Now the statutes are set forth below:
1. All transgressions of sexual misconduct related to the ears and eyes: being mentally stirred upon hearing tempting sounds, gazing and lingering with the eyes, stealthily peeking with covert intent, chasing lascivious thoughts and fantasies, casting coquettish or sidelong glances, or gazing directly at tempting objects. Each instance incurs five demerits; forty instances amount to one offence. One offence deducts half a suan of one’s lifespan. A hundred offences deduct three suan of lifespan and downgrade one’s rank of wealth and nobility by one grade. If no rank remains to be downgraded, the offender’s lifespan shall be shortened by half a ji (namely six years). Lifespan and emoluments are reduced according to the transgression, and the offender is entered into the register of the destitute. In this life, karmic retribution manifests as frustrated plans, hardship and utter failure. After death, one falls into the Copper‑Pillar Hell and the Slaughter‑Cutting Hell. Upon rebirth as a human, one shall suffer festering defects of the ears and eyes, and endure poverty and wretchedness.
2. All mouth‑related transgressions of sexual misconduct: delighting in lewd speech, uttering crafty jests that disturb others’ mental resolve, elaborately depicting obscene conduct, uttering slanderous and false words to defame others’ reputations, and recklessly divulging private boudoir affairs. Each instance incurs ten demerits; twenty instances constitute one offence. One offence deducts half a suan of one’s lifespan. A hundred offences deduct three suan of lifespan and downgrade one’s rank of wealth and nobility by one grade. If no rank remains to be downgraded, the offender’s lifespan shall be shortened by half a ji. Lifespan and emoluments are reduced according to the offence, and the offender is entered into the register of the ruined. In this life, karmic retribution takes the form of successive misfortunes, legal calamities, constant ruin and a violent death. After death, one falls into the Vajra Hell, the Cauldron‑Boiling Hell, and the Slaughter‑Cutting Hell. Upon rebirth as a human, one shall be disfigured: crooked nose and mouth, missing or protruding teeth, scorched and festering facial features, bulging eyes, stammering, and the like.
3. All hand‑related transgressions of sexual misconduct: harboring lustful thoughts while moving the hands, committing indecent acts with the hands, taking chances to press against another’s body, seductively teasing, embracing and making lewd advances, and other indecent manual acts. Such transgressions are graded into three degrees according to gravity. Each Grade‑3 instance incurs five demerits; each Grade‑2 instance, fifteen demerits; each Grade‑1 instance, fifty demerits. (Lifespan deductions follow the two preceding articles.) Lifespan and emoluments are reduced according to the offences, and the offender is entered into the register of premature death. In this life, karmic retribution manifests as legal calamities, premature demise, destitution and hardship. After death, one falls into the Copper‑Pillar Hell and the Slaughter‑Cutting Hell. Upon rebirth as a human, one shall suffer contracted hands and feet, impaired mobility, crooked fists or missing fingers, festering sores on the hands, hemiplegia, and the like.
4. All ear-related transgressions of sexual misconduct: delighting in lewd talk, letting one’s mind become bewitched, pursuing sexual misconduct to the neglect of proper duties. Transgressions are graded into three degrees according to gravity. Each Grade‑3 instance incurs five demerits; each Grade‑2 instance, ten demerits; each Grade‑1 instance, twenty demerits. (Lifespan deductions follow the three preceding articles.) Lifespan and emoluments are reduced according to the offence, and the offender is entered into the register of collapse and ruin. In this life, karmic retribution manifests as unceasing dire calamities, ruin and adversity. After death, one falls into the Vajra Hell, the Slaughter‑Cutting Hell, and the Cauldron‑Boiling Hell. Upon rebirth as a human, one shall be disfigured (including the disfigurements listed in the two prior articles, additionally warts, cleft‑lip, missing teeth, and so forth).
The above articles concern the sexual transgressions of the ear, eye, hand and mouth. Of these, transgressions of the hand and mouth are most apt to corrode virtue, even to the point of destroying another’s reputation and endangering life; hence they are graded by severity to determine due punishment.
5. All pen‑related transgressions of sexual misconduct: composing lewd verses and bawdy ballads, circulating obscene texts whose publication harms the world, painting pornographic images to bewilder others’ minds, fabricating unsubstantiated tales to ruin others’ honor, inventing slanderous lewd allegations that breed calamity and harm others. Offences are divided into three grades. For Grade‑3, every five characters incur one demerit; for Grade‑2, every single character incurs one demerit; for Grade‑1, every single character incurs three demerits. The deduction of lifespan and emoluments is increased by three grades, and they are further reduced according to the offences, and the offender is entered into the register of heir‑extinction. Grade‑1 retribution comes in the form of heavenly chastisement; Grade‑2 brings great calamity that exterminates one’s household; Grade‑3 brings unprovoked misfortune, malignant ailments and violent death, or wretchedness and a violent death. For those who cause others to lose their lives, retribution arrives as vengeful violent death or swift calamity leading to a violent death. If the offender has a spouse, children or descendants, they shall suffer retribution through lewd disorder within the family. After death, one falls into the Vajra Hell, the Cauldron‑Boiling Hell, the Copper‑Pillar Hell, or the Avīci Hell. Rebirth occurs only after all circulated works have been completely eradicated. One may be reborn female, reborn into hardship and destitution, or reborn among aquatic beings, enduring want and begging without a good end, before being reborn as sows or bitches.
6. All mind‑related transgressions of sexual misconduct: harboring delusional cravings when illicit unions fail to materialize, nurturing vengeful intent when schemes of seduction miscarry, growing infatuation upon beholding another’s beauty, fostering resentment when others possess what one lacks, succumbing to jealousy when others are fair while one is ugly, indulging in lustful fantasies upon seeing another’s grace and tenderness. Each Grade‑1 instance incurs one hundred demerits; each Grade‑2 instance, fifty demerits; each Grade‑3 instance, twenty demerits. Lifespan and emoluments are reduced according to the offence, and the offender is entered into the register of collapse and ruin. Grade‑1 retribution consists of crushing adversity, ruinous calamity and violent death; Grade‑2 brings successive swift misfortunes and hardship; Grade‑3 brings unprovoked disaster and ruin. After death, one falls into the Cold‑Gloom Hell, the Fire‑Chariot Hell, and the Universal‑Scourging Hell. Upon rebirth, one shall live maimed and displaced, in poverty and wretchedness.
7. The offence of frequenting courtesans with reckless abandon and conceiving lust for those of beauty: ten penalties. Lifespan and emoluments are reduced according to the offence, and the offender is entered into the register of the destitute. In this life, karmic retribution manifests as hardship, want and wretchedness. After death, one falls into the Vajra Hell and the Cauldron‑Boiling Hell. Upon rebirth one is female, wandering and begging, before being reborn as aquatic fowl.
8. The transgressions of licentious promiscuity, priding oneself on romantic prowess, and conceiving lust for those of beauty: ten penalties. Lifespan and emoluments are reduced according to the offence, and the offender is entered into the register of sickness and adversity. In this life, retribution arrives through unprovoked calamity, malignant illness and violent death. After death, one falls into the Universal‑Scourging Hell and the Copper‑Pillar Hell. Reborn with bodily defects and festering sores, one wanders about begging.