Note 69 — Chapter XIII · The Symbolism of Jade

The Chinese believed that a human being had two souls. One was the Kwei, that is the soul which partook of the nature of the element Yin and returned to the earth from which it originally came;69 the other soul was the shen which partook of the element Yang. When the shen is in the living body, it is called Khi or “breath”; after death “it lives forth as a refulgent spirit, styled ming”. The other soul, called Kwei, is known as the pʼoh during life; after death it lives on in the grave beside the body, which is supposed to be protected against decay by the jade, gold, pearls, shells, &c., and the good influences “flowing” from east and west.