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Who are 文判官 (Wen Pan Guan) & 武判官 (Wu Pan Guan) ? - The Prosecutors of the Taoist Netherworld


"I'm from Myanmar and I'm interested in Taoism. I want to know about the gods' history, namely - 文判官 (Wen Pan Guan),武判官 (Wu Pan Guan) - the bodyguards of earth god. Because most people in Myanmar believe Tu Ti Gong but they only know Tu Ti Gong's history. They don't know about 文判官,武判官".

文判官 (Wen Pan Guan) means 'Civil' Magistrate. 武判官 (Wu Pan Guan) means 'Military / Martial' Magistrate. To make it more understandable, they are like prosecutors in modern-day terms.

Often time, the statues of 文判官 (Wen Pan Guan) & 武判官 (Wu Pan Guan) can be found in public Chinese temples, both standing side by side of Fu De Zheng Shen (福德正神) aka Da Bo Gong 大伯公 (only in South East Asia), Tu Di Gong (土地公) and also being seen standing at both sides of other Deities that take charge of underworlds' matters, such as 东岳大帝 (Dong Yu Da Di), 酆都大帝 (Feng Du Da Di), 十殿阎君 (Si Dian Yuan Jun) aka Judges of 10 halls of Hells and Cheng Huang Ye 城隍爺 (Chen Huang Ye) aka City God.

文判官 (Wen Pan Guan) would be seen one hand holding on a chinese calligraphy brush and another hand holding on a book - Shen Si Bu (生死簿) (Book of Life & Death). He is responsible for investigating the world of goods and evils, in order to determine the length of each person's life.

武判官 (Wu Pan Guan) would be seen carrying a 锏锥 (Jian Chui) - Baton, also known as 九节(层)鞭 - Nine Layers Lash. His duty is to escort spirits, flipping through the Book Of Life & Death (生死簿 Sheng Si Bu).

On the lay-man level of Taoist Practice, folks don't need to pay much attention on praying to 文判官 (Wen Pan Guan) & 武判官 (Wu Pan Guan). You just focus on praying to the main deity (the deity standing in the middle of the two) will do.

Below is the advanced level of Taoism that Priest Level will know. It is general information for the Folk Taoists.

Base on the Taoist Text Records -'Dao Fa Hui Yuan' (道法会元):

There are also magistrates in the subordinates courts of the Feng Du Cheng (酆都城) - Nether world, and the consulates of the Tian Shu Yuan (天枢院) from the nine titles, assisting the divisions in dealing with official duties, and the official positions are relatively light, all of them are judged by the Tian Shu Yuan (天枢院), with a total of 21 magistrates: (酆都城内阴间各司下亦设有判官一职,领天枢院从九品衔,协助各司处理公务,官职较轻,皆号曰天枢院酆都判官, 共计二十一位,乃:)

追魂案判官-王福 (Prosecutor of 'Souls Chasing' Case - Wang Fu)
监生案判官-班简 (Prosecutor of 'Supersivor' Case - Ban Jian )
考掠案判官-訾和 (Prosecutor of 'Beating' Case - Zi He)
罪业案判官-贾元 (Prosecutor of 'Criminal Occupation' Case - Jia Yuan)
断刑案判官-赵胜 (Prosecutor of 'Breaking' Case - Zhao Sheng)
主罪案判官-张琪 (Prosecutor of 'Main Crime' Case - Zhang Qi)
受生案判官-杨通 (Prosecutor of 'Receiving Birth' Case - Yang Tong)
受牒案判官-符朴 (Prosecutor of 'Receiving documents' Case - Fu Pu)
刀山案判官-祝顺 (Prosecutor of 'Knife Mountain' Case - Zhu Shun)
剑树案判官-李恭 (Prosecutor of 'Sword Tree' Case - Li Gong)
注死案判官-薛忠 (Prosecutor of 'Register Of Death' Case - Xue Zhong)
执对案判官-永真 (Prosecutor of 'Execution' Case - Yong Zhen)
注生案判官-卢忠策 (Prosecutor of 'Register Of Birth' Case - Lu Zhong Ce)
注禄案判官-成珣 (Prosecutor of 'Register of Salary / Fortune' Case -  Cheng Xun)
注病案判官-黄寿 (Prosecutor of 'Register of Sickness' Case - Huang Shou)
注等案判官-周毕 (Prosecutor of  'Register of  Rank' Case - Zhou Bi)
注善案判官-釆伸 (Prosecutor of 'Register of Kindness' Case - Bian Shen)
欠杀案判官-程德 (Prosecutor of 'Owe a Killing' Case - Cheng De)
劫监案判官-刘宝 (Prosecutor of 'Rob Prison' Case - Liu Bao)
放生案判官-董杰 (Prosecutor of  'Life Release' Case - Dong Jie)
五道案判官-郭愿 (Prosecutor of 'Five Realms' Case - Guo Yuan)

判王都督-辛天君 (辖管诸判官) The overall head of magistrates - Xin Tian Jun (Overall-In-Charge Prosecutor)

Base on Folk Taoism and influenced of Chinese 'Version' Buddhism:

Outside the contexts of Taoism 10 Courts of Hells, base on Chinese Buddhism - Maudgalyayana, the assistant of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, will inspects the good and bad deeds of the person who just pass-away, with his 4 assistants, namely: (据民间传说,十殿以外亦设有佛家目莲尊者部下的四大判官,目连尊者是地藏王菩萨的辅佐人,会在人死后复查其功德罪业,更有四司判官辅佐:)

查察司判官-李玄邃 (Prosecutor of 'Examine & Research'  - Li Xuan Sui)
赏善司判官-杨玄感 (Prosecutor of 'Bestowing Goodness' - Yang Xuan Gan )
罚恶司判官-韩子通 (Prosecutor of 'Punishment of Evil' -  Han Zi Tong)
阴律司判官-崔子玉 (Prosecutor of 'Implicit Law' - Cui Zi Yu)

Of the 4 Prosecutors, the main prosecutor is Cui Zi Yu (崔子玉). Prosecutor Cui is in charge of the Records of Life & Death, making sure the death date of the deceased person match the records,  if unmatched will be dispatched to 'tragic death' wall. Prosecutor Li is in charge of the Life Reflecting Mirror, reflect one's life while living. Prosecutor Yang calculates the good deeds of the deceased person. Prosecutor Han calculates the evil deeds of the deceased person. (四判官以崔为首,崔判官掌生死簿,与死者魂魄核对,如年寿未到即死,就贬入枉死城;李判官掌孽镜台,照出死者的生前情况,命死者伏罪;杨判官计算死者善业,韩判官计算死者恶业.)

According to the Min-Nan People (Southern Chinese / Fu-Jian people), during the Folk Taoist / Buddhist liberation ritual of a deceased person, these 4 spiritual officers were involved during the trial periods (49days and beyond), before going for rebirth / transmigration.

Important person to take note - Cui Zi Yu (崔子玉)

Cui Pan Guan (崔判官) aka The Scholar Recording Officer Cui, a well-known Immortal in the Chinese Deity System.

His real name was Cui Yu (崔鈺) or Cui Zi Yu (崔子玉), born in Sui Tang Dynasty 隋唐 (Around AD600++).

In AD633, he got his 1st official title in the Tang Dynasty Imperial Court, due to his credit, merits and the upright way of dealing with cases and releasing of innocent suspects, he was being respected like a Deity at that Era and after that Era.

After he passed-away, in-order to repay the gratitude to him, the folks who knew him dedicated a Temple to him and gave him  the title : Cui Pan Guan (崔判官).

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