According to the state of Shen, we can categorize it as follows:

• People with Shen (De Shen) - Good vitality.
• People who have lost Shen (Shi Shen) - We see this case when the disease is serious or the person is very old, they have exhausted the Shen.
• People with Shen deficiency - During an illness, the Shen manifests changes.
• People with false Shen (Jie Shen) – In dying patients we observe a short improvement, like the flame that flares up just before the candle goes out.
• People with abnormal Shen: the Shen is disturbed, related to Tan and Fire.

See: Shen