幽明

yōu míng

The dark and the bright · you ming

Also rendered: The dark and the bright (this site; the two are named from the qi that makes them, 兩陰交盡 and 兩陽合明) · The hidden and the manifest (familiar in the wider classical usage, and here the pair is about cold and heat rather than about concealment)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-10-14

At a glance

Pinyin: yōu míng
Simplified: 幽明
Literal: 幽 yōu — dark, deep, shut away; 明 míng — bright. The chapter gives each of the two a name made of the qi that produces it: 兩陰交盡 for the dark, 兩陽合明 for the bright.
Shuowen: **《說文》：幽，隱也；明，照也**。**「幽明」本篇2見**；**「幽」字本篇3見，「明」字29見，多為明白、神明之屬**；**一見於「帝曰：幽明何如」，一見於「幽明之配，寒暑之異也」**；**「明」字在本篇兼為火化之目（間氣爲明化）與陽明之明，故與此詞同字異用**

In brief

The dark and the bright, and the two seasons they belong to: 岐伯曰：兩陰交盡，故曰幽；兩陽合明，故曰明。幽明之配，寒暑之異也. The definition is arithmetic done on the names of the two terminal qi. 厥陰 is 兩陰交盡 — two yin meeting their end — and that is 幽; 陽明 is 兩陽合明 — two yang joining their brightness — and that is 明. Set the one against the other and you have the difference of cold and heat. The chapter offers the pair as the ground of the 分至 that follows, so that the solstices and equinoxes can be named from it: 至則氣同，分則氣異.

Senses in the classical corpus

The pair 幽、明

幽者陰之盡，明者陽之合

故曰幽 — Suwen 74

The dark named 兩陰交盡，故曰幽

厥陰之象

兩陰交盡 — Suwen 74

The bright named 兩陽合明，故曰明

陽明之象

兩陽合明 — Suwen 74

What they match 幽明之配，寒暑之異也

一幽一明，即一寒一暑

寒暑之異 — Suwen 74

What follows 分至

分至之節由幽明而定

帝曰：分至何如 — Suwen 74

Where it recurs 兩陰交盡、兩陽合明

二語於論陰陽之三處先見

兩陽合明也 — Suwen 74

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display

1 passages

Suwen 74 Suwen 74 · 至真要大論 Read in context →

歧伯曰：兩陰交盡，故曰幽；兩陽合明，故曰明。幽明之配，寒暑之異也。帝曰：分至何如？歧伯曰：氣至之謂至，氣分之謂分。至則氣同，分則氣異。所謂天地之正紀也。帝曰：夫子言春秋氣始于前，冬夏氣始于後，余已知之矣。然六氣往復，主歲不常也，其補冩柰何？歧伯曰：上下所主，隨其攸利，正其味，則其要也。左右同法。歧伯曰：两阴交尽，故曰幽；两阳合明，故曰明。幽明之配，寒暑之异也。帝曰：分至何如？歧伯曰：气至之谓至，气分之谓分。至则气同，分则气异。所谓天地之正纪也。帝曰：夫子言春秋气始于前，冬夏气始于后，余已知之矣。然六气往复，主岁不常也，其补写奈何？歧伯曰：上下所主，随其攸利，正其味，则其要也。左右同法。

Qí bó yuē: liǎng yīn jiāo jìn, gù yuē yōu; liǎng yáng hé míng, gù yuē míng. Yōu míng zhī pèi, hán shǔ zhī yì yě. Dì yuē: fēn zhì hé rú? Qí bó yuē: qì zhì zhī wèi zhì, qì fēn zhī wèi fēn. Zhì zé qì tóng, fēn zé qì yì. Suǒ wèi tiān dì zhī zhèng jì yě. Dì yuē: fū zǐ yán chūn qiū qì shǐ yú qián, dōng xià qì shǐ yú hòu, yú yǐ zhī zhī yǐ. Rán liù qì wǎng fù, zhǔ suì bù cháng yě, qí bǔ xiè nài hé? Qí bó yuē: shàng xià suǒ zhǔ, suí qí yōu lì, zhèng qí wèi, zé qí yào yě. Zuǒ yòu tóng fǎ.

Qi Bo said: two yins crossing come to an end, hence it is called the dark; two yangs joined make brightness, hence it is called the bright. The pairing of dark and bright is the difference of cold and heat. Huang Di said: what of the equinoxes and the solstices? Qi Bo said: the arriving of qi is called the solstice; the dividing of qi is called the equinox. At the solstice the qi is the same; at the equinox the qi differs. This is what is called the upright order of heaven and earth. Huang Di said: you say the qi of spring and autumn begins before, and the qi of winter and summer begins after — I know that already. But the six qi go and return, and the governance of the year is not constant; how is the draining and supplementing? Qi Bo said: what the upper and the lower govern, follow where it benefits and rectify its flavour — that is the essential. The left and the right follow the same law.

**「幽明」本篇2見，此段有其二**；**「兩陰交盡，故曰幽；兩陽合明，故曰明」為其釋**；**二語於論陰陽之三處已先見（陽明何謂也、厥陰何也），此段總而名之為幽明**；**「幽明之配，寒暑之異也」下即接「帝曰：分至何如」，二者相承**

Compounds built on this term

兩陰交盡

liǎng yīn jiāo jìn

two yin meeting their end

本篇2見；幽之名所本

兩陽合明

liǎng yáng hé míng

two yang joining their brightness

本篇2見；明之名所本

分至

fēn zhì

the equinoxes and the solstices

本篇一見；幽明既辨而後及此

天地之正紀

tiān dì zhī zhèng jì

the regular record of heaven and earth

本篇一見；分至之為紀

How it has been translated

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

This site	the dark and the bright	the names of the two terminal qi, set against each other as cold is against heat
Literal	the dark and the bright	exact, and it does not say what makes them
Descriptive	the shutting of the yin and the joining of the yang	clear, and it loses the two-graph naming

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-14

Search the glossary

Reading path

Guided routes through the corpus, each built on a handful of chapters and their key terms.

See all reading paths