# Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Kings of Hells: Leaf 27

- Date: 1200s
- Medium: Album; ink on paper
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Painting: 34.1 x 38.4 cm (13 7/16 x 15 1/8 in.)
- Culture: China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279)
- Credit line: John L. Severance Fund in honor of Dr. Ju-hsi Chou and Gift of various donors to the department of Asian Art (by exchange)
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/2004.1.27)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/cma/2004.1.27/2004.1.27_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

This leaf is part of a set depicting the Ten Kings of Hell. The theme transforms the Indian Buddhist view of judgment after death into a typical Chinese bureaucratic process. Before being permitted to transmigrate into the next life, a soul is tried by 10 different kings in a process that lasts three years.

Each king is assisted by scribes and officials who report on the good and bad deeds upon which a verdict is given. In the foreground, demons conduct punishments. The inscription here refers to the 12 functionaries assisting the king.