In the nebulous time of  creation, heaven and earth were not yet separated. The universe was under the same atmosphere, inhaling ether from infinity and moving freely.                                   At the moment heaven and earth developed, man was created by the original energy which emanated from the center of the universe.                                                                                                    In the earliest ages, man was endowed with a fine nature. After his death, he returned to his pure, simple origin.                                                                                                                                           Afterwards, the earthly desires piled up, destroyed his innate generosity and transformed it into wickedness. It was then God created hell as a place for mortification and punishment, and for the purification of souls.                                                                                                                           Since man’s original generosity decreased as he came into contact with increasing vices, and moral deterioration proved itself more and more alarming, hell has been over crowded with sinful souls.                                                                                                                                                        His Majesty the Celestial Emperor cannot be so heartless as to watch mankind sink further into the depths of evil. He therefore projects divine light, revealing to men the terrible chastisement and corporal punishment in hell, and warning them not to step on the track of overturned carriages, if they aspire to return to their pure origin and put an end to their sorrowful karma.      During the past years, the Temple of the Sages in Tai Chu, obeying the will of God, has not spared any pain in its efforts to reveal the Way and Truth, propagate faith and teach religious dogma to men.                                                                                                                                                    By so doing, this Temple has proven a great adherence to its righteous and harmonious ideal. By virtue of its merits, it was entrusted with the mission of taking trips to hell and preparing reports which contributed to the writing of this book.                                                           According to celestial instructions, the living Buddha Tse Kong, was designated to accompany and guide Yang Ts’ien’s soul on his visits to hell for acquiring information and proof.              The Cherub of God from the Great Nothingness of Nirvana was designated to lend his assistance in mediumnistic scriptures, using his divine eye to record the images in hell. He helps transmit to the earth everything the emissaries of God had seen and heard.                             It has taken the Temple two years of strenuous work and great effort to complete this book. The persons who read it with diligence will feel an awakening of their conscience that will help them avoid evil, do good, and prepare themselves for the Way to Paradise.                                        If every human acts this way, hell will become a vacant place, and all mankind will return to Nirvana.                                                                                                                                                               This book contains numerous testimonials concerning legislation carried out in both the terrestrial world and in hell. It constitutes a book of holy scriptures consecrated by deities and destined to contribute to the salvation of human beings. It is desirable that the readers altogether make translations of the book, and distribute it widely to educate people. Everyone of heart should recognize that this is a good thing to do and should respond positively to this appeal. The above words will suffice as a preface for the book.                                                              (Celestial cycle, April 13th, 1978_Year of the Horse) Text received through mediumnistic scriptures at the Temple of the Sages, Tai Chu, Taiwan, from the Primordial Venerated God.       PREFACE                                                                                                                                                            From the pulpit, Mr. Kouan, President of the Temple, prefaced the book as follows:                       Our Temple was founded for the sake of expanding the basic religious doctrines, revealing the hidden words of oracles through mediumnistic scriptures, and popularizing the sutras in view of teaching good to men.                                                                                                                                 In this field of activities, good results have been obtained. Many vicious passions have been destroyed, and society is vigilant against the corruption of morals and customs that could lead it to eternal damnation.                                                                                                                                     The past year was marked by the publication of many books encouraging men to turn toward good and improve the quality of their hearts. It is sorrowful, however to remark that many people still do not try to improve. They continue to live an unruly life.                                  Profoundly stirred by such a state of things, the Celestial Emperor summoned a congress at his palace in the Ethereal Heights. It was unanimously decided to select an altar of oracles of genuine purity which had acquired close communion with the saints and immortals as well as perfect harmony with men. It must have proven its versatility in spiritual invocations. Such a temple would be favorable for sending a disciple’s soul to hell to write a book and reveal to men the realities of hell with a view to awakening and educating them.                                             It was fortunate that our Temple was chosen by heaven, also a great honour to be entrusted with a mission of such magnitude.                                                                                                                At first I was very anxious because a trip to hell could not be compared to a practice of cult, mediumnistic revelations, or distribution of religious doctrines. Had a failure in Yang Ts’ien’s state of mind unhappily occured while in full seance of spiritism, there could be grave errors. This was tantamount to treachery and annihilation of the Great Work that would horrify deities and men.                                                                                                                                                             Nonetheless, as it was impossible for me to contravene God’s order, and in obedience to divine instructions as given on the lunar August 15th, 1976 (year of the Dragon), every disciple of the Temple received the Celestial Edict with reverence. They were gathered at every mediumnistic seance, their heart and spirit in peace.                                                                                                           To prepare himself for the trips, Yang Ts’ien had to adopt the vegetarian regimen and observe all kinds of abstinence.                                                                                                                                     When Buddha Tse Kong arrived, he led Yang’s soul to visit hell and guided him in his observation. The Celestial Cherub, gifted with divine powers, relayed to earth the dialogue between Buddha and man, the conversation with hell’s dignitaries, and used the mediumnistic brush-pen to note the documentary facts for the book “Voyages to Hell”.                                          After two years of very tiring work, a period of time necessary for visiting all of the 10 palaces of hell and writing the book, I now look back and feel extremely pleased at the completion of such an imposing piece of work.                                                                                                                    Since the time our Temple worked for the revelation of mediumnistic scriptures and propagation of religious doctrines, we have spent a great deal of time, but only now can we manage to write this miraculous book whose contents are absolutely truthful. This is a precious book, very effective in encouraging men to do good.                                                                                As soon as the publication of this book was begun, a strong, dazzling light was projected from the darkness of hell, bringing forth salvation to all human beings under the ceiling of heaven.  Those who have the opportunity to read this book will be saved from the sea of sorrow, and will work for their elevation to paradise.                                                                                                     I write this preface. With all my respects. (Kuan Hung, President of the Temple of the Sages_Celestial Cycle, April 13th, 1978 (lunar) Year of the horse)