Ox-Head and Horse-Face are the 2 fearsome Guardians of the Underworld in Chinese mythology and Taoism, where the dead face judgement and punishment before reincarnation. As indicated by their names, one has the head of an ox, and the other has the face of a horse. They are the first repsentatives from Hell a dead soul meets upon arrival in the Underworld; in many stories they directly escort the newly dead to the Underworld. Usually, the two are mentioned together (牛头马面/牛頭馬面).
Source: Wikipedia, click here.
In the picture, Ox-Head (Ni Tou 牛头) is standing on the left while Horse-Face (Ma Mian 马面) is standing on the right. Some say, both of them are twins and they work in Hell, the faithful servants of Pan Guan (判官) - The Judge of Hell. Pan Guan is also the Prime Minister of Hell and he reports to Yama Rājā (閻魔羅社), The King of Hell. Many people fear meeting Ox-Head and Horse-Face when they are still alive. This is because when you see them, it means your time on earth has expired!
This picture was taken at The Path to Reincarnation, Chin Swee Temple, Genting Highlands.
This is my entry for That's My World Tuesday Round 24. To view what others have in their world, please visit here.
Wonderful and a bit spooky.
ReplyDeleteSydney - City and Suburbs
Very interesting.
ReplyDelete«Louis» doesn't know about the horse's head, but he DOES know that the U.S. Congress is made up of a bunch of horse's behinds!
Scary! I'll be sure to run the other way if I see anyone like that :)
ReplyDeletealoha,
ReplyDeletewhat an interesting vignette. thank you for showing us a little bit of your world for tuesday...
have a good remainder of the week.
very interesting and informative. i learn something new today. thanks.
ReplyDelete