Which Taoist deity is the judge of the dead?

The Taoist deity who judges the dead is Yanluo Wang, the ruler and chief judge of the underworld realm called Diyu. He is said to examine the deeds of the deceased and determine their punishment, reward, or route toward reincarnation.

Yanluo Wang’s name derives from Yama, the Indian lord of the dead, whose identity entered Chinese religious traditions through Buddhism. Chinese folk religion and Daoism reshaped him into a stern magistrate within an elaborate bureaucracy of the afterlife. In the common Ten Kings system, Yanluo Wang is usually the fifth judge rather than the only official involved in judgment.

The other options have different roles. Meng Po gives the soup that causes souls to forget their previous lives, while Cheng Huang is a city or local territorial deity and Tu Di refers to local earth gods. Yanluo Wang is sometimes described as Buddhist, Daoist, or part of blended Chinese popular religion, but he remains the standard answer for the judge of the dead.