Original Text
The father of a certain provincial governor had previously served as a viceroy in the south and had been dead for many years. One night, the governor dreamed that his father came to him, his face full of sorrow and misery, and said, "In my life, I have not committed many sins, except that once I ordered a garrison guarding the border to move when it should not have been moved; on the march, they encountered pirates, and the entire army was annihilated. Now the soldiers have lodged a complaint against me before the King of Hell, and the punishments there are harsh and cruel, truly terrifying. The King of Hell is none other than a certain man named Wei, who tomorrow will be escorting grain here as a registrar. You must plead with him on my behalf—do not forget!" The governor awoke, found it strange, but did not fully believe the dream. After falling asleep again, he dreamed once more that his father rebuked him, saying, "Your father is in dire straits, yet you take no heed, dismissing it as a strange dream and putting it aside?" The governor became even more perplexed.
The next day, the governor carefully reviewed the documents and indeed found a certain Assistant Magistrate Wei, who had just arrived with a shipment of grain. The governor immediately invited him in, had two men assist him to a seat, and then bowed and kowtowed to him as if paying homage to the emperor himself. After completing the obeisance, the governor knelt upright, tears and mucus streaming down his face, and recounted the events of his dream. Assistant Magistrate Wei denied being the King of Hell, but the governor remained prostrate on the ground and refused to rise. Only then did Wei say, "Yes, it is roughly so. But the affairs of the underworld are not like the muddled ways of the mortal world, where one can manipulate matters and engage in corruption. I fear I may be powerless to help." The governor pleaded even more earnestly, and Wei, with no other recourse, had to agree. The governor then begged for a swift trial. Wei worried about the lack of a quiet place, so the governor offered to have the reception hall of the yamen cleaned and prepared for use. Wei consented, and the governor finally rose to his feet. The governor further requested permission to secretly observe and listen, but Wei would not allow it. After repeated insistence from the governor, Wei cautioned, "If you go, do not make a sound. Though the punishments of the underworld are cruel, they differ from those of the human world; when a person is tortured, it seems as if they die, but in truth they do not. If you see anything, do not be alarmed or startled."
When night fell, the governor secretly hid beside the official hall and saw below the steps countless condemned souls with broken necks and shattered arms, swarming in confusion. On the steps stood a cauldron of boiling oil, with several figures feeding firewood beneath it. Soon, they saw Assistant Magistrate Wei appear in his official robes, ascend the hall, and take his seat, his demeanor fierce and imposing, vastly different from his earlier appearance. The host of ghosts all knelt at once, crying out in unison for justice and lamenting their suffering. Assistant Magistrate Wei said, "You all died at the hands of pirates; grievances have their source and debts their master—why do you falsely accuse a high official?" The ghosts clamored, "According to regulations, our unit should not have been transferred, but we were sent by a mistaken military order and thus met our deaths—who caused this wrongful fate?" Assistant Magistrate Wei then devised various excuses to exonerate the governor's father, but the ghosts cried out loudly for justice, their voices a chaotic uproar. Wei summoned a demon attendant and said, "Take that official to the oil cauldron and dip him in briefly for a fry—it is only fitting." Observing his intent, it seemed he wished to use this to quell the ghosts' fury. Immediately, a demon attendant stepped forward, seized the governor's father, and with a sharp fork, lifted and plunged him into the boiling oil. When the governor saw this, his heart filled with grief and fear, and the pain was unbearable; unconsciously, he let out a mournful cry. At once, the courtyard fell silent, and all the visions vanished. The governor returned home in astonishment. By dawn, when he looked for Assistant Magistrate Wei, he found him already dead in his official quarters.
This incident was recounted by Zhang Yuding of Songjiang. Due to the unsavory reputation of the affair, the names of those involved have been omitted.
Commentary
A tale is a historical account settled. According to the era of Pu Songling, this mistaken deployment likely occurred during the late Ming dynasty's Japanese pirate disturbances. The story's implied meaning is roughly that "merely for mistakenly transferring a garrison commander, one cannot escape divine punishment; thus, those in authority must be exceedingly cautious." It carries a strong admonitory tone.
In the tales of "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," the judges and Kings of Hell are often portrayed as living persons who assume these roles. This is done to enhance the credibility and narratability of the stories. Examples include "Li Boyan" and "Yanluo" in Volume Three, "The Censor of Fengdu" in Volume Four, and "Yanluo" in Volume Six. In this particular story, the King of Hell dies after conducting a trial, which may be partly due to narrative necessity and partly to leave room for speculation: could it be that Wei, the Registrar, having accepted a bribe and promised to manipulate the proceedings, violated the principle that "the laws of the underworld are not as muddled as those of the mortal world"?