When discussing human life and reincarnation, China has a well-known book published in 2018 titled Evidence for Reincarnation: 100 Cases of the Dong People Who Recall Past Lives. This book is the result of research conducted by author Changzhen Li, who spent 2015 and 2016 personally interviewing and documenting the stories of 100 individuals with past-life memories. Through these firsthand accounts, the book provides an authentic and profound perspective on the phenomenon of reincarnation, shedding light on the mysteries of human existence.
The first story is about Ding Shenghuo, a renowned traditional healer from Xiyou Village, Longsheng County, Guangxi, China. Known for his exceptional skills and unique method of connecting with beings from other dimensions, he was sought after by people from far and wide for treatment. At the age of 22, he began receiving a mysterious mission.
He took on a new role as a “yin messenger,” a messenger of the underworld, and was even appointed as the leader of his team. His team consisted of four members. When given the order to capture a soul, they would immediately respond to the request, completing their task and returning in no more than two minutes.
The King of Hell issued orders at any time, day or night. No matter what he was doing, whenever a mission arrived, Ding Shenghuo would immediately fall into a sleep-like state. A messenger delivered the King of Hell’s orders to him in written form, instructing him to go to a designated location and escort a specific soul to the underworld.
In East Asian folklore, the underworld is the realm where human souls go after death. According to Ding Shenghuo, the underworld operates with a highly structured system, much like the living world, with the King of Hell presiding over it and various emissaries carrying out tasks in the unseen realm. Yin messengers are individuals with special abilities, capable of communicating with and moving between the Yin and Yang worlds. Could it be that a person’s lifespan, whether short or long, is somehow influenced by these Yin messengers?
Some people, despite reaching the end of their lifespan, remain in good health and show no signs of illness. When Ding Shenghuo and his team received orders to collect such a soul, they would proceed to the designated location and use a steel hammer, granted by the King of Hell, to strike the person’s head and separate the soul from the physical body. Usually, a single strike was enough. For bedridden patients, the four of them would not use the hammer. Instead, they would directly lift the soul out of the body. The sensation of lifting a soul, they said, was similar to lifting a living person. Once the soul was lifted, the body would quickly stop breathing and pass away.
Folk tradition holds that the deceased should be kept at home for seven days to prevent underworld messengers from mistakenly taking the wrong soul, ensuring that any such mistake can be corrected – Ding Shenghuo confirmed this belief as true.
In some cases, due to identical names or other reasons, mistakes occurred, and the wrong soul was taken. When this happened, the King of Hell would assign another messenger to return the mistaken soul to the living world. However, if the person’s physical body had already been destroyed in the living world, there would be no way to bring them back.
Another case mentioned in the book is that of Wu Yuhua, a resident of Pingtan Village in Hunan, China, who was chosen by the King of Hell to be a Yin messenger. Wu Yuhua recalled that at the age of 20, he began experiencing strange dreams.
Whenever a mission arrived, he would hear a whisper in his ear, “It’s time to go.” If it was daytime, merely hearing this voice would make him feel extremely drowsy. By the third call, he would inevitably fall into a deep sleep. If it was already nighttime or if he was asleep, a single call would be enough for his soul to effortlessly leave his body.
He could see his own body lying asleep. Then, his soul would ascend, soaring high above the mountains at incredible speed. As he looked down, he saw mountains, rivers, villages, and rice fields rushing backward in a blur.
Wu Yuhua recalled a particularly unusual mission that occurred one afternoon. He was about to visit his ailing father-in-law when he suddenly heard the familiar call. Almost instantly, he drifted into a deep sleep. In his out-of-body state, he found himself alongside three fellow Yin messengers, entering a room where they had been assigned to retrieve the soul of an elderly man. However, upon awakening in the living world, he was shocked to discover the true identity of the soul he had just taken.
When Wu Yuhua woke up, he was shocked to realize that the person he had struck with the hammer and dragged away with iron chains was none other than his own father-in-law. He quickly turned to look again – his father-in-law was still sitting there, talking. However, upon closer inspection, his face had noticeably darkened. Wu Yuhua knew that his father-in-law had only a few days left. He quietly pulled his brothers-in-law aside and whispered to them, “Father’s main soul has already departed. Based on my experience, he will pass away the night after tomorrow. During these final days, stay by his side and do not go out – be with him in his last moments.”
After revealing the secrets of death multiple times, despite his good intentions, Wu Yuhua unknowingly violated a strict taboo in the duties of a Yin messenger. As a result, he was repeatedly taken to the underworld and subjected to a severe punishment: being sawed in half. After the punishment was carried out, Wu Yuhua was allowed to return to the living world and woke up. While his soul felt little pain during the sawing, the moment he regained consciousness, his entire body was wracked with intense soreness and a high fever. It took him a day or two to recover.
Both Yin messengers, Ding Shenghuo and Wu Yuhua, believed that a person’s lifespan was not determined by physical health but was already predestined in the Book of Life and Death. According to them, the only way to extend one’s life was through good deeds and accumulating virtue, which could persuade the King of Hell and his judges to grant additional blessings and longevity. As written in The Precious Jade Calender:
“The wicked may not die immediately as they still carry virtue from a past life. However, once that virtue is exhausted, death will come. The righteous may not prosper right away because they still bear past misfortunes. Yet, once those misfortunes are resolved, prosperity will follow.”
This means that in this life, some people who commit evil may still live long because they accumulated great virtue in their past lives. Meanwhile, some good-hearted individuals may pass away early as they bear the burdens of past karma. The law of cause and effect is not confined to a single lifetime but unfolds across countless existences. Only the unseen realm holds the wisdom to judge with absolute fairness and precision. May humanity awaken to this truth and choose to live with kindness, compassion, and righteousness, ensuring a future filled with peace and virtue.
