Beijing Dongyue Temple

This guide to Beijing Dongyue Temple treats the courtyard's seventy-six shrine rooms as literal offices of the Taoist afterlife, begun in 1319 by the Yuan official Zhang Liusun for the God of Mount Tai and finished by his disciple three years later. You'll pass departments staffed by pig-faced clerks and rabbit-robed officials, including one built for souls who died suddenly or by misadventure rather than old age. Listen for the names painted above each doorway as you go.