Shen (Chinese: 神; pinyin: shén) is a Chinese word with senses of deities, divinities, or spirits. The Ahom equivalent is Sheng (𑜋𑜢𑜤𑜂𑜫) in Ahom religion which was originated in Yunnan also refers to deities. The Japanese equivalent is kami, as in Shintoism. This single Chinese term expresses a range of similar, yet differing, meanings.
The first meaning refers to deities which are intimately involved in the affairs of the world, or spirits, such as dead ancestors. Spirits generate entities like rivers, mountains, thunder, and stars.
A second meaning of shen refers 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 (精; Jing).
A third understanding of shen describes 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.
In the traditional Chinese theory of san jiao, shen is associated with the yang side of yin and yang and Jing is yin in comparison (Heaven and Earth; Earth tied to jing in particular in traditional Chinese medicine). 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 lower dantian. The ongoing harmonious interaction of Heaven and Earth creates qi in this case human and therefore is associated with the spleen, stomach and liver in the middle Jiao, which is essential to create balance and harmony of yin and yang, therefore maintaining a good standard of health and creating life.
It is said in the classics that the human is the best creation of Heaven and Earth. In traditional Chinese medicine, Taoist, Buddhist, and Chinese folk religious tradition, the balance of yin and yang is important to provide external harmony and internal health within life, thereby preventing injury, illness, or harm to body, mind, spirit, or the environment.
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Pronunciation
Shén (in rising 2nd tone) is the Modern Standard Chinese pronunciation of 神 "god, deity; spirit, spiritual, supernatural; awareness, consciousness etc". Reconstructions of shén in Middle Chinese (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 (ca. 6th-3rd centuries BCE) include *djěn (Karlgren), *zdjien (Zhou), *djin (Li Fanggui), *Ljin (Baxter), and *m-lin (Axel Schuessler).
Although the etymological origin of shen is uncertain, Schuessler notes a possible Sino-Tibetan etymology; compare Chepang gliŋh "spirit of humans".
The Chinese shen (神; "spirit; etc.") is also present in other East Asian languages. The Japanese Kanji 神 is pronounced shin (しん) or jin (じん) in On'yomi (Chinese reading), and kami (かみ), kō (こう), or tamashii (たましい) in Kun'yomi (Japanese reading). The Korean Hanja 神 is pronounced sin (신).
The Zihui dictionary notes that 神 had a special pronunciation shēn (level 1st tone, instead of usual 2nd rising tone shén) in the name Shen Shu 神荼, one of two "gods of the Eastern Sea", along with Yu Lu 鬱壘.
In the Vietnamese language, it is pronounced as thần.
Semantics
Shen's polysemous meanings developed diachronically over three millennia. The Hanyu dazidian, an authoritative historical dictionary, distinguishes one meaning for shēn ("a deity (神名)) and eleven meanings for shén神 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. (传说中的天神,即天地万物的创造者和主宰者.)
Spirit; mind, mental faculties; consciousness. Like: concentrated attention; tire the mind; concentrate one's energy and attention. (精神.如: 凝神; 劳神; 聚精会神.)
Expression, demeanor; consciousness, state of mind. (表情; 神志.)
Portrait, portraiture. (肖像.)
Magical, supernatural, miraculous; mysterious, abstruse. Like: ability to divine the unknown, amazing foresight; highly skilled doctor; genius, masterpiece. (神奇; 玄妙. 如: 神机妙算; 神医; 神品.)
Esteem, respect; valuable, precious. (尊重; 珍贵.)
Rule, govern, administer. (治理.)
Cautious, careful, circumspect. (谨慎.)
Display, arrange, exhibit. (陈列.)
Dialect. 1. Dignity, distinction. (威风.) 2. Entrancement, ecstasy. (入神.) 3. Clever, intelligent. (聪明.)
Surname, family name. (姓.)
This dictionary entry for shen lists early usage examples, and many of these 11 meanings were well attested prior to the Han dynasty. Chinese classic texts use shen in 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 in Song dynasty texts. Meanings 7-9 first occur in early Chinese dictionaries; the Erya 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 ("Divine Farmer"), the culture hero and inventor of agriculture in Chinese mythology.
Graphics
The character 神 for shen exemplifies the most common class in Chinese character classification: xíngshēngzì (形聲字; "pictophonetic compounds, semantic-phonetic compounds"), which combine a radical (or classifier) that roughly indicates meaning and a phonetic that roughly indicates pronunciation. In this case, 神 combines the "altar/worship radical" 礻or 示 and a phonetic of shēn (申; "9th Earthly Branch; extend, stretch; prolong, repeat"). Compare this phonetic element differentiated with the "person radical" in shēn (伸; "stretch"), the "silk radical" in shēn (紳; "official's sash"), the "mouth radical" in shēn (呻; "chant, drone"), the "stone radical" in shēn (砷; "arsenic"), the "earth radical" in kūn (坤; "soil"), and the "big radical" in yǎn (奄; "cover"). (See the List of Kangxi radicals.)
Chinese shēn (申; "extend") was an ancient phonetic loan character for shen (神; "spirit"). The Mawangdui Silk Texts include two copies of the Dao De Jing and the "A Text" writes shen interchangeably as 申 and 神: "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 defines shēn (申) as shén (神) and says that in the 7th lunar month when yin forces increase, bodies shenshu (申束; "bind up").
The earliest written forms of shen (神; "spirit; god") occur in Zhou dynasty bronzeware script and Qin dynasty seal script characters (compare the variants shown on the "Chinese etymology" link below). Although 神 has not been identified in Shang dynasty oracle bone script records, the phonetic shen (申) has. Paleographers interpret the Oracle script of 申 as a pictograph of a "lightning bolt". This was graphically differentiated between dian (電; "lightning; electricity") with the "cloud radical" and shen (神) with the "worship radical", semantically suggesting both "lightning" and "spirits" coming down from the heavens.