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魂飞魄散

hún fēi pò sàn

4-character word Traditional 魂飛魄散

What 魂飞魄散 means

1. lit. the soul flies away and scatters (idiom)
2. fig. to be frightened stiff
3. spooked out of one's mind
4. terror-stricken

The characters in 魂飞魄散

• 魂húnsoul; spirit; immortal soul (that can be detached from the body)
• 飞fēito fly
• 魄pò(literary) soul; mortal soul (i.e. attached to the body)
• 散sànto scatter; to break up (a meeting etc); to disperse

Example sentences

• 叶公子名叫高，十分喜爱龙，衣带钩上雕着龙，酒器上刻着龙，居室内的花纹图案也全都画着龙。天上的真龙听说这件事，便降临到人间，头探进窗户里，尾巴拖在厅堂中。叶公看见真龙，转身惊慌逃开，吓得魂飞魄散，脸色大变。由此可见，叶公并不是真的喜爱龙，他喜爱的只是那些像龙却并非真龙的东西。
  Lord Ye, whose given name was Gao, was extremely fond of dragons. Dragons were carved on his belt hooks and wine vessels, and all the patterns in his dwelling were painted with dragons. When the real dragon in heaven heard of this, it descended to the mortal world. It poked its head through the window and trailed its tail across the hall. At the sight of the creature, Lord Ye spun around and fled in terror. He was utterly panic-stricken and turned pale with fright. This shows that Lord Ye did not truly love dragons. What he adored was merely things that looked like dragons, not real ones.