Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

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MENTAL MODEL · M1735

Three Corpses / San Shi

Three Corpses / San Shi
TechnicalHigh supportMedicine
Included
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

A Daoist medical concept later integrated into traditional Chinese medicine. It refers to three kinds of desires/parasites lurking in the human body. The upper corpse loves adornment, the middle corpse loves flavors, and the lower corpse loves lust.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Materializing desires. Treat 'gluttony, lust, and greed' as parasites (the Three Corpses) manipulating you. Health preservation is not only about curing diseases but also about 'slaying the Three Corpses' (controlling desires). This is an excellent metaphor for behavior correction.

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Anchor fast decisions

Daoism believes that the Three Corpses in the body record a person's sins to heaven, serving as a mind-body model metaphor for the internal supervisor and the restraint of desires on behavior.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

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    zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%89%E5%B0%B8ZH · Explicit
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