Classica Sinica Medica

窈冥

yǎo míng

The deep and dark · yao ming

Also rendered: The deep and dark (this site; it is the unseen working of form, qi, blood and defence) · The abstruse (clear as a description, and it loses the image of depth)

Core vocabulary

Reviewed · 2026-10-17

At a glance

Pinyin
yǎo míng
Simplified
窈冥
Literal
窈 yǎo — sunk deep and out of sight; 冥 míng — dark. The pair names what cannot be reached by looking: the working of form, qi, blood and defence that never shows itself outside.
Shuowen
《說文》：窈，深遠也；冥，幽也。《莊子·在宥》「至道之精，窈窈冥冥」，為此語所自出。「窈冥」本篇1見；王冰注「窈冥，謂不可見者，則形氣榮衛也」，又引《八正神明論》「觀其冥冥者，言形氣榮衛之不形於外，而工獨知之」。「冥」字3見，二在「冥冥」，一在此。

In brief

窈冥 is what Huang Di says he asked about. Lei Gong answered out of the Canon of the Pulse, and the rebuke is that a written book cannot answer a question about what is not written: 吾問子窈冥，子言上下篇以對，何也. Wang Bing identifies the deep and dark with 形氣榮衛, the form, qi, blood and defence that do not appear outside and that the skilled physician alone knows — the same 冥冥 that Suwen 26 calls 視之無形，嘗之無味. The word thus stands at the head of the chapter’s method: what must be read is precisely what cannot be seen.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
What cannot be seen 窈冥
王冰：謂不可見者，形氣榮衛也
Wang Bing: what cannot be seen is body, qi, camp and defence.
吾問子窈冥 — 素問·示從容論
2
Deep and distant 深遠幽隱
《說文》窈，深遠也
The Shuowen: yao means deep and far.
吾問子窈冥 — 素問·示從容論
3
Not the written word 非書傳之陳言
吳崑：義理玄妙，非書傳陳言
Wu Kun: the meaning is dark and subtle, not the stale words of books.
子言上下篇以對 — 素問·示從容論
4
Where it is observed 觀其冥冥
《八正神明論》形氣榮衛不形於外
In 'The Eight Uprights and the Spirit' body, qi, camp and defence take no outward form.
吾問子窈冥 — 素問·示從容論
5
What it belongs with 工之所時亂
脈相類而工惑亂，正窈冥之所在
When the pulses resemble one another and the practitioner is confused, there precisely lies the dark and hidden.
此皆工之所時亂也 — 素問·示從容論

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
3 passages
素問·示從容論 Read in context →
帝曰：公何年之長，而問之少？余真問以自謬也。吾問子窈冥，子言上下篇以對，何也？夫脾虚浮似肺。腎小浮似脾。肝急沈散似腎。此皆工之所時亂也。然從容得之。 帝曰：公何年之长，而问之少？余真问以自谬也。吾问子窈冥，子言上下篇以对，何也？夫脾虚浮似肺。肾小浮似脾。肝急沈散似肾。此皆工之所时乱也。然从容得之。
Dì yuē: gōng hé nián zhī zhǎng, ér wèn zhī shào? Yú zhēn wèn yǐ zì miù yě. Wú wèn zǐ yǎo míng, zǐ yán shàng xià piān yǐ duì, hé yě? Fú pí xū fú sì fèi. Shèn xiǎo fú sì pí. Gān jí chén sàn sì shèn. Cǐ jiē gōng zhī suǒ shí luàn yě. Rán cóng róng dé zhī.
Huang Di said: you are so advanced in years, and yet your question is so young! My asking it has only made me absurd. I asked you of the deep and dark, and you answer me with the upper and lower chapters — why? The floating pulse of a deficient spleen resembles the lung; the small floating pulse of the kidney resembles the spleen; the tight, sinking and scattering pulse of the liver resembles the kidney. These are what practitioners constantly confuse, and yet by the Congrong they are got.
「窈冥」本篇1見；王冰注「窈冥，謂不可見者，則形氣榮衛也」，又引《八正神明論》「觀其冥冥」以明之；此句下接「夫脾虚浮似肺」三喻，正見窈冥非書本可答
素問·徴四失論 Read in context →
是故治不能循理，棄術於市，妄治時愈，愚心自得。嗚呼！窈窈冥冥，熟知其道？道之大者，擬於天地，配於四海。 是故治不能循理，弃术于市，妄治时愈，愚心自得。呜呼！窈窈冥冥，熟知其道？道之大者，拟于天地，配于四海。
Shì gù zhì bù néng xún lǐ, qì shù yú shì, wàng zhì shí yù, yú xīn zì dé. Wū hū! Yǎo yǎo míng míng, shú zhī qí dào? Dào zhī dà zhě, nǐ yú tiān dì, pèi yú sì hǎi.
Therefore when treatment cannot follow the principle, the art is thrown away in the marketplace; to treat at random and now and then have a cure, and the foolish heart is pleased with itself. Alas! Deep and dark — who knows its way? The greatness of the way is likened to heaven and earth and matched to the four seas.
「窈冥」本篇1見，此為疊詞「窈窈冥冥」；第七十六篇「窈冥」單舉，此疊言之，語勢加甚；下文「道之大者，擬於天地，配於四海」，正承此幽深而言
靈樞·官能 Read in context →
故曰必知天忌，乃言鍼意，法於徃古，驗於來今，觀於窈冥，通於無窮，麤之所不見，良工之所貴，莫知其形，若神髣髴。 故曰必知天忌，乃言针意，法于往古，验于来今，观于窈冥，通于无穷，麤之所不见，良工之所贵，莫知其形，若神髣髴。
gù yuē bì zhī tiān jì, nǎi yán zhēn yì, fǎ yú wǎng gǔ, yàn yú lái jīn, guān yú yǎo míng, tōng yú wú qióng, cū zhī suǒ bù xiàn, liáng gōng zhī suǒ guì, mò zhī qí xíng, ruò shén fǎng fú.
Hence it is said: one must know heaven’s taboo before speaking of the needle’s intent; take law from antiquity, verify it in the present, observe the dark and obscure, penetrate the endless. What the coarse man does not see the good worker prizes — no one knows its form, as if a spirit were dimly there.
「窈冥」官能第10段見，義與本條相合，引全段為證。

Compounds built on this term

窈冥
yǎo míng
deep and dark
本篇一見
冥冥
míng míng
the dark and obscure
另有一目；本篇「化之冥冥」一見
深遠
shēn yuǎn
deep and far
《說文》窈之義
幽隱
yōu yǐn
hidden
冥之義；不形於外

How it has been translated

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

This sitethe deep and darkwhat does not show outside and must be known by the physician alone
Literalthe remote and obscureexact, and it sounds like a text rather than a body
Descriptivethe unseen working of qi and bloodclear, and it drops the darkness the chapter keeps

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-17

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Reading path

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