Yan Luo Wang, a deity in Chinese religion and Taoism, is also one of the official judges of the Yudu (underworld). He is the fifth judge of the court of the underworld and judges all the dead.
His incarnation is always male and his minions include a judge who holds a brush and a book listing the soul of each person and the date of death of each being. The bull's head and the horse's face are the fearsome guardians of hell who bring the newly dead one by one to be judged by Hades. Those who have merit will be rewarded with a good future life, or even revival in their former lives. Those who have erred will be condemned to torture and/or a miserable future life.

An important reason why I chose to create Yanluo Wang is that during my conversation with Venerable Chuan Yi I learned that it was Buddhism that first brought the concept of hell to China and people began to realise that if you do something bad, even if you are not found and judged on earth, you will be judged by Yanluo Wang for your sins when you get to hell, which gives people a fear of doing bad things.

​