ABSTRACT
https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315828060/49546f0e-ce84-4e70-9b40-7107f16ee305/content/ufig_t_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>HE numerous examples of legends and beliefs which deal with what befalls the soul after death given in this volume are sufficient to prove that the main framework of the Hung ritual deals with this important subject. We have seen that although the ritual itself is coloured by beliefs peculiar to the Taoists and Buddhists of China, yet they themselves are working on a framework which is common to almost every race under the sun. It is not necessary therefore to labour the point any further, and we can now turn to consider another aspect of the ritual, namely, its mystical interpretation. We have said that the allegory of the journey of the soul also forms an important part in most mystical teaching, and is found thus used in Western Rites as well as in the Far East. But although it forms an important part it does not constitute the complete mystical allegory, and it is therefore encumbent on us to see whether parts of the mystical allegory which symbolically precede the descent into Hell and the Mystic Resurrection, are not also represented in the ceremonies of the Hung Society.
