真身 (zhēn shēn) — true body (of a Buddha or deity); real form in a religious context; one's true self; real identity (metaphorical or literary)

Definition

A literary/religious term: literally 'true body' of a Buddha or deity, extended to mean a person's real identity or hidden self. Mostly seen in Buddhist texts and literary writing, not everyday speech.

noun
true body (of a Buddha or deity)real form in a religious contextone's true selfreal identity (metaphorical or literary)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，真身。
    Zài fó jiào zhōng, zhēn shēn shì zhǐ fó tuó de zhēn shí shēn tǐ.
    In Buddhism, the true body refers to the Buddha's real body.
  • 真身，。
    Tā zhōng yú lù chū le zhēn shēn, yuán lái tā shì gè piàn zi.
    He finally revealed his true self; it turns out he was a liar.
  • 真身，。
    Xiǎo shuō zhōng de zhǔ jué zuì hòu xiàn chū le zhēn shēn, dǎ bài le dí rén.
    The protagonist in the novel finally revealed his true form and defeated the enemy.

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.

真zhēnreal
身shēnbody

真 means real and 身 means body, so the word names a true body or real identity.

Characters in this word

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
貝貝bèicowrie; shell
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠂈
𠂈𠂈真zhēn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

真 pairs 貝 (cowrie shell, used for the meaning) with 𠂈, which gave the sound and originally drew a headlong fall.

Open 真 →

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

The shape of 身 comes from a drawing of a pregnant woman.

Open 身 →

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