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In the Taoist soul system, a human has three souls, which are yang in nature and together form the source of one’s spirit and life force:

Tai Guang (Heaven Soul): Resides in the upper dantian (between the eyebrows). Associated with heaven, it is the innate soul of one’s original life, governing the root of life and innate wisdom. It is the most divine part of the soul, closest to one’s true self, and shapes a person’s core essence.

Shuang Ling (Earth Soul): Resides in the middle dantian (the heart). Associated with earth, it governs intellectual agility and emotional responses, in charge of one’s thoughts, strategies and fluctuations of the seven emotions. It is easily swayed by likes, dislikes, anger and other feelings.

You Jing (Human Soul): Resides in the lower dantian (below the navel). Associated with humanity, it governs worldly desires and human nature, in charge of one’s attachment to the mortal world, pursuit of pleasure and romantic longings. It is the soul most imbued with worldly warmth.

The Genshin Impact character Zibai weaves the concepts of "slaying the Three Corpses" and "the Three Souls" into her lore. She split her own soul into three parts, with each persona embodying the obsession of one of the Three Corpses and also corresponding to the inherent nature of the heaven, earth and human souls respectively. This post focuses on the Three Souls:

Blue-eyed persona — Tai Guang (Heaven Soul)This persona corresponds to the "divine true nature" of the Heaven Soul. She is the closest to Zibai’s original form as a god of soil and grain, possessing the purest innate divinity and core wisdom. Calm, detached and holding dominion over her original will, just as Tai Guang governs the source of life, she is the persona nearest to her true self and the bearer of her core original aspiration.

Red-eyed persona — Shuang Ling (Earth Soul)This persona corresponds to the "intellect and emotion" of the Earth Soul. She carries most of Zibai’s past memories and adaptive capabilities, while also concentrating all her intense emotional surges — anger and regret all erupt from her. Just as Shuang Ling governs thought and the seven emotions, she is both the carrier of her wisdom and memory, and the outlet for her emotions and obsessions.

The Three Corpses, also known as the Three Corpse Gods or Three Worms, are yin deities residing in the three dantians of the human body. Born from the turbid yin aspect of the three souls, they are the core barrier to attaining immortality in Taoist cultivation.

Upper Corpse Peng Ju: Dwells in the upper dantian. It stirs up greed, obsession and delusion, leading people to indulge in external things and lose touch with their true nature.

Middle Corpse Peng Zhi: Dwells in the middle dantian. It stirs up anger, restlessness and emotional loss of control, driving people to act out of rage and abandon reason and impartiality.

Lower Corpse Peng Jiao: Dwells in the lower dantian. It stirs up worldly cravings and hedonistic desires, trapping people in mundane pleasures and making it hard to break free from secular attachments. Taoism holds that on the Gengshen day, the Three Corpses ascend to heaven to report a person’s wrongdoings and thus shorten their lifespan. "Slaying the Three Corpses" means breaking these three types of obsessions through cultivation, dispelling yin turbidity, and restoring the soul to a state of purity — the core path to achieving immortality.

The Genshin Impact character Zibai weaves the concepts of "slaying the Three Corpses" and "the Three Souls" into her lore. She split her own soul into three parts, with each persona embodying the obsession of one of the Three Corpses and also corresponding to the inherent nature of the heaven, earth and human souls respectively. This post focuses on the Three Corpses:

Blue-eyed persona (Ziju) — Upper Corpse Peng JuThis persona matches the "delusional obsession" trait of the Upper Corpse. Trapped in the Moon Palace for ages, she is cold, solitary and fully absorbed in mathematical deduction. At her core is an obsession with preserving her divine origin and cutting herself off from the mortal world. Clinging rigidly to her innate divine state, she grows estranged from humanity and falls into a lonely spiritual deadlock — exactly the turbid yin nature of the Upper Corpse, which clouds the mind, makes one forsake the secular world, and traps one in their innate state.

Red-eyed persona (Zizhi) — Middle Corpse Peng ZhiThis persona matches the "wrathful anger" trait of the Middle Corpse. She bears all the hatred and fury from Zibai’s past: her resistance against the Sky Nails, the fall of her kingdom, and her own demise. Violent, stubborn and emotionally intense, she easily slips into mania. She is the literal embodiment of the Middle Corpse’s pattern of "losing one’s mind to rage". Blinded by past resentment and driven by anger in every action, she perfectly corresponds to the Middle Corpse’s attribute of triggering emotional imbalance.

In the earliest records, Taibai (Venus) was described as the essence of Western Metal, the son of Shaohao Jintianshi, the White Emperor. He held the rank of upper lord and grand general in heaven, a primordial authentic deity.​

In traditional Chinese culture, the western direction and the Metal element in the Five Elements both carry connotations of warfare and conquest.

​The deity was given a human form during the Qin and Han dynasties.​

Record of the Unusual states that the essence of Taibai descended to the mortal world as a handsome fair-faced man clad in plain white cloud raiment, bearing the dignified bearing of a military warrior and a strong man dwelling in mountain forests, never serving as a civil official. At this stage, he was depicted as a robust young man.​

Later, In Search of the Supernatural, compiled in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, records that the essence of Taibai descended to earth as a stunning maiden of eighteen or nineteen years old, marrying a mortal man and bearing children. This marked the first appearance of its female incarnation.​

In the Tang Dynasty, the Taoist canonical text Determinations for Averting Calamities of the Seven Luminaries, an orthodox Taoist scripture on the seven celestial luminaries, finalized its depiction: Taibai Venus appeared as a goddess wearing a yellow silk royal skirt, a cockscomb headpiece, and holding a pipa in her arms, ranking among the seven female celestial beings. She was no longer solely associated with warfare, but also governed blessings, frost and snow, trade and travel, verbal disputes and literary talent. It is said that the deity assimilated features of Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of Venus, who presided over both war and love.​

From then onward, Taibai Venus was commonly portrayed as a female deity in official orthodox mythology. However, among common folk, amid years of constant warfare, Taibai gradually evolved into a peacemaking elder who traveled everywhere to mediate conflicts. Folks naturally imagined this figure as a white-haired old man.

​Later, the classic folk novel Journey to the West solidified Taibai Jinxing into the image of a white-haired elder, a heavenly envoy who came down to mediate disputes, whom Sun Wukong held in high regard.

In Journey to the West, Zhu Bajie symbolizes humanity’s greed, desires and base instincts. Throughout the novel, he serves as the comic relief, constantly boasting. The author often arranges for him to suffer humiliating setbacks right after his empty boasts, creating a strong comedic effect. For instance, when King Baoxiang asked the pilgrims to capture the demon (Sun Wukong had temporarily left the group), Zhu Bajie bragged about his weapon:“Your Majesty, you know not. Though my rake looks clumsy and crude, it has been my lifelong companion. I once commanded eighty thousand naval soldiers as Marshal of Heavenly Water Palace, and this rake was my greatest reliance. Now that I dwell in the mortal world and protect my master, I have used it to destroy tiger dens on mountains and overturn dragon caves beneath waters.” Among all his boastful words, the only truthful line is “my rake looks clumsy and crude”. Their opponent in this chapter is Kui Mulang, widely known among Chinese readers as “the Pig Slayer”. The reason can be found in the original text:“Bajie and Sha Wujing fought the demon for thirty rounds with no clear winner. Yet there is a reason for this stalemate. In a true contest of skill, even twenty monks like them together would not stand a chance against the fiend.” Thus Kui Mulang earned his nickname, for twenty Bajies combined are still no match for him.

It’s said that many foreign viewers of Journey to the West regard the battle at Pingdingshan as Sun Wukong’s peak fight. In truth, however, Sun Wukong barely unleashed his true power during his journey to escort Tang Monk westward. Anyone who has read the original novel will notice one distinct trait of his: he is incredibly playful.When confronted with formidable spells and magic treasures, his first instinct is not to flee, but to stand there and test whether the object can kill him. When he was trapped inside the Purple Gold Red Gourd of Silver Horn King—the treasure that captures anyone who answers when their name is called—the moment he escaped, he immediately made up a fake name to check if the gourd could suck him in again. When Red Boy unleashed Samadhi True Fire, Sun Wukong’s first move was to stride straight into the flames to see if they could burn him to death. He volunteered to carry the mountains purely for fun. There is symbolic meaning behind him being crushed under those mountains in the end: the three mountains stand for Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, which symbolize the entire weight of the mortal world bearing down on Sun Wukong—and that is why he could not endure it

Zhu Di, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China, seized the throne from his nephew as the fourth paternal uncle. Eight years later, he persuaded Shah Rukh, the fourth son of Timur of the Timurid Empire, to live in peace with his nephew.

1. Zhu Di[Zhū Dì|朱棣]：the Yongle Emperor, the 3rd emperor of the Ming Dynasty

​2. Ming Dynasty[Míng Cháo|明朝]：a Chinese imperial dynasty ruling from 1368 to 1644

​3. Timurid Empire[Tiēmù'ér Dìguó|帖木儿帝国]：a Central Asian empire founded by Timur

​4. Timur[Tiēmù'ér|帖木儿]：founder of the Timurid Empire​

5. Shah Rukh[Shāhālǔ|沙哈鲁]：the fourth son of Timur, ruler of the Timurid Empire after Timur’s death

As early as the 9th year of Zhenguan Period (635 AD) of ancient China's Tang Dynasty①, a branch of Christianity spread into China and was named Jingjiao② here. There is a folk legend that its missionary cured Emperor Taizong's headache, so the emperor allowed it to build temples in China for missionary work. After new emperors ascended the throne later, Jingjiao② lost imperial support and gradually faded out of the history of Central Plains③. Aluoben, a missionary of the Syriac Eastern Church (Nestorianism, an early branch of Christianity, not orthodox Catholicism under the Holy See), arrived in Chang'an④. Emperor Li Shimin of Tang Dynasty met him and permitted him to build temples for missionary work in Chang'an④. The temple was originally named Bosi Temple⑤ and later renamed Daqin Temple⑥.

①，Tang Dynasty[唐朝|Tang Chao]：a powerful feudal dynasty ruling China from 618 AD to 907 AD

②，Jingjiao[景教|Jing Jiao]：the Chinese name for Nestorianism, an Eastern Christian sect

③，Central Plains[中原|Zhong Yuan]：the core political and cultural region of ancient China

④，Chang'an[长安|Chang An]：the capital city of the early Tang Dynasty, present-day Xi'an

⑤，Bosi Temple[波斯寺|Bo Si Si]：the original Chinese name of Nestorian temples in early Tang China

I posted a video on TikTok about the concept of the Five Elements

Europeans missionaries arrived in China a long time ago, and they even created an adapted version of Journey to the West.

Replace the peaches Sun Wukong eats with apples

You can find the full story summary on our TikTok account (not released yet):shenxian_story

https://www.tiktok.com/@shenxian.story?_r=1&_t=ZS-96pMUpbcobN

etiquette followed distinct rules for personal titles. As I mentioned before, the personal appellations of the ancient Han Chinese were divided into four parts: Xing¹, Shi², Ming³, Zi⁴.

By the Han Dynasty, especially the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era, Xing and Shi had merged into Xingshi⁵, forming a three-part structure: Xingshi⁵, Ming³, Zi⁴.

People of that time generally used a single-character Ming³.

It was polite to refer to oneself by one’s own Ming³ instead of the first-person pronoun "I".

Zi⁴ was usually composed of two characters.

When addressing others, using their Zi⁴ instead of the second-person pronoun "you" was regarded as courteous etiquette.  

① Xing[姓|xìng]：Ancient clan name, the original family lineage identifier in ancient China.

② Shi[氏|shì]：Ancestral branch name, used to distinguish different branches derived from the same Xing in early times.

③ Ming[名|míng]：Given name, the formal given name bestowed at birth.

④ Zi[字|zì]：Courtesy name, a secondary name taken in adulthood for social address.