📖 Meaning
The soul has detached from the body. It describes a state of extreme terror or losing one's composure under shock or temptation. The idiom conveys being frightened out of one's wits.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Yuan dynasty play 'Jin Qian Ji' (The Money Tale) by Qiao Mengfu, where Act 1 contains the line 'causing the young scholar's soul to leave his body.' It depicts a person so overwhelmed—by fear or desire—that they lose all self-control, as if their very spirit has fled. The idiom was later widely used in classical novels such as Luo Guanzhong's 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms,' where characters experience it in moments of sudden alarm.
💡 Example Usage
听到那声巨响，他吓得魂不附体，半天说不出话来。
Hearing that loud crash, he was scared out of his wits and could not speak for a long time.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 魂不附体
- Pinyin: hún bù fù tǐ
- Literal Translation: soul, not, attach, body
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4