Deities and Faith
Why does Sheng Zhen Men pair the Seventh and Eighth Lords with Lord Bao as Yama?
English translation draft · Based on the Chinese article. This is not a word-for-word translation approved by Master Shengyuan.
Sheng Zhen Men understands Lord Bao through his role as Yama, so we first invited the Seventh and Eighth Lords as guardians. When obtaining his statue, we considered that his work needed assistance rather than only a principal deity.
Initially we considered Zhan Zhao and an adviser, the familiar team in Justice Bao stories. But we call him Lord Bao, Yama, and the work then concerned the underworld more, so the Seventh and Eighth Lords seemed the first appropriate assistants. This explains the original arrangement.
In our early underworld-related work, they were front-line troops and guardians who often helped first. As more people sought Lord Bao and matters increased, civil and military judges and Ox-Head and Horse-Face gradually joined, each helping with different duties.