the West, the judge once revised the book of life and death to bring Li Shimin back to life. The Monkey King also revised the book of life and death in the novel, which freed all the monkeys from the fate of old age and death. In China's mythical TV series "Lotus Lantern", in 18 hell, the father was rescued, the book of life and death was torn up, and the villagers in Liucun were saved from old age and death.

In ancient China, there was no systematic and detailed statement about the book of life and death. All the details are set from the imagination of various novel authors. It is different from the book of life and death in China ancient folklore.

Extended data:

Life and death book, in Buddhism, Taoism and East Asian folk beliefs, is a record of the life span of human beings or other sentient beings by the ghosts and gods of the underworld. Everyone's life span is different, and the "life and death book" records everyone's life span; When someone's life is over, the underworld will send black and white impermanence or a cow's head and horse's face to escort the person's soul to hell for trial. Some people died in vain because of natural and man-made disasters before their birthdays, so they had to wait for the end of their birthdays in the city of death.

Most of the people who hold the "book of life and death" are the gods of the underworld, such as Dongyue the Great and the Ten Halls of Hades. In The Journey to the West, Cui Panguan had tampered with the book of life and death, which kept Emperor Taizong alive for twenty years. In ancient Taoism, King Nanxing and King Daxing also kept a life and death book to record the life span of each person.

Related books-

"Tai Shang Induction" records that "people's life span and the calculated results are recorded in the heavenly book." The calculation here refers to the unit of time. Taoism believes that after a person is born, the length of his life is recorded in the sky.

"Induction on the Mountain" records, "Heaven, earth, sun, moon and stars, naive saints, messengers of generals, children of the gods, flying immortals in heaven and earth, three realms and four divisions, Yue blaspheme lawsuits, holding seals, patrolling schools, saying a word for three days, playing for ten days, and ending for a hundred days."

References:

Baidu encyclopedia-life and death book