In Chinese folklore, there are Ten Courts of Hell that sinners pass through after death. This is according to rather graphic dioramas at Haw Par Villa in Singapore, and not any rigorous research on my behalf.

In part 1, we visited courts one through five. Each court specialises in certain crimes and corresponding punishments. As courts six through ten reinforce, the crimes and punishments can get quite specific.

Sixth Court of Hell
Crime	Punishment
Cheating, cursing, abducting others	Thrown onto a tree of knives
Misuse of books	Body sawn in two
Possession of pornographic material
Breaking written rules and regulations
Wasting food

Whether this guy was using his books as doorstops or letting his bananas go spotty was left unstated.

More importantly, check out that torturer’s red patterned tights and jaunty hat. If you’re going to spend your day sawing people in half, do it in style, that’s his motto.

Seventh Court of Hell
Crime	Punishment
Rumour-mongers	Tongue pulled out
Sowing discord among family members
Rapists	Thrown into wok of boiling oil
Driving someone to their death

Eighth Court of Hell
Crime	Punishment
Lack of filial obedience	Intestines and organs pulled out
Causing trouble for parents or family
Cheating during examinations
Harming others to benefit oneself	Body dismembered

Ninth Court of Hell
Crime	Punishment
Robbery, murder, rape	Head and arms chopped off
Any other unlawful conduct
Neglect of the old and young	Crushed under boulders

Note that there seems to have been some disagreement when divvying up the crimes among the ten courts. The Seventh Court really wanted to throw rapists into a wok of burning oil (not a bathtub or a whirlpool; a human-sized wok), but the Ninth Court felt it more appropriate to chop their heads and arms off. Is this after they’ve been deep-fried? The Ten Courts of Hell diorama left many questions unanswered.

At the Tenth Court of Hell, sinners receive final judgment. They drink a magical tea to forget their past lives, and then are reincarnated as either nobility, common man, quadruped, fowl, fish or insect.

If I had children, I’d definitely tour them through the Ten Courts of Hell. That way, when they gave me some sass, I could remind them that there’s a demon waiting in the Eighth Court of Hell to pull their intestines and organs out, after which they’ll be reincarnated as a bug. I’d make a great parent.