Near-Death Experiences from Ancient China

The earliest known account of a near-death experience from an actual documentary source (as opposed to a religious or mythological one) comes from ancient China - around 2,600 years ago.  

It forms part of a slightly later account, both of which are concerned with validating prophecies received in the other world.  This had political motivations as well as spiritual ones - though both were grounded in proving the reality of the NDE.  

These two accounts are included in October's Historical NDE of the Month - exclusive for all Patrons on my Patreon page. New to Patreon? Click here to sign up or learn more.

Detail of a roughly contemporary funerary banner from the tomb of Lady Dai of Han Dynasty, depicting stages of an afterlife journey.  Such paintings were intended as guides to the afterlife, to help the deceased on his or her journey and to avoid dangers that might be encountered along the way.  They also give us insight into the types of experiences our ancient NDErs might have expected, or the way they might have processed and visually interpreted the experience.