King Yama

Known as 阎罗王 or 阎罗天子.

King Yama ordered his subordinates to bring him every new person that comes to hell for questioning. The King asks five questions.

Have you seen:
01.Small baby.
02.Aged person.
03.Dead person.
04.A corpse.
05.Someone who is punished (A Convict in punishment).

The idea of these questions is to make the new being in hell think of some wholesome deed which he has performed in his previous life, so that he could escape hell and get in to a better state of existence.

It is stated in one place in the scriptures that there came a man who was born hell and could not remember any good deed that he had done. But King Yama was aware that this man has offered a flag to a Pagoda and dedicated the merits to King Yama.

When King Yama brought this up he remembered it and was saved from hell an
was born in heaven.

Thus King Yama is helping people to escape the suffering in hell and tries to make them remember their past good actions which can pave the way to be born in heaven.