Classica Sinica Medica

重陽重陰 简体 重阳重阴

chóng yáng chóng yīn

Doubled yang and doubled yin

Also rendered: doubled yang and doubled yin (Keeps 重 as repetition) · excessive yang and excessive yin (Reads 重 as excess) · double yang, double yin (Standard pinyin-plus-gloss style)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
chóng yáng chóng yīn
Simplified
重阳重阴
Literal
重 doubled, piled up (《說文》: 厚也 — thick, and so layered); 陽 the yang, the bright side; 陰 the yin, the shaded side. Yang on yang, yin on yin: one of the two piled on top of itself, with nothing to hold it.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：重，厚也（段注：引申為重疊、重複；此讀 chóng）；陽，高明也；陰，闇也，水之南山之北也。

In brief

The chapter’s verdict on a colour that has crossed to the wrong side: 易重陽死，重陰死. The chapter has just said that colour above is rebellion and below compliance, and that the sides are reversed for men and women; when a case crosses that rule, what you get is one of the two piled on itself, and no pairing left to live on. Chapter 7 already used the same figure in 生陽死陰 and in its 重陰必陽，重陽必陰 — there it is a law of change, here it is a death sentence.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Yang on yang, yin on yin 重陽、重陰
陽與陽並、陰與陰並，無以相配
Yang joined to yang and yin to yin, with nothing to pair them.
易重陽死，重陰死 — 素問·玉版論要
2
The death verdict after a crossing 易重陽死，重陰死
易謂變易其位；色反其常而死
Yi means exchanging their places; when the colour reverses its norm, death.
易重陽死，重陰死 — 素問·玉版論要
3
The same figure in chapter 7 重陰必陽，重陽必陰
第七篇以重為必變之勢
Chapter seven treats doubling as a condition that must change.
（第七篇） — 素問·陰陽别論

Occurrences in the classics

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

Display
2 passages
素問·玉版論要 Read in context →
色見上下左右，各在其要。上爲逆，下爲從。女子右爲逆，左爲從：男子左爲逆，右爲從。易重陽死，重陰死。 色见上下左右，各在其要。上为逆，下为从。女子右为逆，左为从：男子左为逆，右为从。易重阳死，重阴死。
sè jiàn shàng xià zuǒ yòu, gè zài qí yào. shàng wéi nì, xià wéi cóng. nǚ zǐ yòu wéi nì, zuǒ wéi cóng: nán zǐ zuǒ wéi nì, yòu wéi cóng. yì chóng yáng sǐ, chóng yīn sǐ.
The colour appears above, below, left and right, each in its own place: above is rebellion, below is compliance. In a woman the right is rebellion and the left compliance; in a man the left is rebellion and the right compliance. Where it is exchanged, doubled yang is death and doubled yin is death.
本篇「上爲逆，下爲從。女子右爲逆，左爲從；男子左爲逆，右爲從。易重陽死，重陰死」。重音 chóng，重疊偏盛之義。第七篇「重陰必陽，重陽必陰」以重為必變之勢，本篇則以為死候：彼言其變，此言其極。
素問·陰陽别論 Read in context →
所謂生陽死陰者，肝之心謂之生陽，心之肺謂之死陰，肺之腎謂之重陰，腎之脾謂之辟陰，死不治。 所谓生阳死阴者，肝之心谓之生阳，心之肺谓之死阴，肺之肾谓之重阴，肾之脾谓之辟阴，死不治。
suǒ wèi shēng yáng sǐ yīn zhě, gān zhī xīn wèi zhī shēng yáng, xīn zhī fèi wèi zhī sǐ yīn, fèi zhī shèn wèi zhī chóng yīn, shèn zhī pí wèi zhī pì yīn, sǐ bù zhì.
As to what is called living yang and dying yin: from the liver to the heart is called living yang; from the heart to the lung is called dying yin; from the lung to the kidney is called doubled yin; from the kidney to the spleen is called the rejected yin, and death is beyond treatment.
「肺之腎謂之重陰」——肺病傳腎，二陰相并，謂之重陰；底本作「重」，讀 chóng，重複之義；「重陰」本篇1見

Compounds built on this term

重
chóng
doubled, piled
說文：厚也
易
yì
to exchange, to alter
本篇「易重陽死」，謂變易其常位
上爲逆，下爲從
shàng wéi nì, xià wéi cóng
above is rebellion, below is compliance
本篇定色位逆從之語
生陽死陰
shēng yáng sǐ yīn
living yang and dying yin
第七篇；與「重陽重陰」同以陰陽偏並為言

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishdouble yang, double yinThe usual transliteration-plus-gloss solution, and perfectly clear.
This sitedoubled yang and doubled yin重 is not intensity, it is repetition — one of the two laid on top of itself. Excessive would make this a matter of degree, and the chapter's argument is about pairing: what kills is that there is nothing left to pair with. Doubled keeps the arithmetic of the word.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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