Classica Sinica Medica

在泉

zài quán

Lying in the spring · zai quan

Also rendered: Lying in the spring (this site; 在 is position and 泉 is what lies below the ground, which is exactly where the qi is said to be) · Zai quan (transliteration; how the term appears in tables beside 司天)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-13

At a glance

Pinyin
zài quán
Simplified
在泉
Literal
在 zài — to be at, to lie in; 泉 quán — a spring, water at its source (《說文》: 泉，水原也), and by extension what lies below the ground. 在泉 is the second of the two offices: where 司天 has charge above, 在泉 lies below and has charge of the year from midsummer to its end. The graph says position, not function — the qi is *at the spring*, down in the earth, and what it does from there is what the chapter goes on to say.
Shuowen
**「在泉」本篇12見，六氣各二見**；**《說文》：在，存也；泉，水原也**；**六見於「某氣在泉，某毒不生」之段，六見於論五類之段**；**在泉主歲半以下，司天主歲半以上**；**其在泉之文一式：某毒不生、其味、其治、其榖**

In brief

The qi that has charge of the lower half of the year, and the counterpart of 司天. This chapter names the six — 少陽、陽明、太陽、厥陰、少陰、太陰 — and with each says what may not arise: 故少陽在泉，寒毒不生；陽明在泉，濕毒不生；太陽在泉，熱毒不生. Each then gives the flavour that belongs to the qi, the treatment that follows from it, and the grain that grows under it — 其味辛，其治苦酸，其榖蒼丹 — so that a year’s medicine is read off from what lies below. The six come back in the passage on the five classes, where 在泉 decides which kind of creature comes to nothing in the second half. 司天 and 在泉 are never in the same half of the year: the qi above in one half is below in the other.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graph 在泉
在者居之，泉者地下之氣
少陽在泉 — Suwen 70
2
Its office 主歲半以下
司天主上，在泉主下
地氣制之也 — Suwen 70
3
The six in turn 少陽、陽明、太陽、厥陰、少陰、太陰
六氣迭為在泉
太陽在泉，熱毒不生 — Suwen 70
4
What it does 某毒不生
在泉之氣制一歲之毒
寒毒不生 — Suwen 70
5
Flavour, treatment, grain 其味、其治、其榖
三者皆從在泉之氣
其味辛，其治苦酸，其榖蒼丹 — Suwen 70
6
Against 司天 司天主上，在泉主下
二者分主一歲之上下半
— — Suwen 70

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
1 passages
Suwen 70 Suwen 70 · 五常政大論 Read in context →
故少陽在泉，寒毒不生，其味辛，其治苦酸，其榖蒼丹。陽明在泉，濕毒不生，其味酸，其氣濕，其治辛苦甘，其榖丹素。 故少阳在泉，寒毒不生，其味辛，其治苦酸，其谷苍丹。阳明在泉，湿毒不生，其味酸，其气湿，其治辛苦甘，其谷丹素。
Gù shào yáng zài quán, hán dú bù shēng, qí wèi xīn, qí zhì kǔ suān, qí gǔ cāng dān. Yáng míng zài quán, shī dú bù shēng, qí wèi suān, qí qì shī, qí zhì xīn kǔ gān, qí gǔ dān sù.
Thus when lesser yang lies in the spring the poison of cold is not born; its flavour is acrid, its treatment bitter and sour, its grain blue-green and vermilion. When yang brightness lies in the spring the poison of dampness is not born; its flavour is sour, its qi damp, its treatment acrid, bitter and sweet, its grain vermilion and white.
**「在泉」本篇12見，此段有其1**；**六氣各二見：一在「某氣在泉，某毒不生」之六段，一在論五類之段**；**此段為第一：少陽在泉，寒毒不生，其味辛，其治苦酸，其榖蒼丹**；**其下五段一式，唯太陰在泉之句有衍字「其味鹹其」，已入校勘**

Compounds built on this term

司天
sī tiān
governing the heaven
本篇12見；司天主上，在泉主下
地氣
dì qì
the qi of earth
本篇3見；地氣制之也，非天不生，地不長也
毒
dú
poison
本篇16見；其在泉之文皆曰某毒不生
五類
wǔ lèi
the five classes
本篇3見；在泉制五類之下半歲

How it has been translated

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

This sitelying in the springthe qi below, in charge of the second half; the rendering keeps the position the graph states
Transliterationzai quanright about the referent, and it does not say which half of the year
Descriptivethe qi in charge of the second half of the yearexact, and it loses the descent into the earth that 泉 gives the word

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-13

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