Classica Sinica Medica

材力

cái lì

Material strength · cai li

Also rendered: Material strength (this site; it keeps 材 as stuff, which is the point — this is what one is made of, not what one does) · Cai li (transliteration; used where the pair 材力 and 天數 is being read as the chapter's two explanations)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-08

At a glance

Pinyin
cái lì
Simplified
材力
Literal
材 cái — timber, stuff fit for use (《說文》: 材，木梃也); 力 lì — strength, the sinew that does the work (《說文》: 力，筋也). 材力 is the material a person is made of and the strength in it — not virtue, not the way, but the stock one starts with. Huang Di asks whether childlessness in old age is this being spent or the number of heaven, and the chapter answers with a count, which treats the spending and the number as the same thing seen from two sides.
Shuowen
**「材」讀 cái，本篇1見**；**「力」讀 lì，本篇1見**；**「材力」本篇1見**；**《說文》：材，木梃也；力，筋也**；**「材力盡邪」與「將天數然也」對舉，一問其竭，一問其數**

In brief

The stock of strength a person is made of — the material side of the question the chapter asks about ageing. Huang Di’s question puts it against the number of heaven: is an old man childless because his material strength is spent, or because that is the number? The answer is a count by sevens and eights, and a count answers both at once: what is spent is spent on a schedule.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 材力
材者木梃，力者筋也；材力謂身之資質與其力
材力盡邪 — Suwen 1
2
What is spent 材力盡邪
材力盡，則老而無子
人年老而無子者，材力盡邪 — Suwen 1
3
Asked against the number 材力盡邪，將天數然也
一問其自竭，一問其定數
材力盡邪，將天數然也 — Suwen 1
4
Answered by the counts 女子七歲，腎氣盛
答以七七八八之數，則材力與天數一也
帝曰：人年老而無子者 — Suwen 1
5
What remains 而腎氣有餘也
材力未盡者，腎氣有餘
而腎氣有餘也 — Suwen 1
6
The bound 而天地之精氣皆竭矣
材力雖有餘，至其數則竭
而天地之精氣皆竭矣 — Suwen 1

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
素問·上古天真論 Suwen 1 · 上古天真論 Read in context →
帝曰：人年老而無子者，材力盡邪，將天數然也？ 帝曰：人年老而无子者，材力尽邪，将天数然也？
Dì yuē: rén nián lǎo ér wú zǐ zhě, cái lì jìn xié, jiāng tiān shù rán yě?
Huang Di said: when a person is old and has no children, is it that his material strength is spent, or is it simply the number apportioned by heaven?
**「材力」本篇1見**；**「材力盡邪，將天數然也」是本篇中段之問，以下七七八八之數由此**；**「邪」讀 xié，此為疑問語氣詞，一說讀 yé**；**「無子」之無作無，與篇中「无」字本篇二形並見**

Compounds built on this term

天數
tiān shù
the number of heaven
本篇1見；與材力對舉
腎氣
shèn qì
kidney qi
本篇7見
天壽
tiān shòu
the span of heaven
本篇1見
精氣
jīng qì
essence qi
本篇3見

How it has been translated

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

This siteMaterial strengthliteral to both graphs, and it keeps the question open: stuff and force, not virtue
Transliterationcai liright about the referent, and it tells an English reader nothing
Descriptivethe constitution one is born withwhat it functions as; it loses the 力, and the chapter's question is about spending

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-08

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