The stories of Wei Cheng killing the dragon in his dream, the descent of the Emperor T'ai Tsung of the T'ang dynasty to Hades, Judge Ts'ui altering the Records of Life and Death, and T'ai Tsung's return to the living world had a widespread and lasting influence on the popular conception of the underworld.
由魏徵夢中斬龍開始，有唐太宗生魂入冥、崔判官改生死簿、太宗回陽等，成為玄奘西方取經的緣起，而由於「西遊記」數百年來廣為流傳，影響殊大，十殿閻王的說法也就固定了。