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冤魂 (yuān hún) — ghost of someone who died unjustly; wronged spirit

Definition

Literary word for the vengeful ghost of someone who died from injustice. In modern Chinese it appears mainly in fiction, drama, and historical writing — not in everyday speech.

noun
ghost of someone who died unjustlywronged spirit
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 冤魂，。
    Zhè ge gù shi lǐ yǒu yí gè yuān hún, tā yì zhí zài xún zhǎo zhēn xiàng.
    There is a ghost of a wronged person in this story, always seeking the truth.
  • 冤魂。
    Jù shuō zhè piàn dì fāng cháng yǒu yuān hún chū mò.
    It is said that this area is often haunted by wronged spirits.
  • 冤魂。
    Gǔ rén xiāng xìn yuān hún huì huí lái bào chóu.
    Ancient people believed that ghosts of the unjustly accused would return to take revenge.

Origin

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.

冤yuānwronged
魂húnsoul

冤 adds injustice or being wronged, and 魂 adds soul, describing a wronged spirit.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 冤 is built from two parts: 冖, a cover, and 兔, a rabbit.

Open 冤 →

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
鬼鬼guǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
云
云yún魂hún(r)
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

魂 is made from 鬼, the ghost component, plus 云, which supplies the sound.

Open 魂 →
Appears in
Mythology & Folklore

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