As a practitioner, if you don't understand the "Three Hun and Seven Po," you will never truly grasp the underlying logic of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Taoist Internal Alchemy (Neidan), or folk magic. If the Five Elements are the "symbols" of the universe's operation, then the Three Hun and Seven Po are the "operating system" and "background programs" of the instrument that is the human body.
Today, drawing from Taoist classics like the Yunji Qiqian (Seven Slips from the Book Bag), let's thoroughly decode this core password of Taoist cultivation.
I. The Three Hun (Three Ethereal Souls): Determining the Level of Your "Spirit"
The image clearly points out that the "Three Hun" are three types of advanced, positive (Yang) spiritual energy, related to human spirituality, wisdom, and heavenly destiny. In layman's terms, the Hun is the "core kernel" of your life's operating system.
1. Tai Guang (Heavenly Soul / Main Soul)
- Source: The pure Yang harmonious Qi of the Great Clarity; the essence of Heaven.
- Function: This is the light of life. It governs your lifespan, vitality, and highest level of consciousness (similar to the projection of "Original Enlightenment" or "Tathagatagarbha" in Buddhism).
- Importance: This is the most important of the Three Hun. Once Tai Guang dims or departs, a person becomes ill, listless, or even dies. Taoism believes it is the record of "Heaven"; after death, the Hun returns to the Heavenly Dao.
2. Shuang Ling (Earthly Soul / Sensing Soul)
- Source: The Qi of the Five Elements; the essence of Earth.
- Function: It governs human wisdom, acuity, reaction speed, and innate talents (wealth and fortune). It is the key factor determining whether you are smart, how strong your learning ability is, and the level of your social skills.
- State: People with strong Shuang Ling are usually clever and sharp; if damaged, they become slow-witted or dull.
3. You Jing (Human Soul / Living Soul)
- Source: Yin miscellaneous Qi.
- Function: It governs sexual orientation, reproductive ability, emotional preferences, and deep-seated desires. It determines your personal traits (likes/dislikes, material preferences, etc.).
- State: It dictates emotional patterns. Emotional distress or issues regarding sexual orientation often mentioned in folklore are frequently related to You Jing.
[Summary]
Tai Guang manages "Destiny," Shuang Ling manages "Intellect," and You Jing manages "Desire." As practitioners, the goal of our introspection (Neiguan) is to keep Tai Guang unobscured, make Shuang Ling clearer, and simultaneously(eliminate) excessive attachment to You Jing (desires).
Tai Guang manages "Destiny," Shuang Ling manages "Intellect," and You Jing manages "Desire." As practitioners, the goal of our introspection (Neiguan) is to keep Tai Guang unobscured, make Shuang Ling clearer, and simultaneously(eliminate) excessive attachment to You Jing (desires).
II. The Seven Po (Seven Corporeal Souls): The Guardians Maintaining Your "Form"
If the "Three Hun" are metaphysical software, then the "Seven Po" are the background automated programs that keep the machine of the physical body running. The Seven Po are lower-level, negative (Yin) physiological instinct energies that attach to the flesh. After death, as the physical body dissipates, the Seven Po dissipate with it.
According to the image, the Seven Po each have their own duties, and their names are very descriptive:
- Shi Gou (Corpse Dog): Governs alertness and perception during sleep. Like a watchdog, it allows you to sense external dangers (like a loud noise) while dreaming and wake up.
- Fu Shi (Hidden Arrow/Feces): Governs the digestive system ("Shi" is interchangeable with "feces"); it is the transformation center of life energy.
- Que Yin (Sparrow Yin): Governs the regulation and recovery of the reproductive system.
- Tun Zei (Swallowing Bandit): Governs the immune system. It works when the body is sound asleep at night ("when people are still"), swallowing and clearing viruses, bacteria, and necrotic cells within the body.
- Fei Du (Non-Poison): Governs bodily harmony and detoxification. It disperses internal toxins and pathogenic Qi, waiting for them to be cleared.
- Chu Hui (Eliminating Filth): Governs the excretion of metabolic waste (such as sweat, urine, and feces).
- Chou Fei (Smelling Lung): Governs the respiratory system ("Chou" is interchangeable with "smell/sniff"). It controls the rhythm of breathing and is the source of the breath of life.
[Summary]
Together, the Seven Po manage a series of autonomous actions requiring no conscious thought, such as heartbeat, breathing, digestion, immunity, excretion, reproduction, and stress responses. They can be understood as the body's "low-level hardware drivers."
Together, the Seven Po manage a series of autonomous actions requiring no conscious thought, such as heartbeat, breathing, digestion, immunity, excretion, reproduction, and stress responses. They can be understood as the body's "low-level hardware drivers."
III. Core Relationship: The Union of Hun and Po, the Foundation of Life
Understanding the "Three Hun and Seven Po" separately is just the basics; the true core lies in their "union."
- View on Life and Death: Taoism believes that after death, "the Hun ascends to Heaven, and the Po returns to Earth." The Three Hun may enter reincarnation or return to the Heavenly Dao, while the Seven Po dissipate along with the physical body.
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View on Health: In TCM and Taoist cultivation, the "union of Hun and Po" is the key to health.
- If the "Hun does not guard its abode" (e.g., Tai Guang becomes unstable due to fright), a person will become mentally trancelike, suffer from insomnia, and experience forgetfulness.
- If there is a "deficiency of Po power" (e.g., weak immune/detox functions like Tun Zei or Fei Du), a person will easily get sick, be physically weak, and react slowly.
- View on Cultivation (Internal Alchemy): The ultimate Taoist cultivation—Internal Alchemy—is essentially a process of refining Essence into Qi, Qi into Spirit, and Spirit into Emptiness. Its ultimate goal is to achieve a harmonious unified state of "Spirit embracing the Hun, and Hun resting upon the Po." When cultivated to the extreme, one can achieve the "Gathering of the Three Flowers at the Crown" (Essence, Qi, and Spirit converging at the top of the head), transcending the bonds of mundane life and death.
- Folk Application: The theory behind folk rituals commonly known as "Calling back the Hun" or "Settling Fright" is based on the belief that the "Hun" (especially Tai Guang) of an infant or a frightened person has temporarily left the body. Through specific rituals (incantations, bowls of rice, etc.), it is summoned back into the body to restore the stable state of "union of Hun and Po."
IV. Advanced Reflection for Practitioners: Hun/Po and the Five Great Elements (Cross-Cultural Perspective)
Combining this with our previous discussion on the Four/Five Great Elements, you will find intrinsic commonalities between Eastern and Western spiritual systems:
- The Three Hun (Tai Guang-Heaven, Shuang Ling-Earth, You Jing-Human): Tend towards the "Space Element" (consciousness, cosmos) and the "Wind Element" (fluidity, motility). They correspond to the Buddhist "Mind Dharmas" (sensation, perception, mental formation, and consciousness).
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The Seven Po (Attached to the body, maintaining physiology): Completely correspond to the operations of the Four Great Elements: Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind.
- Earth Element: Corresponds to the solid parts of Shi Gou (alertness), Chou Fei (breathing rhythm), and Fu Shi (digestion/absorption).
- Water Element: Corresponds to the flow of liquids like Chu Hui (excreting fluids) and Que Yin (reproductive fluids).
- Fire Element: Corresponds to Fu Shi (digestive fire) and Fei Du (energy transforming and detoxifying).
- Wind Element: Corresponds to Chou Fei (breath/Qi) and Shi Gou (energy flow in stress responses).
Conclusion: As practitioners, we stabilize "Chou Fei" by regulating breath (Wind Element); we purify "Fu Shi" and "Chu Hui" through Bigu (grain avoidance) or dietary adjustments (Earth, Water, Fire Elements); and we settle "Tai Guang" and "Shuang Ling" through Shamatha-Vipassana/Meditation (Space Element). Only then can we truly achieve the "union of Hun and Po" in the reality of body and mind.
Final Thoughts
The "Three Hun and Seven Po" may seem ancient, but they are actually the deepest anatomical study by Taoism of the human "temple." Whether it is to protect family members from fright (Calling back the Hun), to cultivate Internal Alchemy yourself (Gathering of the Three Flowers), or to understand various difficult and complicated diseases in TCM, this theory is an indispensable cornerstone.
May we all stabilize Tai Guang, clarify Shuang Ling, subdue You Jing, and strengthen the Seven Po—truly achieving the "union of Hun and Po, with both form and spirit in perfection" in the long river of life.
