Nieh-ching-t'ai

For the album, see Mirror of Retribution.

In Chinese mythology, Nieh-ching-t'ai (simplified Chinese: 孽镜台; traditional Chinese: 孽鏡臺; pinyin: niè jìngtái; lit. 'evil mirror platform') is a mirror in Diyu, the Chinese underworld. It is also known as the Mirror of the Wicked,^[a] the Mirror of Retribution, and the Mirror of Past Existences.

Description

Souls are forced to stand in front of it and see their true selves, namely the events of their previous existences.^[1] The Yama King then makes his judgment.

It stands in the Court of the First Yama King and faces to the east, on a raised stand eleven feet in height. The mirror has a circumference of six feet.^[2]

Notes

1. Chinese: 邪恶的镜子平台; pinyin: xié'è de jìngzi píngtái

References

1. "CHINESE MYTHOLOGY". New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology. p. 402. [..]placed in front of a huge mirror, the Mirror of the Wicked, Nieh-ching-t'ai, set up in the Court of the first Yama-King. In this mirror the souls see themselves with the appearance they had in their former life, and so perceive the crime they committed. The Yama-King bases the judgment he gives on this appearance.
2. Plopper, Clifford H. (1935). Chinese Religion Seen through the Proverb. Shanghai. p. 328.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)