《左傳》「人生始化曰魄」一句歷來有兩種疏解，一以「化」為「變化成形」，另一則以為「死亡漸滅」；兩義之所以完全相反，其實決定於對後面「魄」字的理解。前者認為「魄」是「附形之靈」，後者則以為「魄」是「陰神」。本文先考查文獻中「化」、「魄」兩字的用例用義，然後再收結於《左傳》的內部證據，論證「魄」當指人的識如主體，並非死後方有，而全句則當解作「人出生成形時具有識知主體」。

This article deals with the interpretation of the sentence "ran sheng shi hua yue po" in Zuozhuan, in particular, the meaning of the words "hua ( 化 )" and "po ( 魄 )". There have been two interpretations squarely opposite to each other. One views "hua" as "to come into being" and the other "to cease to exist". Such divergence is in fact a result of the interpretation of "po", whether it should mean "the sense－mind attached to a living body" or "the spirit of a deceased person" . This article starts by surveying external evidence－the usage and meaning of relevant words in contemporary Chinese literature; and then, relying on internal evidence of Zuozhuan, concludes that "po" means "sense－mind attached to a living body". As a result, the entire sentence should be interpreted as "when a person comes into being there is the sense－mind" .