Classica Sinica Medica

氣化 简体 气化

qì huà

Qi transformation

Also rendered: transformation by qi (Expands 氣) · qihua (Pinyin, as used in modern Chinese medicine)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
qì huà
Simplified
气化
Literal
氣 qi, the activating vapour; 化 to transform, to turn one thing into another. 氣化：氣之化，即由氣而使之變化。
Shuowen
《說文解字》：氣，雲气也；化，教行也（引申為變化、化生）。膀胱者，津液藏焉，氣化則能出矣。

In brief

The word on which the bladder’s office turns, and the only place in this chapter where it appears. Fluid gathers and is held; it leaves because qi transforms it. Later usage widens 氣化 to cover every metabolic change in the body, and that wider sense is the one readers will meet elsewhere. Here it is narrower and more physical: the step by which what is stored becomes what can be discharged.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The transforming action of qi on what is stored 氣化
Fluid is held until qi transforms it; then it can leave
津液藏焉，氣化則能出矣 — Suwen 8
2
The wider later sense 氣化
Every change of substance brought about by qi — the sense the word carries after this chapter
（後世通義） — Suwen 8 / later

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·靈蘭秘典論 Suwen 8 · 靈蘭秘典論 Read in context →
膀胱者，州都之官，津液藏焉，氣化則能出矣。 膀胱者，州都之官，津液藏焉，气化则能出矣。
páng guāng zhě, zhōu dū zhī guān, jīn yè cáng yān, qì huà zé néng chū yǐ.
The bladder is the office of the regional capital. The fluids are stored there, and once qi transforms them they are able to issue forth.
本篇「氣化」唯一出處。藏而不瀉、待化而出，是膀胱之用與他府不同處；後世言氣化者日廣，凡氣之所化皆得稱之，讀本篇當守此狹義。
素問·宣明五氣 Suwen 23 · 宣明五氣 Read in context →
五氣所病：心爲噫，肺爲欬，肝爲語，脾爲吞，腎爲欠，爲嚏，胃爲氣逆，爲噦、爲恐，大腸小腸爲泄，下焦溢爲水，膀胱不利爲癃，不約爲遺溺，膽爲怒，是謂五病。 五气所病：心为噫，肺为欬，肝为语，脾为吞，肾为欠，为嚏，胃为气逆，为哕、为恐，大肠小肠为泄，下焦溢为水，膀胱不利为癃，不约为遗溺，胆为怒，是谓五病。
Wǔ qì suǒ bìng: xīn wéi ài, fèi wéi kài, gān wéi yǔ, pí wéi tūn, shèn wéi qiàn, wéi tì, wèi wéi qì nì, wéi yuě, wéi kǒng, dà cháng xiǎo cháng wéi xiè, xià jiāo yì wéi shuǐ, bǎng guāng bù lì wéi lóng, bù yuē wéi yí niào, dǎn wéi nù, shì wèi wǔ bìng.
The disorders proper to the five qi: in the heart, belching; in the lung, coughing; in the liver, talking; in the spleen, swallowing; in the kidney, yawning and sneezing; in the stomach, counterflow qi, retching and fear; in the large and small intestine, diarrhoea; when the lower burner overflows, water; when the bladder is impeded, dribbling obstruction; when it is no longer held, urine passed unawares; in the gallbladder, anger. This is called the five disorders.
「膀胱不利爲癃，不約爲遺溺」：本篇氣化之義，最易於此處見之：膀胱之出與不出，全在氣化之利與不利，不利則癃、不約則遺溺——一閉一失，皆氣化之失職。與第八篇「膀胱者，州都之官，津液藏焉，氣化則能出矣」、第二十一篇「通調水道，下輸膀胱」者同條而義別：彼論氣化之常與水道之行，本篇則舉氣化失常之兩端以為病目——同一氣化，一言其所以能出，一言其出之或閉或失。
素問·氣交變大論 Suwen 69 · 氣交變大論 Read in context →
帝曰：其應柰何？歧伯曰：各從其氣化也。帝曰：其行之徐疾逆順何如？歧伯曰：以道留久，逆守而小，是謂省下。 帝曰：其应奈何？歧伯曰：各从其气化也。帝曰：其行之徐疾逆顺何如？歧伯曰：以道留久，逆守而小，是谓省下。
Dì yuē: qí yìng nài hé? Qí bó yuē: gè cóng qí qì huà yě. Dì yuē: qí xíng zhī xú jí nì shùn hé rú? Qí bó yuē: yǐ dào liú jiǔ, nì shǒu ér xiǎo, shì wèi xǐng xià.
Huang Di said: how do they answer? Qi Bo said: each follows the transformation of its own qi. Huang Di said: what of the slowness and speed of their course, their counterflow and accord? Qi Bo said: to stay long upon its path, to go counter and halt and grow small — this is called inspecting below.
「帝曰：其應柰何？歧伯曰：各從其氣化也」——**「氣化」本篇1見，止此一見**；**此答五星之應：五星各從其氣之化，非第八篇膀胱「氣化則能出矣」之謂**；**「柰」是「奈」之本字，本篇2見讀 nài，底本作「柰」，照錄不改，別見校勘**；**「氣」讀 qì、「化」讀 huà**

Compounds built on this term

氣
qì
qi
The agent of the transformation; see the separate entry
津液
jīn yè
the fluids
What is stored and then transformed

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishqi transformationStandard, and left as a technical term.
This siteqi transformation化 is not metabolism here: the chapter uses it of the bladder releasing what it holds, so the gloss says plainly that this is stored fluid becoming something that can leave, and warns that the wider sense is later.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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

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