ENG
Seek not with greed what life can give,
By harming others, how can one live?
Evil deeds, their judgment due,
In the netherworld, their fate they rue.
In the Kingdom of Pure Joy, there dwelled a high official from a lineage of glory. His father, a beacon of honor and privilege, has passed recently. Not long after, the official himself met a sudden death.
His soul, bewildered, found itself in the depths of the underworld, surrounded by terrifying sights. He came to a halt before a colossal stone gate, and peered inside. There, he saw charred corpses on their knees, twisted and shrunken from the relentless flames, their faces erased under chains and shackles. Among them, one scorched figure struggled to rise, shouting, "Zirong, my son, it's me, your father!"
Better, the official's childhood name, resonated with truth. He hastily asked, "Father, why are you here? I held so many rituals made for your passage." The charred spirit replied, "They're futile. Virtues in life bring fortune in the next, but wrongdoings must be paid now. My misdeeds caused many deaths, and Yama condemned me to the ceaseless depths, to burn eternally. My son, do not follow my path."
Then, five more charred spirits emerged, his ancestors going back to his great-great-grandfather, all echoing the same warning. Suddenly, a chilling wind blew, and the stone gate slammed shut. The official awoke back among the living. For a time, he lived modestly, yet the hardships of simplicity soon wore him down. Convincing himself that it was nothing more than a dream, he slipped back into his lavish ways.
The opening lines set the story's moral: greed and harming others cannot bring true life or safety, and evil deeds will be judged in the afterlife. The scene starts in the Kingdom of Pure Joy, where a high official from a respected family has recently lost his father. Not long after that funeral, the official himself dies suddenly and his soul finds itself in the underworld.
In the underworld he comes to a huge stone gate and looks inside. He sees people kneeling, their bodies charred and shrunken by relentless flames, bound by chains and shackles. One of the burned figures cries out by the official’s childhood name, "Zirong, my son, it's me, your father!" The official recognizes the name and realizes the calling spirit is his father.
His father tells him that the rituals and offerings the son performed for his burial were useless to change what must be paid. The father explains that good virtues in life bring reward after death, but wrongdoings are punished. He admits that his own misdeeds caused many deaths, and that Yama, the judge of the dead, condemned him to the netherworld’s ceaseless, burning punishment. He warns his son not to follow the same path.
Then five more scorched spirits appear—ancestors of the official stretching back to his great-great-grandfather—and they all repeat the same warning. A cold wind blows, the stone gate slams shut, and the official wakes back among the living. That sudden return convinces him he’s still alive and gives him a chance to change.
For a time the official lives modestly, taking the warning seriously. But hardship wears on him, and he convinces himself the whole vision was only a dream. He returns to his former lavish lifestyle. The story ends there, making its point clear: ritual offerings don’t erase the consequences of harming others, judgment in the afterlife is portrayed as inevitable, and ignoring that warning risks repeating his ancestors’ fate.