Ten Circles of Hell

I was cooking some chili late last night when I decided to pop-in a DVD on my player and watch a Hongkong horror movie. I bought the movie many months ago but hadn’t had the time or interest to watch it until last night. It was Neraka 19.

Neraka is Hindu for hell.

The movie has its selling points – an interesting storyline, good acting, and some pretty nice girls. The only disappointment for me was it wasn’t a hair-raising, voice-muting horror movie. Japanese horror movies are much better.

Anyway, what fascinated me about the movie is that apparently there is a Chinese belief that there are 18 gates of hell, and that there are cultists who believe on the existence of a 19th gate. Hence the movie title Neraka 19.

Yeah, I know. I have a slight interest in this religious-occult genre.

I tried to do some research on these 18 gates of hell, but I couldn’t get a good match so far. But based on what has been presented in the movie, there is only one good parallelism between the Oriental belief of the 18 gates of hell against the 9 Circles of Hell presented by Dante in his Divine Comedy.

Both concepts of hell distinguished between an Upper Hell and a Lower Hell.

In Dante’s hell, as one goes lower and lower into the further circles, the space becomes smaller and smaller. Like a funnel. In the Chinese concept of gates of hell, the “hell” beyond each gate is limitless. Dante’s concept was based on the gravity of the sin at each circle – the higher the gravity of one’s sins, the deeper he goes into the circles of hell, and the more severe the retribution is. The soul carries out the punishment at his ultimate circle only.

In the movie, the Chinese gates of hell have to be passed successively for all souls. The belief was that beyond each gate of hell, one needs to survive the retribution waiting for him. The punishment is equivalent to the sin (well, as far as the movie and artistic concept implied) --- for example, the first gate of hell is “The Torture of Tongue-Cutting”. Those who have used words to offend others will find themselves cutting off their tongues themselves if they are guilty of this sin. Those who are innocent of this sin are guided on to the next gate.

Because of this, Dante’s concept of hell is eternal damnation. There is no redemption. In the movie, it was portrayed that there is a chance of redemption. If your conscience remains clear at each gate, you pass the test of the gate. When one clears the 18th gate, his soul is redeemed.

Now what happens beyond the 18th gate? Is there really a 19th gate? Based on the movie, there’s none.

The parallel question to that is what if there was a circle of hell? What punishment will be there? In Dante’s 9th circle, Lucifer is there, conscious but unable to move, frozen in ice along with the souls of the sinners “worthy” of accompanying him.

I think, just to toy with the idea, someone more evil than the devil himself would be found at the 10th circle.

This brings to mind a local joke here at our office which names a few personalities more evil than Satan. Hehehe.