Classica Sinica Medica

精明

jīng míng

Brightness · jing ming

Also rendered: brightness (Literal; keeps both senses in one word) · the brightness of the eyes (Restricts it to the eyes only) · essential brightness (Reads 精 as essence)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
jīng míng
Simplified
精明
Literal
精 the finest part of the grain, the essence (《說文》: 擇也 — what is picked out); 明 bright, clear (《說文》: 照也). Here the two together name the eyes: the brightness by which essence is seen, and by which one sees.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：精，擇也（段注：引申為精氣、精神之精）；明，照也（段注：引申為明察、目明）。

In brief

In chapter 17 精明 wears two hats, and the chapter uses both. First it is the eyes themselves — the thing you look at (視精明) alongside the pulse. Second it is the complexion: 精明五色者，氣之華 也, the five colours are the flower of the qi. Then the chapter makes the same word do diagnostic work in reverse: if a man calls the long short and the white black, his 精 has declined. The eyes are thus both the instrument of examining and one of the things examined.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The eyes, as one of the four observations 而視精明
與切脈、察色、觀形並列
切脉動靜，而視精明 — Suwen 17
2
The complexion, as the flower of the qi 夫精明五色者，氣之華也
精明與五色並言，指氣之外華
夫精明五色者，氣之華也 — Suwen 17
3
What it is for 所以視萬物，别白黑，審短長
目之職在於別色審形
所以視萬物，别白黑，審短長 — Suwen 17
4
Its failure 以長爲短，以白爲黑，如是則精衰矣
視物顛倒即精衰之徵
以長爲短，以白爲黑，如是則精衰矣 — Suwen 17

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·脉要精微論 Suwen 17 · 脉要精微論 Read in context →
夫精明五色者，氣之華也。赤欲如白裹朱，不欲如赭；白欲如鵝羽，不欲如鹽。青欲如蒼璧之澤，不欲如藍；黄欲如羅裹雄黄，不欲如黄土；黑欲如重漆色，不欲如地蒼。五色精微象見矣，其壽不久也。夫精明者，所以視萬物，别白黑，審短長，以長爲短，以白爲黑，如是則精衰矣。 夫精明五色者，气之华也。赤欲如白裹朱，不欲如赭；白欲如鹅羽，不欲如盐。青欲如苍璧之泽，不欲如蓝；黄欲如罗裹雄黄，不欲如黄土；黑欲如重漆色，不欲如地苍。五色精微象见矣，其寿不久也。夫精明者，所以视万物，别白黑，审短长，以长为短，以白为黑，如是则精衰矣。
fú jīng míng wǔ sè zhě, qì zhī huá yě. chì yù rú bái guǒ zhū, bù yù rú zhě; bái yù rú é yǔ, bù yù rú yán. qīng yù rú cāng bì zhī zé, bù yù rú lán; huáng yù rú luó guǒ xióng huáng, bù yù rú huáng tǔ; hēi yù rú chóng qī sè, bù yù rú dì cāng. wǔ sè jīng wēi xiàng xiàn yǐ, qí shòu bù jiǔ yě. fú jīng míng zhě, suǒ yǐ shì wàn wù, bié bái hēi, shěn duǎn cháng, yǐ cháng wéi duǎn, yǐ bái wéi hēi, rú shì zé jīng shuāi yǐ.
The brightness of the eyes and the five colours are the flower of the qi. Red should be like cinnabar wrapped in white silk, not like ochre. White should be like a goose’s feather, not like salt. Green-blue should be like the sheen of a grey-green jade disc, not like indigo. Yellow should be like realgar wrapped in gauze, not like yellow earth. Black should be like a heavy coat of lacquer, not like dull earth. When the subtle signs of the five colours show themselves thus laid bare, that life will not be long. The brightness of the eyes is what lets one see the myriad things, distinguish white from black, and judge long from short. If one takes the long for the short and the white for the black, then the essence has declined.
本篇論色最詳：赤欲如白裹朱，不欲如赭；白欲如鵝羽，不欲如鹽；青欲如蒼璧之澤；黄欲如羅裹雄黄；黑欲如重漆色，不欲如地蒼。凡此皆以「欲」「不欲」對舉，明色貴明潤而惡枯晦；下文又言目之職在別白黑、審短長，反之則精衰。

Compounds built on this term

精
jīng
essence; the finest part
說文：擇也
明
míng
bright, to illumine
說文：照也
氣之華
qì zhī huá
the flower of the qi
本篇論精明五色
五藏者，中之守
wǔ zàng zhě, zhōng zhī shǒu
the depots keep the interior
本篇與精明並為診候
參伍
cān wǔ
to cross-reference
精明須與脈色相參

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishbrightness of the eyes, or the spirit of the eyesMost translations narrow it to the eyes, because that is what 視精明 plainly means.
This sitebrightnessThe chapter itself will not let the word be narrowed. 視精明 needs the eyes; 精明五色者，氣之華也 does not — it is the complexion, and the five-colour passage that follows is about skin, not sight. Brightness keeps both, and the reader can see that the chapter is using one word for the single thing the eyes and the complexion share: whether the light is still in them.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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