📖 Meaning
An idiom describing the supernatural ability of demons, ghosts, or sorcerers to capture and extract a person's soul, thereby causing harm or death. It originates from ancient Chinese folklore about black magic and malevolent spirits that prey on the living. In modern usage, it can also figuratively describe something so captivating or enchanting that it seems to steal one's soul away.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom has no single documented literary source, but it draws deeply from ancient Chinese folk religion and Daoist exorcism traditions dating back to the Han and Tang dynasties. Belief in soul-stealing demons and sorcerers who could 'hook' spirits out of living bodies was widespread in pre-modern China. Daoist priests often performed rituals to retrieve stolen souls and restore them to afflicted victims. The phrase reflects the pervasive fear of supernatural predation that shaped much of Chinese vernacular culture.
💡 Example Usage
那妖道施展邪术，摄魄钩魂，害了不少百姓。
That evil sorcerer used dark arts to seize and hook away souls, harming many common folk.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 摄魄钩魂
- Pinyin: shè pò gōu hún
- Literal Translation: seize, soul, hook, spirit
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4