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''Hun'' () and ''po'' () are types of
souls
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
in
Chinese philosophy
Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period () and Warring States period (), during a period known as the " Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and cultural develop ...
and
traditional religion
In religious studies, an ethnic religion is a religion or belief associated with a particular ethnic group. Ethnic religions are often distinguished from universal religions, such as Christianity or Islam, in which gaining converts is a prima ...
. Within this ancient
soul dualism tradition, every living human has both a spiritual, ethereal,
yang
Yang may refer to:
* Yang, in yin and yang, one half of the two symbolic polarities in Chinese philosophy
* Korean yang, former unit of currency of Korea from 1892 to 1902
* YANG, a data modeling language for the NETCONF network configuration ...
soul which leaves the body after death, and also a corporeal, substantive,
yin
Yin may refer to:
*the dark force in the yin and yang from traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine
*Yīn (surname) (), a Chinese surname
*Yǐn (surname) (), a Chinese surname
*Shang dynasty, also known as the Yin dynasty
**Yinxu or Yin, the S ...
soul which remains with the corpse of the deceased. Some controversy exists over the number of souls in a person; for instance, one of the traditions within
Daoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...
proposes a soul structure of ; that is, "three and seven ". The historian
Yü Ying-shih describes and as "two pivotal concepts that have been, and remain today, the key to understanding Chinese views of the human soul and the afterlife".
Characters
![魂-seal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/%E9%AD%82-seal.svg)
The
Chinese characters
Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji ...
and for and typify the most common
character classification of "radical-phonetic" or "phono-semantic" graphs, which combine a "
radical" or "signific" (recurring graphic elements that roughly provide
semantic information) with a "
phonetic
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...
" (suggesting ancient
pronunciation
Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specific dialect ("correct pronunciation") or simply the way a particular ...
). (or ) and have the "ghost radical" "ghost; devil" and phonetics of "cloud; cloudy" and "white; clear; pure".
Besides the common meaning of "a soul", was a
variant Chinese character
Variant Chinese characters (; Kanji: ; Hepburn: ''itaiji''; ; Revised Romanization: ''icheja'') are Chinese characters that are homophones and synonyms. Most variants are allographs in most circumstances, such as casual handwriting. Some context ...
for "a
lunar phase" and "dregs". The ''
Book of Documents'' used as a graphic variant for "dark aspect of the moon" – this character usually means "overlord; hegemon". For example, "On the third month, when (the growth phase, ) of the moon began to wane, the duke of Chow
.e.,_Duke_of_Zhou.html"_;"title="Duke_of_Zhou.html"_;"title=".e.,_Duke_of_Zhou">.e.,_Duke_of_Zhou">Duke_of_Zhou.html"_;"title=".e.,_Duke_of_Zhou">.e.,_Duke_of_Zhoucommenced_the_foundations,_and_proceeded_to_build_the_new_great_city_of_Lǒ"._The_''Zhuangzi_(book).html" "title="Duke_of_Zhou">.e.,_Duke_of_Zhou.html" ;"title="Duke_of_Zhou.html" ;"title=".e., Duke of Zhou">.e., Duke of Zhou">Duke_of_Zhou.html" ;"title=".e., Duke of Zhou">.e., Duke of Zhoucommenced the foundations, and proceeded to build the new great city of Lǒ". The ''Zhuangzi (book)">Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi may refer to:
* ''Zhuangzi'' (book) (莊子), an ancient Chinese collection of anecdotes and fables, one of the foundational texts of Daoism
**Zhuang Zhou
Zhuang Zhou (), commonly known as Zhuangzi (; ; literally "Master Zhuang"; als ...
'' "[Writings of] Master Zhuang" wrote (lit. "rotten dregs") "worthless; unwanted; waste matter" with a variant. A wheelwright sees Duke Huan of Qi with books by dead sages and says, "what you are reading there is nothing but the [] chaff and dregs of the men of old!".
In the history of writing#Chinese writing, history of Chinese writing, characters for "lunar brightness" appeared before those for "soul; spirit". The spiritual and "dual souls" are first recorded in
Warring States period
The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...
(475–221 BCE)
seal script
Seal script, also sigillary script () is an ancient style of writing Chinese characters that was common throughout the latter half of the 1st millennium BC. It evolved organically out of the Zhou dynasty bronze script. The Qin variant of seal ...
characters. The lunar or "moon's brightness" appears in both
Zhou dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by ...
(1045–256 BCE)
Bronzeware script
Chinese bronze inscriptions, also commonly referred to as bronze script or bronzeware script, are writing in a variety of Chinese scripts on ritual bronzes such as ''zhōng'' bells and '' dǐng'' tripodal cauldrons from the Shang dynasty (2nd mi ...
and
oracle bone script
Oracle bone script () is an ancient form of Chinese characters that were engraved on oracle bonesanimal bones or Turtle shell#Plastron, turtle plastrons used in pyromancy, pyromantic divination. Oracle bone script was used in the late 2nd millen ...
, but not in
Shang dynasty
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
(ca. 1600–1046 BCE) oracle inscriptions. The earliest form of this "lunar brightness" character was found on a (c. 11th century BCE) Zhou oracle bone inscription.
Etymologies
The soul's
etymology
Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
is better understood than the soul's. Schuessler reconstructs "'spiritual soul' which makes a human personality" and "vegetative or animal soul ... which accounts for growth and physiological functions" as
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...
''γuən'' and ''pʰak'' from
Old Chinese
Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 ...
*''wûn'' and *''phrâk''.
The (c. 80 CE) gave pseudo-etymologies for and through Chinese character puns. It explains with "deliver; pass on; impart; spread" and "
rue
''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of ''Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Balkan Peninsula. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for its bluis ...
(used to keep insects out of books); to weed", and with " compel; force; coerce; urgent" and "white; bright".
What do the words and [] mean? expresses the idea of continuous propagation ([] ), unresting flight; it is the of the Lesser Yang, working in man in an external direction, and it governs the nature (or the instincts, [] ). [] expresses the idea of a continuous pressing urge ([] ) on man; it is the [] of the Lesser Yin, and works in him, governing the emotions ([] ). is connected with the idea of weeding ([] ), for with the instincts the evil weeds (in man's nature) are removed. [] is connected with the idea of brightening ([] ), for with the emotions the interior (of the personality) is governed.
Etymologically, Schuessler says "animal soul" "is the same word as" "a
lunar phase". He cites the (534 BCE, see below) using the lunar to mean "With the first development of a fetus grows the vegetative soul".
, the soul responsible for growth, is the same as the waxing and waning of the moon". The meaning 'soul' has probably been transferred from the moon since men must have been aware of lunar phases long before they had developed theories on the soul. This is supported by the etymology 'bright', and by the inverted word order which can only have originated with meteorological expressions ... The association with the moon explains perhaps why the soul is classified as Yin ... in spite of the etymology 'bright' (which should be Yang), hun's Yang classification may be due to the association with clouds and by extension sky, even though the word invokes 'dark'. 'Soul' and 'moon' are related in other cultures, by cognation or convergence, as in Tibeto-Burman
The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non- Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people spea ...
and Proto- Lolo–Burmese *''s/ʼ-la'' "moon; soul; spirit", Written Tibetan
The Tibetan script is a segmental writing system (''abugida'') of Indic origin used to write certain Tibetic languages, including Tibetan, Dzongkha, Sikkimese, Ladakhi, Jirel and Balti. It has also been used for some non-Tibetic languages ...
cognates ''bla'' "soul" and ''zla'' "moon", and Proto- Miao–Yao *''bla'' "spirit; soul; moon".
Lunar associations of are evident in the
Classical Chinese
Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning
"literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning
"literar ...
terms "the moon" (with "toad;
toad in the moon; moon") and "moon; moonlight" (with "white; bright; luminous").
The semantics of "white soul" probably originated with "lunar whiteness". Zhou bronze inscriptions commonly recorded lunar phases with the terms "after the brightness has grown" and "after the brightness has died", which Schuessler explains as "second quarter of the lunar month" and "last quarter of the lunar month". Chinese scholars have variously interpreted these two terms as lunar quarters or fixed days, and
Wang Guowei
Wang Guowei (; 2 December 18772 June 1927) or Wang Kuo-wei, courtesy name Jing'an () or Boyu (), was a Chinese historian and poet. A versatile and original scholar, he made important contributions to the studies of ancient history, epigraphy, ph ...
's lunar-quarter analysis the most likely. Thus, is from the 7th/8th to the 14th/15th days of the lunar month and is from the 23rd/24th to the end of the month. Yü translates them as "after the birth of the crescent" and "after the death of the crescent". Etymologically, lunar and spiritual < ''pʰak'' < *''phrâk'' are cognate with < ''bɐk'' < *''brâk'' "white". According to
Hu Shih
Hu Shih (; 17 December 1891 – 24 February 1962), also known as Hu Suh in early references, was a Chinese diplomat, essayist, literary scholar, philosopher, and politician. Hu is widely recognized today as a key contributor to Chinese libera ...
, etymologically means "white, whiteness, and bright light"; "The primitive Chinese seem to have regarded the changing phases of the moon as periodic birth and death of its [], its 'white light' or soul." Yü says this ancient association between the soul and the "growing light of the new moon is of tremendous importance to our understanding of certain myths related to the seventh day of the months." Two celebrated examples in
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions.
Much of t ...
are
Xi Wangmu and Emperor Wu meeting on the seventh day of the first lunar month and
The Princess and the Cowherd or
Qixi Festival
The Qixi Festival ( zh, 七夕), also known as the Qiqiao Festival ( zh, 七巧, links=no), is a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of Zhinü and Niulang in Chinese mythology... The festival is celebrated on the seventh day of the ...
held on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.
The etymology of < ''γuən'' < *''wûn'' is comparatively less certain. Hu said, "The word is etymologically the same as the word , meaning "clouds." The clouds float about and seem more free and more active than the cold, white-lighted portion of the growing and waning moon." Schuessler cites two possibilities.
Since is the 'bright' soul, is the 'dark' soul and therefore cognate to 'cloud', perhaps in the sense of 'shadowy' because some believe that the soul will live after death in a world of shadows.
Semantics
The correlative "soul" words and have several meanings in Chinese plus many translations and explanations in English. The table below shows translation equivalents from some major
Chinese-English dictionaries.
Both Chinese and are translatable as English "
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...
" or "spirit", and both are basic components in "soul"
compounds. In the following examples, all Chinese-English translation equivalents are from DeFrancis.
* "soul; psyche"
* "soul; spirit"
* "(colloquial) soul; ghost"
* "soul; spirit; apparition"
* "soul; three finer spirits and several baser instincts that motivate a human being"
* "soul"
and are the most frequently used among these "soul" words.
Joseph Needham and
Lu Gwei-djen
Lu Gwei-djen (; July 22, 1904 – November 28, 1991) was a Chinese biochemist and historian. She was an expert on the history of science and technology in China and a researcher of nutriology. She was an important researcher and co-author of ...
, eminent
historians of science and technology in China, define and in modern terms. "Peering as far as one can into these ancient psycho-physiological ideas, one gains the impression that the distinction was something like that between what we would call motor and sensory activity on the one hand, and also voluntary as against vegetative processes on the other."
Farzeen Baldrian-Hussein cautions about and translations: "Although the term "souls" is often used to refer to them, they are better seen as two types of vital entities, the source of life in every individual. The is Yang, luminous, and volatile, while the is Yin, somber, and heavy."
History
Origin of terms
Based on usages of and in four historical contexts, Yü extrapolates that was the original name for a human soul, and the dualistic conception of and "began to gain currency in the middle of the sixth century" BCE.
Two earlier 6th century contexts used the soul alone. Both describe "heaven; god" "seizing; taking away" a person's , which resulted in a loss of mental faculties. In 593 BCE (Duke Xuan 15th year), after Zhao Tong behaved inappropriately at the Zhou court, an observer predicted: "In less than ten years [Zhao Tong] will be sure to meet with great calamity. Heaven has taken his [] wits away from him." In 543 BCE (Duke Xiang 29th year, Boyou from the state of
Zheng Zheng may refer to:
*Zheng (surname), Chinese surname (鄭, 郑, ''Zhèng'')
*Zheng County, former name of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, China
*Guzheng (), a Chinese zither with bridges
*Qin Shi Huang (259 BC – 210 BC), emperor of the Qin Dynasty, ...
acted irrationally, which an official interpreted as: "Heaven is destroying [Boyou], and has taken away his [] reason." Boyou's political enemies subsequently arranged to take away his hereditary position and assassinate him.
Two later sixth-century contexts used together with the soul. In 534 BCE, the ghost of Boyou (above) was seeking revenge on his murderers, and terrifying the people of Zheng (Duke Zhao, Year &). The philosopher and statesman
Zi Chan
Gongsun Qiao (), died 522 BC, was better known by his courtesy name Zichan () ( WG: Tzu Ch'an). From 544 BC until his death, he served as the chief minister of the State of Zheng. His ancestral surname was Ji (姬), and clan name Guo (國). As pol ...
, realizing that Boyou's loss of hereditary office had caused his spirit to be deprived of sacrifices, reinstated his son to the family position, and the ghost disappeared. When a friend asked Zi Chan to explain ghosts, he gave what Yu calls "the on the subject of the human soul in the Chinese tradition".
Compare the translation of Needham and Lu, who interpret this as an early Chinese discourse on embryology.
In 516 BCE (Duke Zhao, Year 20), the Duke of
Song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...
and a guest named Shusun were both seen weeping during a supposedly joyful gathering. Yue Qi , a Song court official, said:
Hu proposed, "The idea of a may have been a contribution from the southern peoples" (who originated rituals) and then spread to the north sometime during the sixth century BCE. Calling this southern hypothesis "quite possible", Yü cites the , associated with the southern state of
Chu, demonstrating "there can be little doubt that in the southern tradition the was regarded as a more active and vital soul than the . The uses 65 times and 5 times (4 in , which the uses interchangeably with ).
Relation to yin-yang
The identification of the principle with the and souls evidently occurred in the late fourth and early third centuries BCE, and by "the second century at the latest, the Chinese dualistic conception of soul had reached its definitive formulation." The (11), compounds and with "breath; life force" and "form; shape; body" in and . "The [] intelligent spirit returns to heaven the [] body and the animal soul return to the earth; and hence arose the idea of seeking (for the deceased) in sacrifice in the unseen darkness and in the bright region above." Compare this modern translation, "The breath-soul (''hun-ch'I'' ) returns to heaven; the bodily soul (''hsing-p'o'' ) returns to earth. Therefore, in sacrificial-offering one should seek the meaning in the principle." Yü summarizes / dualism.
Loewe explains with a candle metaphor; the physical is the "wick and substance of a candle", the spiritual and are the "force that keeps the candle alight" and "light that emanates from the candle".
Traditional medical beliefs
The Yin and Yang were correlated with Chinese spiritual and medical beliefs. is associated with "spirit; god" and with
"ghost; demon; devil". The (c. 1st century BCE) medical text spiritually applies
Wu Xing Wuxing may refer to:
Places in China Counties and districts
*Huzhou, formerly Wuxing County, Zhejiang, China
*Wuxing District (吴兴区), central district of Huzhou
Subdistricts (五星街道)
*Wuxing Subdistrict, Mudanjiang, in Dong'an District ...
"Five Phase" theory to the "organs", associating the soul with
liver (Chinese medicine)
The Liver () is one of the zàng organs stipulated by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). It is a functionally defined entity and not equivalent to the anatomical organ of the same name.
In the context of the zang-fu concept
As a zàng, the Liv ...
and blood, and the soul with
lung (Chinese medicine)
The lungs () is one of the zang organs described in traditional Chinese medicine. It is a functionally-defined entity and not equivalent to the anatomical organ of the same name.
In the context of the zang-fu organs
The Lung is a zang organ meani ...
and breath.
The also records that the and souls taking flight can cause restless dreaming, and eye disorders can scatter the souls causing mental confusion. Han medical texts reveal that and departing from the body does not necessarily cause death but rather distress and sickness. Brashier parallels the translation of and , "If one were to put an English word to them, they are our 'wits', our ability to demarcate clearly, and like the English concept of "wits," they can be scared out of us or can dissipate in old age."
![CapitalMuseum14](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/CapitalMuseum14.jpg)
Burial customs
During the
Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
, the belief in and remained prominent, although there was a great diversity of different, sometimes contradictory, beliefs about the afterlife. Han burial customs provided nourishment and comfort for the with the placement of
grave goods
Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body.
They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...
, including food, commodities, and even
money
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...
within the tomb of the deceased.
Chinese jade was believed to delay the decomposition of a body. Pieces of jade were commonly placed in bodily orifices, or rarely crafted into
jade burial suits.
Separation at death
Generations of sinologists have repeatedly asserted that Han-era people commonly believed the heavenly and earthly souls separated at death, but recent scholarship and archeology suggest that dualism was more an academic theory than a popular faith.
Anna Seidel analyzed funerary texts discovered in Han tombs, which mention not only souls but also remaining with entombed corpses, and wrote, "Indeed, a clear separation of a , appeased with the wealth included in the tomb, from a departed to heavenly realms is not possible." Seidel later called for reappraising Han abstract notions of and , which "do not seem to have had as wide a currency as we assumed up to now." Pu Muzhou surveyed usages of the words and on Han Dynasty "
stele" erected at graves and shrines, and concluded, "The thinking of ordinary people seems to have been quite hazy on the matter of what distinguished the from the ."
[Tr. .] These stele texts contrasted souls between a corporeal or at the cemetery and a spiritual at the family shrine. Kenneth Brashier reexamined the evidence for dualism and relegated it "to the realm of scholasticism rather than general beliefs on death." Brashier cited several Han sources (grave deeds, ''
Book of the Later Han'', and ''
Jiaoshi Yilin ''Jiaoshi Yilin'' ( (or just "Mr. Jiao's Many Thoughts on the Book of Changes") is a Chinese book of divination composed during the Western Han Dynasty. Modeled on the ''I Ching'', the work was attributed to Jiao Yanshou (焦延壽, see :zh:焦贛 ...
'') attesting beliefs that "the ''hun'' remains in the grave instead of flying up to heaven", and suggested it "was sealed into the grave to prevent its escape." Another Han text, the says, "The vital energy of the of a dead person floats away; therefore a mask is made in order to retain it.
and souls, explains Yü, "are regarded as the very essence of the mind, the source of knowledge and intelligence. Death is thought to follow inevitably when the and the leave the body. We have reason to believe that around this time the idea of was still relatively new."
![Mawangdui silk banner from tomb no1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Mawangdui_silk_banner_from_tomb_no1.jpg)
Soon after death, it was believed that a person's and could be temporarily reunited through a ritual called the "recall; return", "summon the soul", or "to summon the -soul to reunite with the -soul". The earliest known account of this ritual is found in the (3rd century BCE) poems "Summons of the Soul" and "
The Great Summons
"The Great Summons" or ''"Da Zhao"'' ()
is one of the poems anthologized in the ancient Chinese poetry collection, the ''Chu ci'', also known as ''The Songs of the South''. "The Great Summons" consists of a single poem without introduction or epil ...
". For example, the
Yang () summons a man's soul in the "Zhao Hun".
Daoism
and spiritual concepts were important in several
Daoist
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Tao ...
traditions. For instance, "Since the volatile is fond of wandering and leaving the body during sleep, techniques were devised to restrain it, one of which entailed a method of staying constantly awake."
The "three and seven " were anthropomorphized and visualized.
Ge Hong's (c. 320 CE) frequently mentions the and "ethereal and gross souls". The "Genii" Chapter argues that the departing of these dual souls cause illness and death.
All men, wise or foolish, know that their bodies contain ethereal as well as gross breaths, and that when some of them quit the body, illness ensues; when they all leave him, a man dies. In the former case, the magicians have amulets for restraining them; in the latter case, ''The Rites'' .e., provide ceremonials for summoning them back. These breaths are most intimately bound up with us, for they are born when we are, but over a whole lifetime probably nobody actually hears or sees them. Would one conclude that they do not exist because they are neither seen nor heard? (2)
This "magicians" translates
fangshi
''Fangshi'' () were Chinese technical specialists who flourished from the third century BCE to the fifth century CE. English translations of ''fangshi'' include alchemist, astrologer, diviner, exorcist, geomancer, doctor, magician, monk, myst ...
"doctor; diviner' magician". Both and "Daoist priests" developed methods and rituals to summon and back into a person's body. The "Gold and Cinnabar" chapter records a
Daoist alchemical reanimation pill that can return the and souls to a recent corpse: "The Great One's Elixir Method for Summoning Souls".
In T'ai-i's elixir for Summoning Gross and Ethereal Breaths the five minerals .e.,_cinnabar,_realgar.html" ;"title="cinnabar.html" ;"title=".e., cinnabar">.e., cinnabar, realgar">cinnabar.html" ;"title=".e., cinnabar">.e., cinnabar, realgar, arsenolite, malachite, and magnetite] are used and sealed with Six-One lute as in the Nine-crucible cinnabars. It is particularly effective for raising those who have died of a stroke. In cases where the corpse has been dead less than four days, force open the corpse's mouth and insert a pill of this elixir and one of sulphur, washing them down its gullet with water. The corpse will immediately come to life. In every case the resurrected remark that they have seen a messenger with a baton of authority summoning them. (4)
For visualizing the ten souls, the "Truth on Earth" chapter recommends taking "great medicines" and practicing a "divide/multiply the body"
multilocation technique.
My teacher used to say that to preserve Unity was to practice jointly Bright Mirror, and that on becoming successful in the mirror procedure a man would be able to multiply his body to several dozen all with the same dress and facial expression. My teacher also used to say that you should take the great medicines diligently if you wished to enjoy Fullness of Life, and that you should use metal solutions and a multiplication of your person if you wished to communicate with the gods. By multiplying the body, the three and the seven are automatically seen within the body, and in addition it becomes possible to meet and visit the powers of heaven and the deities of earth and to have all the gods of the mountains and rivers in one's service. (18)
The Daoist
Shangqing School
The Shangqing School (Chinese:上清派), also known as Supreme Clarity or Highest Clarity is a Taoist movement that began during the aristocracy of the Western Jin dynasty. Shangqing can be translated as either 'Supreme Clarity' or 'Highest Clari ...
has several meditation techniques for visualizing the and . In Shangqing
Neidan
Neidan, or internal alchemy (), is an array of esoteric doctrines and physical, mental, and spiritual practices that Taoist initiates use to prolong life and create an immortal spiritual body that would survive after death. Also known as Jindan ...
"Internal Alchemy", Baldrian-Hussein says,
the plays a particularly somber role as it represents the passions that dominate the . This causes the vital force to decay, especially during sexual activity, and eventually leads to death. The inner alchemical practice seeks to concentrate the vital forces within the body by reversing the respective roles of and , so that the (Yang) controls the (Yin).
Number of souls
The number of human "souls" has been a long-standing source of controversy among Chinese religious traditions. Stevan Harrell concludes, "Almost every number from one to a dozen has at one time or another been proposed as the correct one." The most commonly believed numbers of "souls" in a person are one, two, three, and ten.
One "soul" or is the simplest idea. Harrell gives a fieldwork example.
When rural Taiwanese perform ancestral sacrifices at home, they naturally think of the in the tablet; when they take offerings to the cemetery, they think of it in the grave; and when they go on shamanistic trips, they think of it in the world. Because the contexts are separate, there is little conflict and little need for abstract reasoning about a nonexistent problem.
Two "souls" is a common folk belief, and reinforced by theory. These paired souls can be called and , and , or and .
Three "souls" comes from widespread beliefs that the soul of a dead person can exist in the multiple locations. The missionary
Justus Doolittle Justus Doolittle (; Pinyin: ''Lú Gōngmíng''; Foochow Romanized: ''Lù Gŭng-mìng''; June 23, 1824, Rutland, New York - June 15, 1880, Clinton, New York) was an American Board missionary to China.
Life
Justus Doolittle was born in Rutland, New ...
recorded that Chinese people in
Fuzhou
Believe each person has ''three distinct'' souls while living. These souls separate at the death of the adult to whom they belong. One resides in the ancestral tablet erected to his memory, if the head of a family; another lurks in the coffin or the grave, and the third departs to the infernal regions to undergo its merited punishment.
Ten "souls" of "three and seven " is not only Daoist; "Some authorities would maintain that the three-seven "soul" is basic to all Chinese religion". During the Later Han period, Daoists fixed the number of souls at three and the number of souls at seven. A newly deceased person may return () to his home at some nights, sometimes one week () after his death and the seven po would disappear one by one every 7 days after death. According to Needham and Lu, "It is a little difficult to ascertain the reason for this, since fives and sixes (if they corresponded to the viscera) would have rather been expected." Three may stand for the "three principles of social order: relationships between ruler-subject, father-child, and husband-wife". Seven may stand for the "seven apertures (in the head, eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth)" or the "seven emotions (joy, anger, sorrow, fear, worry, grief, fright)" in
traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of acti ...
. Sanhunqipo also stand for other names.
See also
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Soul dualism, similar beliefs in other animism belief systems.
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Mitama
The Japanese word refers to the spirit of a ''kami'' or the soul of a dead person. It is composed of two characters, the first of which, , is simply an honorific. The second, means "spirit". The character pair 神霊, also read ''mitama'', is ...
*
Ancient Egyptian beliefs about the soul, in which the soul has many parts
* , a religious ceremony in Laos practiced to synchronize the effects of the 32 souls of an individual person, known as .
* , the Chinese underworld, eventually understood as a form of Hell
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Heaven, known in modern Chinese as
* "
Hymn to the Fallen" a piece from , featuring being steadfast and acting as hero-ghosts ().
* , traditional Chinese grave goods
* "
The Great Summons
"The Great Summons" or ''"Da Zhao"'' ()
is one of the poems anthologized in the ancient Chinese poetry collection, the ''Chu ci'', also known as ''The Songs of the South''. "The Great Summons" consists of a single poem without introduction or epil ...
" a piece focused on the .
*
and the in Haitian Vodou; in .
* "", a poem focused on the .
References
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* Review at
Oxford Academic
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Footnotes
Further reading
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External links
page 1461 Kangxi Dictionary
The ''Kangxi Dictionary'' ( (Compendium of standard characters from the Kangxi period), published in 1716, was the most authoritative dictionary of Chinese characters from the 18th century through the early 20th. The Kangxi Emperor of the Qing ...
entries for and
What Is Shen (Spirit)? Appendix: Hun and Po
Singapore Paranormal Investigators – link obsolete
Singapore Paranormal Investigators – link obsolete
Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hun And Po
Chinese culture
Chinese philosophy
Concepts in Chinese folk religion
Afterlife
Spiritualism
pl:Hun (religia chińska)