Classica Sinica Medica

化源

huà yuán

The source of transformation · hua yuan

Also rendered: The source of transformation (this site; 源 as the generating phase, not a place) · Transformative origin (literal, and it reads as a thing rather than a phase)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-14

At a glance

Pinyin
huà yuán
Simplified
化源
Literal
化 huà — transformation; 源 yuán — a source, a spring's head (《說文》: 源，水泉本也). The source of transformation: where the qi that turns one season into the next actually comes from, and therefore what must be supplied first if the year's qi is failing. In the chapter it is always something to be taken before anything else is done.
Shuowen
**《說文》：源，水泉本也**。**「化源」本篇6見，六司天之政每段之末各有其一**；**其語曰「先資其化源」或「先取化源」，取之者補其所不勝之母氣**；**「源」本篇7見，皆在此六處之内**；**六段之次：太陽曰先資，陽明曰資，少陽曰先取，太陰曰而取，少陰曰先取，厥陰亦曰先取**

In brief

What to give before anything else. Each of the six 司天之政 closes with a set of orders, and in each the same phrase appears: 必折其鬱氣，先資其化源. The source is the mother of the qi the year has too little of — supply it, and the failing season recovers from below rather than being forced from above. The idea belongs to the 五運 method: every phase is generated by another, and a year whose qi is short is a year in which the generator must be reinforced. It stands in the chapter just before the diet and the prohibitions, as the first of the three things the 治則 asks for.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The phrase 先資其化源
先補其所生之源
先資其化源 — Suwen 71
2
Its place 六司天之政之末
六段皆言折鬱氣、取化源
先取化源 — Suwen 71
3
What the source is 所不勝之母
一氣不足，補其生之者
資其化源 — Suwen 71
4
When it is used 折其鬱氣之後
先折鬱而後取源
必折其鬱氣，先取化源 — Suwen 71
5
What follows 食歲榖以全其真
取源之後，繼以食治
食歲榖以全其真 — Suwen 71
6
The other three orders 抑其運氣，扶其不勝，無使暴過
取源與抑扶並舉
抑其運氣，扶其不勝 — 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 →
故歲宜苦以燥之，温之，必折其鬱氣，先資其化源，抑其運氣，扶其不勝，無使暴過而生其疾。食歲榖以全其真，避虚邪以安其正。適氣同異，多少制之。同寒濕者，燥熱化，異寒濕者，燥濕化。故同者多之，異者少之。用寒遠寒，用涼遠涼，用温遠温，用熱遠熱。食宜同法，有假者反常，反是者病，所謂時也。 故岁宜苦以燥之，温之，必折其郁气，先资其化源，抑其运气，扶其不胜，无使暴过而生其疾。食岁谷以全其真，避虚邪以安其正。适气同异，多少制之。同寒湿者，燥热化，异寒湿者，燥湿化。故同者多之，异者少之。用寒远寒，用凉远凉，用温远温，用热远热。食宜同法，有假者反常，反是者病，所谓时也。
Gù suì yí kǔ yǐ zào zhī, wēn zhī, bì zhé qí yù qì, xiān zī qí huà yuán, yì qí yùn qì, fú qí bù shèng, wú shǐ bào guò ér shēng qí jí. Shí suì gǔ yǐ quán qí zhēn, bì xū xié yǐ ān qí zhèng. Shì qì tóng yì, duō shǎo zhì zhī. Tóng hán shī zhě, zào rè huà, yì hán shī zhě, zào shī huà. Gù tóng zhě duō zhī, yì zhě shǎo zhī. Yòng hán yuǎn hán, yòng liáng yuǎn liáng, yòng wēn yuǎn wēn, yòng rè yuǎn rè. Shí yí tóng fǎ, yǒu jiǎ zhě fǎn cháng, fǎn shì zhě bìng, suǒ wèi shí yě.
Therefore in such a year one should use bitter to dry them and warm them. One must break their pent qi, first aiding the source of their transformation, checking their circuit qi and supporting what they do not prevail over, so that no violent excess arises and brings illness. Eat the grain of the year to keep the true whole, and avoid empty evil to settle the upright. Accord with the same and the different in the qi, and hold them in check by more or less. Where it is the same as cold and damp, transform with dryness and heat; where different from cold and damp, transform with dryness and dampness. Thus what is the same is increased and what is different is decreased. In using cold keep far from cold, in using cool keep far from cool, in using warm keep far from warm, in using heat keep far from heat. Food follows the same rule. Where there is a pretext, one goes contrary to it; to go contrary to this is to fall ill. This is what is called the season.
**「化源」本篇6見，此段有其1**；**此段為太陽司天治則之末：必折其鬱氣，先資其化源，抑其運氣，扶其不勝**；**六司天之政六段皆有此語，作「先資」或「先取」**

Compounds built on this term

折其鬱氣
zhé qí yù qì
to break the pent-up qi
本篇5見
歲榖
suì gǔ
the year's grain
本篇3見；化源既取，即繼以食治
食歲榖以全其真
shí suì gǔ yǐ quán qí zhēn
eat the year's grain to keep the true qi whole
本篇一見
資其化源
zī qí huà yuán
supply the source of transformation
本篇二見，一作先資，一作資

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe source of transformationthe phase that generates the one the year is short of, and the rendering keeps both halves
Literaltransformation sourceexact; 'source' is a spring's head, which is the metaphor
Glossthe qi that generates the one the year lacks, to be tonified firstwhat the orders say, and too long for a term

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2026-10-14

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