Classica Sinica Medica

太息

tài xī

The deep breath · tai xi

Also rendered: the deep breath (Literal and current) · the long breath (Equally plain) · a sigh (The later, and now commoner, sense) · the great breath (Over-literal for 太)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
tài xī
Simplified
太息
Literal
太 exceeding, the greatest (「大」之分化字，段注謂凡言太則過於大); 息 breath, and also to grow and to rest (《說文》: 喘也 — panting, thence breathing, then increase and rest). The breath that exceeds the ordinary one.
Shuowen
《說文解字》：息，喘也（段注：引申為氣息、為生長、為休息）；「太」為「大」之分化，謂過、謂極。

In brief

In the counting that opens chapter 18, the deep long breath is the thing that does not fit the rule. Five movements to a breath is the standard; but a person from time to time takes a longer breath, and the pulse moves once more within it. The chapter’s word for counting that extra beat is 閏, the intercalary month inserted to keep the calendar true: the surplus is not an error but a regular one, and it must be counted in before the standard can stand. Later in the language 太息 comes to mean a sigh; in this chapter it is simply the breath by which the count is completed.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The long breath that adds a beat 閏以太息
深長之息，脉多一至
呼吸定息，脉五動，閏以太息，命曰平人 — Suwen 18
2
Counted into the standard 閏
閏者餘也，如曆之置閏
閏以太息 — Suwen 18
3
Breathing as the unit of counting 呼吸定息
呼吸之間脉又一動
呼吸定息，脉五動 — Suwen 18
4
Later sense: a sigh 太息
後世謂歎息、長歎
太息 — later usage

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·平人氣象論 Suwen 18 · 平人氣象論 Read in context →
歧伯對曰：人一呼脉再動，一吸脉亦再動，呼吸定息，脉五動，閏以太息，命曰平人。平人者，不病也。 岐伯对曰：人一呼脉再动，一吸脉亦再动，呼吸定息，脉五动，闰以太息，命曰平人。平人者，不病也。
qí bó duì yuē: rén yī hū mài zài dòng, yī xī mài yì zài dòng, hū xī dìng xī, mài wǔ dòng, rùn yǐ tài xī, mìng yuē píng rén. píng rén zhě, bù bìng yě.
Qibo replies: When a person exhales once the pulse moves twice, and when he inhales once it moves twice again; as the breath settles between them it moves once more, so that in one breath the pulse moves five times, with the deep long breath counted in besides — this is named a balanced person. A balanced person is one who is not ill.
本篇計脈以呼吸為單位：一呼再動、一吸再動、定息又一動，凡五動；若逢深長之息（太息），脈復多一至，本篇謂之「閏」。「閏」者，曆之餘分，以喻此餘數為常而非病。
素問·剌瘧 Suwen 36 · 剌瘧 Read in context →
肝瘧者，令人色蒼蒼然，太息，其狀若死者，剌足厥陰見血。 肝疟者，令人色苍苍然，太息，其状若死者，刺足厥阴见血。
Gān nüè zhě, lìng rén sè cāng cāng rán, tài xī, qí zhuàng ruò sǐ zhě, cì zú jué yīn jiàn xuè.
Liver malaria leaves the complexion ashen and grey; the person sighs deeply and his look is that of a dead man. Needle the foot ceasing yin until blood is seen.
「太息」之目於本站已立（id 609），所收一條為第十八篇「人一呼脉再動…閏以太息，命曰平人」——**以太息為脉之單位：息之長者脉多一動**。**本篇「太息」惟此一見，而義已轉為證候**：「肝瘧者，令人色蒼蒼然，太息，其狀若死者，剌足厥陰見血」——**是嘆息、長吁之狀，與第十八篇之「閏以太息」同名而異實**。「肝」讀 gān，本篇惟此一見，不作「肝」之俗寫；「瘧」讀 nüè；「者」讀 zhě；「令」讀 lìng；「人」讀 rén；「色」讀 sè，本篇惟此一見；「蒼」讀 cāng，本篇 2 見，讀 cāng，**作重言「蒼蒼然」**，不作「苍」（「苍」）；「然」讀 rán；「太」讀 tài；「息」讀 xī；「其」讀 qí；「狀」讀 zhuàng；「若」讀 ruò；「死」讀 sǐ，本篇惟此一見；「剌」讀 cì；「足」讀 zú；「厥」讀 jué；「陰」讀 yīn；「見」讀 jiàn；「血」讀 xuè。**「色蒼蒼然」四字最見肝瘧之色**：蒼者木之色，肝屬木，**與本站「少陽」條所收第九篇「其色蒼」之蒼同字同義**——**肝與少陽皆木，故其色皆蒼**。**「其狀若死者」五字，是十二瘧中狀神志之最重者**：色蒼而太息，息長而狀若死，**與第六段厥陰瘧「意恐懼」、第二段少陽瘧「見人心惕惕然」、第七段肺瘧「熱間善驚，如有所見者」為本篇言神之四處**。**「大息」與「太息」二字二寫**：本篇第四段「好大息」作「大」讀 dà、此段作「太」讀 tài，**同一事而二形，本篇並存之**，**與本篇「大」6見、「太」10見之並行正合**。
Suwen 70 Suwen 70 · 五常政大論 Read in context →
少陰司天，熱氣下臨，肺氣上從，白起金用，草木眚，喘嘔，寒熱，嚏鼽衄鼻窒，大暑流行，甚則瘡瘍燔灼，金爍石流，地乃燥清，淒滄數至，脅痛，善太息，肅殺行，草木變。 少阴司天，热气下临，肺气上从，白起金用，草木眚，喘呕，寒热，嚏鼽衄鼻窒，大暑流行，甚则疮疡燔灼，金烁石流，地乃燥清，凄沧数至，胁痛，善太息，肃杀行，草木变。
Shào yīn sī tiān, rè qì xià lín, fèi qì shàng cóng, bái qǐ jīn yòng, cǎo mù shěng, chuǎn ǒu, hán rè, tì qiú nǜ bí zhì, dà shǔ liú xíng, shèn zé chuāng yáng fán zhuó, jīn shuò shí liú, dì nǎi zào qīng, qī cāng shuò zhì, xié tòng, shàn tài xī, sù shā xíng, cǎo mù biàn.
When lesser yin governs the heaven the qi of heat descends upon it and the qi of the lung follows upward; white arises and metal comes into use; grass and trees suffer calamity; there is panting and vomiting, cold and heat, sneezing, snivelling, nosebleed and blocked nose; great heat moves; in the extreme there are boils and sores, burning and scorching, metal melts and stone runs; earth then is dry and clear, chill bleakness comes again and again, the flanks hurt and there are many deep sighs; flaying moves, and grass and trees change.
**「太息」本篇1見，止在少陰司天「脅痛，善太息」**；**此段為少陰司天，地乃燥清，淒滄數至**

Compounds built on this term

太
tài
exceeding, greatest
「大」之分化字
息
xī
breath; to grow; to rest
說文：喘也
閏
rùn
the intercalary month; surplus
說文：餘分之月
呼吸
hū xī
exhalation and inhalation
計脈之單位
定息
dìng xī
the settling of the breath
呼吸之間之停頓

How it has been translated

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

Common Englishdeep breath, or sighSigh is the commoner word in English, because it is the commoner sense in later Chinese.
This sitethe deep breathIn this chapter nothing is being sighed: the breath is a measure. The chapter counts the pulse by the breath, and 太息 is the breath that is longer than the count allows for, which is why the text uses 閏 — the intercalary month — for what it adds. Sigh would import an emotion the passage has none of; deep breath keeps the reader counting.

Entry status

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2026-09

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