傳化之府简体传化之府

chuán huà zhī fǔ

The palaces of transmission and transformation

Also rendered: palaces of transmission and transformation (Literal) · hollow organs of conveyance and change (Anatomical reading) · the fu of transmission (Leaves 化 untranslated)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: chuán huà zhī fǔ
Simplified: 传化之府
Literal: 傳 to pass on; 化 to transform; 之府 of the palaces. What passes through is not kept, and what passes through is changed on the way — that is the whole definition.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：傳，遽也（驛遞，引申為傳送）；化，教行也（引申為變易）；府，文書藏也。

In brief

Stomach, large intestine, small intestine, triple burner and bladder. They are born of the qi of heaven, their qi images heaven — which in this chapter means one thing only, that it does not stop — and therefore they discharge and do not store. They take in the turbid qi the organs are finished with and carry it out. Wang Bing: the dregs are changed and passed out, they cannot be held long within, but once transformed must be transmitted and discharged.

Senses in the classical corpus

Five born of heaven 天氣之所生

Their qi images heaven: it keeps moving

夫胃、大腸、小腸、三焦、膀胱，此五者，天氣之所生也，其氣象天，故冩而不藏 — Suwen 11

They receive what the organs are done with 此受五藏濁氣

The organs keep the pure; these carry off the rest

此受五藏濁氣，名曰傳化之府 — Suwen 11

Nothing is held long 此不能久留輸冩者也

王冰：不能久久留住於中，但當化已，輸寫令去而已

此不能久留輸冩者也 — Suwen 11

Filled, never full 實而不能滿

Their fullness is a load in transit

六府者，傳化物而不藏，故實而不能滿也 — Suwen 11

Occurrences in the classics

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

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1 passages

素問·五藏别論 Suwen 11 · 五藏别論 Read in context →

夫胃、大腸、小腸、三焦、膀胱，此五者，天氣之所生也，其氣象天，故冩而不藏。此受五藏濁氣，名曰傳化之府。此不能久留輸冩者也。夫胃、大肠、小肠、三焦、膀胱，此五者，天气之所生也，其气象天，故写而不藏。此受五藏浊气，名曰传化之府。此不能久留输写者也。

fú wèi, dà cháng, xiǎo cháng, sān jiāo, páng guāng, cǐ wǔ zhě, tiān qì zhī suǒ shēng yě, qí qì xiàng tiān, gù xiě ér bù cáng. cǐ shòu wǔ zàng zhuó qì, míng yuē chuán huà zhī fǔ. cǐ bù néng jiǔ liú shū xiě zhě yě.

Now stomach, large intestine, small intestine, triple burner and bladder — these five are born of the qi of heaven; their qi images heaven, and therefore they discharge and do not store. They receive the turbid qi of the five storing organs. They are named the palaces of transmission and transformation. These are the places in which nothing may be held long — only passed along and discharged.

本篇「傳化之府」與「奇𢘆之府」對舉：一者天氣所生、寫而不藏，一者地氣所生、藏而不寫。王冰：「言水穀入已，糟粕變化而泄出，不能久久留住於中，但當化已，輸寫令去而已，傳寫諸化，故曰傳化之府也。」

Compounds built on this term

傳

chuán

to pass on

說文：遽也

化

huà

to transform

說文：教行也

濁氣

zhuó qì

turbid qi

What the five organs hand on

輸冩

shū xiě

to transmit and discharge

底本字作「冩」，即「寫」之俗

How it has been translated

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

Common English	organs of transmission and transformation	Standard, and accurate on both verbs.
This site	palaces of transmission and transformation	Kept 府 as palace, as elsewhere on this site. The chapter's argument is a piece of political imagery — earth and heaven, storing and passing on — and organ invites the reader to look for an anatomy that the text never offers.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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