The Blood Bowl Sutra

The Blood Bowl Sutra is a text of Chinese origin, composed between the 12th and 13th century. This short sutra describes Maudgalyāyana, a disciple of the Buddga, descending to hell to save his mother. He finds her accompanied by other women who are being tormented. The women are submerged in a pool of blood consisting of menstrual and birth blood. Six times a day, the women are tortured into drinking this blood.

The sutra explains that the women are being punished because blood produced by their bodies spills on to the ground and offends the earth gods, or may end up in rivers and therefore the tea that holy men drink. Essentially, the blood is seen as pollution.

In Japan in the 15th century, talismans and cults proliferated to offer people the chance to escape Blood Bowl Hell. Although the sutra contains a stigma of menstrual blood, it is possible that this talisman trade, which occurred 200 years after it was written, was more due to broader concerns about pollution and political instability in the era. 

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: The Pool of Blood and Fish, The gates to Taizong’s Hell Scroll L, Taiwan, 19th Century