The Black and White Brothers are 'generals' in the sense that they are senior soldiers in Hell ('general' in the Chinese folk religion context is a term used to describe a senior spirit soldier who serves as an assistant to a major deity).

But I would not classify them as commanders, no.

There are other higher ranking deities whom they answer to.

The lower ranking Hell beings, the soldiers, including the Black and White Brothers, are ghostly creatures.

The higher ranking ones, the officials, can be considered gods.

Hope you had a good time reading, Audrey. Feel free to pose me questions or otherwise comment on the subject.

It is rare for a Hell-themed temple to be painted red, which is a colour normally associated with Heavenly gods; Hell deities usually identify with corpse green, bruised blue, bone white or pitch black. Below is a more typical example of a Hell-themed temple.

The shrine is located somewhere in Grisek; I can't recall the exact location.

It houses the local City God, three pairs of Tua Li Ya Pek, The Filial Son, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, and the Five Ghosties.

Bump for the resting places of Hell deities.

Which one?

Can't say I've heard of such a one.

You sure she's a Chinese deity?

Mao Shan sect magic.

Neither Taoist nor sintua.

Very unorthodox and amoral.

Do not attempt.

The large principal statue is a permanent fixture.

The smaller secondary statues are used as portable icons for processions, or bestowed upon deserving devotees.

Here is a story from my time helping my teacher out at his sintua.

We were once visited by a yuppie couple, whom we'll call Jess and Simon, who were being plagued by strange and disturbing events ever since moving into a new neighbourhood.

Mishaps repeatedly took place within their new home - Jess nearly had a fire in the laundry room due to an iron she swore she had already switched off before putting down, Simon slipped on a floor that was not even supposed to be smooth and concussed himself badly, the car broke down often, their dogs frequently fell sick, and the water and light bills would cost much higher than they thought, among other things.

What took the cake and made them seek spiritual help was the bad dreams they had at night.

They could not remember the content of their dreams, but would wake up in the middle of the night with hearts pounding and short of breath, paralysed with inexplicable fear.

During these moments, the smell of rotting meat would pervade their bedroom.

Tua Ya Pek, after some deliberation, told them that the cause of their woes was "buried in the garden".

Jess was puzzled. "We don't have a garden."

"Maybe he means the potted plants we have outside the house," Simon suggested.

"Go home now, dig it up and bring it to me immediately thereafter," Tua Ya Pek instructed. "Don't worry; you won't come to harm. It ends tonight."

So they went home and we waited for them to return; Tua Ya Pek got me to fire up a brazier in the meantime.

They were ashen faced when they came back; what they placed on the table in front of Tua Ya Pek, which they had found buried in the earth of one of their flower pots, made me sick to my stomach.

It was a severed thumb, not freshly severed but embalmed looking, with a grotesque face carved into its skin; the face had only one eye, like a cyclops, staring angrily.

Tua Ya Pek picked it up, spat on it and threw it into the fire, where it soon burned to ashes.

"A gift from one of your neighbours," he told Jess and Simon, who were shocked; as far as they could tell, they had no enemies in the neighbourhood. "You'll find out whom soon enough. There will be no more trouble."

Jess and Simon came back the following week to report that someone in their neighbourhood had suddenly died the morning after their consult with Tua Ya Pek; the man had apparently suffered a catastrophic stroke.

Simon remembered him as a fellow with whom he had exchanged a few harsh words about the guy anyhow throwing his cigarette butts around, including into people's yards.

"I barely remember him; can't believe he could have been so vindictive," Simon shook his head.

Their lives were peaceful since, with no further mishaps.

this thread is so quite now..haish..hope it will be active back..