A Carpenter in Hell 地獄圖

Here’s a page from a woodblock-printed book called “Illustrations of Hell” (地獄圖). The title is very general (in China it’s also used for Dante’s Inferno) and I haven’t been able to track down the original book.

Fourth Hell of the West. A new print bought recently at Changsha in Hunan province, taken from an old woodblock

The text tells of a carpenter called Qian (錢) who charged five cash a day for his services but always arrived late to work and spent most of his time eating. If the homeowner complained he would curse them using methods outlined in Lu Ban’s Classic (鲁班经) – named after the mythical master craftsman Lu Ban – making the house impossible to live in.

But off in the netherworld Lu Ban heard how Qian was abusing his text and denounced him to the supreme ruler, Shangdi. Shangdi ordered the City God to bring Qian before him over the Naihe Bridge, which only the virtuous can cross safely.

Not surprisingly Qian fell through into the Fourth Hell of the West, also known as Hell of a Thousand Punishments. The illustration shows him being forked by a demon as the Bronze Snake and Iron Dog eat him alive.

The Naihe Bridge at Ming Shan, Fengdu – “City of Ghosts”

It might seem strange to associate carpentry with black magic but around the globe a home is a shelter, defending its occupants against an unpredictable natural world. Walls, roof and doors keep out physical dangers such as the weather and wild animals; magical symbols – such as “witch marks” in European buildings – repel mailgnant spirits.

Traditionally, it seems Chinese workmen were notorious for using black magic. The third volume of Lu Ban’s Classic begins by discussing feng shui, geomancy – how the placement of a house in the surrounding landscape affects its “luck”. If construction has disrupted the natural balance of things, paths, ponds and protective stones at the front door can be used to restore order. But there are also instructions on making amulets to hide that cause wealth to drain away, provoke arguments with the neighbours or even kill family members.

Amulets to alter the luck of a house, Lu Ban’s Classic, volume 3

To combat the effects of these harmful objects, it’s traditional for householders to paste up a “home protecting” talisman on the roof beams of their home during construction, written in red ink on yellow paper.

Anyway, a crooked builder getting his just deserts. Those concerned, please take note...

Thanks to Otoko Han

Knapp, Ronald China’s Living Houses (University of Harvard Press 1999)

Lu Ban’s Classic, volume 3 (新鐫工師雕斫正式魯班木經匠家鏡; 三卷) downloaded from https://commons.wikimedia.org