加臨简体加临

jiā lín

Adding and approaching · jia lin

Also rendered: Adding and approaching (this site; 加 kept for the qi that adds and 臨 for the one that comes down) · Imposition and approach (each half exact; the pair is not a contrast in the chapter)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-14

At a glance

Pinyin: jiā lín
Simplified: 加临
Literal: 加 jiā — to add to, to lay one thing on another; 臨 lín — to come down to, to overlook from above (《說文》: 臨，監臨也). In the sixty-year table the chapter uses 下加 of the qi that adds from below (甲辰、甲戌，太宫下加太陰) and 上臨 of the qi that comes down from above (戊子、戊午，太徴上臨少陰). The two together are what later writers call 加臨: the two ways the year's qi meets the year's circuit.
Shuowen: 《說文》：臨，監臨也。「加臨」二字本篇無連文；表作「下加」6見、「上臨」6見，皆在六十甲子表之通論一段；其名問答在一段之内：「加者何謂」「臨者何謂」；答曰「太過而加同天符，不及而加同歲會也」，又曰「太過不及，皆曰天符，而變行有多少，病形有微甚」

In brief

How the year’s qi comes to rest on the year’s circuit. 下加 is the 在泉 qi adding from below, as in 甲辰、甲戌，太宫下加太陰 or 癸巳、癸亥，少徴下加少陽; 上臨 is the 司天 qi approaching from above, as in 戊子、戊午，太徴上臨少陰. The chapter lists six of each and then asks what they mean: a year in which the added qi agrees with the circuit is a 天符 if the circuit is in excess, a 歲會 if it is short, and the degree of agreement — 變行有多少，病形有微甚，生死有早晏 — decides how hard the year falls. The two words are therefore the mechanism behind the table’s verdicts, not a separate doctrine.

Senses in the classical corpus

Below 甲辰、甲戌，太宫下加太陰

在泉之氣加於中運之下

The qi lying in the spring rests below the middle movement.

太宫下加太陰 — 素問·六元正紀大論

Above 戊子、戊午，太徴上臨少陰

司天之氣臨於中運之上

The governing heaven's qi rests above the middle movement.

太徴上臨少陰 — 素問·六元正紀大論

加者何謂加者何謂

問下加之名義

Asking what 'resting below' means.

加者何謂 — 素問·六元正紀大論

The answer 太過而加同天符，不及而加同歲會也

運有餘則同天符，不足則同歲會

When the movement is in excess it is a same-heaven tally; when deficient, a same-year convergence.

不及而加同歲會也 — 素問·六元正紀大論

臨者何謂臨者何謂

問上臨之名義

Asking what 'resting above' means.

臨者何謂 — 素問·六元正紀大論

Its consequence 變行有多少，病形有微甚

合之深淺，決定病之輕重

How deeply they join decides whether illness is light or heavy.

生死有早晏耳 — 素問·六元正紀大論

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

素問·六元正紀大論 Read in context →

帝曰：加者何謂？歧伯曰：太過而加同天符，不及而加同歲會也。帝曰：臨者何謂？歧伯曰：太過不及，皆曰天符，而變行有多少，病形有微甚，生死有早晏耳。帝曰：夫子言用寒遠寒，用熱遠熱，余未知其然也。願聞何謂遠？歧伯曰：熱無犯熱，寒無犯寒，從者和，逆者病，不可不敬畏而遠之，所謂時興六位也。帝曰：温涼何如？帝曰：加者何谓？歧伯曰：太过而加同天符，不及而加同岁会也。帝曰：临者何谓？歧伯曰：太过不及，皆曰天符，而变行有多少，病形有微甚，生死有早晏耳。帝曰：夫子言用寒远寒，用热远热，余未知其然也。愿闻何谓远？歧伯曰：热无犯热，寒无犯寒，从者和，逆者病，不可不敬畏而远之，所谓时兴六位也。帝曰：温凉何如？

Dì yuē: jiā zhě hé wèi? Qí bó yuē: tài guò ér jiā tóng tiān fú, bù jí ér jiā tóng suì huì yě. Dì yuē: lín zhě hé wèi? Qí bó yuē: tài guò bù jí, jiē yuē tiān fú, ér biàn xíng yǒu duō shǎo, bìng xíng yǒu wēi shèn, shēng sǐ yǒu zǎo yàn ěr. Dì yuē: fú zǐ yán yòng hán yuǎn hán, yòng rè yuǎn rè, yú wèi zhī qí rán yě. Yuàn wén hé wèi yuǎn? Qí bó yuē: rè wú fàn rè, hán wú fàn hán, cóng zhě hé, nì zhě bìng, bù kě bù jìng wèi ér yuǎn zhī, suǒ wèi shí xīng liù wèi yě. Dì yuē: wēn liáng hé rú?

Huang Di said: what is meant by adding? Qi Bo said: what is in surplus and adds is the same as a heaven tally, and what falls short and adds is the same as a year meeting. Huang Di said: what is meant by coming down? Qi Bo said: surplus and shortfall are both called heaven tallies; only the movement of change has more and less, the form of the illness slight and severe, and death and life early and late. Huang Di said: you have spoken of using cold and keeping far from cold, using heat and keeping far from heat; I do not yet understand how it is so. I wish to hear what is meant by keeping far. Qi Bo said: do not offend heat with heat, nor cold with cold; those who follow are harmonious and those who oppose fall ill; one cannot but stand in awe and keep far from them — this is what is called the six positions rising in season. Huang Di said: and warm and cool?

「太過而加同天符，不及而加同歲會也」為加者之答，此段有其語；上文問「加者何謂」「臨者何謂」，下文答以「太過不及，皆曰天符」；表之通論一段「下加」六見、「上臨」六見，即此二目之實

Compounds built on this term

天符

tiān fú

heaven tally

本篇15見；加同天符者，太過之加

歲會

suì huì

year meeting

本篇6見；加同歲會者，不及之加

同正

tóng zhèng

same as the upright

本篇13見；與加臨同為歲與運相合之目

下加

xià jiā

adding from below

本篇6見；在泉之氣加於下

How it has been translated

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

This site	adding and approaching	the two directions in which the year and its circuit meet, and the rendering keeps the two verbs apart
Transliteration	jia lin	how the two are named in tables of the 運氣
Gloss	the two ways the qi of the year meets the circuit of the year	right, and too long for a headword

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-14

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