Definition

1. Noun:
   • Hell; Hades: A poetic or literary term for the underworld or the realm of the dead in Vietnamese folklore and mythology, often evoking a dark, nine-chambered or nine-branched infernal domain.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Truyền thuyết kể về những linh hồn bị giam cầm dưới chín mối. (Legends tell of souls imprisoned in hell.)
  • Anh ta sợ hãi như thể vừa thoát khỏi chín mối. (He was terrified as if he had just escaped from Hades.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is primarily used in literary, poetic, or traditional folk contexts to create a vivid, archaic image of the afterlife, rather than in everyday conversation.

Variants and Related Words

• Âm phủ (n): The underworld, hell. A more common and general term.
• Địa ngục (n): Hell, inferno. Often with religious (e.g., Buddhist, Christian) connotations.
• Hoàng tuyền (n): The yellow springs; a classical literary term for the land of the dead.

Synonyms

• Inferno
• The netherworld
• The abyss

Related Idioms

• Xuống *chín mối*: To go down to hell; to die.
  • Kẻ phản bội ấy đáng bị đày xuống chín mối. (That traitor deserves to be cast down to hell.)

1. (hình ảnh) hell; hades