soul, spirit
魄 centers on the immaterial essence of a living being: the soul or spirit. It refers to the animating force that gives life and personality, distinct from the physical body.
魄 combines 白 (white, bright) with 鬼 (spirit, ghost). The character likely expresses the bright or yang aspect of the soul, in contrast to 魂 which is associated with the darker, yin aspect. The exact historical development is uncertain, but the component choice reflects traditional Chinese dualistic soul concepts.
A white 白 ghost 鬼 represents the bright, ethereal soul that leaves the body. Picture a luminous white spirit rising from a ghostly form: that is the soul.
For ハク, imagine a soul floating into a white 白 hackberry tree: hack -> ハク, and the white ghost-soul merges with the tree.
soul; spirit; ghost
moonlight; lunar spirit
Tsukishiro (1908 novel by Yūhō Kikuchi)
waning moon
being reduced to poverty; living in poverty; coming down in the world; straitened (reduced) circumstances
(being in) reduced circumstances; (having) fallen into poverty
Yin energy; spirit