正化日

zhèng huà rì

An upright transformation day · zheng hua ri

Also rendered: An upright transformation day (this site; 正 as the verdict the chapter passes, 日 as the unit of the table) · A normal transformation day (plain; 正 in this chapter is a judgement against 邪, not a statistic)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-14

At a glance

Pinyin: zhèng huà rì
Simplified: 正化日
Literal: 正 zhèng — upright, straight, the thing as it should be (《說文》: 正，是也); 化 huà — transformation; 日 rì — a day, and in this table a reckoning. 正化日 is therefore not a date but a verdict: the year's transformation is the upright one. The chapter sets it against 邪氣化日 in the same sentence-pattern, so that six of the ten stems produce one word and four produce the other.
Shuowen: **《說文》：正，是也；日，實也，太陽之精不虧**。**「正化日」本篇11見，皆在六十甲子表之末**；**與「邪氣化日」相對，後者本篇6見**；**凡正化者，其氣之化與本氣相得；邪氣化者，勝復同而化不正**；**表凡六十組，作正化日者十有一組，作邪氣化度者九組，作正化度者十九組**

In brief

The verdict a year gets when the qi that governs it does its own work without being opposed: 甲辰歲。上太陽水，中太宫土運，下太陰土，寒化六，濕化五，正化日也. The word is used eleven times, always at the end of a run of numbers that count what each of the three qi turned into, and always in opposition to 邪氣化日, which is said of the years where 勝復同 — where one qi prevails and the other takes its revenge, so that the transformation is not the year’s own. The table’s arithmetic is the chapter’s answer to the opening question about 六化: this is 化 seen in the calendar, one year at a time.

Senses in the classical corpus

The verdict 正化日

其化正，不為他氣所奪

正化日也 — Suwen 71

Its opposite 邪氣化日

勝復同則化不正

所謂邪氣化日也 — Suwen 71

With the numbers 寒化六，濕化五

上中下三氣各計其化之數

寒化六，濕化五 — Suwen 71

With the years 甲辰、甲戌

同一干之歲，其化相同

甲戌、甲辰歲 — Suwen 71

With the palace 災某宫

正化之年亦有災宫

災七宫 — Suwen 71

With the diet 藥食宜

正化之後即言藥食所宜

所謂藥食宜也 — Suwen 71

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 71 Suwen 71 · 六元正紀大論 Read in context →

甲戌、甲辰歲。上太陽水，中太宫土運，下太陰土，寒化六，濕化五，正化日也。其化上苦熱，中苦温，下苦温，藥食宜也。甲戌、甲辰岁。上太阳水，中太宫土运，下太阴土，寒化六，湿化五，正化日也。其化上苦热，中苦温，下苦温，药食宜也。

Jiǎ xū, jiǎ chén suì. Shàng tài yáng shuǐ, zhōng tài gōng tǔ yùn, xià tài yīn tǔ, hán huà liù, shī huà wǔ, zhèng huà rì yě. Qí huà shàng kǔ rè, zhōng kǔ wēn, xià kǔ wēn, yào shí yí yě.

In a jia xu or jia chen year: greater yang water above, greater gong earth circuit in the middle, greater yin earth below. Cold transforms six, dampness transforms five — an upright transformation day. As to what transforms it: bitter and hot above, bitter and warm in the middle, bitter and warm below — what is fitting in drugs and food.

**「正化日」本篇11見，此段有其1**；**此段為甲戌、甲辰之歲：上太陽水，中太宫土運，下太陰土，寒化六，濕化五**；**「藥食宜」亦見此段之末，二者同為一組之結**

Compounds built on this term

邪氣化日

xié qì huà rì

a day of evil-qi transformation

本篇6見；與正化日相對

正化度

zhèng huà dù

an upright transformation measure

本篇19見；以度言之，義同正化日

勝復

shèng fù

prevalence and revenge

邪氣化日皆因勝復同，本篇29見

藥食宜

yào shí yí

what is fitting in medicine and food

本篇30見；每組之末必言之

How it has been translated

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

This site	an upright transformation day	the word the table puts at the end of a year's account, and the rendering keeps it a judgement
Literal	upright transformation day	exact; 'upright' carries the sense of 正 against 邪
Gloss	a year whose qi transforms as its own season requires	what the chapter means, and far too long for a table

Entry status

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2026-10-14

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Reading path

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