Fengdu Ghost CityChinese Mythology

Fengdu has been known as the 'City of Ghosts' (Guicheng) for nearly 2,000 years. According to tradition, the mountain overlooking the town — Ming Shan — is the earthly location of Youdu, the capital of the Chinese underworld (Diyu). When a person dies, their soul travels to Fengdu to be judged.

The underworld in Chinese mythology is a vast bureaucracy modeled on the imperial government. The soul passes through multiple courts, each presided over by a judge (the Ten Kings of Hell), who reviews the person's earthly deeds. Punishments for sins are graphically specific: liars have their tongues pulled out, corrupt officials are ground in mills, the unfaithful are thrown into a pit of snakes. After enduring punishment proportional to their sins, souls drink the tea of forgetfulness (Mengpo Tang) served by the old woman Meng Po on the Bridge of Helplessness, erasing their memories before reincarnation.

The temples on Ming Shan recreate this entire journey, making Fengdu the most elaborate physical model of the Buddhist-Daoist afterlife in China.

Fengdu sits on the north bank of the Yangtze River in Chongqing Municipality, roughly 105 miles east of Chongqing city. The Ghost City temple complex covers Ming Mountain above the old town.

The construction of the Three Gorges Dam flooded the original old town of Fengdu, and its population was relocated to a new city on the opposite bank. The temple complex on Ming Mountain, however, sits above the waterline and was preserved. Visitors typically arrive by Yangtze cruise ship or by road from Chongqing. The temple complex includes the 'Last Look at Home Tower,' the 'Nothing-to-be-Done Bridge,' and graphic statue displays of underworld torments.

Fengdu's association with the underworld dates to the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 CE). According to legend, two officials — Yin Changsheng and Wang Fangping — practiced Daoist cultivation on Ming Mountain and became immortals. Over time, their names were conflated (Yin + Wang = 'King of the Underworld'), and the mountain became identified as the seat of the afterlife.

The temple complex was developed primarily during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) and expanded through the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It synthesizes Daoist, Buddhist, and folk religious traditions into a unified vision of the afterlife. The Chinese concept of a bureaucratic underworld — with judges, courts, record-keepers, and a procedure for reincarnation — has no exact parallel in other mythological traditions and reflects the profound influence of Confucian administrative culture on Chinese cosmology.