Sanzu River

The Sanzu-no-Kawa (三途の川; "Sanzu River", literally the "Three-World River" in reference to Buddhist ideas about realms of existence) is a mythological river in Japanese Buddhist tradition similar to the Chinese concept of Huang Quan (Yellow Springs), Indian concept of the Vaitarani and Greek concept of the Styx.^[1]

For the river in Burundi, see Sanzu River (Burundi).

A depiction of the Sanzu River in Tosa Mitsunobu's Jūō-zu (十王図). The good can cross the river by a bridge while the evil are cast into the dragon-infested rapids.

Before reaching the afterlife, the souls of the deceased must cross the river by one of three crossing points: a bridge, a ford, or a stretch of deep, snake-infested waters.^[2] The weight of one's offenses while alive determines which path an individual must take. It is believed that a toll of six mon must be paid before a soul can cross the river, a belief reflected in Japanese funerals when the necessary fee is placed in the casket with the dead.^[3]

The Sanzu River is popularly believed to be in Mount Osore, a suitably desolate and remote part of Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan.

Similarly to the Sanzu-no-Kawa, there is also the Sai no Kawara (賽の河原; "River-plain of the Dead"), a boundary by which the souls of children who died too early cross over to the realm of the Dead, with the help of Jizō-bosatsu (Bohdisattva Jizō) who helps the souls of children who died too early to avoid the attentions of the Oni. In the Sai-no-kawara, it is said that there is Datsueba (alias Shozuka-no-Baba) who is an old woman, stripping clothes of the dead.^[4]

Real Sanzu Rivers in Japan

Map

1. in Mutsu, Aomori 41°19′33″N 141°05′46″E (drains from Usori Lake)
2. in Zaō, Miyagi 38°08′39″N 140°29′29″E (confluence with Nigori River)
3. in Kanra, Gunma 36°15′31″N 138°57′09″E (confluence with Shirakura River)
4. in Chōnan, Chiba 35°25′22″N 140°15′54″E (confluence with Ichinomiya River)

See also

• Yomotsu Hirasaka
• Yomi
  • Yama
  • Yama (Buddhism)
  • Naraka
  • Ne-no-kuni
  • Meido
• Higan (彼岸, "The Other Shore") - The other side of the Sanzu River, opposite the Living World's side.
• Bardo - Buddhist mythology
• Gjöll – Norse mythology
• Hitfun - Mandaeism
• Hubur – Mesopotamian mythology
• Styx – Greek mythology
• Vaitarna River (mythological) – Indian religions
• Naihe Bridge - the entrance and exit to the underworld in Taoism and Chinese folk beliefs; the ghosts must pass over this bridge before they can be reincarnated.