Classica Sinica Medica

形與神俱 简体 形与神俱

xíng yǔ shén jù

Form and spirit together

Core vocabulary Cultivation

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
xíng yǔ shén jù
Simplified
形与神俱
Literal
Form together with spirit.

In brief

Suwen 1’s ideal ending: not that the body lasts, but that the body and the person’s alertness last together and finish together. The opposite is a body outliving its own presence.

The phrase is easy to read as “healthy in body and mind”, and that reading is too thin. 俱 means together, both, to the same end. The claim is that the two halves finish at the same time — which is why the chapter immediately glosses it as living out the full hundred years rather than merely surviving.

Implicit in the phrase is its opposite: a body that goes on while what made it a person has already gone.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The two finishing together 形與神俱
Form and spirit lasting to one end
故能形與神俱 — Suwen 1

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
3 passages
Huangdi Neijing · Suwen Suwen 1 · On Innate Vitality in Antiquity Read in context →
故能形與神俱，而盡終其天年，度百歲乃去 故能形与神俱，而尽终其天年，度百岁乃去
gù néng xíng yǔ shén jù, ér jìn zhōng qí tiān nián, dù bǎi suì nǎi qù
Thus they kept form and spirit together, lived out the years heaven allotted, and passed away only after a hundred.
The clause that follows defines the one before it: this is what “together” means.
素問·寶命全形論 Suwen 25 · 寶命全形論 Read in context →
人以天地之氣生，四時之法成，君王衆庶，盡欲全形，形之疾病，莫知其情，留淫日深，著於骨髓，心私慮之，余欲鍼除其疾病，爲之奈何？ 人以天地之气生，四时之法成，君王众庶，尽欲全形，形之疾病，莫知其情，留淫日深，著于骨髓，心私虑之，余欲针除其疾病，为之奈何？
Rén yǐ tiān dì zhī qì shēng, sì shí zhī fǎ chéng, jūn wáng zhòng shù, jìn yù quán xíng, xíng zhī jí bìng, mò zhī qí qíng, liú yín rì shēn, zhuó yú gǔ suǐ, xīn sī lǜ zhī, yú yù zhēn chú qí jí bìng, wèi zhī nài hé?
The human being is born of the qi of heaven and earth and is completed by the order of the four seasons. Ruler and commoner alike all want to keep the form whole, yet when the form falls sick no one knows what is happening in it: the lodging grows more licentious day by day and fixes itself in the bone and marrow. I have worried over this privately. I wish to remove their disease with the needle — how should I go about it?
「君王衆庶，盡欲全形，形之疾病，莫知其情，留淫日深，著於骨髓」：本篇開卷所欲全者是「形」，與第一篇「形與神俱」之形同實而所指不同：彼言形與神之相守而俱終其天年，本篇言形之疾病而欲以鍼除之。合而觀之：第一篇之形是當養者，本篇之形是當治者——養之在神，治之在鍼。「庶」讀 shù；「衆」讀 zhòng；「著」讀 zhuó；「髓」讀 suǐ。
素問·上古天真論 Suwen 1 · 上古天真論 Read in context →
歧伯對曰：上古之人，其知道者，法於陰陽，和於術數，食飲有節，起居有常，不妄作勞，故能形與神俱，而盡終其天年，度百歲乃去。 歧伯对曰：上古之人，其知道者，法于阴阳，和于术数，食饮有节，起居有常，不妄作劳，故能形与神俱，而尽终其天年，度百岁乃去。
Qí Bó duì yuē: shàng gǔ zhī rén, qí zhī dào zhě, fǎ yú yīn yáng, hé yú shù shù, shí yǐn yǒu jié, qǐ jū yǒu cháng, bù wàng zuò láo, gù néng xíng yǔ shén jù, ér jìn zhōng qí tiān nián, dù bǎi suì nǎi qù.
Qi Bo answered: among the people of high antiquity, those who knew the way took yin and yang as their law and kept themselves in accord with the computed arts; they ate and drank with measure and rose and rested with regularity; they did not labour recklessly. So they were able to keep form and spirit together and come to the end of the years allotted them, passing their hundred before they went.
「故能形與神俱」——形神不離，是本篇論養生之骨；**「形與神俱」本篇1見**

Compounds built on this term

形神
xíng shén
form and spirit
The pair as a compound, much used later
盡終
jìn zhōng
finish to the end
The verb of completion the chapter uses

How it has been translated

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

This siteform and spirit togetherKeeps 俱 as an adverb of companionship.
Common Englishbody and mind in harmonyAdds "harmony", which the line does not say.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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