(in Chinese thought) the spiritual element of a person's psyche.
（中国人观念中的）神（指人的心灵中的精神因素）
Example sentencesExamples
In classical Chinese medicine, shen is the reservoir of vital essence in semen, and kui means deficiency.
The heart houses the shen, or spirits, and the shen's presence radiates and shines from a person's eyes and face.
The shen are indestructible and immutable; they transcend Yin and Yang.
In this formula, ginseng calms shen.
Since storage is a yin function, it is primarily the Heart blood and yin that have the function of nourishing the Heart and providing the material basis for the Heart to house the shen.
The shen may also be disturbed by the heat buildup in the chest.
This is from an unknown source, but emphasizes the importance of treating the shen.
Other side-effects include abnormal dreams involving either the shen / heart spirit or the hun/ethereal soul.
Origin
From Chinese shén.
Definition of shen in US English:
shen
nounSHen
(in Chinese thought) the spiritual element of a person's psyche.
（中国人观念中的）神（指人的心灵中的精神因素）
Example sentencesExamples
In this formula, ginseng calms shen.
Since storage is a yin function, it is primarily the Heart blood and yin that have the function of nourishing the Heart and providing the material basis for the Heart to house the shen.
The shen are indestructible and immutable; they transcend Yin and Yang.
Other side-effects include abnormal dreams involving either the shen / heart spirit or the hun/ethereal soul.
The heart houses the shen, or spirits, and the shen's presence radiates and shines from a person's eyes and face.
The shen may also be disturbed by the heat buildup in the chest.
In classical Chinese medicine, shen is the reservoir of vital essence in semen, and kui means deficiency.
This is from an unknown source, but emphasizes the importance of treating the shen.