魂

A phono-semantic compound:

鬼 (ghost, spirit) — semantic component

云 (to say; cloud) — phonetic component

Although 云 originally meant “to say” or “cloud,” here it functions purely as a phonetic element, guiding pronunciation rather than meaning.

In early Chinese cosmology, the human spirit was believed to consist of two complementary aspects:

魂 — Yang (陽) — ascends (consciousness, intellect, vitality)

魄 — Yin (陰) — descends (physical instinct, bodily attachment)

After death:

魂 was thought to rise to heaven

魄 was believed to remain with the body or the earth

This dual-soul theory strongly influenced:

- Confucian ritual thought

- Daoist cosmology

- Early Chinese medicine

- East Asian funerary practices

Semantic range:

- soul; spirit

- vital essence; consciousness

- mind or emotional core

- personhood / identity (figurative)

영혼 (靈魂) — soul, spirit

혼백 (魂魄) — soul and corporeal spirit

혼미 (昏迷) — mental confusion, delirium

혼절 (魂絶) — loss of consciousness; death

혼령 (魂靈) — spirit of the dead

Funeral rites in East Asia often symbolically call back the 魂 before burial. The expression 혼이 빠지다 (“the soul has left”) directly reflects this ancient belief.

Related characters:

魄 — corporeal soul (yin counterpart)

神 — spirit, divinity (higher spiritual function)

靈 — numinous spirit (refined spiritual state)

心 — heart, mind (psychological center)

精 — vital essence (life energy)

Classical citations:

Book of Rites (禮記)

「魂氣歸於天，形魄歸於地」

“The hun-spirit returns to Heaven; the po-form returns to Earth.”

This passage clearly establishes the dual-soul doctrine.

Xunzi

「志氣定，則魂魄安」

“When the will and vital energy are settled, the soul and corporeal spirit are at peace.”

Here, 魂 is associated with mental clarity and moral stability.

Daoist medical texts

「魂靜則神存」

“When the soul is tranquil, the spirit abides.”

This reflects the Daoist belief that emotional excess disturbs the hun-soul.

Tang poetry

「魂來楓林青，魂去關山黑」

“The soul returns through green maple groves; the soul departs beyond the dark mountain passes.”

Here, 魂 poetically represents life-force and presence.

In Buddhist Chinese, 魂 is often used adaptively, even though Buddhism originally rejected a permanent soul:

亡魂 — wandering spirit of the dead

招魂 — summoning the soul (ritual / literary)

In sutra translations, 魂 frequently appears to translate or accommodate indigenous beliefs, rather than doctrinal Buddhist ātman.