Meanings
Chinese classic texts use the word ''shen'' to mean "a large shellfish" that was associated with funerals and "an aquatic monster" that could change its shape, which was later associated with "mirages".
Large shellfish
The word used to mean a shellfish, or mollusk, identified as an oyster, mussel, or giant clam such as the Pearl of Lao Tzu. While early Chinese dictionaries treat ''shen'' as a general term for "mollusca", the ''Erya'' defines it as a large ''yao'' which means shellfish, clam, scallop, or mother-of-pearl. According to ''Shuowen Jiezi'', an early 2nd century CE Chinese dictionary of the Han Dynasty defines it a large ''ge'' , meaning clam, oyster, shellfish, or bivalve.
Chinese classics variously record that ''shen'' was salted as a food , named a "lacquered wine barrel" used in sacrifices to earth spirits , and its shells were used to make hoes and receptacles . They also record two ''shen-'' related with funerals: ''shenche'' "hearse" and ''shentan'' 蜃炭 "oyster-lime; white clay", which was especially used as mortar for mausoleum walls .
Wolfram Eberhard describes the ''shen'' mussel as "a strange animal", and mentions the ''Zhouli'''s Zhangshen 掌蜃 "Manager of ''Shen''", who was a special government official in charge of acquiring them for royal sacrifices and funerals. "It is not clear why these mussels were placed into the tombs," he admits, possibly either as a sacrifice to the earth god or "the shell lime was used simply for a purifying and protective effect."
Edward H. Schafer, who aptly translates ''shen'' or ''chen'' as "clam-monster", traces its linguistic evolution from originally designating a "large bivalve mollusc",
Beginning as an unassuming marine invertebrate, the ch'en was later imagined as a gaping, pearl-producing clam, possibly to be identified with the giant clams of tropical seas, for instance ''Tridacna''. Finally, by early medieval times, it had become a monster lurking in submarine grottoes, and was sometimes endowed with the attributes of a dragon – or, more likely, under influence, a nāga. It expressed its artistic nature by belching up bubbles and frothy clots. These foamy structures were sometimes worked into buildings. …The plastic exhalations of the clam-monster sometimes burst the film of surface tension and appeared to astonished mariners as stunning mansions adrift on the surface of the deep.
Aquatic dragon
Second, ''shen'' 蜃 meant the "clam-monster" that miraculously transformed shapes. The ''Shuowen jiezi'' defines ''ge'' 蛤 as the "category of ''shen''", which includes three creatures that transform within the sea. A ''que'' "sparrow" transforms into a ''ge'' 蛤, or ''muli'' 牡厲 "oyster" in dialect, after 1000 years; a ''yan'' "swallow" transforms into a ''haige'' 海蛤 after 100 years; and a ''fulei'' 復絫, or ''fuyi'' 服翼 "bat", transforms into a ''kuige'' 魁蛤 after it gets old. These kinds of legendary animal "transformations" – ''hua'' "transform, change, convert, turn into; metamorphose; take the form of" – are a common theme in Chinese folklore, particularly for dragons like the ''shen''. The "dragon's transformations are unlimited", writes Visser , and "it is no wonder that Chinese literature abounds with stories about dragons which had assumed the shape of men, animals, or objects.
The ''Yueling'' 月令 "Monthly Commands" chapter of the ''Liji'' lists sparrows and pheasants transforming into shellfish during the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. In the last month of autumn, " Small birds enter the great water and become mollusks", and in the first month of winter, " Pheasants enter the great water and become large mollusks." While many other classical texts repeat this seasonal legend about pheasants that transform in ''dashui'' 大水 "great water; flood", the ''Da Dai Liji'' and '''' say they transform in the ''huai'' 淮 "Huai River." According to Chinese folklore swallows are a favorite food of both Chinese ''long'' and ''shen'' 蜃 dragons. Read explains, "Hence if people eat swallow's flesh they should not go out and cross a river ."
Eberhard equates the ''shen'' 蜃 with the ''jiaolong'' 蛟龍 "flood dragon; crocodile" and compares tales of both these dragons attacking cattle in rivers. The 1596 CE ''Bencao gangmu'' Chinese materia medica describes the ''shen'' or ''chen'' 蜃 under the ''jiaolong'' entry, with quotes from the ''Yueling'' and Lu Dian's ''Piya''.
A kind of crocodile shaped like a huge serpent. Horned like a dragon, with a red mane. Below the middle of the back it has scales inversely arranged. It lives on swallows. It spurts forth clouds of vapour in huge rings. It appears when it is going to rain. The fat and wax is made into candles which have a fragrant smoke noticeable 100 steps away, and ascend in layers in the air. The ''Yueh-Ling'' says the pheasant metamorphoses into a ''Ch'un'' when it enters the water. Lu Tien says that serpents and tortoises together produce tortoises but cohabitation of tortoises and pheasants produce ''Ch'un'', although they are different animals they are moved by the same influences. Other records refer to its relationship to the clam.
Mirage
The shape-changing ''shen'' is believed to cause a mirage or . ''Shen-'' synonyms meaning "mirage" include ''shenlou'' 蜃樓 , ''shenqi'' 蜃氣 , ''shenqilou'' 蜃氣樓, ''haishishenlou'' 海市蜃樓 , and ''shenjing'' 蜃景 . In vocabulary, ''shinkirō'' 蜃気楼 is the usual word for "mirage". Compare the association between the ''long'' 龍 "dragon" and "waterspouts", evident in words like ''longjuan'' 龍卷 "waterspout" and ''longjuanfeng'' 龍卷風 "cyclone; tornado" .
Characters
Most Chinese characters are written with a "phonetic" element that roughly indicates pronunciation with a "" or "signific" that suggests semantic field. ''Shen'''s standard and antiquated characters combine the ''chen'' "dragon , duodecimal 5th of the 12 Earthly Branches; period from 7-9 AM; time period; occasion; star; celestial body" phonetic with the ''chong'' "insect; reptile" radical.
A variety of other characters utilize this phonetic ''chen'' 辰 "5th; dragon", which the ''Wenlin'' says "may have depicted an ancient kind of hoe" in ancient oracle bone script . Some etymologically significant examples include:
*''chen'' 晨 "dragon star"
*''zhen'' 震 "thunder; quake"
*''zhen'' 振 "shake; stimulate"
*''zhen'' 娠 "pregnant"
*''shen'' 脤 "sacrificial meat"
This ''chen'' 晨 or ''chenxing'' 辰星 "dragon star" is an asterism in the traditional Chinese constellations, a morning star within the Azure Dragon that is associated with east and spring. Specifically, the "dragon star" is in the 5th and 6th lunar Twenty-eight mansions, with its ''xin'' 心 "" and ''wei'' 尾 "" corresponding to the Western constellations of Antares and Scorpius.
Etymologies
Carr etymologically hypothesizes that the ''chen'' < *' 辰 phonetic series split between *' "dragon" and *' "thunder". The former words include aquatic ''shen'' < *' 蜃 "large shellfish; sea dragon", celestial ''chen'' < *' 晨 "dragon star", and possibly through dragon-emperor association, ''chen'' < *' 宸 "imperial palace; mansion". The latter ones, reflecting the belief that dragons cause rainfall and thunder, include ''zhen'' < *' 震 "thunder; shake", ''zhen'' < *' 振 "shake; scare", and ''ting'' < *''d'ieng'' 霆 "thunderbolt".
Schuessler provides more refined reconstructions and etymologies:
*''shen'' < *'''' 蜃 "'Clam, oyster' … 'some kind of dragon'."
*''chen'' < *'''' 辰 "The 5th of the Earthly branches, identified with the dragon … cf. 蜃 'some kind of dragon'", which might be an Austro-Asiatic language loan from Vietnamese ''tr?n'' or Mon ''klan'' "python".
*''chen'' < *'''' 晨 or 辰 "Time when life begins to stir: 'early morning' … "start of growing/agricultural season in the 3rd month; heavenly bodies that mark that time' … 'heavenly body', 'time'."
*''zhen'' < *'''' 振 or 震 " 'to shake, rouse, quake' … 'to alarm, fear', 'scared', 'thunder', 'move'".
*''zhen'' < '''' 娠 "'Pregnant', 'become pregnant' … is derived from 'to shake, rouse, excite' , hence lit. 'start stirring, moving' ."
Popular culture
In the present day, the mythical ''shen'' "clam-monster" is best known through the everyday words for "mirage; illusion", typically Chinese ''haishishenlou'' 海市蜃樓, Korean ''shingiru'' ??? 蜃氣樓, and Japanese ''shinkirō'' 蜃気楼.
In the Chinese novel ''Water Margin'', the character Tong Meng is nicknamed Fanzhiang Shen 翻江蜃 "River-churning Shen". In Japanese manga, Shin 蜃 is an illusion-creating weapon of Tomo and an illusion-manifesting technique of Demon Eyes Kyo. The title ''Honō no Mirāju'' 炎の蜃気楼 "Mirage of Blaze" transcribes ''shinkirō'' 蜃気楼 with the English gairaigo loanword ''mirāju''.
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