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化身

Mandarin · pinyin huà shēn

incarnation
reincarnation
embodiment (of abstract idea)
personification

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Characters in this entry

化: huà · change, convert, reform; -ize
身: shēn · body; trunk, hull; Kangxi radical 158

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–1 · hua4 shen1

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

faa3 san1

Cantonese word readings for 化身. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

(Buddhism) avatar; reincarnation
(figuratively) living embodiment; reincarnation; personification

verb

to transform into (a living embodiment of)
(Xiamen and Zhangzhou Hokkien) to cremate

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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