精氣 简体 精气

jīng qì

Essence qi · jing qi

Also rendered: The qi of the essence (this site; it keeps both graphs, because the chapter moves between storing it and spending it) · Jing qi (transliteration; how it is written in discussions of the storehouses, where 精 is being read as a substance)

Reviewed · 2026-10-08

At a glance

Pinyin
jīng qì
Simplified
精气
Literal
精 jīng — the finest part of grain, and by extension the finest part of anything (《說文》: 精,擇也); 氣 qì — vapour, breath, the thing that moves. 精氣 is the qi of the essence: what the storehouses hold, what is spent in begetting, and what is breathed by those who have the way. In this chapter it is the one thing the counts measure — it overflows at sixteen, is drained by desire, and is spent by the time the sevens and eights run out.
Shuowen
**「精」讀 jīng,本篇9見**;**「氣」讀 qì,本篇15見**;**「精氣」本篇3見**;**《說文》:精,擇也;氣,雲氣也**;**本篇「以欲竭其精」之精、9見之中居其一**

In brief

The qi of the essence: what the viscera store and what is spent in begetting. Suwen 1 uses it at three points on the same road — at sixteen it overflows and is spent, and yin and yang harmonise, so a man can beget children; at fifty-six it is scant, because the heavenly water is exhausted; and by the end of the counts the essence qi of heaven and earth itself is spent, so that even those whose span exceeds its measure cannot pass the bound. Those who have the way breathe it instead of spending it, which is why they can beget children at a hundred.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 精氣
精者擇米之精,氣者雲氣;精氣謂精之氣
精氣溢寫 — Suwen 1
2
What overflows at sixteen 精氣溢寫,陰陽和,故能有子
腎氣盛而精氣溢,陰陽和合故有子
精氣溢寫,陰陽和 — Suwen 1
3
What desire drains 以欲竭其精
欲竭其精,則精氣日耗
以欲竭其精 — Suwen 1
4
What is scant at fifty-six 天癸竭,精少
精氣既少,故形體皆極
天癸竭,精少,腎藏衰 — Suwen 1
5
What heaven and earth spend 而天地之精氣皆竭矣
男女之數既盡,天地之精氣亦竭
而天地之精氣皆竭矣 — Suwen 1
6
What the true person breathes 呼吸精氣
真人呼吸精氣而不泄之,故壽敝天地
呼吸精氣,獨立守神 — Suwen 1

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
3 passages
素問·上古天真論 Suwen 1 · 上古天真論 Read in context →
丈夫八歲。腎氣實,髮長齒更。二八腎氣盛。天癸至。精氣溢寫,陰陽和,故能有子。三八腎氣平均,筋骨勁強,故真牙生而長極。四八筋骨隆盛,肌肉滿壯。五八腎氣衰,髮墮齒槁。六八陽氣衰竭於上,面焦,髮鬢頒白。七八肝氣衰,筋不能動。天癸竭,精少,腎藏衰,形體皆極。八八則齒髮去。 丈夫八岁。肾气实,发长齿更。二八肾气盛。天癸至。精气溢写,阴阳和,故能有子。三八肾气平均,筋骨劲强,故真牙生而长极。四八筋骨隆盛,肌肉满壮。五八肾气衰,发堕齿槁。六八阳气衰竭于上,面焦,发鬓颁白。七八肝气衰,筋不能动。天癸竭,精少,肾藏衰,形体皆极。八八则齿发去。
Zhàng fū bā suì. shèn qì shí, fà zhǎng chǐ gēng. èr bā shèn qì shèng. tiān guǐ zhì. jīng qì yì xiě, yīn yáng hé, gù néng yǒu zǐ. sān bā shèn qì píng jūn, jīn gǔ jìng qiáng, gù zhēn yá shēng ér cháng jí. sì bā jīn gǔ lóng shèng, jī ròu mǎn zhuàng. wǔ bā shèn qì shuāi, fà duò chǐ gǎo. liù bā yáng qì shuāi jié yú shàng, miàn jiāo, fà bìn bān bái. qī bā gān qì shuāi, jīn bù néng dòng. tiān guǐ jié, jīng shǎo, shèn zàng shuāi, xíng tǐ jiē jí. bā bā zé chǐ fà qù.
At eight a boy’s kidney qi is solid — the hair grows and the teeth change. At sixteen the kidney qi is full, the heavenly water arrives, and the essence qi overflows and is spent; yin and yang harmonise, so he can beget children. At twenty-four the kidney qi is even and balanced and the sinews and bones are strong, so the wisdom teeth come and growth reaches its extreme. At thirty-two the sinews and bones are at their height and the flesh is full and strong. At forty the kidney qi declines, the hair falls and the teeth wither. At forty-eight the yang qi is exhausted in the upper part, the face is seared and the hair at the temples is streaked white. At fifty-six the liver qi declines and the sinews can no longer move; the heavenly water is exhausted, the essence is scant, the kidney storehouse decays, and the body in every part has reached its extreme. At sixty-four the teeth and the hair go.
**「精氣」本篇3見**;**「溢寫」讀 yì xiě,寫讀 xiě;下文「乃能冩」作冩而讀 xiè,同篇二形二讀**;**「丈夫」之夫讀 fū,而「夫上古」「夫道者」之夫讀 fú,本篇二讀**;**「頒白」讀 bān bái,頒通斑**
素問·生氣通天論 Suwen 3 · 生氣通天論 Read in context →
凡陰陽之要,陽密乃固。兩者不和,若春無秋,若冬無夏,因而和之,是謂聖度。故陽強不能密,陰氣乃絶;陰平陽祕,精神乃治;陰陽離決,精氣乃絶。 凡阴阳之要,阳密乃固。两者不和,若春无秋,若冬无夏,因而和之,是谓圣度。故阳强不能密,阴气乃绝;阴平阳秘,精神乃治;阴阳离决,精气乃绝。
Fán yīn yáng zhī yào, yáng mì nǎi gù. liǎng zhě bù hé, ruò chūn wú qiū, ruò dōng wú xià, yīn ér hé zhī, shì wèi shèng dù. gù yáng qiáng bù néng mì, yīn qì nǎi jué; yīn píng yáng mì, jīng shén nǎi zhì; yīn yáng lí jué, jīng qì nǎi jué.
The essential of yin and yang is that the yang must be close-knit if it is to be firm. If the two are not in harmony it is like having spring without autumn or winter without summer; to harmonise them is called the sage’s measure. Thus when the yang is strong but cannot stay close, the yin qi comes to an end; when the yin is level and the yang is hidden, the jing and shen are ordered; and when yin and yang part and break away, the essence qi is finished.
「陰陽離決,精氣乃絶」——離決則陰陽不相維繫,精氣由是乃絶;絶為絕之俗寫,本篇五見;**「精氣」本篇1見**
素問·玉機真藏論 Suwen 19 · 玉機真藏論 Read in context →
歧伯曰:五藏者,皆禀氣於胃,胃者,五藏之本也。藏氣者,不能自致於手太陰,必因於胃氣,乃至於手太陰也。故五藏各以其時,自爲而至於手太陰也。故邪氣勝者,精氣衰也。故病甚者,胃氣不能與之俱至於手太陰。故真藏之氣獨見。獨見者,病勝藏也,故曰死。帝曰:善。 歧伯曰:五藏者,皆禀气于胃,胃者,五藏之本也。藏气者,不能自致于手太阴,必因于胃气,乃至于手太阴也。故五藏各以其时,自为而至于手太阴也。故邪气胜者,精气衰也。故病甚者,胃气不能与之俱至于手太阴。故真藏之气独见。独见者,病胜藏也,故曰死。帝曰:善。
Qí bó yuē: wǔ zàng zhě, jiē bǐng qì yú wèi, wèi zhě, wǔ zàng zhī běn yě. Zàng qì zhě, bù néng zì zhì yú shǒu tài yīn, bì yīn yú wèi qì, nǎi zhì yú shǒu tài yīn yě. Gù wǔ zàng gè yǐ qí shí, zì wéi ér zhì yú shǒu tài yīn yě. Gù xié qì shèng zhě, jīng qì shuāi yě. Gù bìng shèn zhě, wèi qì bù néng yǔ zhī jù zhì yú shǒu tài yīn. Gù zhēn zàng zhī qì dú xiàn. Dú xiàn zhě, bìng shèng zàng yě, gù yuē sǐ. Dì yuē: shàn.
Qibo answers: the five viscera all receive their qi from the stomach; the stomach is the root of the five viscera. The qi of a viscus cannot reach the hand taiyin by itself — it must go by way of stomach qi before it arrives there. Thus each viscus, in its own season, reaches the hand taiyin by its own act. When evil qi prevails, the essential qi declines. In severe disease the stomach qi cannot travel with it to the hand taiyin, and so the qi of the true viscus appears alone. Appearing alone means the disease has overcome the viscus — hence death. “Good,” says the Emperor.
「精氣衰也」,邪氣勝者則精氣衰。本篇以胃氣與真藏相對,胃氣不至則真藏之氣獨見。

Compounds built on this term

精
jīng
jing · essence
本篇9見
腎氣
shèn qì
kidney qi
本篇7見;精氣之所由盛衰
天癸
tiān guǐ
heavenly water
本篇5見;精氣竭則天癸竭
溢寫
yì xiě
overflowing and being spent
本篇1見

How it has been translated

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

This siteEssence qijing · essence is the site's standing rendering of 精, and the chapter's argument is about spending it
Transliterationjing qiright about the referent, and it hides that one of the two graphs is the ordinary word for breath
Descriptivethe generative qiwhat the chapter does with it, and it loses the sense of a store that is held and then drained

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2026-10-08

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