Stories 夷坚志 The Scholar Who Returned From the Court of Death
蔣良輔
Jiang Liangfu of Nancheng trained in the Confucian way but did not succeed, growing old in a village school. In the tenth year of the Chunxi era he fell ill and died, then revived after half a day.
He told his family: “I was just now summoned to the court of the dead. I stood below the dais in the courtyard, and by chance the King of Hell had not yet come out to hold session, so I was granted a temporary return — but it cannot last long either.”
After two double-hours he finally died for good.
南城人蔣良輔業儒不成老於鄉校淳熙十年病卒半日復蘇語家人曰適被追到冥府竚立廷下偶閻羅王未出廳故得暫還然亦不能久也越二時頃竟長逝
From 《蔣良輔》, Yijian Zhi. Translated in full. 業儒不成 means he trained for the exams but never made it; 淳熙十年 is 1183; 冥府 is the court of the dead, the administrative face of the underworld at Fengdu. The tale is almost a satire of officialdom: even Hell runs on sessions, and a nobody is left waiting because the presiding judge is late to the bench.
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