shén
Also rendered: Shen (Transliteration, used when the technical sense is intended) · Mind (Common in older English writing; narrows the term)
Reviewed · 2026-09
At a glance
Not a soul and not a god: the alertness by which a person notices, responds and is present. It is the half of a person that can be kept within or scattered outward, and in these texts it can be nourished, wearied, or lost.
English has no word that fits. “Spirit” brings a theology; “mind” brings a psychology; both are too tidy for a term that covers attention, responsiveness and presence at once. These texts use 神 for what is awake in a person — and, crucially, for something that can be kept or spent.
That is why the chapter pairs it with essence: 精神內守, essence and spirit kept within. Essence is what is stored; spirit is what stays watchful. Health is the two remaining where they belong.
Passages where the term does real work, with the original, pinyin and English on the same line.
Every rendering below is a decision about which reader is being addressed. There is no neutral option.
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Reading path
This term belongs to Foundations — the five core concepts, in the order the Suwen introduces them.