The Censor in Purgatory by Pu Songling
Censor Hua enters a cave near Fêng-tu to test its reputed connection to Purgatory, where judges tell him that fate has assigned him a seat among them. A general pardon permits his return, and light appearing as he recalls and recites the diamond sutra guides him out of the cave.
By Pu Songling · Genre: Supernatural Fiction, Short Story · 1,057 words
First lines
Just beyond Fêng-tu[1] there is a fathomless cave which is reputed to be the entrance to Purgatory. All the implements of torture employed therein are of human manufacture; old, worn-out gyves and fetters being occasionally found at the mouth of the cave, and as regularly replaced by new ones, which disappear the same night, and for which the magistrate of the district makes a formal charge[2] in his accounts.
[1]: Fêng-tu is a district city in the province of Szechuen, and near it are said to be fire-wells (see Williams' _Syllabic Dictionary_, s.v.), otherwise known as the entrance to Purgatory, the capital city of which is also called Fêng-tu.
Genres
- Supernatural Fiction — Hua encounters judges in Purgatory, receives release through a heavenly pardon, and summons guiding light by reciting a sutra.
- Short Story — The brief prose narrative follows a single expedition from Hua's skeptical entrance into the cave to his escape.
Tags
Purgatory · caves · Buddhist sutras · fate · supernatural judges · pardon
What this Textopian page supports
The Censor in Purgatory is listed on Textopian as a short story by Pu Songling, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Short story
- Author: Pu Songling
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Supernatural Fiction, Short Story
- Length: 1,057 words
- Structure: 1 section, 6 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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