A molar pregnancy names a particular abnormality of development after conception. It cannot survive and may end in miscarriage or require treatment to remove the pregnancy tissue. The two terms can therefore describe different aspects of the same event: the condition and the way the pregnancy ended. The NHS explains that molar pregnancy occurs by chance and is not caused by either parent having done something wrong. These medical descriptions concern the physical condition; they do not establish the past-life history attributed to it in the religious account.
There is also a difference between the judge's statement about pills taken after intercourse and the medical meaning of emergency contraception. He condemns such pills as killing, saying that a spirit has already entered the womb and is lost through the medicine. The World Health Organization explains that emergency contraceptive pills prevent or delay ovulation and do not end an established pregnancy. A copper-bearing intrauterine device prevents fertilisation by affecting sperm and egg before they meet. These methods are distinct from medicines used to induce abortion. [5]
Blood imagery and remembrance
Blood-Pollution City also needs to be distinguished from the Blood Pond known in some older Chinese religious traditions. In studies of Jiangnan texts and rites, blood associated with childbirth or menstruation can place women in a condition of ritual pollution. Rites seek their release, sometimes through preparations made by living women and sometimes through ceremonies for the dead. The city in Yinlü Wuqing is inhabited by infant spirits. The shared imagery of blood and suffering does not give the places identical inhabitants or functions. [6]
A person may be grieving a baby they hoped to welcome, recovering from pregnancy loss, or undergoing treatment for a condition that cannot develop into a surviving pregnancy. Their words and needs may differ. Religious remembrance can have a place in that family's care, alongside attention to physical recovery, grief and the support they need now. [4]
Notes
[1] Yinlü Wuqing, vol. 1, ch. 20, on the judge's account of pregnancy, parental relationships, the two cities and the yellow papers. Chapters 21–23 develop the continuing relationship between infant spirits and parents.
[2] Yinlü Wuqing, vol. 1, ch. 23. The judge exempts the unintentional cases he describes from the stated hell penalty while retaining a previous-life karmic explanation and a call for repentance.
[3] Yinlü Wuqing, vol. 1, chs. 23–24, on personal repentance, good deeds, dedication of merit, and differences in time and destination.
[4] NHS, ‘Miscarriage’ and ‘Molar pregnancy’; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ‘About Stillbirth.’ The NHS uses 24 weeks and the CDC 20 weeks to distinguish earlier and later loss. The molar-pregnancy page explains the condition, its possible ending in miscarriage and its causes. These pages also discuss recovery and support. Pages checked 21 October 2026. [Source 1](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/miscarriage/) [Source 2](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/molar-pregnancy/) [Source 3](https://www.cdc.gov/stillbirth/about/index.html)