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Shen (Chinese religion)

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Chinese folk religion
Stylisation of the 禄 lù or 子 zi grapheme, respectively meaning "prosperity", "furthering", "welfare" and "son", "offspring". 字 zì, meaning "word" and "symbol", is a cognate of 子 zi and represents a "son" enshrined under a "roof". The symbol is ultimately a representation of the north celestial pole (Běijí 北极) and its spinning constellations, and as such it is equivalent to the Eurasian symbol of the swastika, 卍 wàn.
Concepts
Theory

Model humanity:

Practices
Institutions and temples
Festivals
Internal traditions
Major cultural forms

Main philosophical traditions:

Ritual traditions:

Devotional traditions:

Zhenkong, "Void of Truth".
Zhenkong, "Void of Truth".

Salvation churches and sects:

Confucian churchesand sects:

Related religions

Shen(Chinese:Thần;pinyin:shén) is aChineseword with senses of deity, god or spirit. TheJapaneseequivalent isshin,as inShinto.This single Chinese term expresses a range of similar, yet differing, meanings.

The first meaning is a generic word for deities which are intimately involved in the affairs of the world, or spirits, such as dead ancestors.[1]Spirits generate entities like rivers, mountains, thunder, and stars.

A second meaning ofshenrefers to the human spirit or psyche that is seen in the body as luster or vigor and in the mind as vitality and enthusiasm; 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 (Shen) is transformed to actualize potential (JingTinh ).[citation needed]

A third understanding ofshendescribes an entity as supernatural in the sense of inspiring awe or wonder because it combines categories usually kept separate, or it cannot be comprehended through normal concepts.[citation needed]

In the traditional Chinese theory ofsanbao,shenis associated with theyangside ofyinandyangand Jing is yin in comparison (Heavenand Earth; Earth tied tojingin particular in traditional Chinese medicine).[citation needed]Heaven is the origin of the spiritual aspect of humanity and provides ongoing spiritual influences, and therefore, it is associated with the heart, while Earth is the origin of the physical aspect of humankind/nature and is traditionally related to our kidneys or lowerdantian.The ongoing harmonious interaction of Heaven and Earth createsqiin this case human and therefore is associated with the spleen, stomach and liver in the middleJiao,which is essential to create balance and harmony of yin and yang, therefore maintaining a good standard of health and creating life.[citation needed]

It is said in the classics that the human is the best creation ofHeavenandEarth.[citation needed]Intraditional Chinese medicine,Taoist,Buddhist,andChinese folk religioustradition, the balance ofyinandyangis important to provide external harmony and internal health within life, thereby preventing injury, illness, or harm to body, mind, spirit, or the environment.[2]

Pronunciation

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Main article:Chinese gods and immortals
Shen
The character as it was carved onbronze inscriptionsin theWestern Zhouperiod (11th–8th centuries BC)
Chinese name
ChineseThần
Literal meaninggod, deity
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinshénⓘ
Wade–Gilesshen
IPA[ʂə̌n]
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingsan4
Southern Min
HokkienPOJsîn
Middle Chinese
Middle Chineseʑiɪn
Old Chinese
Baxter–Sagart (2014)/*Cə.li[n]/
Zhengzhang/*hlin/
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetthần
Chữ HánThần
Korean name
Hangul신
HanjaThần
Transcriptions
Revised Romanizationsin
Japanese name
KanjiThần
Hiragana1.かみ
2. しん
Transcriptions
Revised Hepburn1.kami
2. shin

Shén(in rising 2ndtone) is theModern Standard Chinesepronunciation ofThần"god, deity; spirit, spiritual, supernatural; awareness, consciousness etc". Reconstructions ofshéninMiddle Chinese(ca. 6th-10th centuries CE) includedź'jěn(Bernhard Karlgren,substitutingjfor his "yod medial" ),źiɪn(Zhou Fagao),ʑin(Edwin G. Pulleyblank,"Late Middle" ), andzyin(William H. Baxter). Reconstructions ofshéninOld Chinese(ca. 6th-3rd centuries BCE) include *djěn(Karlgren), *zdjien(Zhou), *djin(Li Fanggui), *Ljin(Baxter), and *m-lin(Axel Schuessler).

Ming dynastyWater and Land Ritual paintingof military and nature spirits.

Although theetymologicalorigin ofshenis uncertain, Schuessler notes a possibleSino-Tibetanetymology; compareChepanggliŋh"spirit of humans".[3]

The ChineseshenThần"spirit; etc." is also present in otherEast Asianlanguages. TheJapaneseKanjiThầnis pronouncedshin(しん) orjin(じん) inOn'yomi(Chinese reading), andkami(かみ),kō(こう), ortamashii(たましい) inKun'yomi(Japanese reading). TheKoreanHanjaThầnis pronouncedsin(신).

TheZihuidictionary notes thatThầnhad a special pronunciationshēn(level 1st tone, instead of usual 2ndshén) in the name Shen ShuThần đồ,one of two "gods of the Eastern Sea", along with Yu LuÚc lũy.

In theVietnamese language,it is pronounced asthần.[further explanation needed]

Ming dynasty painting of the canonization ofLi Zhongas part of the Heavenly Pantheon under theJade Emperor.

Semantics

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Shen'spolysemousmeanings developed diachronically over three millennia. TheHanyu dazidian,an authoritative historical dictionary, distinguishes one meaning forshēn( "a deity (Thần danh)) and eleven meanings forshénThầntranslated below:

  1. Celestial god(s)/spirit(s) of stories/legends, namely, the creator of the myriad things in heaven and earth and the supreme being. (Truyện thuyết trung đích thiên thần, tức thiên địa vạn vật đích sang tạo giả hòa chủ tể giả.)
  2. Spirit; mind, mental faculties; consciousness. Like: concentrated attention; tire the mind; concentrate one's energy and attention. (Tinh thần. Như: Ngưng thần; lao thần; tụ tinh hội thần.)
  3. Expression, demeanor; consciousness, state of mind. (Biểu tình; thần chí.)
  4. Portrait, portraiture. (Tiêu tượng.)
  5. Magical, supernatural, miraculous; mysterious, abstruse. Like: ability to divine the unknown, amazing foresight; highly skilled doctor; genius, masterpiece. (Thần kỳ; huyền diệu. Như: Thần cơ diệu toán; thần y; thần phẩm.)
  6. Esteem, respect; valuable, precious. (Tôn trọng; trân quý.)
  7. Rule, govern, administer. (Trị lý.)
  8. Cautious, careful, circumspect. (Cẩn thận.)
  9. Display, arrange, exhibit. (Trần liệt.)
  10. Dialect. 1. Dignity, distinction. (Uy phong.) 2. Entrancement, ecstasy. (Nhập thần.) 3. Clever, intelligent. (Thông minh.)
  11. Surname, family name. (Tính.)

This dictionary entry forshenlists early usage examples, and many of these 11 meanings were well attested prior to theHan dynasty.Chinese classic textsuseshenin meanings 1 "deity", 2 "spirit, mind; attention", 3 "expression; state of mind", 5 "supernatural", and meaning 6 "esteem". The earliest examples of meaning 4 "portrait" are inSong dynastytexts. Meanings 7-9 first occur in earlyChinese dictionaries;theEryadefinesshenin meanings 7 "govern" and 8 "cautious" (and 6, which is attested elsewhere), and theGuangyadefines meaning 9 "display". Meaning 10 gives three usages in Chinese dialects (technically "topolects", seeFangyan). Meaning 11 "a surname" is exemplified inShennong( "Divine Farmer" ), theculture heroand inventor of agriculture inChinese mythology.

The Chinese language has manycompoundsofshen.For instance, it is compounded withtianThiên"sky; heaven; nature; god" intianshenThiên thần"celestial spirits; heavenly gods; deities; (Buddhism)deva",withshanSơn"mountain" inshanshenSơn thần"mountain spirit", andhuaThoại"speech; talk; saying; story" inshenhuaThần thoại"mythology; myth; fairy tale". Severalshen"spirit; god" compounds use names for other supernatural beings, for example,lingLinh"spirit; soul" inshenlingThần linh"gods; spirits, various deities",qiChỉ"earth spirit" inshenqiThần chỉ"celestial and terrestrial spirits",xianTiên"Xian (Taoism),transcendent "inshenxianThần tiên"spirits and immortals; divine immortal",guaiQuái"spirit; devil; monster" inshenguaiThần quái"spirits and demons; gods and spirits", andguiQuỷ"ghost, goblin; demon, devil" inguishenQuỷ thần"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 Chandistinguishes four philosophical meanings of thisguishen:"spiritual beings", "ancestors", "gods and demons", and "positive and negative spiritual forces".

In ancient times,shenusually refers to heavenly beings whilekueirefers to spirits of deceased human beings. In later-day sacrifices,kuei-shentogether refers to ancestors. In popular religions,shenmeans gods (who are good) and demons (who are not always good). In Neo-Confucianism,kuai-shenmay refer to all these three categories but more often than not, the term refers to the activity of the material force (ch'i). Chang Tsai's dictum, "The negative spirit (kuei) and positive spirit (shen) are the spontaneous activity of the two material forces (yin and yang), "has become the generally accepted definition.[4]

The primary meaning ofshenis translatable in English as god, gods, God; deity, deities, spirit, spiritual, spiritlike,[1]spirits, Spirit, spiritual beings; celestial spirits; ancestral spirits, supernatural beings, etc.Shenis sometimes loosely translated as "soul", but Chinesehun and podistinguisheshunHồn"spiritual soul" andpoPhách"physical soul".Shencan be used as a loanword. TheOxford English Dictionary(2nd ed.) definesshenin these terms, "In Chinese philosophy: a god, person of supernatural power, or the spirit of a dead person."Shencan also refer to a living, "'spiritual' or 'spiritlike'" person or people when they accomplish things perceived to besuperhuman,such as saving "people through the power of Virtue."[1]

In acupuncture,shenis a pure spiritual energy devoid of memory and personality traits, whereashunis the spiritual energy associated with the personality andpothe energy tied to the sustenance of the physical body. In this system,shenresides in the heart and departs first at death,hunresides in the liver and departs second, andporesides in the lungs and departs last.[5][6]

Shenplays a central role in Christian translational disputes overChinese terms for God.Among the early Chinese "god; God" names,shangdiThượng đếordiwas the Shang term,tianThiênwas the Zhou term, andshenwas a later usage (seeFeng Yu-Lan.[7]Modern terms for "God" includeshangdi,zhuChủ,tianzhuThiên chủ(esp. Catholics), andshenThần(esp. Protestants).

Graphics

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The characterThầnforshenexemplifies the most common class inChinese character classification:xíngshēngzìHình thanh tự"pictophonetic compounds, semantic-phonetic compounds", which combine aradical(or classifier) that roughly indicates meaning and aphoneticthat roughly indicates pronunciation. In this case,Thầncombines the "altar/worship radical"ThịorKỳand a phonetic ofshēnThân"9thEarthly Branch;extend, stretch; prolong, repeat ". Compare this phonetic element differentiated with the" person radical "inshenThân"stretch", the "silk radical" inshenThân"official's sash", the "mouth radical" inshenThân"chant, drone", the "stone radical" inshenThân"arsenic", the "earth radical" inkunKhôn"soil", and the "big radical" inyanYểm"cover". (See theList of Kangxi radicals.)

ChineseshenThân"extend" was anciently aphonetic loan characterforshenThần"spirit". TheMawangdui Silk Textsinclude two copies of theDao De Jingand the "A Text" writessheninterchangeably asThânandThần:"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).[8]TheShuowen JiezidefinesshenThânasshenThầnand says that in the 7th lunar month whenyinforces increase, bodiesshenshuThân thúc"bind up".[citation needed]

The earliest written forms ofshenThần"spirit; god" occur inZhou dynastybronzeware scriptandQin dynastyseal scriptcharacters (compare the variants shown on the "Chinese etymology" link below). AlthoughThầnhas not been identified inShang dynastyoracle bone scriptrecords, the phoneticshenThânhas. Paleographers interpret the Oracle script ofThânas apictographof a "lightning bolt".[citation needed]This was graphically differentiated betweendianĐiện"lightning; electricity" with the "cloud radical" andshenThầnwith the "worship radical", semantically suggesting both "lightning" and "spirits" coming down from the heavens.

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcIvanhoe, Philip J.;Van Norden, Bryan W.(2005).Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy(2nd ed.). Indianapolis:Hackett Publishing Company.pp. 391–392.ISBN0-87220-781-1.OCLC60826646.
  2. ^"The Su Wen of the Huangdi Neijing (Inner Classic of the Yellow Emperor)".World Digital Library (www.wdl.org).1115–1234.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-03-22.Retrieved2020-10-31.
  3. ^Schuessler, Axel (2007).ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese.HonoluluHI:University of Hawai'i Press.p. 458.ISBN9780824829759.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-06-06.Retrieved2021-06-13.
  4. ^Chan, Wing-Tsit. 1963.A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy.Princeton University Press. p. 790.
  5. ^Reilly, Christopher, L.Ac.,The Spirit of AcupunctureArchived2014-08-28 at theWayback Machine,Times-Union.com, posted Feb. 18, 2009.
  6. ^de Morant, G. S.,Chinese AcupunctureArchived2020-08-19 at theWayback Machine,Paradigm Publications, 1994, pp. 87-8.
  7. ^Fung, Yu-Lan(1983) [1952].History of Chinese Philosophy.Vol. I - The Period of the Philosophers. Translated byDerk Bodde.Princeton University Press.pp. 22–6, 30–1.ISBN9780691020211.
  8. ^Tr. Mair, Victor H. 1990.Tao Te Ching: The Classic Book of Integrity and the Way, by Lao Tzu; an entirely new translation based on the recently discovered Ma-wang-tui manuscripts.Bantam Books. p. 30.

Further reading

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  • Dharmananda, Subhuti. 2005. "Towards a spirit at peace: understanding the treatment of shen disorders with Chinese medicine", Institute for Traditional Medicine and Preventive Health Care, Portland, Oregon.
  • Li Leyi. 1993. "Tracing The Roots of Chinese Characters: 500 Cases", Beijing Language and Culture University Press.
  • Mateer, C.W. 1901–2. "The meaning of the wordshen,"Chinese Recorder3.2:61–72, 107–16, 3.3:71–79, 123–32.
  • Needham, Joseph;Lu, Gwei-djen (1974).Science and Civilisation in China.Volume 5: Chemistry and Chemical Technology. Part 2, Spagyrical Discovery and Inventions: Magisteries of Gold and Immortality.Cambridge University Press.doi:10.1086/ahr/82.4.1041.ISBN0-521-08571-3.
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Look upThầnin Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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