臭皮囊 (chòu pí náng) — this mortal body (Buddhist term for the transie…

Definition

A Buddhist/poetic term meaning 'this mortal body' — literally 'smelly skin-bag,' emphasizing the body as a fleeting vessel, not the self.

noun

this mortal body (Buddhist term for the transient human form)

臭皮囊。
Fó jiào rèn wéi chòu pí náng zhǐ shì yí gè zàn shí de róng qì.
Buddhism regards the mortal body as merely a temporary vessel.
，臭皮囊。
Tā zǎo yǐ kàn pò hóng chén, bù zhí zhuó yú zhè ge chòu pí náng.
He long ago saw through worldly desires and no longer clings to this mortal body.
臭皮囊。
Xiū xíng zhī rén bù yīng guò fèn ài xī zhè ge chòu pí náng.
A spiritual practitioner should not be overly attached to this mortal body.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

皮囊skin bag

偏正Modifier + head

臭 adds foulness to the 皮囊, a skin bag, for the mortal body.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

犬自臭

臭 combines 自 (nose) and 犬 (dog), referring to a dog's strong sense of smell; it originally meant 'to smell'.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

㯻㯻㯻bag

Sound part声符shēngfú

襄

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

囊 is made from 㯻, a tied bag with items inside, plus an abbreviated form of 襄 that gives the sound.