This is composed of the radical Gui for spirit or ghost:
and the character for "white":
The Corporeal Soul can be defined as "that part of the Soul [as opposed to the Ethereal Soul]
which is indissolubly attached to the body and goes down to Earth with it at death".33(198) It is
closely linked to the body and could be described as the somatic expression of the Soul, or,
conversely, the organizational principle of the body. Zhang Jie Bin says:
In the beginning of an individual's life the body is formed; the spirit of the body is the Corporeal
Soul. When the Corporeal Soul is in the Interior there is [enough] Yang Qi.34(199)
There are seven types of Corporeal Soul: the 5 senses, the limbs and the Corporeal Soul as a
whole. The link between the five senses and the Corporeal Soul will be explained shortly. As for
movement, the Corporeal Soul gives the body the capacity of movement, agility, balance and
coordination of movements.
Corporeal Soul and Essence
The Corporeal Soul is closely linked to the Essence and is described in the "Spiritual Axis"
chapter 8 as the "exiting and entering of Essence".35(200) It derives from the mother and arises
soon after the Pre-natal Essence of a newly-conceived being is formed. It could be described as
the manifestation of the Essence in the sphere of sensations and feelings. Just as the Ethereal
Soul provides movement to the Mind ("coming and going of the Mind"), the Corporeal Soul
provides movement to the Essence, i.e. it brings the Essence into play in all physiological
processes of the body. Without the Corporeal Soul the Essence would be an inert, albeit
precious, vital substance. The Corporeal Soul is the closest to the Essence and is the
intermediary between it and the other vital substances of the body. In fact Zhang Jie Bin in the
"Classic of Categories" says: "If the Essence is exhausted the Corporeal Soul declines, Qi is
scattered and the Ethereal Soul swims without a residence".36(201)
The relationship between Corporeal Soul and Essence also explains the eruption of atopic
eczema and asthma in babies. From the Chinese point of view, eczema in babies is due to the
surfacing of toxic Heat from the uterus: it is therefore closely linked with the Pre-natal Essence
of the baby. Since the Essence is related to the Corporeal Soul which manifests on the skin (with