Classica Sinica Medica

十二變 简体 十二变

shí èr biàn

The twelve changes · shi er bian

Also rendered: The twelve changes (this site; the chapter's own count, kept as it stands even though thirteen paragraphs precede it) · The twelve upheavals (sharper; 變 in this chapter covers ordinary arrivals as well as violent ones)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-14

At a glance

Pinyin
shí èr biàn
Simplified
十二变
Literal
Twelve changes. The chapter gives thirteen paragraphs of 某氣所至 and then calls them twelve, because the last of the thirteen is not a qi's arrival but the rule for answering all of them: 凡此十二變者，報德以德，報化以化，報政以政，報令以令. The count is therefore not a miscount — it is the chapter's way of closing a list by stating what the list is for.
Shuowen
**「十二變」本篇1見，止在此句**；**上文十三段「某氣所至」，每段各繫一變之名**；**「變」本篇27見，以「十二變」為其總收**；**所謂十二者，厥陰、少陰、太陰、少陽、陽明、太陽六氣，而時化、司化、氣化、德化、布政、氣變、令行、病之常八者錯見其間，其實十三段而曰十二，蓋末段即其總收**

In brief

The name the chapter gives to its own closing list. Thirteen paragraphs run from 厥陰所至爲和平 to 太陽所至爲流泄禁止，病之常也; each begins 某氣所至 and most end with a phrase that names the category of what it has described — 時化之常、司化之常、氣化之常、德化之常、布政之常、氣變之常、令行之常、病之常. Then comes the sentence that gathers them: 凡此十二變者，報德以德，報化以化，報政以政，報令以令，氣高則高，氣下則下，氣後則後，氣前則前，氣中則中，氣外則外，位之常也. The rule is one of answering in kind: a year that was generous gets generosity, a year that was harsh gets harshness. This is what the opening question about 六化六變 has been waiting for.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The count 十二變
十三段而曰十二，末段為其總收
凡此十二變者 — Suwen 71
2
The list 某氣所至
六氣各繫其所至
厥陰所至爲和平 — Suwen 71
3
The rule 報德以德，報化以化
以其所報者如其所以來
報政以政，報令以令 — Suwen 71
4
The seal on it 位之常也
高下、先後、中外，各隨其位
氣高則高，氣下則下 — Suwen 71
5
The categories 時化之常、司化之常、氣化之常
八者錯見於十三段之間
時化之常也 — Suwen 71
6
At its head 夫六氣正紀
有化有變，有勝有復，有用有病
夫六氣正紀 — 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 →
凡此十二變者，報德以德，報化以化，報政以政，報令以令，氣高則高，氣下則下，氣後則後，氣前則前，氣中則中，氣外則外，位之常也。 凡此十二变者，报德以德，报化以化，报政以政，报令以令，气高则高，气下则下，气后则后，气前则前，气中则中，气外则外，位之常也。
Fán cǐ shí èr biàn zhě, bào dé yǐ dé, bào huà yǐ huà, bào zhèng yǐ zhèng, bào lìng yǐ lìng, qì gāo zé gāo, qì xià zé xià, qì hòu zé hòu, qì qián zé qián, qì zhōng zé zhōng, qì wài zé wài, wèi zhī cháng yě.
All these twelve changes: virtue is answered with virtue, transformation with transformation, governance with governance, command with command. Where the qi is high it is high, where low low, where behind behind, where in front in front, where within within, where without without — the constant of position.
**「十二變」本篇1見，即此句**；**此句承上文十三段「某氣所至」而言，末段為病之常之總收，故曰十二**；**「報德以德，報化以化，報政以政，報令以令」為應變之總則**

Compounds built on this term

六氣正紀
liù qì zhèng jì
the regular record of the six qi
本篇一見；十二變即在其内
病之常
bìng zhī cháng
what is regular in disease
本篇4見；十三段之末四段皆以此收
六化六變
liù huà liù biàn
the six transformations and the six changes
本篇一見；十二變者，其變之數也
報德以德
bào dé yǐ dé
answering virtue with virtue
本篇一見；十二變之收句曰位之常也

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe twelve changesthe word the chapter itself counts with, and the rendering keeps the count
Literaltwelve alterationsexact, and it makes the following rule sound like a footnote
Glossthe ways the six qi behave on arrival, twelve of them, answered in kindwhat the passage says, and too long to stand as a term

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-14

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