志意

zhì yì

Will and intention

Also rendered: will and intention (Literal, and keeps the two words) · mind and will (Collapses 意 into mind) · mental state (Loses both halves)

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
zhì yì
Simplified
志意
Literal
志 the will, what a person is set on; 意 the intention, the thought that is formed. As a pair they are the patient's mind as the physician meets it — not a diagnosis of mood but something to be weighed.
Shuowen
《說文解字》:志,意也(从心之聲,心之所之);意,志也(从心音,察言而知意也)。王冰:「觀量志意之邪正。」

In brief

One of the four things the chapter says a physician must take into account, and the reason the chapter ends as it does. Wang Bing glosses it as observing whether the will and intention are askew or upright — because a patient who is bound to ghosts and spirits, or who loathes the needle, or who will not permit treatment at all, is part of the prognosis. The last sentence of the chapter is not a complaint about difficult patients; it is a statement about what treatment requires.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
One of the four things to examine 觀其志意
Examine below, bring the pulse into focus, observe the will, take the disease into account
凡治病,必察其下,適其脉,觀其志意,與其病也 — Suwen 11
2
Its direction matters 志意之邪正
王冰:觀量志意之邪正,及病深淺成敗之宜
王冰注 — Suwen 11 (Wang Bing)
3
Why it belongs in prognosis 病不許治者
A patient who refuses treatment cannot be treated, whatever the medicine
病不許治者,病必不治,治之無功矣 — Suwen 11
4
《太素》reads the last item differently 與其病能
病能即病態;底本作「與其病也」
新校正引《太素》 — Suwen 11 (Taisu)

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
6 passages
素問·五藏别論 Suwen 11 · 五藏别論 Read in context →
凡治病,必察其下,適其脉,觀其志意,與其病也。 凡治病,必察其下,适其脉,观其志意,与其病也。
fán zhì bìng, bì chá qí xià, shì qí mài, guān qí zhì yì, yǔ qí bìng yě.
In every treatment one must examine what lies below, bring the pulse into proper focus, observe the will and the intention, and take the disease itself into account.
王冰:「下,謂目下所見可否也。調適其脈之盈虛,觀量志意之邪正,及病深淺成敗之宜,乃守法以治之也。」新校正云:《太素》作「必察其上下,適其脈候,觀其志意,與其病能」。
素問·湯液醪醴論 Suwen 14 · 湯液醪醴論 Read in context →
歧伯曰:鍼石,道也。精神不進,志意不治,故病不可愈。今精壞神去,榮衛不可復收。何者?嗜欲無窮,而憂患不止,精氣弛壞,榮泣衛除,故神去之而病不愈也。 岐伯曰:针石,道也。精神不进,志意不治,故病不可愈。今精坏神去,荣卫不可复收。何者?嗜欲无穷,而忧患不止,精气弛坏,荣泣卫除,故神去之而病不愈也。
qí bó yuē: zhēn shí, dào yě. jīng shén bù jìn, zhì yì bù zhì, gù bìng bù kě yù. jīn jīng huài shén qù, yíng wèi bù kě fù shōu. hé zhě? shì yù wú qióng, ér yōu huàn bù zhǐ, jīng qì chí huài, yíng sè wèi chú, gù shén qù zhī ér bìng bù yù yě.
Qibo says: the needle and the stone are only a method. If essence and spirit do not advance and purpose and intention are not governed, the illness cannot be cured. Now the essence is ruined and the spirit has departed, and the construction and defence can no longer be gathered back. Why? Because appetites are endless and cares never stop: the essence-qi slackens and decays, the construction stagnates and the defence is dispelled, and so the spirit leaves and the illness is not cured.
「精神不進,志意不治」:王冰:「精神不進,志意不治,故病不可愈。」志意不治者,謂志意亂而不能自持,非醫所得而代之。與第一篇「志閒而少欲」之「志」同源:上古志意治,故祝由可已;今世志意不治,故雖有良工而病不愈。
素問·宣明五氣 Suwen 23 · 宣明五氣 Read in context →
五藏所藏:心藏神,肺藏魄,肝藏魂,脾藏意,腎藏志。是謂五藏所藏。 五藏所藏:心藏神,肺藏魄,肝藏魂,脾藏意,肾藏志。是谓五藏所藏。
Wǔ zàng suǒ cáng: xīn cáng shén, fèi cáng pò, gān cáng hún, pí cáng yì, shèn cáng zhì. shì wèi wǔ zàng suǒ cáng.
What the five viscera store: the heart stores spirit, the lung the po, the liver the hun, the spleen thought, the kidney the will. This is what the five viscera store.
「脾藏意,腎藏志」:本篇志意二字分屬二臟,不在一處——意者脾之所藏,志者腎之所藏,各有所主之臟。與第十一篇「志意」並稱而論其調攝者同條而義別:第十一篇以志意合為一條,論其和則病不生;本篇則析之為二目而分隸二臟。合而觀之:志意之用相須,而其藏則各有所屬。
素問·血氣形志 Suwen 24 · 血氣形志 Read in context →
形樂志苦,病生於脉,治之以灸剌。 形乐志苦,病生于脉,治之以灸刺。
Xíng lè zhì kǔ, bìng shēng yú mài, zhì zhī yǐ jiǔ cì.
Form at ease and will embittered: the disease arises in the vessels; treat it with cautery and puncture.
「形樂志苦,病生於脉」:本篇志意之義,已分屬二端而不復合稱:志與形對舉,意則第二十三篇定為脾之所藏。與第十一篇「志意」並稱而論其調攝者同條而義別:第十一篇以志意合為一條,論其和則病不生;本篇則析志之一端與形相配而言其苦樂——志意之分合,至此乃有二用:一以調攝言,一以致病言。
素問·調經論 Suwen 62 · 調經論 Read in context →
志意通,内連骨髓,而成身形五藏。 志意通,内连骨髓,而成身形五藏。
Zhì yì tōng, nèi lián gǔ suǐ, ér chéng shēn xíng wǔ zàng.
Will and thought pass through and connect inward to the bone and marrow, and so the body and its five depots are completed.
「志意通,内連骨髓,而成身形五藏」——**「志意」本篇1見,在心藏神一節之末**:**五藏各有所藏而成形,志意通則内連骨髓而成身形五藏**;**志屬腎、意屬脾,此處志意連文,統言五藏之神志**;**「志」讀 zhì、「意」讀 yì**
素問·生氣通天論 Suwen 3 · 生氣通天論 Read in context →
蒼天之氣,清淨則志意治,順之則陽氣固,雖有賊邪,弗能害也。此因時之序。 苍天之气,清净则志意治,顺之则阳气固,虽有贼邪,弗能害也。此因时之序。
Cāng tiān zhī qì, qīng jìng zé zhì yì zhì, shùn zhī zé yáng qì gù, suī yǒu zéi xié, fú néng hài yě. cǐ yīn shí zhī xù.
When the qi of the grey heaven is pure and still, the will and thought are well ordered, and following it the yang qi stays firm; then even a thieving evil cannot do harm. This comes of keeping to the sequence of the seasons.
「清淨則志意治」——淨讀 jìng;蒼天之氣清淨,則人之志意亦治,順之則陽氣固;下文「清靜」作靜,本篇淨靜二形並見;**「志意」本篇1見**

Compounds built on this term

志
zhì
the will
說文:意也,心之所之
意
yì
intention, thought
說文:志也,察言而知意
鬼神
guǐ shén
ghosts and spirits
What the will may be bound to
病能
bìng néng
the condition of the disease
《太素》的讀法,能讀如態

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishmental state / spirit and mindMost translations generalise the pair into a single psychological term.
This sitewill and intentionKept both words and kept them ordinary. Wang Bing's gloss is about direction — askew or upright — and that is a question about what a person is set on, which is 志意 and not a mental state.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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