How was hell portrayed in the drama ? Ep. 04

Let's talk about the depiction of Hell briefly shown in episode 4 of Tale of the Nine-Tailed.


hell01


The depiction of hell in <Tale of the Nine-Tailed> is different from that of Western culture.

The depiction of hell in <Tale of the Nine-Tailed> is different from the Western concept, reflecting the cultural differences between the East and the West. The hell portrayed in the drama is largely based on the Buddhist concept of hell.


'Hanbing Hell' and 'Dosan Hell'

According to Buddhism, the deceased undergo a judgment process for 49 days after their death, with a judgment period of 7 days each. Those who have committed many sins during their lifetime will undergo multiple stages of judgment. During this judgment, the hells that they pass through vary according to the type of sin they committed. Among them, there are "Hanbing Hell" and "Dosan Hell."

'Hanbing Hell' is described as a hell with an enormous ice sheet and is mainly where those who committed the sin of being unfilial to their parents go.


'Dosan Hell' is depicted as a mountain covered entirely with swords and is where those with excessive greed, especially penny-pinchers like Scrooge, go. They are punished by walking barefoot on the blades of swords.

hell02

Why did Lee Yeon go to 'Hanbing Ji-ok' (the Hell of Cold)?

In <Tale of the Nine-Tailed>, Yi Yeon harms humans in order to save Nam Ji-ah from danger, breaking the prohibition against harming humans. As punishment, he stays in 'Hanbing-ji-ok' for seven days. After realizing that Nam Ji-ah is in danger again while he is in 'Hanbing-ji-ok', he requests to go to 'Dosan-ji-ok' to shorten his punishment time.


In the drama's setting, 'Dosan-ji-ok' appears to be a place that inflicts greater suffering than 'Hanbing-ji-ok'. In the drama, 'Dosan-ji-ok' is portrayed as a place where knives fly around and cause physical pain, unlike the depiction in Buddhism where it is divided according to the type of sin committed.