英文摘要:From the Easten Han dynasty onward there was the belief that Mount T’ai(T’ai-shan, in Shantung province)governed the word of the dead, and this belief eventually grew. And with the introduction of Buddhism to China, a belief in the kings of Hades was also introduced. Through the Wei, Chin, Six Dynasties, T’ang, and Sung periods all the way down through the Yuan and Ming dynasties, Hinayana Buddhism became popularized and was gradually embellished wish Chiese folk beliefs. Later, the folk belief in the “Ten Kings of Hades” and the “Eighteen Layers of Hades” matured. “Ten Paintings of Kings of Hades”, the use of stencils was widespread. Most of these pictures were painted on paper. The sometimes inferior quality of the paper accounts for the paintings’ tendency toward rapid deterioration. When damaged, old paintings were replaced by new ones.In fact, “Ten Paintings of Kings of Hades” to be used in religious ceremonies, mainly in connection with funerals.They were meant to show to the living what may be expected in the nether world. From the beginning, paintings of Hades warned the living of the terrible punishments which the judges in hell would mete out to the souls on their judgment day. This type of folk art leaves much to the imagination of the artisan. There are no set rules as to the number of scrolls on which the ten hells must be depicted. There exist sets of the ten hells divided into various numbers of scrolls. Indeed, I have seen sets of two, three, or ten scrolls. The artisan was free to enrich the paintings with scenes from folklore and commonly known events. He could even dip into the well of the ever-popular Chinese opera. In order to research the “Ten Paintings of Kings of Hades”,this thesis with lots of field research and analysis on the meanings of the culture and eduction.