歲直简体岁直

suì zhí

Year directness · sui zhi

Also rendered: Year directness (this site; 直 is standing squarely at, and the chapter's own word for the relation is 承, to bear upon) · Year correspondence (what the term comes to; plainer, and it flattens 直 into mere agreement)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-05

At a glance

Pinyin: suì zhí
Simplified: 岁直
Literal: 歲 suì — the year; 直 zhí — straight, and so to stand squarely at, to be exactly opposite. 承歲爲歲直: the year whose circuit bears directly on the year's own branch. One occurrence, in the eleven-graph list 應天爲天符，承歲爲歲直，三合爲治, where it is the second of three and is not explained. The word that does the work is 承, to bear upon, to receive from — and 直, which is not agreement but standing directly over, with nothing between.
Shuowen: **「歲」讀 suì，本篇17見**；**「直」讀 zhí，本篇1見，在「承歲爲歲直」一句**；**「承」讀 chéng，本篇1見**；**「天符」本篇1見，「三合」本篇1見，與「歲直」同在一句**；**本篇「歲」字無異體，底本「巳亥之岁」之「岁」為簡體，已改从「歲」入校勘**

In brief

The second of the three agreements in 應天爲天符，承歲爲歲直，三合爲治. Where 天符 is a year whose circuit matches the qi presiding above it, 歲直 is a year whose circuit matches the year’s own branch — 承歲, bearing on the year. Later writing on the doctrine calls the same thing 歲會, a year that meets, and the fuller account is given in the book’s later chapters on the circuit qi. This chapter names it and passes on; what it does say is that all three are for the same purpose, which is 氣可與期 — knowing how to meet the qi in advance.

Senses in the classical corpus

The graphs 歲直

歲者年也；直者當也，正相當之謂

承歲爲歲直 — Suwen 66

What bears on what 承歲

歲運之氣與歲支之氣相當

承歲爲歲直，三合爲治。 — Suwen 66

Its counterpart 天符

應天者與在上之氣合，承歲者與歲支合

應天爲天符 — Suwen 66

The third of the three 三合

天符與歲直兼之而後三合

三合爲治。 — Suwen 66

What the three are for 氣可與期

知迎知隨，則氣可與期

知迎知隨，氣可與期。 — Suwen 66

The name used later 歲會

後世運氣家謂之歲會

承歲爲歲直，三合爲治。 — Suwen 66

Occurrences in the classics

Passages where the term does real work, with the original, pinyin and English on the same line.

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1 passages

Suwen 66 Suwen 66 · 天元紀大論 Read in context →

鬼臾區曰：陰陽之氣，各有多少，故曰三陰，三陽也。形有盛衰，謂五行之治，各有太過不及也。故其始也，有餘而往，不足隨之；不足而往，有餘從之。知迎知隨，氣可與期。應天爲天符，承歲爲歲直，三合爲治。鬼臾区曰：阴阳之气，各有多少，故曰三阴，三阳也。形有盛衰，谓五行之治，各有太过不及也。故其始也，有余而往，不足随之；不足而往，有余从之。知迎知随，气可与期。应天为天符，承岁为岁直，三合为治。

Guǐ yú qū yuē: yīn yáng zhī qì, gè yǒu duō shǎo, gù yuē sān yīn, sān yáng yě. Xíng yǒu shèng shuāi, wèi wǔ xíng zhī zhì, gè yǒu tài guò bù jí yě. Gù qí shǐ yě, yǒu yú ér wǎng, bù zú suí zhī; bù zú ér wǎng, yǒu yú cóng zhī. Zhī yíng zhī suí, qì kě yǔ qī. Yìng tiān wéi tiān fú, chéng suì wéi suì zhí, sān hé wéi zhì.

Gui Yu Qu said: the qi of yin and yang each has its greater and lesser measure, and this is why one speaks of the three yin and the three yang. Form has its flourishing and decline: this means that in the government of the five phases there is in every case excess and deficit. Thus at its beginning, when there is surplus and it moves on, insufficiency follows; when there is insufficiency and it moves on, surplus follows after. Know what is to be met and what is to be followed, and the qi can be anticipated. Answering to heaven is the heaven tally; receiving the year is the year’s directness; the three in conjunction is government.

**「歲直」本篇1見，在第十三段之末**；**「歲」讀 suì，本篇17見；「直」讀 zhí，本篇1見**；**「承」讀 chéng，本篇1見**；**「天符」讀 tiān fú，本篇1見；「三合」讀 sān hé，本篇1見，三事同在一句**；**底本「巳亥之岁」原作「岁」，簡體不得入繁體之列，已改从「歲」入校勘**；**後世運氣家謂歲直為歲會**

Compounds built on this term

天符

tiān fú

heaven tally

本篇1見；與歲直並舉，一應天，一承歲

三合

sān hé

threefold conjunction

本篇1見；天符與歲直兼之

五運

wǔ yùn

the five circuits

本篇4見；歲直以歲運之氣言

太過不及

tài guò bù jí

excess and deficit

本篇1見；本篇論五行之治，三事即承其下

How it has been translated

Every rendering below is a decision about which reader is being addressed. There is no neutral option.

This site	year directness	literal, and deliberately a little strange in English: 直 is not agreement but standing directly over, which is why the chapter says 承歲, bearing on the year
Later usage	sui zhi, the year that corresponds	how the term is glossed in writing on the circuit qi; right, and it loses the image
Technical	a year in which the circuit and the year's branch are the same phase	the substance of the term; exact, and it is a definition rather than a name

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-05

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