Guangming · broad brightness

Also rendered: broad brightness (Explanatory rendering) · guangming (Pinyin)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: guǎng míng
Simplified: 广明
Literal: Broad brightness: the south, the side turned toward the light.

In brief

In the sixth chapter, the name for what lies before the sage as he stands facing south — the upper body, and the south that faces the light. It is the fixed point from which the channels are laid out: broad brightness is above the middle of the body, and greater yin lies below it.

Senses in the classical corpus

The region before the sage 廣明

The south and the upper body, taken as the standing point for laying out the six channels

聖人南面而立，前曰廣明 — Suwen 6

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display

1 passages

素問·陰陽離合論 Suwen 6 · 陰陽離合論 Read in context →

聖人南面而立，前曰廣明，後曰太衝。圣人南面而立，前曰广明，后曰太冲。

shèng rén nán miàn ér lì, qián yuē guǎng míng, hòu yuē tài chōng.

The sage stands facing south. What is before him is called broad brightness; what is behind him is called the great surge.

本篇三陰三陽的定位以南面而立起算，廣明、太衝即前後之兩極；此處「太衝」是部位之名，非第一篇之太衝脈。

Compounds built on this term

廣明之下

guǎng míng zhī xià

below broad brightness

Where greater yin lies

How it has been translated

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

Common English	broad brightness	The literal rendering, usual in translation.
This site	broad brightness	The chapter is naming a region, not using a metaphor; keeping it literal leaves the geography of the body visible.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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