Classica Sinica Medica

The Fifty Circuits

五十營

Wǔ shí yíng

This short chapter is a calculation, and it is the closest the Lingshu comes to a physiology of time. The body contains twenty-eight vessels, matching the twenty-eight lunar mansions; a single circuit of the qi around them measures sixteen zhang and two chi. The clepsydra divides the day into a hundred marks, and the whole question is how many breaths it takes for the qi to go round fifty times between one dawn and the next.The answer is built up by multiplication. One breath moves the qi six cun. Ten breaths move six chi and carry the sun two fen across the sky. Two hundred and seventy breaths complete one circuit of the body, and the water has fallen two marks. Five hundred and forty breaths complete two circuits; two thousand seven hundred complete ten. At thirteen thousand five hundred breaths the fifty circuits are done, the clepsydra is empty, the sun has passed through all twenty-eight mansions, and the pulse has run its course. Fifty times sixteen zhang two chi gives the final figure the chapter ends on: eight hundred and ten zhang.The arithmetic is not the point by itself. What the chapter establishes is that the circulation of qi is isochronous with the heavens: the same numbers that describe the sun's passage describe the breath, so that the pulse can be read as a clock. The closing phrase, that when the fifty circuits are complete one may exhaust the span of Heaven and Earth, states the consequence — a life of the full number of breaths is a life that has kept time with the cosmos, not one that has merely lasted a long while.

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黃帝曰：余願聞五十營奈何？ 黄帝曰：余愿闻五十营奈何？
Huáng Dì yuē: yú yuàn wén wǔ shí yíng nài hé?
黄帝说：我想听听五十营是怎么回事。
Huang Di said: I should like to hear about the fifty circuits.
岐伯答曰：天周二十八宿，宿三十六分，人氣行一周千八分，日行二十八宿。人經脉上下左右前後二十八脉，周身十六丈二尺，以應二十八宿，漏水下百刻，以分晝夜。故人一呼，脉再動，氣行三寸；一吸，脉亦再動，氣行三寸。呼吸，定息，氣行六寸；十息，氣行六尺，日行二分； 岐伯答曰：天周二十八宿，宿三十六分，人气行一周千八分，日行二十八宿。人经脉上下左右前后二十八脉，周身十六丈二尺，以应二十八宿，漏水下百刻，以分昼夜。故人一呼，脉再动，气行三寸；一吸，脉亦再动，气行三寸。呼吸，定息，气行六寸；十息，气行六尺，日行二分；
Qí Bó dá yuē: tiān zhōu èr shí bā sù, sù sān shí liù fēn, rén qì xíng yī zhōu qiān bā fēn, rì xíng èr shí bā sù. rén jīng mài shàng xià zuǒ yòu qián hòu èr shí bā mài, zhōu shēn shí liù zhàng èr chǐ, yǐ yīng èr shí bā sù, lòu shuǐ xià bǎi kè, yǐ fēn zhòu yè. gù rén yī hū, mài zài dòng, qì xíng sān cùn; yī xī, mài yì zài dòng, qì xíng sān cùn. hū xī, dìng xī, qì xíng liù cùn; shí xī, qì xíng liù chǐ, rì xíng èr fēn;
岐伯回答说：天一周有二十八宿，每宿三十六分，人气运行一周是一千零八分，日行二十八宿。人经脉上下左右前后共二十八脉，周身十六丈二尺，用来应二十八宿；漏水下注一百刻，用来分昼夜。所以人一呼，脉再动，气行三寸；一吸，脉也再动，气行三寸。一呼一吸定为一息，气行六寸；十息，气行六尺，日行二分。
Qi Bo replied: Heaven circles through twenty-eight mansions, each of thirty-six fen, and a man’s qi travels one circuit in one thousand and eight fen, while the sun moves through the twenty-eight mansions. The channels of man, above and below, left and right, front and back, are twenty-eight vessels, and around the body they measure sixteen zhang and two chi, answering to the twenty-eight mansions. The clepsydra drops a hundred marks, dividing day from night. Thus with one exhalation the pulse beats twice and qi moves three cun; with one inhalation the pulse beats twice again and qi moves three cun. Exhalation and inhalation together make one breath, and qi moves six cun. In ten breaths qi moves six chi and the sun moves two fen.
二百七十息，氣行十六丈二尺。氣行交通于中，一周于身，下水二刻，日行二十五分， 二百七十息，气行十六丈二尺。气行交通于中，一周于身，下水二刻，日行二十五分，
èr bǎi qī shí xī, qì xíng shí liù zhàng èr chǐ. qì xíng jiāo tōng yú zhōng, yī zhōu yú shēn, xià shuǐ èr kè, rì xíng èr shí wǔ fēn,
二百七十息，气行十六丈二尺。气行交通于中，一周于身，水下二刻，日行二十五分。
In two hundred and seventy breaths qi moves sixteen zhang and two chi. The qi in its movement passes through the middle and makes one circuit of the body; the water falls two marks and the sun moves twenty-five fen.
五百四十息；氣行再周于身，下水四刻，日行四十分， 五百四十息；气行再周于身，下水四刻，日行四十分，
wǔ bǎi sì shí xī; qì xíng zài zhōu yú shēn, xià shuǐ sì kè, rì xíng sì shí fēn,
五百四十息，气再周于身，水下四刻，日行四十分。
In five hundred and forty breaths qi makes a second circuit of the body; the water falls four marks and the sun moves forty fen.
二千七百息；氣行十周于身，下水二十刻，日行五宿二十分， 二千七百息；气行十周于身，下水二十刻，日行五宿二十分，
èr qiān qī bǎi xī; qì xíng shí zhōu yú shēn, xià shuǐ èr shí kè, rì xíng wǔ sù èr shí fēn,
二千七百息，气行十周于身，水下二十刻，日行五宿二十分。
In two thousand seven hundred breaths qi makes ten circuits of the body; the water falls twenty marks and the sun moves five mansions and twenty fen.
一萬三千五百息；氣行五十營于身，水下百刻，日行二十八宿，漏水皆盡，脉終矣。所謂交通者，并行一數也。故五十營備，得盡天地之壽矣，凡行八百一十丈也。 一万三千五百息；气行五十营于身，水下百刻，日行二十八宿，漏水皆尽，脉终矣。所谓交通者，并行一数也。故五十营备，得尽天地之寿矣，凡行八百一十丈也。
yī wàn sān qiān wǔ bǎi xī; qì xíng wǔ shí yíng yú shēn, shuǐ xià bǎi kè, rì xíng èr shí bā sù, lòu shuǐ jiē jǐn, mài zhōng yǐ. suǒ wèi jiāo tōng zhě, bìng xíng yī shù yě. gù wǔ shí yíng bèi, dé jǐn tiān dì zhī shòu yǐ, fán xíng bā bǎi yī shí zhàng yě.
一万三千五百息，气行五十营于身，水下百刻，日行二十八宿，漏水都尽了，脉也行完了。所谓交通，是并行的一数。所以五十营齐备，就能尽天地之寿，一共行八百一十丈。
In thirteen thousand five hundred breaths qi makes fifty circuits of the body; the water falls a hundred marks, the sun has moved through the twenty-eight mansions, the clepsydra is emptied and the pulse completes its course. What is called the passage is the single number that runs through them all. Thus when the fifty circuits are complete one may exhaust the span of Heaven and Earth; the whole distance travelled is eight hundred and ten zhang.

Textual notes

Readings follow the base edition; significant variants are recorded here.

  1. 人氣行一周千八分人氣行一周一千八分

    「千八分」即一千零八分，古书省「一」字，与下文「一萬三千五百息」之数相应。二十八宿每宿三十六分，合得一千零八分，人气一周适与之合。

  2. 岐伯答曰歧伯答曰

    此篇问语作「黃帝曰」，答语作「岐伯」，与他篇一律作「歧伯」者不同。岐、歧二字古通，皆指岐山，今各存底本字形，不加强合。

  3. 呼吸，定息，氣行六寸呼吸定息，氣行六寸

    「呼吸定息」谓一呼一吸合为一息，底本于「呼吸」下着逗。句读虽异，义无二致，今仍底本，与下文「十息」层层相承。

  4. 氣行交通于中氣行交通於中

    「于」「於」二字底本杂出，此篇「于」字三见。同为介词，音义无别，今仍底本字形，不加改易。

  5. 下水二刻，日行二十五分下水二刻，日行二十分

    以昼夜百刻、日行一千零八分计之，二刻当行二十分有奇，底本作「二十五分」，他本或作「二十分」。古人取整就约，二说皆可通，今仍底本。

  6. 五百四十息；氣行再周于身五百四十息，氣行再周于身

    此句底本于「息」下作分号，与他处「二百七十息」下作逗者不一。盖分号以隔层次，非有异义。今仍底本标点。

  7. 五十營備，得盡天地之壽矣五十營備，得盡天地之壽

    「備」谓五十周皆遍，无一息之阙。此谓五十营既备，则能尽天地所赋之寿数。底本有「矣」字，收束全篇，语气完足。

  8. 凡行八百一十丈也凡行八百一十丈

    十六丈二尺为一周，五十周即八百一十丈，与一万三千五百息、每息六寸之数正合。底本有「也」字，为全篇结句，今仍之。

Cite this page

APA

Huangdi Neijing · Lingshu 黃帝內經靈樞 (Compiled over the same span as the Suwen; the present text was put in order in the Tang.). Wǔ shí yíng 五十營 [The Fifty Circuits], Chapter 15. In Classica Sinica Medica. Base text: 《黃帝素問靈樞經》十二卷八十一篇，宋·史崧校定并音釋。據上海涵芬樓《四部叢刊》子部影印明趙府居敬堂刊本錄入，卷首牌記題「上海涵芬樓景明趙府居敬堂刊本」，並記原書版匡高營造尺六寸三分、寬四寸四分。目錄末行作「元二十四卷今併爲十二卷計八十一篇」。底本與影印本均屬公有領域。 Retrieved 29 October 2026, from https://classicstcm.com/classics/huangdi-neijing-lingshu/the-fifty-circuits/

MLA

"Wǔ shí yíng 五十營 [The Fifty Circuits]." Huangdi Neijing · Lingshu 黃帝內經靈樞, chapter 15, Classica Sinica Medica, 2026, https://classicstcm.com/classics/huangdi-neijing-lingshu/the-fifty-circuits/. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026. Base text: 《黃帝素問靈樞經》十二卷八十一篇，宋·史崧校定并音釋。據上海涵芬樓《四部叢刊》子部影印明趙府居敬堂刊本錄入，卷首牌記題「上海涵芬樓景明趙府居敬堂刊本」，並記原書版匡高營造尺六寸三分、寬四寸四分。目錄末行作「元二十四卷今併爲十二卷計八十一篇」。底本與影印本均屬公有領域。

Chinese scholarly

《黃帝內經靈樞·五十營》（Huángdì Nèijīng Língshū）。《黃帝素問靈樞經》十二卷八十一篇，宋·史崧校定并音釋。據上海涵芬樓《四部叢刊》子部影印明趙府居敬堂刊本錄入，卷首牌記題「上海涵芬樓景明趙府居敬堂刊本」，並記原書版匡高營造尺六寸三分、寬四寸四分。目錄末行作「元二十四卷今併爲十二卷計八十一篇」。底本與影印本均屬公有領域。Classica Sinica Medica，2026 年 10 月 29 日 存取，https://classicstcm.com/classics/huangdi-neijing-lingshu/the-fifty-circuits/。

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