Classica Sinica Medica

清濁 简体 清浊

qīng zhuó

Clear and turbid · qing zhuo

Also rendered: Clear and turbid (the text's own pair) · Pure and impure (moral, and the chapter is not) · Refined and spent (interpretive, and it explains the pair)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-25

At a glance

Pinyin
qīng zhuó
Simplified
清浊
Literal
清 qīng — clear, the light and refined; 濁 zhuó — turbid, the heavy and spent. A pair describing what a thing has received, not what it is worth.
Shuowen
《說文》：清，朖也，澂水之貌。濁，水出齊郡厲嬀山，東入鉅野。「清濁」本篇5見，自「清濁不同」發端，至「清濁相干，命曰亂氣」成義。

In brief

The pair that organises the chapter. What receives grain is turbid, what receives qi is clear; the clear is poured into the yin and the turbid into the yang. The chapter then follows the two through the throat, the lung, the stomach and the channels, and ends with the rule that makes them clinically useful: the clear qi is slippery and the turbid rough, so needle the yin deep and the yang shallow — and when clear and turbid interfere, adjust by number. The pair is physiological, not moral: turbidity is what has been used, clarity what has not.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The rule 受榖者濁，受氣者清
受谷气的浊，受天气的清
What receives grain is turbid, what receives qi is clear.
受榖者濁，受氣者清 — 靈樞·陰陽清濁
2
The routing 清者注陰，濁者注陽
清的注入阴，浊的注入阳
The clear pours into the yin, the turbid into the yang.
清者注陰，濁者注陽 — 靈樞·陰陽清濁
3
The interference 清濁相干，命曰亂氣
清浊互相干扰，叫作乱气
Clear and turbid interfere: this is called disordered qi.
清濁相干，命曰亂氣 — 靈樞·陰陽清濁
4
The technique 清者其氣滑，濁者其氣濇
清的气滑，浊的气涩
The clear qi is slippery, the turbid rough.
清者其氣滑，濁者其氣濇 — 靈樞·陰陽清濁

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
2 passages
靈樞·陰陽清濁 Read in context →
歧伯曰：受榖者濁，受氣者清。清者注陰，濁者注陽。濁而清者，上出于咽，清而濁者，則下行。清濁相干，命曰亂氣。 歧伯曰：受榖者浊，受气者清。清者注阴，浊者注阳。浊而清者，上出于咽，清而浊者，则下行。清浊相干，命曰乱气。
Qí Bó yuē: shòu gǔ zhě zhuó, shòu qì zhě qīng. qīng zhě zhù yīn, zhuó zhě zhù yáng. zhuó ér qīng zhě, shàng chū yú yān, qīng ér zhuó zhě, zé xià xíng. qīng zhuó xiāng gān, mìng yuē luàn qì.
Qi Bo said: What receives grain is turbid, what receives qi is clear. The clear pours into yin, the turbid into yang. The clear within the turbid rises and comes out at the throat; the turbid within the clear moves downward. When clear and turbid encroach on each other, it is called disordered qi.
「清濁」本篇5見，此段立清濁分注之常，末段乃以「清濁相干」為亂氣，首尾相應。
靈樞·衛氣夫常 Read in context →
伯高曰：必先别其三形，血之多少，氣之清濁，而後調之，治無失常經。是故膏人縱腹垂腴，肉人者，上下容大；脂人者，雖脂不能大者。 伯高曰：必先别其三形，血之多少，气之清浊，而后调之，治无失常经。是故膏人纵腹垂腴，肉人者，上下容大；脂人者，虽脂不能大者。
Bó Gāo yuē: bì xiān bié qí sān xíng, xuè zhī duō shǎo, qì zhī qīng zhuó, ér hòu tiáo zhī, zhì wú shī cháng jīng. shì gù gāo rén zòng fù chuí yú, ròu rén zhě, shàng xià róng dà; zhī rén zhě, suī zhī bù néng dà zhě.
Bo Gao said: One must first distinguish these three forms, the quantity of blood and the clarity or turbidity of qi, and then regulate them, so that treatment does not depart from the constant channels. Thus the lard-like hang loose in the abdomen with flesh below, the fleshy are large above and below, and the fatty, though fatty, cannot be large.
「清濁」衛氣夫常第31段見，義與本條相合，引全段為證。

Compounds built on this term

亂氣
luàn qì
disordered qi
清濁相干之名
氣之大别
qì zhī dà bié
the great division of qi
清濁分注之大要

How it has been translated

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

This siteclear and turbidthe text's own words
Literalclear and muddyexact, and it sounds like water
Physiologicalthe refined and the usedclear, and it is an interpretation

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-25

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