Classica Sinica Medica

勝復 简体 胜复

shèng fù

Prevalence and revenge · sheng fu

Also rendered: Prevalence and revenge (this site; 復 as what comes back upon a thing, which is the sense the doctrine needs) · Overacting and counteracting (the term later medicine settled on; clearer, and it loses 復's plain sense of return)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-06

At a glance

Pinyin
shèng fù
Simplified
胜复
Literal
勝 shèng — to prevail, to win; 復 fù — to come back, to return, and specifically to return upon what has been done. 《說文》 has 復，往來也. 勝復之作: the arising of prevalence and of what answers it. One occurrence, and it is the whole of the chapter's answer to how the qi of heaven and earth is to be observed — it is not, at least not in the pulse.
Shuowen
**「勝」讀 shèng，本篇26見：燥勝則地乾之屬6見、勝復、所勝、所不勝**；**「復」讀 fù，本篇3見：勝復之作、五行遷復**；**《說文》：復，往來也**；**「勝復」本篇1見，在第二十三段**

In brief

Prevalence and the answering return — the pair by which a qi that has overstepped is met by the qi that answers it. The chapter raises it only to say what cannot be done with it: 天地之氣，勝復之作，不形於診也, the arising of prevalence and revenge in the qi of heaven and earth does not take shape in the pulse. The Pulse Method is quoted to the same effect. It is the one place in the Suwen where the doctrine of the circuits is told plainly that it is not a matter for the wrist.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 勝復
勝者太過而加，復者來而報之
勝復之作 — Suwen 67
2
What the chapter says of it 不形於診也
天地之氣之勝復，不見於脉
天地之氣，勝復之作，不形於診也。 — Suwen 67
3
The authority quoted 無以脉診
脉法明言天地之變不可以脉診
天地之變，無以脉診。此之謂也。 — Suwen 67
4
The related term nearby 五行遷復
遷者移，復者還，與勝復之復同源
天地動靜，五行遷復 — Suwen 67
5
What is observed instead 形精之動
觀其象而知之，不於脉求之
仰觀其象，雖遠可知也。 — Suwen 67
6
Where excess is then discussed 氣有餘，則制己所勝
勝復之理，於人則見於有餘不及
氣有餘，則制己所勝，而侮所不勝。 — Suwen 67

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
3 passages
Suwen 67 Suwen 67 · 五運行大論 Read in context →
歧伯曰：天地之氣，勝復之作，不形於診也。脉法曰：天地之變，無以脉診。此之謂也。 歧伯曰：天地之气，胜复之作，不形于诊也。脉法曰：天地之变，无以脉诊。此之谓也。
Qí bó yuē: tiān dì zhī qì, shèng fù zhī zuò, bù xíng yú zhěn yě. Mài fǎ yuē: tiān dì zhī biàn, wú yǐ mài zhěn. Cǐ zhī wèi yě.
Qi Bo said: the arising of prevalence and of the revenge that answers it, in the qi of heaven and earth, does not take shape in the pulse. The Pulse Method says: the changes of heaven and earth cannot be diagnosed by the pulse. This is what that means.
**「勝復」本篇1見，在第二十三段**；**「勝」讀 shèng，本篇26見：燥勝則地乾之屬6見、所勝2見**；**「復」讀 fù，本篇3見：勝復、遷復各一見**；**此段引《脉法》為證：天地之變，無以脉診**；**「脉法」之「脉」讀 mài，本篇3見**
素問·六微㫖大論 Suwen 68 · 六微㫖大論 Read in context →
帝曰：善。寒濕相遘，燥熱相臨，風火相值，其有聞乎？歧伯曰：氣有勝復，勝復之作，有德有化，有用有變，變則邪氣居之。 帝曰：善。寒湿相遘，燥热相临，风火相值，其有闻乎？歧伯曰：气有胜复，胜复之作，有德有化，有用有变，变则邪气居之。
Dì yuē: shàn. Hán shī xiāng gòu, zào rè xiāng lín, fēng huǒ xiāng zhí, qí yǒu wén hū? Qí bó yuē: qì yǒu shèng fù, shèng fù zhī zuò, yǒu dé yǒu huà, yǒu yòng yǒu biàn, biàn zé xié qì jū zhī.
Huang Di said: good. Cold and damp meet, dryness and heat face one another, wind and fire come together — is there something to be heard in this? Qi Bo said: the qi has prevalence and revenge. When prevalence and revenge arise there is virtue and there is transformation, there is use and there is change; and where there is change, evil qi takes up its dwelling.
「氣有勝復，勝復之作」——**「勝復」本篇2見，皆在本段**；**「勝」讀 shèng，「復」讀 fù**；**此答「寒濕相遘，燥熱相臨，風火相值」之問：六氣相遇則有勝有復**；**下文「有德有化，有用有變，變則邪氣居之」是勝復之作的四目，與第六十七篇「勝復之作，不形於診也」同一語而取義不同**
素問·氣交變大論 Suwen 69 · 氣交變大論 Read in context →
歧伯曰：夫德化政令災變，不能相加也，勝復盛衰，不能相多也，往來小大，不能相過也，用之升降，不能相無也，各從其動而復之耳。 歧伯曰：夫德化政令灾变，不能相加也，胜复盛衰，不能相多也，往来小大，不能相过也，用之升降，不能相无也，各从其动而复之耳。
Qí bó yuē: fú dé huà zhèng lìng zāi biàn, bù néng xiāng jiā yě, shèng fù shèng shuāi, bù néng xiāng duō yě, wǎng lái xiǎo dà, bù néng xiāng guò yě, yòng zhī shēng jiàng, bù néng xiāng wú yě, gè cóng qí dòng ér fù zhī ěr.
Qi Bo said: virtue, transformation, governance, command, disaster and change cannot be added to one another; prevalence and revenge, flourishing and decline, cannot be multiplied in one another; coming and going, small and great, cannot pass beyond one another; in their use, rising and falling, they cannot do without one another. Each follows its own movement and returns.
「夫德化政令災變，不能相加也，勝復盛衰，不能相多也」——**「勝復」本篇1見，止此一見**；**本篇勝復與德化政令災變並舉，言此數者各從其動而復，不能相益相多**；**下文「往來小大，不能相過也，用之升降，不能相無也」申此意**；**「勝」讀 shèng、「復」讀 fù**

Compounds built on this term

遷復
qiān fù
shifting and return
本篇1見；五行遷復，與勝復之復同義
所勝
suǒ shèng
what it overcomes
本篇2見；氣有餘則制己所勝
所不勝
suǒ bù shèng
what it does not overcome
本篇2見；侮所不勝，與所勝相對
太過
tài guò
excess
本篇太過不見；勝即太過，與不及相對

How it has been translated

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

This siteprevalence and revengeliteral from 勝 and 復; 復 in this book is at least as often return as counteraction, and the chapter's own nearby word is 遷復, shifting and return
Later usageoveracting and counteractinghow the pair is glossed in writing on the 運氣 chapters; right about the mechanism, and it reads the pair as physiology rather than as return
Descriptiveexcess and the answer to itfaithful, and it reads like a gloss rather than a name

Entry status

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2026-10-06

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