''Shen'' (神) is the Chinese word for "deity", "spirit", heart, inclusive and community mind, or future mind. The Japanese equivalent is '' shin''. This single Chinese term expresses a range of similar, yet differing, meanings. The first meaning may refer to spirits or gods that are intimately involved in the affairs of the world. Spirits generate entities like rivers, mountains, thunder and stars. A second meaning of shen refers to the human spirit or psyche; it is the basic power or agency within humans that accounts for life, and in order to further life to its fullest potential the spirit is transformed to actualise potential. A third understanding of shen describes an entity as spiritual in the sense of inspiring awe or wonder because it combines categories usually kept separate, or it cannot be comprehended through normal concepts. In traditional Chinese medicine the physician will describe this as the shimmer or gloss that is seen above the surface of a object. If it has a glow, vitality and luster it has good Shen. A starting point for an understanding is that shen is associated with Heaven, therefore yang, and Earth is associated with jing, which is yin. Heaven is the origin of the spiritual aspect of humanity and provides ongoing spiritual influences, therefore associated with the Heart, while Earth is the origin of the physical aspect of humankind and traditionally related to our Kidneys or lower

Dantian Dantian, dan t'ian, dan tien or tan t'ien is loosely translated as "elixir field", "sea of qi", or simply "energy center". Dantian are the "qi focus flow centers", important focal points for meditative and exercise techniques such as qigong, m ...

. The ongoing harmonious interaction of Heaven and Earth creates QI therefore Human and is essential to maintaining and creating life. It is said in the classics that " The Human is the best creation of Heaven and Earth". In

Traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, 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 logica ...

Taoist 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 '' Ta ...

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

, and Chinese folk religious tradition, the balance of

yin and yang Yin and yang ( and ) is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but interconnected forces. In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into the cycles of yin and ya ...

is important to provide external harmony and internal health within life therefore preventing injury, illness, or harm to body, mind, spirit, or the environment.

Pronunciation

''Shén'' (in rising 2nd tone) is the

Modern Standard Chinese Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standa ...

pronunciation of "god, deity; spirit, spiritual, supernatural; awareness, consciousness etc". Reconstructions of ''shén'' in

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 ...

(ca. 6th-10th centuries CE) include ''dź'jěn'' ( Bernhard Karlgren, substituting ''j'' for his "yod medial"), ''źiɪn'' (Zhou Fagao), ''ʑin'' ( Edwin G. Pulleyblank, "Late Middle"), and ''zyin'' (William H. Baxter). Reconstructions of ''shén'' in

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 12 ...

(ca. 6th-3rd centuries BCE) include *''djěn'' (Karlgren), *''zdjien'' (Zhou), *''djin'' (

Li Fanggui Li Fang-Kuei (Chinese: 李方桂, Cantonese: Lei5 Fong1 Gwai3 ej˩˨ fɔŋ˦ gʷaj˧, Mandarin: Lǐ Fāngguì i˨ faŋ˦ gʷej˥˩ 20 August 190221 August 1987) was a Chinese linguist known for his studies of the varieties of Chinese, his rec ...

), *''Ljin'' (Baxter), and *''m-lin'' (Axel Schuessler). Although the

etymological 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 form of words an ...

origin of ''shen'' is uncertain, Schuessler notes a possible Sino-Tibetan etymology; compare Chepang ''gliŋh'' "spirit of humans". The Chinese ''shen'' "spirit; etc." is also present in other

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

n languages. The Japanese ''

Kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subse ...

'' is pronounced ''shin'' () or ''jin'' () in ''

On'yomi are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subseq ...

'' (Chinese reading), and ''

kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the ...

'' (), ''kō'' (), or ''tamashii'' () in ''

Kun'yomi are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subseq ...

'' (Japanese reading). The

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

'' is pronounced ''sin'' (). The '' Zihui'' dictionary notes that had a special pronunciation ''shēn'' (level 1st tone, instead of usual 2nd ''shén'') in the name Shen Shu , one of two "gods of the Eastern Sea", along with Yu Lu . In the

Vietnamese language Vietnamese ( vi, tiếng Việt, links=no) is an Austroasiatic language originating from Vietnam where it is the national and official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other j ...

it is pronounced as ''thần''.

Semantics

''Shens polysemous meanings developed diachronically over three millennia. The '' Hanyu dazidian'', an authoritative historical dictionary, distinguishes one meaning for ''shēn'' ("Name of a deity ()) and eleven meanings for ''shén'' translated below: # Celestial god(s)/spirit(s) of stories/legends, namely, the creator of the myriad things in heaven and earth and the supreme being. () # Spirit; mind, mental faculties; consciousness. Like: concentrated attention; tire the mind; concentrate one's energy and attention. () # Expression, demeanor; consciousness, state of mind. () # Portrait, portraiture. () # Magical, supernatural, miraculous; mysterious, abstruse. Like: ability to divine the unknown, amazing foresight; highly skilled doctor; genius, masterpiece. () # Esteem, respect; valuable, precious. () # Rule, govern, administer. () # Cautious, careful, circumspect. () # Display, arrange, exhibit. () # Dialect. 1. Dignity, distinction. () 2. Entrancement, ecstasy. () 3. Clever, intelligent. () # Surname, family name. () This dictionary entry for ''shen'' lists early usage examples, and many of these 11 meanings were well attested prior to the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

Chinese classic texts Chinese classic texts or canonical texts () or simply dianji (典籍) refers to the Chinese texts which originated before the imperial unification by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, particularly the "Four Books and Five Classics" of the Neo-Confucian ...

use ''shen'' in meanings 1 "spirit; god", 2 "spirit, mind; attention", 3 "expression; state of mind", 5 "supernatural", and meaning 6 "esteem". The earliest examples of meaning 4 "portrait" are in

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

texts. Meanings 7-9 first occur in early Chinese dictionaries; the ''

Erya The ''Erya'' or ''Erh-ya'' is the first surviving Chinese dictionary. Bernhard Karlgren (1931:49) concluded that "the major part of its glosses must reasonably date from the 3rd century BC." Title Chinese scholars interpret the first title ch ...

'' defines ''shen'' in meanings 7 "govern" and 8 "cautious" (and 6, which is attested elsewhere), and the '' Guangya'' defines meaning 9 "display". Meaning 10 gives three usages in Chinese dialects (technically "topolects", see Fangyan). Meaning 11 "a surname" is exemplified in

Shennong Shennong (), variously translated as "Divine Farmer" or "Divine Husbandman", born Jiang Shinian (), was a mythological Chinese ruler known as the first Yan Emperor who has become a deity in Chinese and Vietnamese folk religion. He is vene ...

("Divine Farmer"), the

culture hero A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group (cultural, ethnic, religious, etc.) who changes the world through invention or discovery. Although many culture heroes help with the creation of the world, most culture heroes are im ...

and inventor of agriculture 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 ...

. The Chinese language has many compounds of ''shen''. For instance, it is compounded with ''tian'' "sky; heaven; nature; god" in ''tianshen'' "celestial spirits; heavenly gods; deities; (Buddhism) deva", with ''shan'' "mountain" in ''shanshen'' "mountain spirit", and ''hua'' "speech; talk; saying; story" in ''shenhua'' "mythology; myth; fairy tale". Several ''shen'' "spirit; god" compounds use names for other supernatural beings, for example, ''ling'' "spirit; soul" in ''shenling'' "gods; spirits, various deities", ''qi'' "earth spirit" in ''shenqi'' "celestial and terrestrial spirits", ''xian'' "

Xian (Taoism) ''Xian'' () refers to a person or similar entity having a long life or being immortal. The concept of ''xian'' has different implications dependent upon the specific context: philosophical, religious, mythological, or other symbolic or cultural ...

, transcendent" in ''shenxian'' "spirits and immortals; divine immortal", ''guai'' "spirit; devil; monster" in ''shenguai'' "spirits and demons; gods and spirits", and ''gui'' "ghost, goblin; demon, devil" in ''guishen'' "ghosts and spirits; supernatural beings". The earliest discovered character form for shen suggests two components. The right side of the character gives the basic meaning and pronunciation, as well as providing a graphic representation of flashing lightning from the clouds. This visual displays ancient people’s belief that lightning was the manifestation of god.1 The left side displays a modified character shi which pertains to ritual ceremonies, worship, or prayer. This concept originally referred to stone table used for offering ceremonial sacrifices to the gods. Wing-Tsit Chan distinguishes four philosophical meanings of this ''guishen'': "spiritual beings", "ancestors", "gods and demons", and "positive and negative spiritual forces". The primary meaning of ''shen'' is translatable as English "spirit, spirits, Spirit, spiritual beings; celestial spirits; ancestral spirits" or "god, gods, God; deity, deities, supernatural beings", etc. ''Shen'' is sometimes loosely translated as "soul", but Chinese hun and po distinguishes ''hun'' "spiritual soul" and ''po'' "physical soul". Instead of struggling to translate ''shen'' , it can be transliterated as a loanword. The ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

'' (2nd ed.) defines ''shen'', "In Chinese philosophy: a god, person of supernatural power, or the spirit of a dead person." In acupuncture, ''shen'' is a pure spiritual energy devoid of memory and personality traits, whereas ''hun'' is the spiritual energy associated with the personality and ''po'' the energy tied to the sustenance of the physical body. In this system, ''shen'' resides in the heart and departs first at death, ''hun'' resides in the liver and departs second, and ''po'' resides in the lungs and departs last. ''Shen'' plays a central role in Christian translational disputes over Chinese terms for God. Among the early Chinese "god; God" names, ''

shangdi Shangdi (), also written simply, "Emperor" (), is the Chinese term for "Supreme Deity" or "Highest Deity" in the theology of the classical texts, especially deriving from Shang theology and finding an equivalent in the later ''Tian'' ("Heaven ...

'' or ''di'' was the Shang term, ''

tian ''Tiān'' () is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion. During the Shang dynasty (17th―11th century BCE), the Chinese referred to their supreme god as '' Shàngdì'' (, "L ...

'' was the Zhou term, and ''shen'' was a later usage (see

Feng Yu-Lan Feng Youlan (; 4 December 1895 – 26 November 1990) was a Chinese philosopher, historian, and writer who was instrumental for reintroducing the study of Chinese philosophy in the modern era. The name he published under in English was 'Fun ...

. Modern terms for "God" include ''shangdi'', ''zhu'' , ''tianzhu'' (esp. Catholics), and ''shen'' (esp. Protestants).

Graphics

The character for ''shen'' exemplifies the most common class in Chinese character classification: ''xíngshēngzì'' "pictophonetic compounds, semantic-phonetic compounds", which combine a radical (or classifier) that roughly indicates meaning and 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. ...

that roughly indicates pronunciation. In this case, combines the "altar/worship radical" or and a phonetic of ''shēn'' "9th Earthly Branch; extend, stretch; prolong, repeat". Compare this phonetic element differentiated with the "person radical" in ''shen'' "stretch", the "silk radical" in ''shen'' "official's sash", the "mouth radical" in ''shen'' "chant, drone", the "stone radical" in ''shen'' "arsenic", the "earth radical" in ''kun'' "soil", and the "big radical" in ''yan'' "cover". (See the List of Kangxi radicals.) Chinese ''shen'' "extend" was anciently a

phonetic loan character All Chinese characters are logograms, but several different types can be identified, based on the manner in which they are formed or derived. There are a handful which derive from pictographs () and a number which are ideographic () in origin, ...

for ''shen'' "spirit". The Mawangdui Silk Texts include two copies of the

Dao De Jing The ''Tao Te Ching'' (, ; ) is a Chinese classic text written around 400 BC and traditionally credited to the sage Laozi, though the text's authorship, date of composition and date of compilation are debated. The oldest excavated portion d ...

and the "A Text" writes ''shen'' interchangeably as and : "If one oversees all under heaven in accord with the Way, demons have no spirit. It is not that the demons have no spirit, but that their spirits do not harm people." (chap. 60). The ''

Shuowen Jiezi ''Shuowen Jiezi'' () is an ancient Chinese dictionary from the Han dynasty. Although not the first comprehensive Chinese character dictionary (the '' Erya'' predates it), it was the first to analyze the structure of the characters and to give ...

'' defines ''shen'' as ''shen'' and says that in the 7th lunar month when ''yin'' forces increase, bodies ''shenshu'' "bind up". The earliest written forms of ''shen'' "spirit; god" occur in

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 ...

bronzeware script and

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

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 sea ...

characters (compare the variants shown on the "Chinese etymology" link below). Although has not been identified in

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Dynasties in Chinese history, Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally suc ...

oracle bone script Oracle bone script () is an ancient form of Chinese characters that were engraved on oracle bonesanimal bones or turtle plastrons used in pyromantic divination. Oracle bone script was used in the late 2nd millennium BC, and is the earliest kno ...

records, the phonetic'' shen'' has. Paleographers interpret the Oracle script of as a

pictograph A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and g ...

of a "lightning bolt". This was graphically differentiated between ''dian'' "lightning; electricity" with the "cloud radical" and ''shen'' with the "worship radical", semantically suggesting both "lightning" and "spirits" coming down from the heavens.

References

External links

Seal and Bronze Characters
Chinese Etymology

Subhuti Dharmananda {{Qigong Names of God Taoist philosophy Qigong

Pronunciation

Semantics

Graphics

See also

References

Further reading

External links