身

shēn

body; torso; main frame or hull of an object

Meaning

  • The physical body, specifically the torso or trunk.
  • Structural/Material: The main frame of an object, such as the hull of a ship, the shaft of a tool, or the main part of a garment.
  • Personal/Situated: One's own person, presence, or physical existence as a situated entity in time and space.

Grammar and usage

  • Primarily functions as a noun.
  • Can act as a proxy for "personally" or "in person," particularly when paired with locatives (e.g., 身在... “physically located at...”).

Distinctions

  • vs 人: While 人 denotes the species or a general human being, 身 emphasizes corporeality, vulnerability, or location.
  • vs 心: In classical dualisms, 身 represents the external physical shell (subject to injury or death), while 心 represents internal agency and consciousness.

Translator notes

  • Status: In early texts, the term may imply one's social rank through the physical manifestation of that role.
  • Philosophical Layering: Avoid projecting later psychological definitions of the "self" onto earlier strata; in early Daoist texts, for example, the term often refers literally to the physical organism and its preservation (survival/health) rather than an abstract identity.

Decontextualized translator aid. This page describes plausible lexical range; it does not choose what the glyph means in a particular passage.