![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I also found The Book of Reincarnation and the Afterlife by Martin Palmer and Joanne O'Brien at the book shop across from the British Museum. It was on sale for £1.75. I was actually a bit mislead by the back. It was part of a series called "Popular Chinese Classics" which in it's blurb said that it was translating books found in Chinese homes for a Western audience. I had a look through and saw a lot of things about hell so I thought perhaps it was one of those books for helping your relative get through hell, I don't know the name of them or anything, just read references to them in history books, so I don't even know if they exist anymore. I think they might have just been a Ming or qing dynasty thing. But anyway I bought the book thinking it would be something interesting.
Unfortunately, mostly the book was just the author's own interpretation of Chinese religion, in particular views on life after death. It was written for people who knew nothing already so wasn't terribly helpful to me. There was no actual translations which was rather disappointing. There was a small translation/summation of the different levels of hell, what the tortures were and how to avoid them which was fairly neat, and rather graphic. It was interesting as afterwards the authors wrote how terribly pessimistic and frightening such things were. However, I didn't think so as they were only temporary, unlike Christian hell, and were there to help you become better, and they told you in the text how to avoid them! (mostly by publishing religious texts which I found very interesting).
The last part of the book was a very small look at "The Three Lives" of Chinese astrology, unfortunately the list was so small it was impossible to use properly but was kinda interesting, though I think Derek Walters would have been a little sad about it.
Still for the price, and the fact it took less than an hour to read I shouldn't complain too much about it. I feel after several such fluffy books though I'm ready to go back and try something more academic again. Hopefully now we have a flat sorted out I will feel less stressed and my concentration will be back!
Unfortunately, mostly the book was just the author's own interpretation of Chinese religion, in particular views on life after death. It was written for people who knew nothing already so wasn't terribly helpful to me. There was no actual translations which was rather disappointing. There was a small translation/summation of the different levels of hell, what the tortures were and how to avoid them which was fairly neat, and rather graphic. It was interesting as afterwards the authors wrote how terribly pessimistic and frightening such things were. However, I didn't think so as they were only temporary, unlike Christian hell, and were there to help you become better, and they told you in the text how to avoid them! (mostly by publishing religious texts which I found very interesting).
The last part of the book was a very small look at "The Three Lives" of Chinese astrology, unfortunately the list was so small it was impossible to use properly but was kinda interesting, though I think Derek Walters would have been a little sad about it.
Still for the price, and the fact it took less than an hour to read I shouldn't complain too much about it. I feel after several such fluffy books though I'm ready to go back and try something more academic again. Hopefully now we have a flat sorted out I will feel less stressed and my concentration will be back!