The idiom draws on the traditional Chinese view that a person has both a
魂 (hún, the cloud-soul, ethereal and intellectual) and a
魄 (pò, the earth-soul, physical and instinctive). The Zuo Zhuan 《
左传·
昭公二十五年》 explains: 'when
魂魄 leave the body, how can one live long?' Total fear is pictured as both halves of the soul fleeing at once.
